Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Instant Download PDF Compensation Canadian 5th Edition Milkovich Solutions Manual Full Chapter
Instant Download PDF Compensation Canadian 5th Edition Milkovich Solutions Manual Full Chapter
Instant Download PDF Compensation Canadian 5th Edition Milkovich Solutions Manual Full Chapter
https://testbankfan.com/product/compensation-canadian-5th-
edition-milkovich-test-bank/
https://testbankfan.com/product/compensation-11th-edition-
milkovich-solutions-manual/
https://testbankfan.com/product/compensation-12th-edition-
milkovich-solutions-manual/
https://testbankfan.com/product/compensation-10th-edition-
milkovich-test-bank/
Compensation 12th Edition Milkovich Test Bank
https://testbankfan.com/product/compensation-12th-edition-
milkovich-test-bank/
https://testbankfan.com/product/compensation-11th-edition-
milkovich-test-bank/
https://testbankfan.com/product/strategic-compensation-in-canada-
canadian-5th-edition-long-solutions-manual/
https://testbankfan.com/product/strategic-compensation-in-canada-
canadian-4th-edition-long-solutions-manual/
https://testbankfan.com/product/strategic-compensation-in-canada-
canadian-6th-edition-long-solutions-manual/
CHAPTER 7
DEFINING COMPETITIVENESS
LEARNING OUTCOMES
Describe external competitiveness, and the two specific actions taken in practice
that determine external competitiveness.
Discuss the three major factors that shape external competitiveness.
Discuss three labour demand theories and explain their predictions regarding pay.
Discuss two supply side theories and explain their predictions regarding pay.
Explain the three competitive pay policy alternatives.
CHAPTER SUMMARY
2. The three major factors that shape external competitiveness are: (1) competition
in the labour market for people with various skills; (2) competition in the product
and services markets, which affects the financial condition of the organization;
and (3) characteristics unique to each organization and its employees, such as
business strategy, technology, and the productivity and experience of its
workforce.
4. Two supply side theories are reservation wage theory and human capital theory.
Reservation wage theory predicts that a job seeker will not take a job when pay is
below a certain level, no matter how attractive the job. Human capital theory
predicts that a person is paid at the value of that person’s skills and abilities which
is a function of the time and expense required to acquire them.
7-1
Milkovich et al. Compensation Fifth Canadian Edition © 2017 McGraw-Hill Education Ltd.
5. Three competitive pay level alternatives are: match the market, lag the market,
and lead the market. Examples of pay mix alternatives are performance-driven,
market match, work/life balance, and security.
LECTURE NOTES
The pay level is the average of the array of rates paid by an employer:
Control Costs
Pay level decisions have a significant impact on expenses. Other things being equal, the
higher the pay level, the higher the labour cost. The pay level has a direct impact on the
organization’s costs as well as its ability to attract and retain employees.
See Exhibit 7.1 to review an analysis of the market position of a company’s pay strategy
comparing base pay to total compensation.
Exhibit 7.2 shows the different mixes of total compensation for two companies.
7-2
Milkovich et al. Compensation Fifth Canadian Edition © 2017 McGraw-Hill Education Ltd.
WHAT SHAPES EXTERNAL COMPETITIVENESS?
An organization’s pay level is a function of three factors: (1) competition in the labour
market for people with various skills; (2) competition in the product and service markets;
and (3) characteristics unique to each organization and its employees, such as its business
strategy, technology, and the productivity and experience of its workforce.
Go to Exhibit 7.4 to examine the supply and demand for a business school graduate in
the short run and their respective pay.
Labour Demand
An employer cannot change any other factor of production. Thus, its level of production
can change only if it changes the level of human resources. Under such conditions, a
single employer’s demand for labour coincides with the marginal product of labour.
Exhibit 7.5 shows supply and demand at the market for one employer.
Labour Supply
This model assumes that:
• many people are seeking jobs;
7-3
Milkovich et al. Compensation Fifth Canadian Edition © 2017 McGraw-Hill Education Ltd.
• that they possess accurate information about all job openings; and
• that no barriers to mobility (discrimination, licensing provisions, or union membership
requirements) exist between jobs.
The supply of labour is the number of employees available at different pay rates. In a
perfectly competitive market, supply available to the individual employer is elastic. As
assumptions change to more closely reflect reality, the supply becomes less elastic.
