Final answer:
The example of an incentive program is providing a merit salary system. Incentive programs are designed to promote desired behaviors by offering rewards, and are used in various contexts such as education, workplace policies, and healthcare systems to encourage continual improvement and adherence to beneficial practices. Option C is the correct answer.
Step-by-step explanation:
An incentive program is a system designed to promote and encourage specific actions or behaviors by offering rewards or motivations. Examples of incentive programs can include various strategies and policies in different contexts such as education, the workplace, and healthcare.
In education, proposals like student testing, rewards for teacher performance, and school choice vouchers serve as incentives for improvement in education quality. In the corporate world, companies like IBM and SC Johnson implement policies for work-family balance as incentives for attracting and retaining employees. Additionally, market forces can incentivize businesses to reduce discriminatory practices to cater to a wider customer base or deal with labor shortages.
In healthcare, incentive programs such as the shift from a fee-for-service model to Health Maintenance Organizations (HMOs) seek to reduce moral hazard by incentivizing medical care providers to balance the provision of care with cost control, as opposed to charging based on the quantity of care services provided.
In the given options, providing a merit salary system is an example of an incentive program, as it directly rewards employees for performance, thereby encouraging higher productivity and improved work quality.