Compensation & Benefits Review

Book-value stock ownership and incentive plans, while not new, have been increasing in popularity since the debacle with market-value stock option plans during the recent recession.

Few managers dispute the wisdom of relating pay to performance. Even fewer, however, think that present pay practices enable them to do this. A fresh approach—one-time merit increases—may work better.

Given the substantial differences in tax and commutation costs between major urban areas in the United States, hard data on these differences are a useful administrative tool for personnel and compensation managers.

Management pay varies positively with the level of positions reported (position importance), staffing ratios (scope of super vision), size of the organization, profitability, and job function (supply-demand relationships).