Therefore, an individual employer’s pay level will affect labour supply.
Efficiency wage theory does not assume that employers are wage takers, as compensating
differentials. Employers will pay wages above the market level in order to attract better
employees, reduce turnover, or increase productivity. Any of these results will make the
organization more profitable by making employees more efficient.
Signalling Theory
Signalling theory refers to the idea that pay levels and pay mix are designed to signal
desired behaviours. An organization’s pay level implies expectations to potential
employees about what is expected from those employees. For example, an organization
may pay low base wages but high bonuses in hopes of attracting employees more willing
to take risks.
See Exhibit 7.6 to review the labour demand theories and their implications.
7-4
Milkovich et al. Compensation Fifth Canadian Edition © 2017 McGraw-Hill Education Ltd.
MODIFICATIONS TO THE SUPPLY SIDE
An employer’s product markets are competitors who produce the same product or
service. The product market determines the employer’s ability to pay wages and sets the
upper limit on the wages it can pay and still remain competitive.
Product Demand
The product market sets the upper limit within an employer’s pay level.
Degree of Competition
Employers in highly competitive markets will be less able to raise prices without loss of
revenues.
7-5
Milkovich et al. Compensation Fifth Canadian Edition © 2017 McGraw-Hill Education Ltd.
People Flow to the Work
The example in the textbook makes the point that the existence of a physical building
such as a hospital will encourage people to flow towards the work because this is a good
source of well-paid employment.
ORGANIZATION FACTORS
Employer Size
Large organizations tend to pay higher wages than small and medium size organizations.
Employees’ Preferences
Markets involve both an employer’s and employees' understanding of employee
preferences. It is increasingly important in determining external competitiveness, such as
health insurance, eye care, bonuses, and pension.
Organization Strategy
A variety of pay level and mix strategies exist. Some employers adopt a low-wage-no-
mix strategy where they compete by producing goods and services with as little total
compensation as possible. Others select a low-base-high-services approach.
RELEVANT MARKETS
The market should never be taken for granted. It is management’s role to define the
relevant market and then determine how much to pay. Since one homogenous labour
market does not exist in practice, organizations must define the markets relevant to them.
Research says that managers look at their competitors, products, location, size, and jobs;
the skills and knowledge required, and their necessity for the organization’s success.
7-6
Milkovich et al. Compensation Fifth Canadian Edition © 2017 McGraw-Hill Education Ltd.
COMPETITIVE PAY POLICY ALTERNATIVES
Lead Policy
Paying slightly higher rates than competitors allows the organization to attract and retain
the highest quality employees, assuming the organization is able to identify the better
applicants (not necessarily the case). It may also reduce turnover and absenteeism.
Lag Policy
Paying less than a competitor’s wage rates may deter the organization’s ability to attract
employees. However, it also may lower labour costs. The policy may be used in
combination with other attributes, such as quicker mobility or better benefits.
Flexible Policies
Employers may vary the policy for different occupational families or for different forms
of pay. Some obvious alternatives include performance driven, market match, work life
balance, and security.
See Exhibit 7.8 to compare probable relationships between external pay policies and
objectives.
7-7
Milkovich et al. Compensation Fifth Canadian Edition © 2017 McGraw-Hill Education Ltd.
Pitfalls of Pies
Comparing the mix of forms of pay to pieces in a pie chart has limitations. This is
particularly clear when the value of options is volatile.
Exhibit 7.9 shows the hybrid policies for pay mix.
Go to Exhibit 7.10 to see an example of how stock value volatility can affect the total pay
mix.
Exhibit 7.12 examines how pay mix can vary internally for three jobs; entry level, mid-
level manager and executive.
See Exhibit 7.13 to review how pay levels affect the employer.
Efficiency
The pay level affects the organization’s ability to attract and retain a productive work
force. This in turn affects the organization’s revenues.
Fairness
Satisfaction with pay is directly related to the pay level: More is better. However
employees’ sense of fairness is also related to how others are paid.
Compliance
It’s not enough to say that an employer must pay at or above the legal minimum wage.
Provisions of prevailing wage laws and equal rights legislation must also be met.
7-8
Milkovich et al. Compensation Fifth Canadian Edition © 2017 McGraw-Hill Education Ltd.
