Executive Compensation
The role of compensation in organizational behavior is an important one as it is used as a key tool by management to achieve social control over its employees (Pfeffer, 1997, p.102), the primary assumption being that compensation packages affect attitudes and behavior. This is seen as particularly true of executive level compensation on the grounds that management must be sufficiently motivated if organizational objectives are to be met and so that, they in turn, succeed in motivating the rest of the organization: "Because of the importance of money as a motivational factor, the compensation function is quite significant. Its performance involves developing a philosophy of what wages should be; developing theories as to the source of wages...relating compensation to individual jobs; arriving at individual differentials in pay...." (Megginson, 1972, p. 50)
Though compensation may undeniably be an important factor, several research studies have shown that the role of compensation may vary within the context of markets, organizational or individual behavior. For instance, the role of compensation in attracting and retaining employees and management talent was seen to increase in importance in the tight labor market of 1996-97 when wages and salaries grew at a pace not seen in many years. In addition, the increasingly competitive business environment of the last few decades has necessitated that organizations control labor costs, while focusing simultaneously on increasing productivity, quality, and enhanced...
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