WGU C202 Managing Human Capital EXAM A, B & STUDY GUIDE COMPLETE QUESTIONS
AND WELL ELABORATED ANSWERS
1. Direct financial compensation - ANSWER compensation received in the form of salary,
wages, commissions, stock options or bonuses
2. indirect financial compensation - ANSWER all the tangible and financially valued
rewards that are not included in direct compensation including free meals, vacation time
and health insurance
3. nonfinancial compensation - ANSWER rewards and incentives given to employees that
aren't financial in nature
4. resource dependence theory - ANSWER proposition that organizational decisions are
influenced by both internal and external agents who control critical resources
5. wage differentials - ANSWER differences in wage between various workers, groups of
workers, or workers within a career field
6. labor market - ANSWER all of the potential employees located within a geographic area
from which the organization might be able to hire
7. cost of living allowances - ANSWER clauses in union contacts that automatically
increase wages base on the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics' cost of living index
8. market pricing - ANSWER uses external sources of information about how others are
compensating a certain position to assign value to a company's similar job
9. Compensation surveys - ANSWER surveys of other organizations conducted to learn
what they are paying for specific jobs or job classes
,10. benchmark jobs - ANSWER jobs that tend to exist across departments and across diverse
organizations allowing them to be used as a basis for compensation comparisons
11. job evaluation - ANSWER a systematic process that uses expert judgement to assess
differences in value between jobs
12. ranking methos - ANSWER subjectively compares jobs to each other based on their
overall worth to the organization
13. job classification method - ANSWER subjectively classifies jobs into an exiting
hierarchy of grades and categories
14. point factor method - ANSWER uses a set of compensable factors to determine a job's
value. skill, resp, effort, working cond.
15. compensable factor - ANSWER any characteristic used to provide a basis for judging a
job's value
16. base pay - ANSWER reflects the size and scope of an employee's responsibilities
17. severance pay - ANSWER give to employees upon termination of their employment
18. fixed pay - ANSWER pays employees a set amount regardless of performance
19. variable pay - ANSWER bases some or all of an employee's compensation on employee,
team, or organizational
20. pay structure - ANSWER the array of pay rates for different work or skills within a single
organization
,21. pay mix - ANSWER the relative emphasis give to different compensation components
22. pay leader - ANSWER organization with a compensation policy of giving employees
greater rewards than competitors
23. pay follower - ANSWER an organization that pays its front-line employees as little as
possible
24. skills, responsibilities, effort, working conditions - ANSWER Four categories of
compensable factors
25. Hay Group Guide Chart - Profile Method - ANSWER a point-factor system is used to
produce both a profile and a point score for each position.
26. know how
27. problem solving
28. accountability
29. working conditions
30. Know-how, problem solving, accountability, working conditions - ANSWER Hay Group
Method based on four main factors
31. Position Analysis Questionnaire - ANSWER a structured job evaluation questionnaire
that is statistically analyzed to calculate pay rates based on how the labor market is
valuing worker characteristics. a copyrighted, standardized, structured job analysis
questionnaire. 6 sections covering 187 job elements.
32. job pricing - ANSWER the generation of salary structures and pay levels for each job
based on the job evaluation data
33. single rate system, pay grades and broadbanding - ANSWER Three most common job
pricing systems
, 34. pay grade (pay scale) - ANSWER the range of possible pay for a group of jobs
35. broadbanding - ANSWER using very wide pay grades to increase pay flexibility
36. internal equity - ANSWER when employees perceive their pay to be fair relative to the
pay of other jobs in the organization
37. employee equity - ANSWER the perceived fairness of the relative pay between
employees performing similar jobs for the same organization
38. external equity - ANSWER when an organization's employees believe that their pay is
fair when compared to what other employers pay their employees who perform similar
jobs
39. comparable worth - ANSWER if two jobs have equal difficulty requirements, the pay
should be the same, regardless of who fills them
40. wage rate compression - ANSWER starting salaries for new hires exceed the salaries paid
to experienced employees
41. golden parachute - ANSWER lucrative benefits given to executives in the event the
company is taken over
42. Cost-of-living adjustments - ANSWER pay increases to account for a higher cost of
living in one country versus another
43. Housing allowance - ANSWER payments to subsidize or cover housing and related costs
AND WELL ELABORATED ANSWERS
1. Direct financial compensation - ANSWER compensation received in the form of salary,
wages, commissions, stock options or bonuses
2. indirect financial compensation - ANSWER all the tangible and financially valued
rewards that are not included in direct compensation including free meals, vacation time
and health insurance
3. nonfinancial compensation - ANSWER rewards and incentives given to employees that
aren't financial in nature
4. resource dependence theory - ANSWER proposition that organizational decisions are
influenced by both internal and external agents who control critical resources
5. wage differentials - ANSWER differences in wage between various workers, groups of
workers, or workers within a career field
6. labor market - ANSWER all of the potential employees located within a geographic area
from which the organization might be able to hire
7. cost of living allowances - ANSWER clauses in union contacts that automatically
increase wages base on the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics' cost of living index
8. market pricing - ANSWER uses external sources of information about how others are
compensating a certain position to assign value to a company's similar job
9. Compensation surveys - ANSWER surveys of other organizations conducted to learn
what they are paying for specific jobs or job classes
,10. benchmark jobs - ANSWER jobs that tend to exist across departments and across diverse
organizations allowing them to be used as a basis for compensation comparisons
11. job evaluation - ANSWER a systematic process that uses expert judgement to assess
differences in value between jobs
12. ranking methos - ANSWER subjectively compares jobs to each other based on their
overall worth to the organization
13. job classification method - ANSWER subjectively classifies jobs into an exiting
hierarchy of grades and categories
14. point factor method - ANSWER uses a set of compensable factors to determine a job's
value. skill, resp, effort, working cond.
15. compensable factor - ANSWER any characteristic used to provide a basis for judging a
job's value
16. base pay - ANSWER reflects the size and scope of an employee's responsibilities
17. severance pay - ANSWER give to employees upon termination of their employment
18. fixed pay - ANSWER pays employees a set amount regardless of performance
19. variable pay - ANSWER bases some or all of an employee's compensation on employee,
team, or organizational
20. pay structure - ANSWER the array of pay rates for different work or skills within a single
organization
,21. pay mix - ANSWER the relative emphasis give to different compensation components
22. pay leader - ANSWER organization with a compensation policy of giving employees
greater rewards than competitors
23. pay follower - ANSWER an organization that pays its front-line employees as little as
possible
24. skills, responsibilities, effort, working conditions - ANSWER Four categories of
compensable factors
25. Hay Group Guide Chart - Profile Method - ANSWER a point-factor system is used to
produce both a profile and a point score for each position.
26. know how
27. problem solving
28. accountability
29. working conditions
30. Know-how, problem solving, accountability, working conditions - ANSWER Hay Group
Method based on four main factors
31. Position Analysis Questionnaire - ANSWER a structured job evaluation questionnaire
that is statistically analyzed to calculate pay rates based on how the labor market is
valuing worker characteristics. a copyrighted, standardized, structured job analysis
questionnaire. 6 sections covering 187 job elements.
32. job pricing - ANSWER the generation of salary structures and pay levels for each job
based on the job evaluation data
33. single rate system, pay grades and broadbanding - ANSWER Three most common job
pricing systems
, 34. pay grade (pay scale) - ANSWER the range of possible pay for a group of jobs
35. broadbanding - ANSWER using very wide pay grades to increase pay flexibility
36. internal equity - ANSWER when employees perceive their pay to be fair relative to the
pay of other jobs in the organization
37. employee equity - ANSWER the perceived fairness of the relative pay between
employees performing similar jobs for the same organization
38. external equity - ANSWER when an organization's employees believe that their pay is
fair when compared to what other employers pay their employees who perform similar
jobs
39. comparable worth - ANSWER if two jobs have equal difficulty requirements, the pay
should be the same, regardless of who fills them
40. wage rate compression - ANSWER starting salaries for new hires exceed the salaries paid
to experienced employees
41. golden parachute - ANSWER lucrative benefits given to executives in the event the
company is taken over
42. Cost-of-living adjustments - ANSWER pay increases to account for a higher cost of
living in one country versus another
43. Housing allowance - ANSWER payments to subsidize or cover housing and related costs
