HURS107 – Intro to Compensation & Benefits

Week 6 Essay Assignment

Deadline
Due by the end of Week 6 at 11:59 pm, ET.

Outcomes
Completing this Assessment will help you to meet the following:

Course Outcomes

 Recognize the ethical components that need to be addressed when making compensation decisions.

Directions
In the 1950s, the salary gap between CEOs and workers was 20 times the salary of his/her
average worker. Last year, the salary gap increased to an average of 361 times more than the
salary of his/her average worker. CEOs receive most of the blame for the exorbitant executive
compensation packages. However, several individuals participate in setting executive
compensation such as: compensation consultants, compensation committees and board of
directors.

The intended goal of executive compensation is to motivate management to accomplish

business goals and strategies. However, there is very little correlation between CEO
performance and high compensation. This leaves many asking: “Why has executive pay gone
array?”

Take a look at the video: Money Matters: The Ethics of CEO Compensation (2:46). After
watching the video, you will respond to the prompting questions below in essay format on a
Word document. When you respond, try and bring in concepts learned from this week’s lecture
readings, along with what you learned in the discussion. Ensure that you use proper grammar
and punctuation and ensure that you spell-check prior to submitting in Blackboard. The
minimum word count for this essay is 550 words. The format should be 12-point font, double-
spaced, and one-inch margins.

 Summarize the role compensation consultants, compensation committees and board of

directors have in determining executive pay.
 Discuss the ethical components that need to be addressed for each group of individuals
when determining executive pay.
 HURS107 2

HURS107 Intro to Compensation & Benefits Executive Compensation Essay Rubric

Needs
Criteria Exceeds Expectations Meets Expectations Points
Improvement
63-70 points 49-62 points 0-48 points
Addressed all questions Addressed most questions Minimal attempt
asked with content related asked with content related to answer some
Answers to
to the lectures and to the lectures and questions.
Questions
supplemental material to supplemental material to Answers are
70 points
support your responses. support the responses. vague or
There may be some irrelevant.
irrelevant information.
18-20 points 14-17 points 0-13 points
Responses are clear, well Responses may have some Responses are
Organization thought out, and has a disjointed content but well mis-matched or
20 points well-organized structure. thought out and has an unorganized.
organized structure.

9-10 points 7-8 points 0-6 points

Assessment has no or 1 Assessment has 2-3 Assessment
spelling/grammatical spelling/grammatical contains four or
Mechanics
error. errors. more spelling
10 points
and/or
grammatical
errors.
Total
Instructor Points:
Comments: