Issue 17/06/2014 Revision Date 16/04/2020 Form No. ECT-ACAF-ACAFO- FRM.

016
Course Syllabus

Program Bachelor of Business Administration/

Human Resource Management
Course name Compensation
Course code HRM 401

I. COURSE INFORMATION

1. COURSE TITLE: Compensation

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Course Syllabus
2. COURSE CODE: HRM401
3. CREDIT HOURS: 3CH
4. PREREQUISITE: HRM201
5. PREPARED BY: Course Committee
6. APPROVED BY: Course Committee

II. INSTRUCTOR INFORMATION

1. Instructor : Dr Walid Derbel

2. Office: E916
3. Phone: 2084
4. Email: walid.derbel@ect.ac.ae
5. Office Hours: Sun-Tues 3.00 to 6.30 pm

III. CLASS TIME AND PLACE

1. Days and Time:

2. Class Location:
3. Lab location: No Labs Required

IV. COURSE POLICIES

1. Class Attendance:
Students are expected to attend all classes of this course (without exception).
A prior approval is required for class absence except for emergencies.
However, any student with 30% short attendance will be enforced to
withdraw from the course, and the student will receive EW in his/her
transcript for this course.

2. Tardy:
Do not come late to class. Any student coming late will not be allowed to
attend the class and he/she will be marked absent.
3. Exams:

Failure in attending a course exam will result in zero mark unless the student
provides an excuse acceptable to the Dean who approves a re-sit exam.
Failed courses will normally be reassessed in the scheduled semester. It is
your responsibility to attend the exam at the correct time and place. Your
results will be printed in a transcript, which includes all your assessments.
You should check the accuracy of your transcript. If there is an error in your
transcript, you have to notify the instructor.

4. Assignments & Projects:

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Course Syllabus
Assignments and projects should be handed over to the instructor on the due
date. Zero mark will follow late submission of an assignment unless the
student has an acceptable reason approved by the instructor.

5. Exam Attendance/Punctuality:
 In the event that a student is up to ten minutes late, he/she will be
permitted to attend/sit the exam. However, there will not be any extra time
allowances made in favor of this student.
 In the event that a student is more than 10 minutes late, he/she will not be
permitted to attend/sit the exam.
6. Re-sit Exams:

The student will not be allowed to re-sit an exam unless he/she furnishes the
institute with written evidence as follows:
 Sickness by providing a medical report stamped by the Ministry of
Health.
 Death of a member of his/her family.
 Accidents (e.g. car accident).
 Natural causes such as heavy storms.
7. Cheating:

Definition of cheating: Cheating is an attempt to gain marks dishonestly and

includes:
 Copying from another student’s work.
 Using materials not authorized by the institute.
 Collaborating with another student during a test, without permission.
 Knowingly using, buying, selling, or stealing the contents of a test.
 Plagiarism which means presenting another person’s work or ideas as one’s
own, without attribution.
8. Penalty of Cheating:

The minimum penalty for cheating is an automatic Zero for the test or
assignment leading to a possible “F” for the subject. The student will be
expelled from the examination room so that he/she doesn’t disturb other
students. The exam invigilator will produce a report on the case. The report
will be kept in the student file. A second offense will result in the immediate
suspension of the student for the remainder of the current semester. A copy of
the decision will be kept in the student file, while another one will be passed to
the Dean.

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Course Syllabus
9. Turnitin:

In addition to the hard copy, students may be required to submit written

assignments/reports in soft copy through the Turnitin system which is available online at
the ECT Learning Management System (Moodle) in order to check the “Similarity
Index”. The penalties for minor and major violation are indicated below.

Offence Penalty

Minor offence (First time) The student will receive a written

academic warning, and the case will
When the Similarity Index is below 20% and
be recorded in the academic
plagiarism is confirmed by the instructor.
violations tracking system.

Minor offence (Repeated) The student will receive zero in the

assignment, and the case will be
When the Similarity Index is below 20% and
recorded in the academic violations
plagiarism is confirmed by the instructor.
tracking system.

