Customer Reviews

Compensation Committee Handbook

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Boards of Directors, and especially compensation committees within the board, are in a period of transition. They are required to be more independent from the company and its management than ever before, and the mega-compensation packages of CEOs is now getting more negative publicity, regulatory scrutiny, and public pushback. This valuable handbook can provide compensation committee members with helpful information on what to do and how to proceed in discharging their responsibilities.

The book has 15 chapters divided into three parts.

Part One describes what the compensation committee is and does. It also covers how the board should go about selecting and training the members of the compensation committee. CEO succession and evaluation is covered in a very helpful way as is the issue of director compensation (since they have so much more to do nowadays).

Part Two covers the legal and regulatory issues boards and committees face. It covers issues of corporate governance (from the board's point of view), disclosure of executive and director compensation, securities issues, tax rules and issues, accounting rules and issues, and ERISA and labor law, rules, and issues.

Part Three deals with the practical applications of these rules, regulations, and duties. It covers executive employment, severance, and change-in-control arrangements, incentive compensation, equity based compensation, executive pension-benefit, welfare-benefit, and perquisites. There is also a chapter dealing with option grants, the repricing of stock options, and if the company should "go dark", which is different than going private.

While not the most lively material, the authors do a great job of keeping it from becoming too dry or dusty. And if you need to know this material, you will love this book's organization and wealth of helpful information.

Reviewed by Craig Matteson, Ann Arbor, MI

The Compensation Committee Handbook provides an excellent starting reference for concise summaries of a number of issues relating to executive compensation. Explanations are clear and succinct, and the footnotes cite relevant authority for further research and reading.

Written for compensation committee members and those who work with them, this text covers: information on the committee's responsibilities; ways to organize a committee; legal position of the committee; selection and training of members; a broad framework for accounting, tax, and securities rules; and the basics of compensation programs. It examines current issues on executive employment agreements, option repricing, reload stock options, pooling-of-interests accounting, and new accounting rules. It provides guidance, especially for small- to medium-sized companies. Includes detailed information on rules and regulations, comparison charts to monitor the progress against compensation strategies, an enormous glossary, and information and training resources geared to committee needs. This is a unique and exceptionally valuable reference for compensation subjects that require committee action. It has exceptional technical depth and clarity. As a compensation consultant myself, I highly recommend this book. James Reda has done an outstanding job!

Anyone involved in compensation issues will want to keep this handbook nearby. The author wrote it mainly for directors who serve on the compensation committees of publicly traded firms. But the book raises issues and advocates practices that many company managers should consider. Though much of the book is quite technical, this basic survey of compensation issues is appropriate for a broad professional audience. getAbstract recommends it as a good first step toward more equitable and effective pay practices.