Steven Kerr (born 1941) is an American management scholar and writer whose research has examined leadership, motivation and organisational incentives. His influential 1975 paper, On the Folly of Rewarding A, While Hoping for B, appeared in the Academy of Management Journal. It demonstrated how reward systems can encourage behaviour that conflicts with an organisation’s stated aims. The paper was republished in updated form in 1995 and became a widely cited contribution to management studies.

Kerr earned a doctorate in management and organisational psychology from the City University of New York. He taught at Ohio State University, the University of Southern California and the University of Michigan, and served as faculty dean at Southern California. He was president of the Academy of Management in 1990. He subsequently became chief learning officer at General Electric, overseeing its Crotonville leadership development centre, before joining Goldman Sachs in 2001 as chief learning officer and managing director. His publications include The Boundaryless Organization and Reward Systems: Does Yours Measure Up?, reflecting his continuing interest in organisational effectiveness and employee motivation.