Major offence (First time) The student will receive an F grade in

the course and a written academic
When the Similarity Index is 20% or above
warning, and the case will be
and plagiarism is confirmed by the
recorded in the academic violations
instructor.
tracking system.

Major offence (Repeated) The student will receive an F grade in

the course and will be suspended for
When the Similarity Index is 20% or above
one semester, and the case will be
and plagiarism is confirmed by the
recorded in the academic violations
instructor.
tracking system.

10. Mobile phones are not allowed in classes.

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Course Syllabus
V. GRADING SYSTEM
Percentages are converted to letter grades as follows:

Grade
Mark Grade
Points
90 - 100% A 4.0
87 - 89% A- 3.7
84 - 86% B+ 3.3
80 - 83% B 3.0
77 - 79% B- 2.7
74 - 76% C+ 2.3
70 - 73% C 2.0
67 - 69% C- 1.7
64 - 66% D+ 1.3
60 - 63% D 1.0
0 - 59% F 0

Passing Grade: A grade of D (60) is the minimum passing grade for this course.
Grades of less than D are not acceptable for credit towards graduation in this course.
Learners will write tests on dates specified.

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Course Syllabus

VI. RESOURCES
Required Text Books

Newman J.M., Gerhart B., Milkovich G.T. (2017), Compensation, Mc Graw-Hill

Education, 2017, 12th Edition.

Supplements
1. Joseph Martocchio (2011). Strategic Compensation: A Human Resource
Management Approach: International Edition, 6/E, McGraw Hill.
2. Joseph Martocchio (2010). Employee Benefits. McGraw Hill.
3. Joseph Martocchio, (2009). Strategic Compensation: A Human Resources
Management Approach 5th Edition, Prentice Hall

VII. COURSE DESCRIPTION AND PURPOSE

Course Description
This is a major course introducing the students with various areas of
compensation and benefit practices including compensation strategies, job-based
structure, job evaluation, building and maintaining compensation structure,
incentive plans, pay for performance, employee benefits and legal issues in
compensation. Attention is given to some specific topics from these areas so
more in-depth understanding of crucial concepts/methods is attained

Purpose
The course aims at providing a solid understanding of the art of compensation
practices and its role in promoting companies’ competitive advantage, as well as
to prepare students to assume the role of a compensation specialist.

VIII. COURSE LEARNING OURCOMES (CLOs)

CLO1 Identify and explain the issues involved in establishing compensation
systems.
CLO2 Conduct job analysis to determine pay structure.
CLO3 Evaluate jobs using the job evaluation methods to determine pay structure.
CLO4 Evaluate the influence of external competitiveness and market forces in
compensation systems.
CLO5 Distinguish between the key issues in planning, designing, and
administrating benefits.
CLO6 Formulate an incentive plans and pay-for-performance and predict its
effect in attracting, retaining, and motivating employees.
CLO7 Identify and explain the different legal issues related to compensation.

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Course Syllabus

IX. CLOs ALIGNMENT WITH THE PLOs

PLO1 PLO2 PLO3 PLO4

CLO1 √
CLO2 √
CLO3 √
CLO4 √
CLO5 √
CLO6 √
CLO7 √

X. LEARNING ASSESMENT METHODS

The following methods of learning assessment will be used in this course:

Assessment Tools Weights CLOs Due dates

25% 1,2,3,4,5 Week 9

Assignment (Group)

Project (Group) 25% 1,2,3,4,5,6,7 Week 14

Final Project (Individual) 40% 1,2,3,4,5,6,7 Week 15
Behavior Observation 10% -
100%
Total

 Under the current circumstances, the College reserves the right to modify

the list of assessment tools, provided that the students are informed
enough time in advance.
 All students must log in using their College ID and password, otherwise
will not be able to participate in proctored exams and other assessments.
 All students must have a camera installed in their computers, and the
camera must be on during proctored exams, discussions, and upon
request from the lecturer.

