REVISED AMENDMENT TO EXISTING SYLLABUS FOR Date Revision Shared with Students:
In response to the 2020 COVID-19 global pandemic, all courses at the University of Alberta moved to remote delivery, effective March 17, 2020. Subsequently, a decision was made to adjust the grading scheme for all University of Alberta courses for the Winter 2020 term to award one of the following grades: CR (credit) or NC (no credit) as indicated in the University Calendar.
The changes were put in place to ensure equity among students, preserve academic integrity in extraordinary circumstances, and to manage the issues presented by an uncertain future, including the impact on our students and human resources.
To ensure clarity for students, all Winter 2020 course outlines for both undergraduate and graduate courses are to be updated using this template to outline changes to exams, assessments and grading and shared with students.
Course Code:
Course Title:
Instructor Name:
Instructor Contact Information:
Revised course assessment plan (Please list all assessed assignments and weighting below)
Created March 24, 2020
SMO 416
SMO 416
Performance Management and Rewards Dr. Michelle Inness
1. Project (20%)- Originally the project for this class was to involve a paper (10%) and a presentation (10%) on the paper topic. Since we moved to remote instruction before presentations began, I gave students the option of submitting a video presentation or not. If students opt to submit a video presentation it will be due on March 31 and will be worth 10%; with the paper worth 10%. If students opt not to submit the video, the paper will be worth 20%. This retains the original weighting of the project but gives students the flexibility to decide whether they want to present a video presentation. In either case, the paper is still due on April 7.
2. The final exam was originally an in-person 2 hour exam. This will now be given as an assignment with a longer time frame for completion. The due date for this deliverable will be April 20 at 4 pm - the original end time of the exam. However, the questions will go live on April 13, allowing 1 week for the students to submit their answers. This will allow the students flexibility around other deliverables.
3. Participation days will not be assessed post-March 16.
3/25/2020
IMPORTANT NOTES:
● If students require alterations in their approved accommodations, please contact [email protected].
● The changes with respect to the mode of delivery of instruction and assessment and the changes to grading regulations do not constitute grounds for an appeal under academic appeal policies (i.e. grade or academic standing appeals may not be advanced on the grounds of these changes).
● When Incomplete (IN) status is assigned instructors are required to communicate with students about the mechanisms and requirements that will be implemented to determine the student final grade of CR or NC. For more information, including the time to complete the remaining course work see the University Calendar.
Created March 24, 2020
SMO 416
1Performance Management and Rewards
2Winter, 2020 Class Information
Section: Day: Room: Time:
B1 Tue, Thu BUS 4-09 11:00AM – 12:20 PM
Contact Information
Instructor: Dr. Michelle Inness
Office: Business 4-21C
Telephone: 780 492-4693 (office)
Email: [email protected]
Website I will be posting on eclass.
Office hours: I would be pleased to meet with you by appointment
Course Description and Objectives
A compensation and reward system can have a major impact on an organization’s success, not least of all because employee compensation often represents a substantial portion of the organization’s operating budget, and can be an important aspect of motivating employees. The problem is, however, that no single compensation system or strategy fits all organizations and jobs. Thus, the major purpose of this course is to help students identify, design, and implement a compensation and reward system that will add the most value to an organization, motivate employees, and align with the organization’s strategy and culture. An approach emphasizing strategic, behavioural and technical aspects of compensation is presented.
Course Materials
1. Long, Richard J. (2014). Strategic Compensation in Canada, 5th edition. Scarborough: Nelson Thomson Learning.
I have made this book suggested rather than required. As such, various editions of this book will suffice for our class. I have indicated the 5th edition as our bookstore carries them, but the 4th (2010) or 6th (2018) editions are fine, too. If you access the 6th edition it is coauthored by Dr. Parbudyal Singh.
2. Students are responsible for all assigned readings, including materials presented in lectures, class discussions, mini-cases, etc. Slides from lectures will be posted to the course website but should not be viewed as a substitute for the material dealt with in class.
1 SMO 311 (Formerly ORGA 311), ‘Managing the Workforce in Canada’ is a pre or co-requisite for this course.
2 Policy about course outlines can be found in Section 23.4(2) of the University Calendar.
1Method of Evaluation3
Summary of deliverables and associated learning objectives:
This course offers students several opportunities to demonstrate their understanding of course material. Performance in the course will be evaluated on the following basis:
Participation 10%
Mid-term Exam (Feb 25) 30%
Final Exam 40%
Paper/presentation project 20%
(final paper (due April 7; worth 20%),
(a video presentation is now optional; if you submit a video presentation it will be worth 10% and due on March 31 and your paper will be worth 10% rather than 20%, due April
7)
Total 100%This course incorporates the Learning Goals of the BCom Program, in particular, Critical Thinking, Written, Oral Communication, and Teamwork. All course deliverables will measure your critical thinking ability and your written communication skills; The presentation will assess your oral communication skills; The group work component of the ‘participation’ grade facilitates the development of teamwork skills. Ethical issues will be discussed throughout.
At the end of this course, you will have developed the following course-specific skills or knowledge:
a. You should understand the theoretical underpinnings of the motivational impact of reward strategy.
b. You should be able to strategically consider a variety of job, organizational and environmental factors to derive an optimal performance management and reward strategy.
c. You should understand the market, organizational and individual factors that govern pay rates.
d. You should be able to apply these understandings to a variety of business/organization cases
Participation
Participation means active involvement in and contribution to learning in class. In this course, an important aspect of that is working with and supporting other class members. Participation will be assessed on 4 separate occasions during the semester (these days are identified with the word ‘Participation’ on the course schedule at the end of this syllabus). To facilitate this, on the participation days prior to the midterm students will be assigned to discussion groups and will work in those groups on several occasions. Groups will be expected to answer questions, and present solutions. Students must attend the full class on participation days and actively contribute to their group, with participation being assessed on each day on a pass/fail basis.
Where students are able to show just cause for being unable to attend a participation day, a written solution to the case questions may be submitted prior to class for a participation day credit. It is expected this option will be used sparingly, and except in emergencies, approval prior to class is needed to avail of this option. If a student uses this option, a grade will be assigned on the basis of the accuracy of their responses.
3 The University of Alberta is committed to the highest standards of academic integrity and honesty. Students are expected to be familiar with these standards regarding academic honesty and to uphold the policies of the University in this respect.
Students are particularly urged to familiarize themselves with the provisions of the Code of Student Behaviour (online at www.ualberta.ca/secretariat/appeals.htm) and avoid any behaviour that could potentially result in suspicions of cheating, plagiarism, misrepresentation of facts and/or participation in an offence. Academic dishonesty is a serious offence and can result in expulsion from the University.
Examinations
There are two examinations scheduled in this course, a mid-term exam on Feb 25th worth 30%, and a final exam worth 40%. The mid-term will be 75 minutes in length. For the mid-term, students will be permitted to use one, double-sided cheat sheet that is no more than 8.5 by 11 inches in dimension.
In theory, the final exam will be cumulative, but as a practical matter, the emphasis will be on material covered in the second-half of the semester. Both exams will involve answering a series of questions related to a business mini-case, and will involve the application of concepts and methods learned in class.
The final will go live on eClass on April 13 and will be presented as an assignment that will be due on April 20th at 4 PM (the original end time of the final in-person exam).
Paper/Presentation Project (20%)
Students must choose a topic, and on this topic, must submit a paper on April 7. I will give students the option of either:
Submitting the paper without a presentation. For students who do so the paper will constitute the entire value of this project at 20%. or
Submitting a paper and a presentation (for students who do so, the grades will be split at 10% each between the presentation and paper).
In either case, for every member of the class the paper will be due on April 7; If you submit a video presentation the video will be due on March 31.
Topic
There are two possible types of topics that you can choose from: 1. Most students opt to analyze the compensation and reward system a job or organization with which they are familiar (perhaps a former or current job, or a job that someone close to them has had). Analyzing a job means strategically choosing an appropriate managerial strategy, developing a reward and compensation system, and making suggestions for improvements over the current reward and compensation system for that job.
2. If you don’t wish to do an analysis of a compensation and reward system, you can also choose to introduce the class to an idea related to compensation strategy/structure that we haven’t covered. Some example topics used in past classes have been papers on executive compensation, salary caps, expat compensation, to name a few. Be careful to select a topic that is meaningful to you, sufficiently rigorous, and focused on rewards/compensation.
