Exam 1: 10 Questions

Exam Instructions: Students should individually complete the following exams questions with no help from anyone. This is not group work.

Answers should be thorough and complete with a minimum of 200 words per answer, but can be as long as needed. Fully justify your answers. Answer all parts of each question and be careful not to go below the word count.

NO copy & paste is acceptable (don’t copy textbook passages, internet websites, articles, charts, or anything). Every word should be your own words. Blackboard will check for copy and paste. I am interested in your thoughts and critical thinking.

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1. What is strategic compensation? Together, both intrinsic and extrinsic compensation describe a company's overall compensation system. Describe both types of rewards.

2. Compensation professionals promote effective compensation systems by meeting important goals: internal consistency, market competitiveness, and recognition of individual contributions. Define and discuss all three of these goals.

3. Summarize the key provisions of the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA).

4. How can empowering employees help strengthen the pay-for-performance link?

5. How can companies minimize discriminatory performance appraisal practices? List and discuss all the ways.

6. How do traditional pay methods differ from incentive pay methods? Define individual, group, and companywide incentive plans and give examples of each.

7. What is person-focused pay and when is it best used? 

8. O*Net is the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Information Network. What is this network and what value does it have for an organization? Go to www.onetonline.org and do an "Occupational Quick Search" for a career that you are interested. Name this career and discuss briefly what you found about it.

9. Explain the three reasons why companies often choose not to develop their own compensation surveys rather than using established surveys.

10. What is pay compression and how can companies minimize the occurrence of it?