XI. CLOs, Emirates, INSTRUCTIONAL METHODS AND

ASSESMENT TOOLS

When completing this table, kindly explain how the instructional strategies and
assessment tools will help you achieve the required CLOs and subsequently the
relevant QFE strands (K: knowledge, S: skills, C1 Autonomy and Responsibility, C2:
Role in Context, C3: Self Development).

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Course Syllabus

CLOS Relevant QFE Instructional strategies Assessment tools

strands
CLO1 K1, S1 Through lecture, practice and testing of Assignment (Group),
students’ knowledge to demonstrate in- Project (Group), Final
depth understanding of important concepts Project (Individual)
of compensation systems with emphasis on
its strategic role in organizations.
CLO2 K2, S2 Demonstrations and discussion will Assignment (Group),
facilitate students to gain a better Project (Group), Final
understanding of the job analysis Project (Individual)
procedures to design an aligned pay
structure.
CLO3 K2, K3, S2, Through lecturing and illustration students Assignment (Group),
will understand and apply the methods of Project (Group), Final
job evaluation to design an aligned pay Project (Individual)
structure.
CLO4 K3, S2, C11 Discussion and analysis of external forces Assignment (Group),
such as competition and market forces to Project (Group), Final
establish a compensation system. Project (Individual)
CLO5 K3, S2, C12 Explanation through lectures to understand Assignment (Group),
and practice a systematic approach in Project (Group), Final
planning, designing and administering Project (Individual)
employee benefits.
CLO6 K3, S2, C13 Demonstration and application of different Project (Group), Final
incentive plans to attract talents, retain and Project (Individual)
motivate them.
CLO7 K2, S1, C33 Lecture to acquaint the students with Project (Group), Final
different legal issues that govern Project (Individual)
compensation system within an
organizational setting.

XII. COURSE SCHEDULE

Additi
onal
Cha learni
WK # Topic pter ng
CLO

resour
ces

Unit 1:
Introduction to Compensation and its Strategic Role.
 Similarities and differences in strategies Ch
 Strategic choices 1
1,2 1
 Support business strategy
 The pay model guides strategic pay decisions
 Developing a total compensation strategy: four
steps
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Course Syllabus
3 Unit 2:
Compensation Strategy Ch 2
 Compensation strategy: internal alignment
 Structures vary among organizations 1
 What shapes internal structures?
 Strategic choices in designing internal structures
 Consequences of structures
Unit 3:
Job Analysis
 Structures based on jobs, people, or both
 Job-based approach: most common Ch
4 4 2
 Job analysis procedures
 Collecting information
 Job descriptions summarize the data
 Judging job analysis
Unit 4:
Job Evaluation
 Job-based structures: job evaluation
 Defining job evaluation: content, Value, and Ch 2,3
5 external market links 5
 Major decisions in job evaluation
 Methods of evaluating jobs
 Who should be involved?
 The final result: A job hierarchy
Unit 5:
6 Person-Based Structures Ch
 Person-based structures: skill plans 6
 Skills analysis 3
 Internal alignment reflected in structures
 Administering the plan

Unit 6:
Defining Competitiveness
 The importance of external competitiveness to Ch
the pay model. 7 4
7+8  The factors influencing external
competitiveness.
 Labor market factors and organizational factors
in determining external competitiveness.
 Different pay policy decisions.

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Course Syllabus
Unit 8:
The Benefits Determination Process
• The growth in employee benefits Ch
8+9 • Value of employee benefits 12
5
• Key Issues in benefits planning, design, and
administration
• Components of a benefits plan
• Administering the benefits program
9 Assignment (Group) 1,2,3,4,5
Unit 7: Ch
10+11 Pay for Performance Plans 10
 Defining pay-for-performance plans
 Variable pay and improving performance results 6
 Specific pay-for-performance plans: short term
 Team incentive plans: types
Unit 9:
Government and Legal Issues in compensation
 Government as part of the Employment process Ch
12+13  Pay Discrimination. 17 7
 Earning Gaps
 Comparable worth

14 Project (Group) All CLOs

15 Final Project (Individual) All CLOs

16
Individual Project Presentation

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