Compensation
Theory, Evidence, and Strategic Implications
- Barry Gerhart - University of Wisconsin, USA
- Sara Rynes - University of Iowa, USA
Compensation provides a comprehensive, research-based review of both the determinants and effects of compensation. Combining theory and research from a variety of disciplines, authors Barry Gerhart and Sara Rynes examine the three major compensation decisions - pay level, pay structure and pay delivery systems.
Revealing the impact of different compensation policies, this interdisciplinary volume examines: the relationship between performance-based pay and intrinsic motivation; implications of individual pay differentials for team or unit performance; the consequences of pay for performance policies; effect sizes and practical significance of compensation findings; and directions for future research.
Compensation considers why organizations pay people the way they do and how various pay strategies influence the success of organizations. Critically evaluating areas where research is inconsistent with common beliefs, Gerhart and Rynes explore the motivational effects of compensation.
Primarily intended for graduate students in human resource management, psychology, and organizational behaviour courses, this book is also an invaluable reference for compensation management consultants and organizational development specialists.
"Gerhart and Rynes provide a thorough, comprehensive review of the vast literatures relevant to compensation. Their insights regarding the integration of economic, psychological, and management perspectives are particularly enlightening. This text provides an invaluable tool for those interested in advancing our understanding of compensation practices."
"The authors artfully synthesize complex scholarly articles from economics, psychology, and sociology. The organization of the book is exceptionally transparent... Compensation should be accessible to a wide range of readers who appreciate a multidisciplinary perspective on organizational issues... I cannot emphasize enough how effectively Gerhart and Rynes discuss compensation thoughout this book. As an experienced academic researcher, I have already benefited tremendously from my first reading of the book . It is a must-read, and I recommend it without reservation to instructors, researchers, and students."
“Compensation is an excellent review of the current state of employee compensation... It is an excellent way to stimulate the thinking of those involved in research on organizational reward systems and should be required widely of doctoral students and others with a research interest in the topic... One of the strongest features of this book is its clear theoretical orientation to the topics covered. What’s more, the text is not so much an introduction to those theories as a way of challenging the reader to think through implications on a bit more sophisticated level... The book is an excellent reference work for researchers and advanced students.”
I found this book very interesting. The chapters each cover good discussion of the topic and the authors are well respected. I personally found chapter 2 to be helpful in framing the economic theories of rewards.
Having said this, I have not adopted the book for the course because the structure does not really follow the structure of the module (which has to remain the way it is for accreditation reasons) and therefore it was difficult to map particular chapters to particular lectures in a way which would be helpful for students. I have however found the book useful myself and include a couple of references to it in my lectures and my own notes.