Colorado State University Money as a Source of Happiness Summary Read “You Manage It! 1” in Managing Human Resources (2016, p. 317). After reading the case

Colorado State University Money as a Source of Happiness Summary Read “You Manage It! 1” in Managing Human Resources (2016, p. 317). After reading the case, complete the following items:Write a summary of the case,Answer the critical thinking questions, andElaborate on two key learnings from the case related to trends in employee benefits, legal implications, and cost-containment strategies. Be sure to clearly state the two key learnings and defend them in well-organized, scholarly responses.A key learning is defined as significant knowledge gained from reading the case. You may choose to explain your key learnings by offering a real-world application, personal insight, your thoughts and opinions about what was stated, how it is handled at your company, etc.Please arrange your summary, questions, and key learnings in a well-organized, scholarly response of 2-3 pages. Support your observations and opinions with citations from 2-3 credible sources documented according to the CSU-Global Guide to Writing and APA Requirements (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.. “You Manage It! 1: Global Money Doesn’t Buy Happiness. Well, on Second
Thought . . .
If money can’t buy you love, can it still buy you happiness? A now-famous 1974
study seemed to indicate that the answer was no. U.S. economist Richard
Easterlin, then at the University of Pennsylvania, studied comparative data on
moderately wealthy and very wealthy countries and concluded that although rich
people are happier than poorer people, rich countries are not happier than poorer
ones, and they do not grow happier as they grow increasingly rich. The
explanation for this apparent paradox, said Easterlin, was that only relative
income—your income compared to that of your peers and neighbors—matters to
happiness, not absolute income.
Now, however, two Wharton professors, Betsey Stevenson and Justin Wolfers,
say that the Easterlin paradox, as it has come to be called, does not exist. Based
on new research, they say that the truth isn’t paradoxical at all, but is in fact very
simple: “1. Rich people are happier than poor people. 2. Richer countries are
happier than poorer countries. 3. As countries get richer, they tend to get
happier.”
Pointing out that Easterlin had little data to work with 35 years ago, Stevenson
and Wolfers draw their conclusions from data about more countries, including
poor ones, over longer periods of time. Public opinion surveys and other studies
show that life satisfaction is highest in richer countries. In the United States, for
instance, 9 in 10 Gallup Survey respondents in households making more than
$250,000 a year called themselves “very happy,” compared to only 4 in 10 with
incomes below $30,000. “On balance,” Stevenson and Wolfers conclude, “GDP
and happiness have tended to move together.” The bottom line, they say, is that
absolute income matters.
What do these new findings mean in practice? A pair of British economists
suggest that government’s policy goals should focus less on growing GDP and
more on improving measures that directly affect happiness.
Easterlin would probably agree. He now concedes that people in wealthy
countries do report more happiness than those in poorer countries. But he still
doubts that money alone is the reason. Comparing Denmark and Zimbabwe, for
instance, he says, “The Danes have social welfare policies directed toward some
of the most salient concerns of families—their health, care for the aged, child
care. If you ask why the Danes are happier, an alternative hypothesis is they
have a set of public policies that deal more immediately with people’s
fundamental concerns.”
And the tiny Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan has, in fact, replaced GDP with a
measure it calls “gross national happiness.”
Critical Thinking Questions
10-12. What do you think is the role of money as a determinant of a person’s
satisfaction at work and with life in general? Should organizations worry about
this issue? Explain.
10-13. As discussed in this chapter, firms vary widely on the extent to which they
emphasize money as an incentive. Do you think an emphasis on financial
incentives is good or bad? Explain.
10-14. For the past 90 years or so, job evaluation as a compensation tool has
been designed to assess the value of each job rather than to evaluate the person
doing the job, prompting a relatively flat pay schedule for all incumbents in a
particular position. Some HR experts believe that the emerging trend is for pay
inequality to become “normal.” Employers are using variable pay to lavish
financial resources on their most prized employees, creating a kind of corporate
star system. “How do you communicate to a workforce that isn’t created equally?
How do you treat a workforce in which everyone has a different deal?” asks Jay
Schuster of Los Angeles–based compensation consultants Schuster-Zingheim &
Associates, Inc. If you were asked these questions, how would you answer
them? Given the issues just discussed in this case study, what effect do you
think this trend toward greater pay inequality will have on employees’ satisfaction
with their pay, their job, and life in general? Explain.”

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