Instructions

In at least 2,000 words (total), pick a different company (different from your Week 4 Assignment) Fortune 500 company and answer the following four questions... (IMPORTANT: For this assignment, the company you choose MUST have at least one union operating somewhere in the workforce.)

1. What, if anything, can you glean from publicly available information about the company's fixed pay compensation? (If the company does not offer publicly available pay information, look at employee review sites like glassdoor.com to get a sense of pay information.) If you were in charge of Human Resources and Workforce Management for the company you selected, how would you approach a fixed pay strategy? Identify at least one thing you would change about the way the company is doing things now. Be sure to support your decisions with sound reasoning.

2. What, if anything, can you glean from publicly available information about the company's variable pay compensation? Does the company offer bonuses, commissions, or any other type of gain-sharing to its employees? (Again, if the company does not provide publicly available pay information, you might look at employee review sites like glassdoor.com to get a sense of pay information.) If you were in charge of Human Resources and Workforce Management for the company you selected, how would you approach variable pay strategy? Identify at least one thing you would change about the way the company is doing things now. Be sure to support your decisions with sound reasoning.

3. Based on the total rewards compensation strategy of the company (i.e., looking at information on pay, healthcare benefits, retirement programs, etc.), what do you think are the most expensive components of employee costs for the company? Are any significantly more costly than the average paid by other companies? If you were in charge of Human Resources and Workforce Management for the company you selected, how would you approach employee cost control? Identify at least one thing you would change about the way the company is doing things now. Be sure to support your decisions with sound reasoning.

4. What, if anything, can you glean from publicly available information about the way in which the union(s) operating within the company affect employee pay and benefits? Do the union(s) have a strong membership and presence? Do they appear to wield a significant amount of power? Based on where the company operates (i.e., which states), do you think Right to Work laws are affecting union leverage within the company? If you were in charge of Human Resources and Workforce Management for the company you selected, how would you approach union partnership and negotiations? Identify at least one thing you would change about the way the company is doing things now. Be sure to support your decisions with sound reasoning.

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Again, the reason why you are asked to choose a Fortune 500 company is that you are much more likely to find publicly available information for these huge companies, insofar as it concerns the parameters of this assignment. Still, some large companies are hesitant to publish specific data related to their operations, with examples commonly including salary ranges and human resources policies and procedures. That said, could you do the best you can with your research? A good idea, before choosing a company for this assignment, is to take a look at some different company options and assess how much data is available for you - this will ultimately determine how easy it will be to find the answers you need to guide your work.

The 2,000-word requirement here means 2,000 words of substance. So please do not count title pages, headings, or references. Also, if you choose to copy the question text into your paper (which is fine), do not count that either. I am looking for 2,000 words of your own thoughts and responses.

Since you must write at least 2,000 words, I recommend that you aim for (roughly) 500 words per question.

Your paper should also include a minimum of eight (8) sources (one for each of the questions) - properly cited in-text and in a reference list in APA format.

Your paper should be formatted in proper APA style, including a title page (no abstract is required). Please double-space and use a readable 12pt font. Contrary to the widespread misunderstanding, first-person writing is perfectly acceptable in APA writing style, so you may use a first-person perspective where applicable and appropriate.

IMPORTANT: Please don't plagiarize. This assignment uses TurnItIn.com for originality verification. If you copy/paste from other sources, you may receive a zero.