(For question 1 choose a or b. DO NOT ANSWER BOTH)
1a. Why is it easier to explain a $2 million payout to a sports professional for working 4 days to win a Masters Championship than it is to explain why William Clay Ford made $30 million as CEO of Ford Motor Company?

1b. Compare and contrast (how are they similar and how are they different) the pay and benefits approaches of two different countries. One country must be from Europe and the other country can be from either North America or Asia.

ANSWER 3 OF THE QUESTIONS FROM 2 5.

2. You are to change your companys retirement plan from a defined benefit (final pay formula) to a defined contribution (401k) plan? Describe the steps you will go through to accomplish this including the following: communications to current employees as well as those who have already retired; plan design to help ensure that its cost will be at 6% of base pay; plan design to encourage employee participation; and what constraints will you need to be aware of in plan design.

3. Describe all the steps you would go through to help your organization establish 20% of all positions as a flexible portion of the workforce. That is, they are not full-time positions but instead positions which are available when the organization needs the staffing. Be clear about the pay and benefits you would offer to this type of workforce being careful not to create a two tiered system and one which complies with all federal and state laws. In addition, you do not want to reduce the current workforce in order to accomplish this.

4. Describe the three components you consider to be the most important in an executive pay program to meet the criteria of competitive, performance based, and fair to all stakeholders? Be clear in your descriptions as to how these components should be established, communicated, and managed.

5. Your organization is opening up a new division in Japan where your organization has little to no experience? Describe to your boss the CEO the value and impact of staffing with host country nationals, third country nationals, and expatriates. Be clear on the relative cost of one type of employee group over another and the challenges faced with benefits for all three groups.