1. Running Head: ASTRA ZENECA SALARY INEQUITIES
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Astra Zeneca Salary Inequities
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Astra Zeneca Salary Inequities
Pedro O. Beltran
HRM/531 – Human Capital Management
March 28, 2017
Professor Richard Dettling
Today’s highly competitive and global work environment
demands that all companies have the ability to attract qualified
applicants for their success. Additionally, they should be able to
retain top talent and ensure that they keep highly motivated
personnel by discouraging cases of pay inequities. Therefore,
the question here is that; what can managers in the HR
departments do to attract, retain and reward good performance?
One strategy that successful organizations can employ involves
incorporating appropriate kinds of organizational compensation
plans (Anderson et al., 2016). For example, these compensation
plans have to recognize and enhance good employee
performance. In addition, it discourages pay inequities that are

2. based on gender, race and nationality among other factors that
do not contribute any significant effect in job performance.
What does fair and equitable pay mean? First, pay equity refers
to a means of payment that eliminates gender and race in the
wage system created by a company (Hegewisch & Hartmann,
2014). It is unfortunate that many females in a few
organizations still face segregation in payments. For example,
the scenario is in small number of jobs including clerical,
nurses and service employees among others as seen companies
like AstraZeneca. In the past, these jobs have been devalued
specifically because of the gender and race of persons that
perform them around the world. As a result, fair and equitable
pay has become a big national movement following the move by
twenty states such as Washington, DC to correct their payrolls
from sex or race discrimination.
Therefore, after going through the given case study, the
following article illustrates possible instances of less
discrimination clarifications indicating reasons for female
salespersons at AstraZeneca on average receiving less payment
than male sales agents. Additionally, the article offers suitable
measures that could be implemented to ensure that the problem
of pay inequities granted according to gender is not repeated in
the company. Finally, it recommends an appropriate
compensation plan that AstraZeneca could execute and how well
the team members will apply the lessons.
1. Question 11-13: Are there any discriminatory explanations
possible for why our women sales reps on average earned less
than men. If so, what are they?
It is unrealistic to rule that there are no any cases of
discrimination concerning why women sales representatives on
average earned less than males. First, there is a perception that
men are often superior as compared to women and it is still
upheld by certain companies in their pay systems (Anderson et
al., 2016). For example, in the case of sales representatives,
such organizations believe that males can strike tangible and

3. valuable deals as compared to their women counterparts. As a
result, they deserve higher pays than the pay offered to females.
Secondly, women are believed to operate like nomads meaning
that; they do not stay in a company for a long time due to
several personal responsibilities that await them. As a result,
the HR departments in certain companies offer good pay for
men to enable them attract and retain useful talent in men.
2. Question 11-14: List three specific things we can do to
ensure that a similar problem (inequitable pay based on gender)
does not arise again.
There are particular effective measures which over a long
period have been used by twenty states to remedy the problem
of inequitable pay based on gender. Some of these measures that
could be implemented include; first, introducing pay equity bills
such as the Paycheck Fairness Act by the company. It provides
the most effective solution to employees who suffer pay
inequities despite performing equal tasks (Hegewisch &
Hartmann, 2014). Secondly, the company needs to emphasize on
external equity in the creation of their compensation system. It
allows the organization to design compensation systems that are
competitive in labor markets based on good performance.
Lastly, a consideration to workers’ perception of equity and
inequity is useful and should be ensured. For example,
employees who feel that payments should be free from
discrimination based on gender and race get encouraged and
stay committed in supporting the company realize its preferred
objectives.
3. Question 11-15: Compensation Plans worth Recommending
In the current labor market, in exchange for quality job
performance and commitment demonstrated by workers,
employers should offer rewards to compensate for the effort. It
does not only compensate the effort but also motivates workers
to increase the quality of their work. The provision of adequate
compensations has a great chance of attracting high quality
labor force and maintains the level of satisfaction of the current
workers. Also, suitable compensations go along way retaining

4. top talents and motivating them in the work environment.
According to (Bryant & Allen, 2013), the most essential
workplace feature that cannot be assumed involves the
implementation of an effective compensation plan.
Therefore, the best compensation plan that is worth
recommending involves practicing a fair and equitable
compensation strategy. In line with (Teir & Zhang, 2016),
observing a fair and equitable compensation plan constitutes the
most crucial factor that contributes highly in the success of the
organization. It argues that; setting high wages is not enough to
lure and retain valuable talents without fair and equitable
compensation plan put in place. It is major consideration that
involves perfect reflection of the value of work achieved as
opposed to focusing on either an individual’s race or gender.
There are different definitions that have been offered for a fair
and equitable compensation plan among employees. The
simplest definition has it that; compensation equity is when
workers in a company feel they are being rewarded fairly based
on proportionate quality of their results in the organization
(Bryant & Allen, 2013). For the above compensation plan to
work, certain factors have to be reviewed. For example, review
of the compensation philosophy is necessary since it guides the
creation of the compensation plan that develops an effective
work culture among employees. As a result, there is a need for
the company to ensure a regular philosophy that offers a good
foundation for the company and workers.
How team members will use lessons learnt
There are two major lessons learned by the team members; first,
they have learnt that fair and equitable pay eliminates any form
of discrimination that focuses on gender and race. Secondly,
they learn that an effective compensation plan is based on
equity and fairness granted according to the quality of
performance invested in the company. The team members will
use these lessons as a basis as they work together with the

5. organization to discuss the best way to implement fair and
equitable compensation plan. For example, in any case they
detect that the company offers them unfair pay then they may
not deliver quality job as prescribed by the firm (Schober,
2011). They could also exit the company which can tarnish its
good reputation in the market and jeopardize its performance.
Finally, a proper performance management as a way of
measuring the quality of work and ensuring that the pay granted
aligns with current market labor force needs to be implemented
by each organization. It means that a proper compensation
system for all workers which focuses on equity and fairness will
help improve quality and the general productivity in the
workplace. Therefore, it calls for a consultative talk between
employees and the organization in creating an effective
compensation plan that reflects fairly on their input and not
based on either their gender or race.
References
Anderson, D., Bjarnadottir, M., Dezso, C. L., & Ross, D. G.
(2016). On a Firm's Optimal Response to Pressure for Gender
Pay Equity.
Bryant, P. C., & Allen, D. G. (2013). Compensation, benefits
and employee turnover: HR strategies for retaining top talent.
Compensation & Benefits Review, 45(3), 171-175.
Hegewisch, A., & Hartmann, H. (2014). Occupational
segregation and the gender wage gap: A job half done.
Schober, C. (2011). Transfer of Human Resource Management
Practices within US Multinational Companies (Doctoral
dissertation, University de Fribourg).
Teir, R. A. A., & Zhang, R. Q. (2016). The current Practices of
Human Resource Management in Higher Education institutions

6. in Palestine. Journal of Human Resources, 4(1), 65-83.