Archive:Carrot and Stick

From Wikipedia: ''Carrot and stick (also "carrot or stick")[1] is an idiom that refers to a policy of offering a combination of rewards and punishment to induce behavior. It may derive from methods used for training mules and other animals by drawing them forward with rewards "carrot") and driving them forward with punishment (the "stick").''

To date, SFFC has used the "carrot" approach to promote the Wheeler Declaration (even before it was named as such) and related principals.

On April 7, Rich Jones suggested the following: ''Rather than each of us campaigning for OA with our small organizations at our individual universities, let's find out who we need to target at a higher level. We need to know who are the people at the NSF and other federal grant organization that approve spending and we need to let them know that it is 2009 and no longer acceptable to give money to educational institutes who don't create OER. And we need to let them know loudly.''

Carrot Approach

Pros: Cons:
 * Positive encouragement
 * Creates allies
 * Fosters awareness of issues among students and faculty
 * No monetary disincentive to ignoring requests for open access

Stick Approach

Pros:
 * Creates a monetary incentive
 * Lets us directly unite with groups like the Alliance for Taxpayer Access

Cons:
 * Could be seen as strong-arming or coercion
 * May alienate people that might otherwise support the movement