Activist Investors Influence On Compensation Program Design Essay

CEO compensation has been a heated debate for many years recently, and it can be argued

7. Option compensation will continue to be a critical component of compensation for executives as it simplistically aligns the executives’ pay to shareholder value in its simplest sense. I don’t believe that options compensation is the primary driver of behavior when things shift from the legal to the illegal. As with most senior executives in industry, ego is a huge driver in individual behavior. Compensation is important, but the recognition of your performance is sometimes even more important. We have created a performance driven culture without the necessary control framework for people to operate within. One minute you are doing a great job, the next you have crossed an imaginary line. The frameworks don’t do enough to quantify behavior as legal and illegal leaving inconsistent rules for organizations to operate within. How does Enron compare to the subprime mortgage debacle, or to Steve Jobs backdating options. There remains too much room for interpretation.

Changing to a pay-for-performance pay system always has several implications. The most important of these are discussed in the succeeding paragraphs.

To start with, we must first understand what a managerial strategy means and how we can apply the appropriately.

However, there have been many cases where the CEO and executive officers receive outrageous compensation even when the companies suffer. Overall, there is a wide disconnect between the incentive of the executives and the financial performance of their company, which needs to be fixed. By passing regulations and rules such as the Dodd-Frank Act, there is hope of shedding light on the connection between the company’s performance and the executives pay. Although it will provide a clear insight, it will not be able to set a strict regulated compensation or define what an executive should earn. Instead regulations will allow for more transparency for the shareholders regarding corporate governance issues such as executive pay. Along with that, it will force companies to take accountability for their actions. If they do poorly, then the executives should be paid less, and vice versa. Overall, there should be a direct alignment between executive pay and the company’s

While these citizen protests and legislative actions could be an overreaction to a few isolated cases of executive compensation excess, the data suggests otherwise. According to the AFL-CIO (2013), executive pay has increased dramatically over the past several decades compared to worker compensation. In 1982, the pay ratio between executives and workers was 42:1, but by 2012 it had increased to 354:1. This 8.4-fold differential in compensation suggests that the productivity of executives has also increased 8.4-fold relative to productivity of workers. If executive pay is positively correlated with a firm's bottom line, then higher pay should predict success. Unfortunately, researchers have found the opposite to be true.

The statement explains the company’s compensation philosophy and what the compensation program centers around. According the company’s philosophy, the compensation for named executive officers is made up of three components; salary, stock options, and performance-based bonuses. The fourth proposal to vote on is proposed by a stockholder. Southwest Regional Council of Carpenters Pension fund who is the beneficial owners of less than 100 shares, proposes for a director election majority vote standard. The company lists reasons as to why that is not a good fit for the board and recommends shareholders to vote against the proposal. The proxy statement lists three other stockholder proposals to vote on, if they are presented at the upcoming annual meeting. The board recommends that the shareholders vote against all the three proposals and gives explanations for what is best for the

A good and successful activist reform would result in the long-term value creation for the target company, which would benefit both the shareholders and the bondholders. The activist reform would motivate management to achieve operating efficiencies, which would improve cash flows and generate better returns for both the shareholders and bondholders. In conclusion, I find the objections to the strategies of activists raised by the managers of Commonwealth REIT and other companies in the article vague. However, the managers need to distinguish between the activists looking for short-term profits and the activists looking for a long-term value creation. The former might destroy some value in the process so the managers need to fend off those attacks.

It is often the case that activist shareholders are only interested in the short-term profit; a strategy that is at odds with the interest of the company and the ordinary shareholders.

The second compensation package was not well designed nor did it help define what the corporate strategy would be. For a second time the compensation package focused on maximizing shareholder’s wealth and didn’t take into consideration the stakeholder’s position at all. Dunlap’s package was deeply weighted in company options ($3.75M). In fact it was weighted heavier than before. The stock grants were

Having buy-in from key stakeholders is crucial for the success of an incentive pay system. For example, if top management does not support such a program, lower-level managers will place little importance on effectively administering the program. Hence, a lack of top management support often leads to a lack of accountability. (Gordon, Kaswin)

It was reasonable for a CEO’s compensation to increase as the company expanded and became a larger entity, and the newly-granted shares and increasing stock options further aligned the CEO’s personal interests with those of the company and shareholders. In this sense, the second compensation package was also well-structured and not excessive. Seeing Sunbeam’s revenue rising and stock price climbing steeply upwards, Sunbeam’s shareholders and directors were fully convinced by Dunlap’s leadership, so they might perceive the increase in compensation amount necessary to retain and better motivate Dunlap to enhance the company’s value. Nonetheless, they neglected the fact that the increased portion of the equity-based compensation also further motivated the CEO’s dangerous behaviors pertaining to improper earnings management.

* Frontline PR is a public relations firm with 150 full time employees, consists mainly of their staff plus some administrative and operations people. Frontline is currently struggling with the cost of health care insurance

Given the effect a CEO can have on a company's success, we can understand why their compensation packages

Write a 1200-1500 word paper that describes a strategic compensation plan for machine operators at Plastec Company. Refer to the description from the week 3 assignment. Include at least 3 referenced articles and cite them as appropriate. This paper should at a minimum address the following: