MGMT 719
Rewards
Fall, 2010
Tuesday & Thursday 9:30-12:15 Room 358 or 2:00-4:45 Room 337
WEB SITE: https://blackboard.sc.edu/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp
Management Department
Anthony Nyberg
Office: Room 758
Email: professor.nybergFall10@gmail.com
Office Phone: 803-777-5974 (not the best means) Office Hours: By appointment
COURSE SYLLABUS
This is a learning-by-doing course. Your agreement to actively participate on a regular basis is
a prerequisite for your enrollment in this class. Please read, complete, and sign the course
agreement at the end of this syllabus.
Course Description
A critical tool for motivating employee behavior is the effective use of rewards. Effective use of
rewards can improve outcomes for everyone involved. Ineffective use of rewards, in contrast,
usually leads to poor outcomes. This course focuses on how managers can use rewards to attract,
retain, and motivate qualified employees. It is intended to provide both an understanding of the
theories underlying rewards systems design and hands-on experience applying these theories.
Through lectures, readings, case studies, simulations, and class participation, this course
introduces the tools and vocabulary prerequisite to critical and effective use of rewards. The
course examines the techniques, policies, processes, strategies, and practices used by companies,
managers, and individuals to effectively and efficiently motivate behavior via rewards.
Course Objectives
The goals of this course are to improve understanding and ability to use rewards by providing
both experiential opportunities and conceptual underpinnings that will help students understand
the sources of effective and ineffective approaches to using rewards. This will include (1)
familiarizing students with basic rewards tools, (2) enabling students to align rewards practices
with organizational tools, (3) providing students with an opportunity to examine the constraints
affecting rewards practices, and (4) sharing current trends in organizational rewards. Much of the
course will be devoted to applying course concepts in practice through exercises and discussion.
Ensuing discussions will focus on the ways in which concepts and theory inform practice.
1
Required Course Materials
Milkovich, G., Newman, J. & Gerhart, B. (2011) Compensation 10th ed. McGraw-Hill
Irwin.
Milkovich, G. & Milkovich, C. (2009) Cases in Compensation, 10e. Compensation:
Ithaca.
Additional articles to be downloaded as appropriate – see syllabus.
Recommended, but Not Required Course Materials
Gerhart, B. & Rynes, S. (2003). Compensation: Theory, evidence, and strategic
implications. Sage Publications, Thousand Oaks.
Course Web Page
Blackboard https://blackboard.sc.edu/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp. We will use Blackboard as
the primary website. We will use the following Blackboard features:
-
Submit ALL assignments through the Assignments section of Blackboard.
Schedule to check on major activities and due dates.
The web site contains a variety of useful information, announcements, and materials, including:
-
Syllabus -- A copy of the syllabus.
PowerPoint Presentations -- Lecture PowerPoint presentations will often be
available to download and print before class (with the exception of those slides
that may directly influence an upcoming reward).
Let me know if you encounter problems or have ideas for other ways to use Blackboard.
Please do the following at the beginning of the semester: Log on to Blackboard and change
your email account to the account that you check most often. There is a practice section of the
drop box where you can upload files to make sure that you know how to do it. Please use this
practice drop box to verify you can upload documents to the website so you do not encounter any
technical problems when attempting to post the first assignment.
2
Evaluation
Your grade in the course will be based on one quiz, class participation, group projects including
a three-part simulation, and a first assignment. See other portions of the syllabus for specific
information on each of these items. The breakdown of points is:
Class Participation (12) (24%)
Special Group Project (7%)
Phases I, II, II (group) (45%) (15% each)
Quiz (1) (24%)
120 points
35 points
225 points
120 points
Total
500 points
Bonus Points: 1st assignment (on-time) (1) (+1%)
Bonus Points: Total Class
5 points
11 points
Grading scale*:
A
93 - 100
B+
87 - 92.99
B
83 - 86.99
C+
77 - 82.99
C
70 - 76.99
D+
67 - 69.99
D
60 - 66.99
F
< 60
*percentage terms of the highest score in the class (max 500 points). Therefore, if for example,
471 points is the highest total number of points earned by a student in the class, then to earn an
A, other students would only need 438 points (.93 x 471).
