Biosciences management class

I guest lectured in a class for the biosciences management program in Mason’s School of Management yesterday evening. Of of the interesting questions that came up, one had to do with the possibility that incentive structures for scientists might be different than for other professionals. Along these lines, it might be useful to think of a pie chart representing the total set of rewards for say…a senior partner in a law firm and a top-flight scientist.

Both pie charts would of course have a section for monetary compensation. This might include salary, but would also include bonuses, disbursements and benefits. It’s fair to say that, in general, for the lawyer, the monetary compensation side of the pie chart would be larger than for the scientist.

However, let’s look at the “toys” side of the pie chart (very important for scientists). The lawyer’s toys might include a nice office, a blackberry, perhaps a new Mac powerbook along with some fairly expensive furniture. But the scientist’s toys would be of a different league: perhaps a $500K mass spec, or a $250K confocal microscope, or even a $3M MRI machine.

In other words, the toys side of the scientist’s pie chart would more than compensate for the monetary compensation side, so that in fact the total value of the rewards for both the lawyer and the scientist would be fairly similar.

Interesting huh? I think this gets at something unique about what motivates scientists. And this is perhaps the reason that “set up” packages are so important to the recruitment of scientists.

Jim