Assignment 2: Compensation Plan Outline

Running Head: APPLE 1

APPLE 8

Apple

Name of student;

Course;

Institution;

Date of submission;

Apple

Introduction

Apple incorporation deals with the manufacture, design, and, mobile communication marketing media devices. Additionally, it handles digital music players’ in this case portable personal computers. Also, it generates revenue in the sale of accessories, software, and network solutions. It is segmented in various continents and countries. This covers the Chinese, Europeans, Americans and Japanese. The Middle East and India makes up the European segments, south and North America makes the American segment while Australia makes the Asian pacific segment.

Various goods that it handles include; iPhone, iPad, watches, MacBook computers, televisions, and professional software like the iphone’s operating system. The sale of digital content is achieved by use of the mac app stir, the iTunes store and the app store. The goods are available at their various outlets in online shops, retail stores, or through direct third party cellular network carriers, retailing, wholesaling, and value added reselling. It targets enterprises, governments, and educational businesses. The production of quality products has helped the company generate a lot of revenue and thus become financially stable.

Compensation Strategies & Best Practices

Apple’s current compensation mechanism has had tremendous effects on the company. The strategies have led to increased competitive advantage. Apple utilizes three major executive compensation practices. It offers long term equity rewards in the form of stock entities in a limited manner. Cash compensation to the executives is made in relation to how best the cash incentive is performing. This package is instrumental in helping the company achieve its business goals, aims and fair better than its competitors in financial stability. Base salaries is another compensation practice that the company utilizes. There is a compensation committee that determines the annual compensation of each executive. The members of the committee make independent decisions.

The goal having these compensation practices for the executives and the employees is to attract and retain innovative and gifted teams. Compensated teams will go a long way in leading the company to successfully compete in a competitive and dynamic market. Compensation at the company aims at deciding what a fair, competitive and equitable pay should be given the current market rates. The strategies are also aimed at making sure employees are at the top of their performance by provision of incentives, and also make sure that the benefits are cost effective and consistent with the external market, government requirements and the compensation policies.

Basically, compensation strategies are aimed at obtaining the external and internal market consistent compensation set up through a balanced external competitiveness and internal equity. Additionally, the company’s compensation strategy is competitive. This has attracted high quality staff. The performance by which each employee showcases is the same that the compensation is made. An employee’s proves to be more beneficial and thus receives more of the benefits.

Compensation Challenges

The compensation plan at Apple Company possess some challenges. The monthly pay for the CEO Tim Cook is estimated at 4.6 million dollars. This is clear that the top management receives higher salary packages at the expense of lower level employees who may be giving their best. The lower level employees work to ensure that the immediate and long term goals are achieved. Therefore, it is only logic that they should receive a justifiable amount to give them the much needed morale to attain more. Therefore, the company makes a lot of profits at the expense of less salary packages for its employees. By surpassing its goals, the company gives employees another view away from a profit-oriented company. (Evans, 2015). It also seems to hire young-aged employees who may have few financial needs like less number of insurance covers. All this possess a challenge of shifting its compensation package. For instance, the firm desires in more working hours for employees but is not ready to pay with reference to the commission based method of payment.

Compensation Positive & Negative Impacts

The application of apple’s compensation plan is in accordance with the various factors. These are; legislative acts, exempted and non-exempted issues, and competition externally, and employee attitude and behavior. Most importantly, the company develops the effects of following the legislation acts on stakeholders has having negative impacts. This occasions may be losses to the industry and thus focus may be only on acts on salaries and compensation acts.

Following these rules means that the company will be barred by the authorities from giving low pay to employees. Secondly, the determination of employee payment based on the exempt and non-exempt jobs is also utilized by the company. The company therefore pays its workers who perform exempt jobs huge amounts of bonuses and salaries because they posse highly qualified knowledge and skills. (Martocchio, 2013). Such kind of skills and knowledge and skills among the top management teams calls for higher pays especially for the CEO.

Additionally, the firm gives compensation packages to employees based on the attitudes and behaviors they possess. Employees with better morale and attitudes get more compensation. This is so because they basically promote the company by growing its profile due to the excellent kind of performance that is posed by the workers. This therefore means that the compensation packages positively impacts the targeted audience in the company.

Laws, Labor Union & Market Practices

There are various laws that can affect Apple compensation practices. They include; safety, employment, and discrimination laws. It becomes more complex because apple is a global brand and it therefore has to abide by the laws not only in the United States but also in other countries where it operates from. The company has expanded widely and will continue to expand with its current financial stability. Therefore, these laws will affect the company through regulations imposed on business practices. It should be known that employment laws are crucial in maintaining a balance between the employee and the employer.

Various examples that apple is likely to be implicated in include; the child labor, the overtime pay, and the minimum wage provisions. Union labors are not as friendly to technological companies because they do not have union representatives. In fact most technology and information companies like apple, google and Facebook are not unionized which may seem like a negative to people who support the union labor. (Baker, & Ho, 2015). However, this is not as bad to apple because is one of the leading companies in the industries since they are capable of pampering employees with better benefits which union workers cannot afford and thus the union may not be necessary.

In a competitive market, the market factors have impact on Apple Company. In this technologically advanced era, there are many competitors that apple will face including google, and yahoo. The company therefore has to ensure a maintained pay structure for its employees. the salaries should be competitive and robust benefits packages like health insurances and other nonconventional benefits that will ensure employees are satisfied and happy at all times and loyal at the same time. This will be the secret to ensure that the company remains at the top.

Traditional Bases

The effectiveness of the traditional bases of apple stores are on the rise through the introduction of wage caps at each type of job. The changes in the organization helps it to remain competitive among other retailers in the industry and also meet the needs of the managers and workers as it expands into newer markets. It has many employees in the US to whom it refers to as associates. Despite critics from union the company as set lower insurance covers with lower annual premiums. Wage caps are incentives to the current employees while higher starting pay acts as an attraction point for new employees. However, for betterment of the organization, the company should reconsider restructuring its salary formation.

Additionally, the compensation strategy that is directly proportional to the performance of employees has proven effective because most of the customers are highly satisfied and happy with the services which the staff offer. The habitual approach that the company uses is an attractive measure. It helps bring a new way of creativity with reference to how customers come. The more advanced an employee is, the more graded they will. This is a sign of employees’ efforts in whatever they are assigned to accomplish. Traditional base pay mechanism is applicable in ensuring the company identifies particular talents among the employees. The benefits inside the compensation policies are also useful in keeping the employees motivated towards helping the firm in achieving the future goals.

In conclusion, the evidence can be seen because apple has become a global technological company. Lack of the best resources a company cannot be able to position itself in achieving the aims that it has set. It is thus advisable that any company that would like to compete has to maintain its workers. (Noe, Hollenbeck, & Wright, 2017). However, it is very hard for one to persuade the employees to remain dedicated to the organization without a better pay. The company illustrates a high valuation of the top management who make most of the company’s decisions. Therefore, other companies should borrow apple’s example in achieving their strategies. Later, it is a beneficial attribute because employees get an opportunity to learn other beliefs from employees and thus the company keeps having continuous improvements.