Hidden inefficiency: Strategic inflation of project schedules

Establishing realistic project plans and completing the resulting business projects on schedule is crucial for organizations striving to effectively utilize their resources. However, incentivizing on-time delivery may result in moral hazard, as people could respond estimation accuracy incentives by strategically inflating duration estimates subsequently prolonging execution. While delivered time, resources are underutilized. We conjecture that possibility of hazard can be mitigated introducing speed addition incentives. conduct a diagnostic test effect process delivery. Our study presents direct empirical evidence incentive structure rewarding solely hidden inefficiency due inflated deliberately slower When implemented alongside incentives, significantly lower completed more quickly, without compromising or output quality. Aligning objectives owner with those planners, planners both quick completion, fosters compressed but still accurate reliable schedules, accelerated