MHR 416 MINI HW 1

In the United States, the pay for employees who are exempt from regulations of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and hence do not receive overtime pay is referred to as

Blank 1: salary or salaried

A _ _ focuses on those compensation choices that help the organization gain and sustain a competitive advantage.

Blank 1: strategic Blank 2: perspective

Identify a similarity between merit increases and merit bonuses.

Both are based on a performance rating.

Which of the following can form the basis for a cost of living adjustment (COLA) to base wages? (Check all that apply.)

Changes in living costs Changes in what other employers are paying for the same work Changes in experience or skill

Which of the following means ensuring that the right people get the right pay for achieving the right objectives in the right way?

Determining whether it adds value

What are the objectives of the compensation strategy followed at Google? (Check all that apply.)

Emphasis on innovation Recognition of contributions Commitment to cost containment

Which policy decision of the pay model emphasizes paying for performance?

Employee contributions

Which of the following are involved in the alignment of pay strategy? (Check all that apply.)

External alignment with the economic and socio-political conditions Alignment with the business strategy Internal alignment within the overall HR system

True or false: Cost of living adjustments (COLAs) to base wages are becoming increasingly common nowadays.

F

True or false: Alignment is probably the most difficult test that a pay strategy has to pass.

False

According to the advocates of the strategic approach, what makes a pay strategy competitive?

How it is managed

Which of the following is true of Nucor Steel's corporate mission?

It believes in achieving success by working together.

Why has Nucor Steel done well despite paying its workers higher than companies inside and outside of the steel industry?

It has much higher productivity than is usually seen in the steel industry.

Identify a feature of base wage.

It indicates the value of the work or an employee's skills.

Identify a true statement about the compensation strategy at Google.

It offers its employees significant stock programs.

How does Whole Foods make its compensation strategies competitive in the external market?

It provides health insurance for all full-time employees.

Which of the following makes a company's compensation strategy difficult to imitate?

Its alignment with the overall HR strategy

Which of the following means ensuring that the right people get the right pay for achieving the right objectives in the right way?

Management

Identify the true statements about organizations' business and pay strategies. (Check all that apply.)

Pay systems should change according to changes in business strategies. A company's pay systems should align with its business strategy.

Which of the following caused companies like Chrysler and General Motors to go through bankruptcy?

Paying employees more than their competitors without corresponding advantages in productivity and quality

Which of the following are likely to be the focus of employees when they are given long-term incentives in the form of stock ownership? (Check all that apply.)

Return on investment Market share Return on net assets

refers to the fundamental directions that an organization chooses.

Strategy

Identify a true statement about merit increases.

They are based on an assessment of employees' performance in the recent past.

Identify the true statements about incentives. (Check all that apply.)

They are one-time payments. They are often known as variable pay.

How do external competitiveness decisions affect compensation objectives? (Check all that apply.)

They control labor costs to maintain the competitiveness of an organization's prices of products or services in a global economy. They ascertain that the pay is enough to attract and retain employees.

Why are some people against the idea of viewing pay as an investment with measurable returns?

They feel that this view reduces the importance of treating employees equitably.

Identify the true statements about the employees whose pay is referred to as salary in the United States. (Check all that apply.)

They include managers and professionals. Their pay is calculated at an annual or monthly rate.

Identify a difference between incentives and merit adjustments.

Unlike merit adjustments, incentives do not raise the base wage.

According to the AMO theory, when will HR systems be most effective? (Check all that apply.)

When the compensation system encourages employees to act on their abilities and utilize the opportunity to make a difference When employee ability is enhanced through selective hiring and training and development When roles are designed to allow employees to participate in decision-making and have an opportunity to make an impact

Compensation strategy, HR strategy, and business strategy ultimately seek to _____, relative to competitors.

decrease costs or increase revenues

The importance given to employee contributions is a significant policy decision because it directly affects _____.

employees' attitudes and work behaviors

True or false: Not all organizations that pay people have a compensation strategy.

f

Managing compensation means _____.

identifying the impact of a policy, technique, or decision

Blank 1: Base Blank 2: wage

is the cash compensation that an employer pays an employee for the work performed.

Increments to base pay that are given to employees on the basis of their performance are known as _____.

merit increases

Unlike merit increases, merit bonuses are _____.

paid in the form of a lump sum

Incentives link pay raises with _____.

performance

Susan works in a small biochemical corporation. Although her base wage and other forms of cash compensation are not very high, she gets personal satisfaction from the work she does and enjoys working with talented and knowledgeable professionals from her field of interest. These positives are examples of _____.

relational returns from work

Long-term incentives are usually in the form of _____.

stock ownership