Do you believe that there is a maximum rate of pay for every job in an organization, regardless of how well the job is being performed? Justify your position.

David Rhine, compensation manager for Farrington Lingerie Company, was generally relaxed and good-natured. Although he was a no- nonsense, competent executive, David was one of the most popular managers in the company. This Friday morning, however, David was not his usual self.

As chairperson of the company’s job evaluation committee, he had called a late-morning meeting at which several jobs were to be considered for re-evaluation. The jobs had already been rated and assigned to pay grade 3. But the office manager, Ben Butler, was upset that one was not rated higher. To press the issue, Ben had taken his case to two executives who were also members of the job evaluation committee. The two executives

(production manager Bill Nelson and general marketing manager Betty Anderson) then requested that the job ratings be reviewed. Bill and Betty supported Ben’s side of the dispute, and David was not looking forward to the confrontation that was almost certain to occur.