Grade Appeals: Any and all grade appeals must be submitted in writing within 48 hours of
grade distribution. Upon receiving a written appeal I will review the merits of the arguments and
re-grade the assignment in light of these comments. This re-grade will be from scratch and this
means the grade received on the re-grade may be higher or lower than the original grade. Verbal
grade appeals or appeals made more than 48 hours after grade distribution will be ignored.
Attendance & Class Contributions (24%)
Attendance
Attendance is expected; if you are not there for a class exercise then you will get no credit for
that exercise. You are responsible for the material discussed in your absence. Your absence from
class will have no bearing on the day’s deadlines. All assignments will be submitted
electronically, so your physical presence should have no bearing on your ability to complete the
assigned task. If you expect to miss a class, do the work and submit it in advance.
3
Class Contribution
Managers can be susceptible to a herding like mentality. As a result, they run the risk of acting
by default instead of by design simply because no dissent or alternative perspective was voiced.
A substantial portion of your learning will accrue through the constructive (and respectful)
challenge of each other's ideas and the search for alternative solutions. As a manager, your active
contributions to your team’s decision-making activities are essential to its success. Similarly,
your attendance and contributions are critical to your success in this course.
Your class contributions will be evaluated based on the quality of your input (not "air time" or
irrelevancies masking lack of preparation). Specifically, I am looking for the following:
you contribute to the advancement of the discussion
you articulate an in-depth understanding of course material
you persuasively and concisely convey your thoughts
you willingly test "new" ideas, rather than "play it safe"
you provoke a dialogue among participants
you illuminate difficult concepts
you support comments with facts and specifics
Our discussions should not formulate a lowest-common-denominator solution. Rather, we will
grapple with difficult problems. Indeed, both the frustrating and intriguing part about using
strategic rewards is that many problems have multiple viable solutions; each solution may result
in both success and difficulties. The more thorough we are in assessing a reward’s weakness, the
better we will be able to adjust, increasing the probability of reaching a successful conclusion.
Rating your classmates on their daily participation
For many this will be uncomfortable. On a daily basis, you will rate each other based on (1)
class participation, and (2) preparation. Most of you will eventually be in a position where you
have to evaluate employees or peers. The ability to evaluate others well is invaluable.
Ratings mechanisms
All students will receive 5 points minimum if they attend class and stay awake. The most points
that any one student can receive in a day is 10 points. No two students, within the same
evaluation group, can receive the same number of points on the same day. The number of points
will be determined within your group for the day. You are instructed to make your point
allocation based on giving the most weight to (1) class participation, followed by (2) preparation.
Example
For a two person group, those two students will collectively decide the appropriate grades for
each (e.g., student A may get 9 points and student B 7 points) - these are the participation points
for the day. On days where there are 3 group members, all three students will decide on grades
(e.g., student A could get 10 points, student B 9 points, and student C 8 points).
Impasse:
If evaluators cannot agree, prior to the end of class, they may take their case to an arbitration
panel. Remember, however, that arbitration has costs.
4
Missing Class
Missing class will mean that you receive 0 class participation points for that day.
Quiz (24%)
The quiz, worth 120 points is scheduled for Thursday, November 18th during our regular
meeting time. If the quiz is missed, it cannot be made up. At my discretion I may administer
additional short (10 point) “pop” quizzes as a means for checking preparedness.
Simulation (45%)
There will be three phases of the simulation, each worth up to 75 points. The directions for the
simulation can be found in “Cases in Compensation”. We will develop a total compensation
system for a hypothetical software organization called FastCat. This will include examining job
descriptions and the organization’s goals to assist in designing a compensation strategy,
evaluating jobs, conducting salary surveys, analyzing data, pricing jobs, making individual pay
decisions, and designing administrative procedures. This is completed in groups of no more than
five – I will assign the groups.
Further Remarks
Grading:
Grading will become increasingly strict as the semester develops. Expect that an assignment
turned-in near the end of the semester will receive a lower grade than the same quality
assignment turned-in earlier in the semester.
Guidelines for written work
Good writing habits are "portable" and will always reflect well on you. Shoddy written work can
have enormous negative consequences. I expect a commitment to quality on your part. To this
end, you should proof your work for content (i.e. cohesion of argument, clarity of logic, support
of position, and conciseness), as well as for correct grammar, spelling, and punctuation (re-read
even after running spell check!). Plan ahead, and allow yourself plenty of time to think about
your answers and revise your write-ups.
In general, all of your written assignments should include the following:
Well-organized and concise arguments (avoid fluff or irrelevancies)
Clear statements of assumptions and conclusions
Rigorous use of facts and financial data to support arguments
Original, not plagiarized text (give credit where it is due)
Well-supported creativity and extensions are encouraged
All written work must have one-inch margins, no greater or smaller than a 12 point font
size, and should be posted to the course website appropriately.
5
Lectures
Lectures will be used to highlight key points and to introduce relevant issues. There will not be
adequate class time to cover all of the concepts and techniques discussed in the readings. You are
expected to complete and be familiar with all assigned readings and integrate them as appropriate
into your written assignments, even if I don’t talk about them in class. The readings will also
inform your class comments. Please consider me a resource (both in and out of class).
Deadlines and Late policy (reiterated to make the point)
All assignments need to be posted to the course web site on-time. If there are problems with
blackboard, email me your assignment directly professor.nybergFall10@gmail.com. If there are
further electronic problems with your submission, deliver them in person. In the event that you
miss a class and still wish to submit an assignment, your document still must be posted to the
course web site on time. As managers, you will not be afforded the luxury of missing deadlines
(think of deadlines as “windows of opportunity”). Late assignments will be penalized severely (I
will consider items late 1 second past the scheduled deadline). If you miss the deadline, email
your assignment directly to me. Late assignments mean an automatic 20% reduction in your
score on the assignment and the loss of an additional 20% for each additional late day. I will not
accept excuses. My intention is to be as fair as possible and the fairest rule I have yet to
come up with is - no exceptions. To spell this out plainly, illness, family tragedy, electronic
problems, alternate events, job interviews, etc. may or may not be appropriate reasons for
missing a class or devoting your attention somewhere that prohibits spending the desired time on
your course work. While these and other reasons may be legitimate, their merit will have no
bearing on the implementation of this policy. There will be absolutely no exceptions. While this
policy may seem harsh, it is (1) the only way to be fair to everyone, (2) the way that things will
often be in business, and (3) the case that we are only meeting 12 times.
Other Administrative Details
Timely attendance is important. I reserve the right to lower your participation grade if you
are tardy to class.
I will strive to return your work in a timely manner.
If you miss class it is always your responsibility to find out what material were covered, and
what other assignments were made.
If you know you will be missing a class in which an assignment is due, you are still obligated
to submit the assignment on-time.
Do not wait until the end of the semester to see me regarding problems with the course
material or your performance. Your performance in this class is important to me. Please
discuss potential problems with me early in the semester.
Suggested paper lengths are only upper limits. If you can convey your thoughts more
succinctly in your written assignments, please do so!
Like managers executing actual strategies, we may find that we want to amend the course
syllabus as the semester progresses. Check the course website at least weekly for updates
and/or changes to the class.
6
Expected Classroom Behavior
Your conduct in class should mirror that required for a business meeting. In other words, don’t do
anything for which your boss would give you a dirty look or a reprimand. Students who repeatedly
violate any these expectations may have their grades lowered.
Be on time.
Do not leave early unless you have previously informed the instructor that you must.
Be prepared by completing all the readings and cases for the class period.
Participate in classroom discussions. Ask questions. Be actively involved.
Laptop computers should be used only for work immediately related to what is happening in class.
You should not be surfing the Internet (unless directly related to something happening in class at that
moment), checking emails, working on other class projects or other course work.
Concentrate on the class activities. Do not work on assignments for other classes, read the paper, or
otherwise focus your attention on things other than this course.
Do not sleep in class. If you are too tired to stay awake, start participating and get involved, or standup (preferably in the back of the classroom).
Do not talk inappropriately in class. Do not carry on conversations with other students during a
formal class session (e.g. lecture or full class discussion). This disruptive to other students and
disrespectful to the class process.
Turn off your cell phone and/or pager when you enter the classroom. If you forget and your phone
rings, do not answer it. Just turn in off.
Do not read, write, or respond to text messages during class.
I will rely on Blackboard email to send you messages. So please either check your Blackboard email
account regularly or have it forwarded to your preferred email provider.
7
Academic Integrity and Misconduct
I expect all work to be performed consistent with principles of academic integrity. I will issue
clear and specific guidelines for collaborative work and for consultation of source materials for
assignments. If these guidelines seem vague or unclear, please ask me to clarify them. Violation
of these guidelines will result in a score of 0 for the assignment in question, and may also result
in further sanctions including failure of the course. Any concerns in this area may be discussed
with me directly, or you may consult the Management Department Chair, Prof. Brian Klaas.
You are expected to practice the highest possible standards of academic integrity. Any deviation
from this expectation will result in a minimum of your failing the assignment, and may result in
additional, more severe disciplinary measures up to and including referring you to the Office of
Academic Integrity. Violations of the University's Honor Code include, but are not limited to
improper citation of sources, using another student’s work, and any other form of academic
misrepresentation. For more information, see the Carolina Community Student Handbook.
Remember that the first tenet of the Carolinian Creed is, “I will practice personal and
academic integrity.”
Please see the academic integrity’s web site: http://sc.edu/academicintegrity/
8
COURSE CALENDAR – Fall 2010
1
Tue, Oct. 19
2
Thur, Oct. 21
3
Tue, Oct. 26
Topic: Definitions/Problem Identification
Readings:
1. Syllabus.
2.Compensation, Chapters 1&2 (Milkovich, Newman & Gerhart)
3.Why incentive plans cannot work (Sep/Oct 1993), by Kohn (Harvard
Business Review; HBR)
4. Six dangerous myths about pay (May/June 1998), by Pfeffer HBR
5.Challenging Behaviorist Dogma (March/April, 1998) by Kohn in
Compensation and Benefits Review
Assignment Due:
o Assignment 1 – see Blackboard – due at 6:00am.
o Signed Contract Delivered to Class the first day to receive 5 pts
Topic: Internal Consistency
Readings:
1. Compensation, Chapter 3 (Milkovich, Newman & Gerhart)
2. Kerr (1975). On the Folly of Rewarding A, While Hoping for B,
Academy of Management Journal, 18(4) pp. 769-783
– Do you think that Kerr’s logic and assessment of organizational
reward systems is sound? Any weaknesses in his position? Is
there an easy fix to this tendency (if so, what)? Can you think of
examples of when rewarding A while hoping for B is a plus for
the organization?
Topic: Internal Consistency
Guest – Fernando Esquivel, VP HR, Eaton’s Electrical Sector
Readings:
1. Compensation, Chapters 4-6 (Milkovich, Newman & Gerhart)
2. Bloom (1975). The performance effects of pay dispersions on
individuals and organizations. Academy of Management
Journal, 42(1) pp. 25-40
- Critically evaluate, but do not worry about the statistical
analyses. How do equity, expectancy, and tournament theories fit
with this work? Are the principles from these theories applied
correctly? Does this study apply in the traditional (non-baseball)
workforce? Do the conclusions make sense to you and agree
with your sense of pay differentials and their effects?
3. Kahya & Osmangazi (2006). Revising the metal industry job
evaluation system for blue-collar jobs. Compensation &
Benefits Review, November/December. pp. 49-63.
9
4
Thur, Oct. 28
Topic: Phase I discussion / External competitiveness
Readings:
1. Compensation, Chapters 7-8 (Milkovich, Newman & Gerhart)
2. Dolmat-Connell (1994) Labor market definition and salary Survey
Selection. Compensation and Benefits Review, 26(2); 38-46.
Assignments Due:
o PHASE I DUE (6:00am – via assignments)
0a Tue, Nov. 2
NO Class – Go Vote.
5
Thur, Nov. 4
Topic: External competitiveness
Readings:
1. Levine, David (1993). Fairness, markets, and ability to pay:
Evidence from compensation executives. American Economic
Review, 83(5); pp. 1241-1259.
- Were the conceptual issues meaningful; was the approach taken
to study them effective; what are the paper’s implications for
compensation theories and for practitioners?
