Assignment task: Liberty Enterprises is a small government contractor of specialized engineering products. Company facilities are located in Mobile and Dothan, AL Listed below are 10 benchmark jobs and their point values derived from an internal job evaluation of positions at Liberty Enterprises using the point method. You are going to construct a "wage line" based on the job point values and market rates for the 10 jobs presented below.
| Job |
Job Points |
| Administrative Assistant |
160 |
| Technical Writer |
370 |
| Accountant |
410 |
| Information System Manager |
930 |
| Treasurer |
850 |
| Engineering Manager |
900 |
| Mechanical Engineer |
460 |
| Purchasing Agent |
350 |
| Marketing Manager |
650 |
| Financial Analyst |
430 |
A) Using a total point range of 0-1400, establish 7 pay grades of 200 points each. Label the pay grades W1, W2, etc., up to W7. This data (job points) will be the X-axis of your wage line graph
B) Use O*NET to identify the annual median market wages for each job. This wage data will comprise the Y-axis of your pay line graph.
C) Using Excel, SPSS, or another statistical program, determine the equation to construct a wage line representing the relationship between job points and annual median market wage for the AL data. Let "W" represent the median market wage and "P" represent the job points. The wage line will be of the form W = aP + b where "a" is the slope of the wage line and "b" is the constant (intercept of Y-axis).
D) Based on the Excel trend lines in (c), which job(s) may be misclassified? Explain why you think misclassification exists, and identify what action the company should take?
E) For each of the 5 jobs identified below (1) identify the wage grade and (2) calculate the estimated median market wage using the wage line equation for AL data.
VP, Operations 1250
Marketing Coordinator 310
Field Sales Representative 550
Director, Compliance & Ethics 1050
Foreman 450
F) Complete this exercise by submitting the answers to all the questions presented on the next two pages.
Attach your Excel or SPSS graph to show how the wage line was determined.
Submitted by:
A) Median Market Wages (from O*NET)
| Job |
Wage Grade |
Median Market Wage (U.S.) |
Median Market Wage (AL) |
| Administrative Assistant |
|
|
|
| Technical Writer |
|
|
|
| Accountant |
|
|
|
| Information System Manager |
|
|
|
| Treasurer |
|
|
|
| Engineering Manager |
|
|
|
| Mechanical Engineer |
|
|
|
| Purchasing Agent |
|
|
|
| Marketing Manager |
|
|
|
| Financial Analyst |
|
|
|
B) What concern(s), if any, do you have about the market "median" wages displayed on O*NET?
C) Which two jobs show the most significant difference in the market wage between the U.S. and AL data? What factors account for these differences?
D) What is the Wage Line Equation for AL data? [W = aP + b]
E) Based on the Excel trend line for the AL data, which job(s) may be misclassified? Why? What action should the company take?
F) For this exercise, should Liberty Enterprises' wage line be based on U.S. or AL data? Why?
G) Using the AL wage line equation, calculate the estimated median wage for each of the following jobs. [This approach is used to slot jobs for which reliable market data may not be available.]
| Job |
Wage Grade |
Estimated Median Wage (AL) |
| VP, Operations |
|
|
| Marketing Coordinator |
|
|
| Field Sales Representative |
|
|
| Director, Compliance and Ethics |
|
|
| Foreman |
|
|
NOTE: Include with your response a copy of your original EXCEL or SPSS analysis showing the wage line graph for the Alabama data. Responses to other questions will not be accepted without the wage line graph.