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The recent debate about bonuses for the presidents of Iowa’s regent universities has some correlations with the business world.

In a time of layoffs, pay freezes and unpaid furloughs, do the usual standards on bonuses still apply?

The university situation is complicated by unique factors. But in both the academic and business worlds, it might be more important to go beyond technicalities and look at bonuses in terms of messages sent and results purchased.

Companies are asking employees to buckle down and work harder to handle an increased workload, as once-occupied desks sit empty. In some cases, they’re asking for this increased devotion to duty for less money.

Sure, an executive might have a contract that calls for extra pay when performance objectives are achieved. However, employees might be achieving more than they signed up for, and getting the opposite of a bonus for their troubles.

Not a good message. And such messages will be returned when the economy is strong again.

That’s where “results purchased” enters in. Giving up a bonus is like spending money out of your pocket, and an executive might wonder what he or she is buying.

If it’s loyalty and hard work, that could be a bargain. Both for the company and for the exec.

And yet, the best leaders won’t look at the bonus question as a standard business transaction.

You can’t be a leader unless you’re part of the team. If the team is sacrificing to get through tough times, this all becomes a test of character.

Of course, an executive who meets performance targets will feel that a bonus has been earned. But the chances are, that exec only met those targets because lots of lower-ranked workers met or exceeded theirs.

No bonus for them, no bonus for the boss.

Or, another way to look at it: The bonus, in this economy, is that you get to keep your job.