REVIEW QUESTIONS
External competitiveness refers to the pay relationships among similar jobs in different
organizations, while internal consistency focuses on the relationships within a single
organization. External competitiveness is an important concept because the pay level of
an organization affects both the expense and quality of its work force, as well as the
organization’s ability to attract and retain a qualified work force.
The factors include labour market competition, product market competition, and
characteristics unique to the organization and its work force.
Marginal revenue product is the additional revenue associated with the output of one
additional human resource unit, and determines the level of employment (demand for
labour) for a single employer. The interaction of the sum of all employers’ demand for
labour and the supply of human resources determines the market pay level.
EXPERIENTIAL EXERCISES
1. Using efficiency wage theory, find an organization (major league sports teams
may make the relevant information publicly available) that offers above-market
wages, and investigate whether the theory accurately predicts behaviour such as
workers with better performance and lower turnover.
If efficiency wage theory is correct, a lead policy results in higher productivity but also
higher labour costs, unless these are offset by productivity gains. A hybrid policy can be
tailored to the specific needs of the organization - its strategy, its work, and the type of
employees it requires.
Relevant markets are shaped by pressure from the labour and product markets and the
organization. Relevant markets might include: comparable universities, target associates,
hockey players from teams in the same league and market pay for other municipalities.
7-9
Milkovich et al. Compensation Fifth Canadian Edition © 2017 McGraw-Hill Education Ltd.
3. Find a company that follows a lag policy. Why do they believe it pays to pay
below market? Can you find any companies that follow performance-driven
and/or work-life balance policies?
A lag policy results in low labour costs, but may lead to unrecovered training costs, if
trained employees leave for higher-paying jobs.
1. What policy regarding external competitiveness would you advise? List the
options and the pros and cons of each policy option. Offer the rationale for your
recommendation.
Given the choice to match, lead or lag, the most common policy is to match rates paid by
the competitors. A lead policy maximizes the ability to attract and retain quality
employees and minimizes employee dissatisfaction with pay. The lead policy may have
negative effects too. It may force the employer to increase the wages of current
employees, to avoid misalignment and dissatisfaction with the employer.
3. Consider the theories and research presented in this chapter. Which ones did
you use to support your recommendation?
Signalling Theory - pay policies signal the kinds of behaviour the employer seeks. Pay
practices must recognize desired behaviours with more pay, larger bonuses and other
forms of compensation.
4. List three pieces of additional information you would like to have to refine your
recommendation. Explain how this information would help you.
The three major factors that shape external competitiveness are: (1) competition in the
labour market for people with various skills; (2) competition in the product and service
markets, which affects the financial condition of the organization; and (3) characteristics
unique to each organization and its employees, such as its business strategy, technology,
and the productivity and experience of its workforce.
7-10
Milkovich et al. Compensation Fifth Canadian Edition © 2017 McGraw-Hill Education Ltd.
Another random document with
no related content on Scribd:
*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SUNSHINE
AND SHADOW, OR, PAUL BURTON'S SURPRISE ***
1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also
govern what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most
countries are in a constant state of change. If you are outside
the United States, check the laws of your country in addition to
the terms of this agreement before downloading, copying,
displaying, performing, distributing or creating derivative works
based on this work or any other Project Gutenberg™ work. The
Foundation makes no representations concerning the copyright
status of any work in any country other than the United States.
1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary,
compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form,
including any word processing or hypertext form. However, if
you provide access to or distribute copies of a Project
Gutenberg™ work in a format other than “Plain Vanilla ASCII” or
other format used in the official version posted on the official
Project Gutenberg™ website (www.gutenberg.org), you must, at
no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a copy, a
means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon
request, of the work in its original “Plain Vanilla ASCII” or other
form. Any alternate format must include the full Project
Gutenberg™ License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1.
• You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from
the use of Project Gutenberg™ works calculated using the
method you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The
fee is owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg™ trademark,
but he has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to
the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty
payments must be paid within 60 days following each date on
which you prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your
periodic tax returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked
as such and sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive
Foundation at the address specified in Section 4, “Information
about donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive
Foundation.”
• You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free
distribution of Project Gutenberg™ works.
1.F.
Most people start at our website which has the main PG search
facility: www.gutenberg.org.