Reference no: EM132731629
Would you expect the Sullivan & Cromwell associates to feel that their pay structure is fair? What comparisons would they likely make? What work behaviors would you expect Sullivan & Cromwell's pay structure to motivate? Explain.
- What about associates who joined the firm four years ago? If the salaries for new associates increased by $20,000, what would you recommend for other levels in the structure? Explain.
- Partners make around 10 times the highest-paid associates. A Wall Street Journal writer laments that law firms form "giant pyramids . . . (in which) associates at the bottom funnel money to partners at the top." What is missing from the writer's analysis? Hint: Speculate about the likely differences in content and value of the work performed by partners compared to associates. Any parallels to Merrill Lynch's FAs and SVPIs?
- A few years ago, Sullivan & Cromwell announced that year-end bonuses would be cut in half, with a maximum of $17,500 for early-career associates and $32,500 for eighth-year associates. In the following two years, bonuses were cut further. However, the trend was then reversed with bonuses subsequently being increased and Exhibit 6.15 shows the latest bonus levels. What drives these bonus decisions and how they vary over time? How does this bonus variability over time compare to variability in salaries over time at law firms like Sullivan and Cromwell? What explains the difference in the way salaries and bonuses are managed over time?
- How does the Sullivan and Cromwell approach to compensation differ from that of Dewey & LeBoeuf? What are the advantages and disadvantages of each approach?