Walmart offers its employees a variety of share based compensation plans including stock options, performance share awards, and restricted stock. The following is an excerpt from a disclosure note from Walmart's 2011 financial statements:
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Required:
1. Walmart's share based compensation includes stock options, stock appreciation rights, restricted stock awards, and performance based awards. What is the general financial reporting objective when recording compensation expense for these forms of compensation?
2. Walmart reported share based expense of $371 million in 2011. Without referring to specific numbers and ignoring other forms of share based compensation, describe how this amount reflects the value of stockoptions.