2. Merriman, Kimberly (2006). A fairness approach to market-based
pay. Workspan (March). You can find the article via this link:
http://www.kkmerriman.com/Other_Pubs.html
Assignment:
o In groups, do the “Your Turn” exercise on page 275.
6
Tue, Nov 9
Topic: Performance Management
Guest – David Jarrett, Senior VP HR, Clariant Corporation
Readings:
1. Aguinis, Herman (2009). Performance Management (2nd edition).
Read pages 1-29; 50-72; 77-90; 94-112. (to be handed-out)
2. Longenecker, Sims, & Gioia (1987). Behind the mask: The politics
of employee appraisal. Academy of Management Executive, 1(3);
183-193.
- Are these executives insightful, delusional, arrogant, pragmatic, etc.?
Is politics in performance appraisal a problem or an opportunity for
mangers? What will you be like? Are other areas of comp/HR also
likely candidates for political influence, how?
10
7
Thur, Nov 11
Topic: Phase II discussion / Performance – based pay
Readings:
1. Compensation, Chapters 9-11 (Milkovich, Newman & Gerhart)
Assignment:
o PHASE II DUE (6:00am – via assignments)
8
Tue, Nov. 16
Topic: Performance-based pay
Readings:
1. Jenkins, Mitra, Gupta, & Shaw (1998). Are financial incentives
related to performance? A meta-analytic review of empirical research.
Journal of Applied Psychology 83(5); 777-787.
- Compare this with the articles from the first class (e.g., Kohn, 1998).
Who do you believe? What situational conditions may exist? How are
intrinsic and extrinsic motivation related, if they are?
2. Beer, M. & Cannon, M. (2004). Promise and peril in implementing
pay-for-performance. Human Resource Management, 43(1); 3-48.
- What were the most cirtical factors in pay-for-erformance not
working at HP? Which of the cases is closest to being a success story,
why? How might each of these plans have been designed better? What
are the roles and subsequent implications of employee
communication/participation in HP’s PFP plans? Speculate about
HR’s role or lack thereof.
3. Rynes, Gerhart, & Minette (2004). The importance of pay in
employee motivation: Discrepancies between what people say and
what they do. Human Resource Management, 43(4); 381-394.
Assignment:
o In groups, do the “Your Turn” exercise on page 346.
9
Thur, Nov. 18
********** Quiz ***********
11
10 Tue, Nov. 23
Topic: Phase III discussion / Benefits / Legal
Readings:
1. Compensation, Chapters 12-13, 17 (Milkovich, Newman & Gerhart)
2. Richter, A.S. (1998). Compensation management and cultural change
at IBM: Paying the people in black at big blue. Compensation and
Benefits Review, May/June; 51-59.
Assignment:
o Phase III DUE (6:00am – via assignments)
0b Thur, Nov. 25
No Class – Gobble Gobble
11 Tue, Nov. 30
Topic: Exec comp / Labor / Intern. / Budgets
Readings:
1. Berger & Berger (2008), The Compensation Handbook, pp 311348 (to be handed-out in class).
2. Find a popular press article regarding executive pay.
3. Nyberg, Fulmer, Gerhart, & Carpenter (2010). Agency theory
revisited: CEO returns and shareholder interest alignment.
Academy of Management Journal.
Assignment:
o Summarize the article that you found regarding executive
pay.
12 Thur, Dec. 2
Topic: Rewards Negotiations
Readings:
1.
To be distributed in class
Assignment:
o
Salary negotiation
12
Copy Photo Here
(Student ID works well)
Student Questionnaire & Course Agreement
Your name _________________________ Your primary HR interest: ___________________
Your home town/state _________________________
Your full email address ____________________________________________________
(We will use emails in Blackboard, so make sure that the email address that you check most
frequently is also the email address on file in Blackboard)
Extracurricular Activities:
Employment Objectives upon Graduation
Your # 1 learning goal for this course
Student Agreement: I, the above-named student, have read this syllabus and
understand that much of my final grade will be based on my active
participation in class and my independent written work outside of class and
that I have successfully logged onto the Blackboard web site.
____________________________________
(Signature)
13