The new landscape: a fresh look at long-term incentives for corporate America

Today's environment presents us with a torrent of issues surrounding the design and management of long-term and equity-related incentives, both for top executives and employees at large. This article reviews, at a conceptual level, the most important characteristics, advantages and disadvantages of the various principal long-term incentive types as they appear from key perspectives. The authors conclude with predictions about the future of long-term and equity-related incentives.