MS27 Wage and Salary Administration Sample Paper

MBA - Master of Business Administration

Note: There are two sections A and B. Attempt any four questions from Section A. Each questions carries 15 marks. Section B is compulsory and carries 40 marks.

1. Explain various types of incentive plans. What steps are to be taken for effective implementation of incentive plans?

2. Compensation management is a multidimensional concept incorporating such aspects as pay structure, pay level, systems for recognislng individual differences in performance and employee benefits. Discuss.

3. Discuss some of the wage theories developed by economic and behavioural scientists.

4. What are the objectives of compensation survey? What type of information is to be collected through compensation survey? Give details.

5. Attempt the following questions
(a) What are the main provisions of the Payment of Bonus Act, 1965?
(b) What are the salient features of the Equal Remuneration Act, 1976?

6. What are the institutional mechanisms in India for fixation of wages? Discuss.

7. Write short notes on any three:
(a) Pay equity
(b) Voluntary Retirement Schemes (VRS)
(c) Job evaluation procedure
(d) International labour standards on wages
(e) Compensation issues and trends

SECTION B

Please read the case given below and answer the questions at the end.

A bright young M.B.A., fresh from one of the top management institutes, took over his father's responsibilities as president in a manufacturing company. The company employed approximately one thousand people in the production division. It had never laced with a demand for collective bargaining. So far as was known, none of its employees were union members,

The new president, after three years of climbing the ladder to his position, had a conference with three long-term employees, who explained that they and their associates had been discussing the desirability of bargaining collectively. They gained through such formal representation. The employees had not voiced any strong criticism of management, but they had held several meetings and had invited representatives of a national union to talk with them. They concluded that they ought to try collective bargaining and for this purpose formed a union and enlisted a majority of workshop employees as members. The three representatives had been elected to the bargaining committee in order io present a written memorandum to the president with a request for collective bargaining agreement. A series of issues carefully spelled out by the union were handed over to the president by the three representatives.

The young executive received them cordially and listened carefully. He accepted their memorandum and suggested that he would like to have time to study it carefully. He proposed a meeting with them for Tuesday of the following week.

When the committee members returned, the president reminded them that the company had been careful to maintain wages and working conditions at least on a par with those in unionised companies in the same industry and region. He expressed the opinion that the specific proposals they had presented seemed to him quite reasonable and appropriate. He had been thinking of any of the same changes and would probably have made them without their request. He was pleased to hand them their memorandum with a notation indicating his acceptance. The members left, quite satisfied with the effectiveness of their negotiations and promising to report back to him as soon as possible

One week later, the president found the same group of representatives waiting to see him. They appeared somewhat crestfallen and embarrassed They reported that they had gone back to the membership, presented a full report of their discussions with him, explained. Is favourable attitude, and recommended formal ratification of the memorandum as a new collective bargaining agreement. Alter extensive discussion, when the motion for ratification came up for a vote, a majority of the membership voted against ratification.

Questions:

(a) What are the problems in this case?
(b) Why did the members refuse to ratify the agreement?
(c) In a situation like the one above, how can the union and management play an effective role in fixing and revising wages and benefits through the process of collective bargaining?