Assignment II MERIT INCREASES TASK Break into small groups. Read the following incident and dis- cuss each of the questi

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Assignment Ii Merit Increases Task Break Into Small Groups Read The Following Incident And Dis Cuss Each Of The Questi 1 (88.4 KiB) Viewed 19 times

Assignment II MERIT INCREASES TASK Break into small groups. Read the following incident and dis- cuss each of the questions. Then as a class discuss each group's perceptions of the situation and how they would han dle the problem. INCIDENT: MERIT INCREASES Dr. Carl Jones is chairperson of the Department of Manage ment in the College of Business Administration at a large state university in the East. He has been a member of the depart- ment for 14 years and a full professor for five years. Last sum- mer he was asked to assume the chair after a screening committee conducted interviews and reviewed resumés for him and three other candidates. Carl was very excited about the new challenges and has be- gun several innovative projects to enhance faculty research and consulting. The teaching function in the department has always been first rate, while research has been somewhat weaker. Carl has continued to be very productive as a scholar, publishing three articles, two book chapters, and one pro- ceedings article over the past year. He also made considerable progress on a management text which he is co-authoring. Fi- nally, he has been active in his professional association, the a 10 percent increase since his department had made major strides in a number of areas while the other departments had been standing still. Moreover, none of the other chairs were professionally active on the national level, and none had pub- lished in the past year. His teaching evaluations were also in the top 15 percent of faculty in the college. Dean Smith sent out letters to all the department chairs in August. Carl was shocked to learn that his salary increase was just 7 percent. Information he received through the "grape- vine" was that all the chairs had received the 7 percent in- crease. He also learned from one of the other chairs that the Dean always gave the chairs equal percentage increases each year. Contrary to the official university policy, there were no distinctions based on merit. Carl was visibly upset about what he considered to be a major inequity. He then called the Dean's secretary to schedule an appointment to discuss the situation with Dean Smith. Academy of Management, where he served as chair of one of the professional divisions. The university's policy is that all salary increases are based only on merit. Carl had developed a very sophisticated perfor- mance appraisal system for his faculty to help him quantify salary recommendations. His point system considers and weighs different items in the areas of teaching, research, and service. Teaching and research were given weights of 40 per- cent each and service 20 percent. For the coming academic year, his recommended salary increases averaged 7 percent and ranged from 3 to 14 percent. Carl felt he had good docu- mentation for all his recommendations. Carl submitted his recommendations to Dean Edmund Smith and was pleased when all these recommendations were accepted. He then proceeded to schedule appointments to meet with each faculty member to discuss his recommenda- tion, the reasons for the recommendation, and goals for the coming year. While a few of the faculty receiving lower in- creases indicated dissatisfaction with his weighting system, particularly the emphasis on research, these meetings gener- ally went well Carl then submitted his own annual report detailing his ac- complishments as chair, as well as his more personal accom- plishments. From his perspective, he felt he deserved at least QUESTIONS Are "merit" salary increases always based on merit? Why or why not? Why has Dean Smith had a policy of equal percent- age salary increases for all department chairs despite the stated university's policy? Are all the chairs equally meritorious? What should Dr. Jones say to Dean Smith at their meet- ing? What are the long-range benefits of a true merit pro- gram? What are the problems associated with the lack of such a merit system for department chairs? How likely is the discussion to change Dean Smith's decision and fu ture behavior? Why? If the dean does not change his pol- ity, what are the long-run implications for the college? SOURCE Stella M. Na, Myron D. Fottler, and R. Bruce McMee Applications Post/Homos Resource Management (Boston: PWS-Kent Publishing Company, 1988), 135-141 Repriated by permission