Strategic Compensation: A Human Resource Management Approach (2nd Edition) [Hardcover]

Joseph J. Martocchio (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0130280305 | ISBN-13: 978-0130280305 | Publication Date: November 8, 2000 | Edition: 2nd

Strategic Compensation: A Human Resource Management Approach reflects the importance of employees as a key element of strategic compensation programs. In exploring the art of compensation and its role in promoting companies' competitive advantages, the author develops a solid understanding of compensation practices, the context of compensation practice, the criteria used to compensate employees, compensation system design issues, employee benefits, and contemporary challenges that compensation professionals will face well into the 21st century. The book covers all aspects of strategic compensation, designing compensation systems, employee benefits and contemporary strategic compensation challenges. For managers and human resource professionals involved in compensation issues.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

Strategic Compensation: A Human Resource Management Approach reflects the importance of employees as a key element of strategic compensation programs. In exploring the art of compensation and its role in promoting companies' competitive advantages, the author develops a solid understanding of compensation practices, the context of compensation practice, the criteria used to compensate employees, compensation system design issues, employee benefits, and contemporary challenges that compensation professionals will face well into the 21st century. The book covers all aspects of strategic compensation, designing compensation systems, employee benefits and contemporary strategic compensation challenges. For managers and human resource professionals involved in compensation issues.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Companies' success in the marketplace is as much a function of the way business practitioners manage employees as it is a function of companies' structures and financial resources. Compensating employees represents a critical human resource management practice: Without sound compensation systems, companies cannot attract and retain the best-qualified employees.

Compensation systems can promote companies' competitive advantage when they are properly aligned with strategic goals. Likewise, compensation practices can undermine competitive advantage when they are designed and implemented haphazardly. The title of this book—Strategic Compensation: A Human Resource Management Approach—reflects the importance of employees as key elements of strategic compensation programs.

The purpose of this book is to provide knowledge of the art of compensation practice and its role in promoting companies' competitive advantage. Students will be best prepared to assume the roles of competent compensation professionals if they possess a grounded understanding of compensation practices and the environments in which business professionals plan, implement, and evaluate compensation systems. Thus, we examine the context of compensation practice, the criteria used to compensate employees, compensation system design issues, employee benefits, and the contemporary challenges that compensation professionals will face well into this century.

ABOUT THIS BOOK

This book contains 14 chapters, lending itself well to courses offered as 10-week quarters or 15-week semesters. The chapters are organized in five parts:

• Part I: Setting the Stage for Strategic Compensation
• Part II: Bases for Pay
• Part III: Designing Compensation Systems
• Part IV: Employee Benefits
• Part V Contemporary Strategic Compensation Challenges

Course instructors on a 10-week schedule might consider spending 2 weeks on each part. Given a 15-week schedule, course instructors might consider spending 1 week on each chapter.

Each chapter contains a chapter outline, learning objectives, key terms, and discussion questions. In addition, each chapter includes two features. The "Stretching the Dollar" features describe examples of how companies or employees experience greater-than-anticipated benefits from expenditures on compensation and on developing compensation systems. The "Flip Side of the Coin" features point out possible inconsistencies of particular compensation issues or discuss how well-intended practices fall short of benefiting companies or employees. Each chapter contains new features designed to promote student learning and student-instructor interactions. These features are described in New to the Third Edition.

This textbook is well suited to a variety of students, including undergraduate and master's degree students. In addition, the book was prepared for use by all business students, regardless of their majors. Both human resource management majors and other majors (accounting, finance, general management, international management, marketing, and organizational behavior) will benefit equally well from Strategic Compensation. After all, virtually every manager, regardless of functional area, will be involved in making compensation decisions. Practitioners beginning work in compensation or current professionals will find Strategic Compensation a useful reference.

NEW TO THE THIRD EDITION

The third edition includes some exciting new features.

Compensation in Action

The brief introductions in each chapter focus on compensation practice issues, often citing compensation consultants or referencing companies' experiences with compensation. Exciting articles follow at the end of each chapter that give a more detailed treatment of the issues. These articles come from the practitioner-oriented literature such as Workspan (the official journal of WorldatWork) and HR Magazine (the official magazine of the Society for Human Resource Management).

Compensation Online

This feature follows the discussion questions. Compensation Online engages students in timely compensation issues by having them surf the Internet or their college library's online resources. These exercises can serve as a basis for class discussion and other course requirements.

Each chapter contains two sets of Compensation Online exercises (three exercises per set). The first set is written for students assigned to explore compensation online with the goal of leading class discussion, writing short papers, or engaging in a debate with fellow students. The second set is written from the perspective of HR or compensation professionals who are about to learn more information about compensation issues that may be facing their companies.

Flip Side of the Coin

This in-text feature, with new or revised content, has been brought back from the first edition by popular demand.

What's New in Compensation?

Compensation, like most business practices, is subject to a variety of influences from within and outside the company. Certainly, practices change after the publication of a textbook. Although including state-of-the-art articles from leading sources such as the New York Times in textbooks is usually considered to be desirable pedagogy from course instructor and student perspectives, reprinted articles are simply not current as changes in the world occur. This feature draws on the student New York Times subscription offered as a supplement to Strategic Compensation. It allows course instructors and students to follow changes in compensation practices in near real-time, providing them with the resources to answer the question, "What's new in compensation?" Course instructors can take advantage of this feature to promote in-class discussions, group projects, individual papers, or other activities as deemed appropriate for students in the course.

Of course, all of the chapters have been thoroughly revised. First, summary statistics in every chapter represent the most current available information at the time this edition was prepared. More references to company examples are included. Second, state-of-the-art information sources for developing sound compensation systems are discussed. For instance, Chapter 8 describes the newest compensation survey programs offered by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Third, the "Stretching the Dollar" features appear with mostly new content. Content carried over from the second edition transcends time and is key to compensation professionals. Last, but certainly not least, I incorporated the constructive feedback of course instructors and students who used the previous editions. As always, their insights were invaluable.

AVAILABLE TEACHING AND LEARNING AIDS

The teaching and learning accessories are designed to promote a positive experience for both instructors and students. Dr. David W. Oakes developed the teaching and learning aids for Strategic Compensation.

Instructor's Resource Manual with Test Item File

The instructor's resource manual contains learning objectives, chapter outlines, and discussion questions. In addition, the instructor's resource manual contains multiple-choice and short essay test questions. There are at least 25 multiple-choice questions and approximately 3 short essay questions for each chapter. The test item file contains the answers to the multiple-choice questions and suggested answers for the short essay questions. The test item file is also available in a Windows format. Prentice Hall's custom test generating software, TestGenEQ, allows manipulation of questions and easy test preparation.

Custom Web Site with Study Guide

Students and instructors can find a variety of usefully information on the custom Web site. Students can find a study guide at www.prenhall.com/martocchio. Dr. David W Oakes designed this study guide to help students prepare for quizzes and tests. It includes key learning points, sample multiple-choice questions, and short, thought-provoking essay questions. Instructors can find resources for their lectures.

PowerPoint Lecture Presentations

Strategic Compensation is accompanied by lecture visual presentations for each chapter based on Microsoft PowerPoint. These may be downloaded from the Strategic Compensation custom Web site with a password available from Prentice Hall or they can be accessed on the Instructor's Resource CD-ROM.

Instructor's Resource CD-ROM

The Instructor's Resource CD-ROM contains the electronic files for the Instructor's Manual with Test Item File, the PowerPoint lecture presentations, and the TestGen-EQ test generating software. The test program permits instructors to edit, add, or delete questions from the test bank; add existing graphics and create new graphics; analyze test results; and organize a database of student results. This new software allows for greater flexibility and ease of use. It provides many options for organizing and displaying tests, along with a search and sort feature.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 371 pages
• Publisher: Pearson Education; 2nd edition (November 8, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0130280305
• ISBN-13: 978-0130280305
• Product Dimensions: 10 x 7.9 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #832,904 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars At last, a text my students like! That's a victory., March 3, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Strategic Compensation: A Human Resource Management Approach (Hardcover)

This is a well written, comprehensive presentation of compensation and benefits, including such subjects as skill / knowledge based pay and executive and international compensation. Its features include summaries, questions with links to the www, key terms, and thought-provoking "flip side of the coin" and "reflection" inserts. Includes a useful glossary of terms. The author places considerable emphasis on current issues and that is appreciated.

I am writing as a reviewer, consultant and university instructor. I use this text in teaching my introductory compensation course at UCLA's School of Business and Management. I have tried many texts that my students bemoaned as too technical, boring, and somniferous. But my students find this text highly readable, understandable and interesting. That's a victory, especially when my students are mostly working HR professionals who drag themselves to class through the clogged freeways of Los Angeles. The least I can offer them is a good textbook; this is it!

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great Learning Tool, March 22, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Strategic Compensation: A Human Resource Management Approach (2nd Edition) (Hardcover)

I have seen many textbooks that are relentlessly boring due to the author's inability to balance technical and nontechnical jargon. But, this book somehow masters the ability to deliver relevant knowlege in an explicit manner. If you really want to know the foundations of compensating and you do not want to be bombarded by irrelevant wordiness, buy this book.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A User Friendly Approach, October 3, 2005

By 

PJ Smoot (Memphis, TN) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Strategic Compensation: A Human Resource, Third Edition (Hardcover)

Compensation is not the most popular course in the undergraduate curriculum, but this text makes it much more attractive. The examples are very easy to follow and the chapters flow well. As an instructor looking for something to make a very important topic more accessible to students, I was delighted to find this text. I highly recommend it.