Others feel that such schemes go out of their way to find and reward fine distinctions at the margins of people's work. The worker then magnifies those distinctions to win more pay, and neglects core functions. The prime difficulty is in making open and transparent definitions of 'more' or 'better' academic work. One opponent of the University's use of merit payments argues that without clear definitions the system will descend into one of patronage, with juniors 'cultivating' the departmental head. And the philosophical argument against merit payments is the same as that against the market.
Universities are collaborative places.
They depend on relationships, and individual outstanding work is often dependent on the departmental buzz. It is exactly this intellectual excitement that has enabled Oxford to continue to attract bright minds for whom financial reward is not the top priority. Professor Joseph Silk is British, but has spent a large part of his academic life in America, lately in California. In 1999 he joined a brain drain - from the USA to Oxford. They do include an extremely vigorous atmosphere for developing new initiatives.