Paper
20% of the weight of the course will be assigned on the basis of your final paper, which should be approximately 6-7 double-spaced pages* in 12-point font, due on Tuesday, April 7. Please note that this length is a guideline for your information, and that papers that are longer or shorter than 6-7 pages will be accepted. However, it is important that you sufficiently cover the topic you choose, while simultaneously remaining focused on rewards/compensation.
Papers will be assessed for the extent to which they evidence a critical understanding, application, extension or integration of the class material (i.e., the paper should be accurate and present your rationale clearly), completeness, clarity and quality of writing, and overall organization. Some things to avoid: (i) not identifying a specific question or theme; (ii) not staying focused on answering the question or developing the theme you identified; and/or (iii) papers that simply describe or re-state the book or class material.
Presentation – Optional. If you submit a video presentation, then I will not weight the paper, described in the preceding paragraph, at 20%. Instead, 10% of the grade will come from the video presentation and 10% will come from the paper.
If you submit a video presentation it should be a 10 minute presentation of your ideas in your paper.
You will be graded on having your ideas completely developed, your accuracy, your preparedness for the presentation itself (clarity and overall quality/professionalism) and adhering to the allotted time
frame (going under or over time will be detrimental).
*This has traditionally been an individual assignment. However, I will allow you to work with a partner on the paper and presentation. If you avail yourself of this option the paper should be a minimum of 9 pages and a maximum of 11 pages and the presentation will be 15 minutes.
General note about grading
At the end of term, marks will be aggregated according to the weights indicated above, and then converted to a letter grade using the University of Alberta’s letter grading system. Final grades in this course will be based on each student’s relative standing within the class, as well as his/her overall achievement.
*Please note that any assignments/deliverables will be deducted 1 point per day late.
Course Schedule
Week Day Date Chapters Covered (if you are following along) Topic
1 Tue Jan 7 ---- Course Overview; Begin organizing groups
Thu Jan 9 1 and begin 2 Introduction to basic concepts;
A Strategic Framework for Compensation 2 Tue Jan 14 Finish 2 A Strategic Framework for Compensation
Thu Jan 16 ---- In-class assignment (Participation) 3 Tue Jan 21 3. Almost everything except
I will not thoroughly cover the theories of motivation. I may briefly discuss motivation theories – focusing on the most useful ones - in general terms in class
A Behavioural Framework for Compensation.
Thu Jan 23 ---- In-class assignment (Participation) 4 Tue Jan 28 4 (just the section on Base
Pay). Ch 4 addresses various forms of pay, but mainly base pay. I will focus on base pay this week, and other forms over the next 2 weeks
Base Pay
Thu Jan 30 ---- In-class assignment (Participation) 5 Tue Feb 4 4 (112-114);
5 (148-185);
11
Fundamentals of Performance Pay from Ch. 4 Performance pay choices
Designing performance pay plans Thu Feb 6 ---- In-class assignment (Participation) 6 Tue Feb 11 4 (114-119); 12 Fundamentals of Indirect Pay
Designing indirect pay plans
Thu Feb 13 ---- Practice midterm
7 Tue Feb 18
Reading week – no classes Thu Feb 20
8 Tue Feb 25 MIDTERM
Thu Feb 27 I will be at the Haskayne School of Business 9 Tue Mar 3 6 We will not
be covering utility analysis or
‘special employee groups’
from this chapter.
Formulating the Reward & Compensation Strategy
Thu Mar 5 7 and 8 Evaluating Jobs (Ch. 7) &
The Point Method (Ch. 8) 10 Tue Mar 10 7 and 8 cont’d Finish Evaluating Jobs (Ch. 7)
The Point Method (Ch. 8)
Thu Mar 12 9 Evaluating the Market
11 Tue Mar 17 10
Parts of 13 Evaluating Individuals Thu Mar 19 PRESENTATIONS (Participation)*
12 Tue Mar 24 PRESENTATIONS (Participation)
As of March 17, we will be working remotely. I will be available by email and if you need a more in- depth meeting, we can meet via phone (please email me to set up a time for a phone call). Our original class hours are a good time to set such meetings, but I am available at other times as well.
Thu Mar 26 PRESENTATIONS (Participation)
13 Tue Mar 31 PRESENTATIONS (Participation) Optional Video Presentations due Thu Apr 2 Office Hours
14 Apr 7 Final papers due on eclass
Apr 13 Questions for final will go live on eClass April
20 Final questions due by no later than 4 pm
