Reward systems and career planning for executives: a comparative analysis with special reference to the post and telecommunication industries of Portugal and Britain

The subject matter of the thesis is, firstly, the comparison of career planning and pay policies for Postal and Telecommunications Industries of Portugal and Britain. Secondly, to offer some recommendations appropriate to the Portuguese case in the context of re-evaluating career planning and salary policies and practices for senior management staff. The objective and importance to Portugal of the study is described in Chapter 1. Chapter 2 attempts to characterize the importance of career planning and pay policies for organisations and describe its main elements. Problems related to data collection within organisations and methodology of the study concerning a management survey carried out at the Portuguese organisation about career planning and pay policy and practices are referred to in Chapter 3. The descriptive results of data collection at The British Post Office ( Chap. 4 ), at British Telecom (Chap. 5) and at CTT, the Portuguese organisation (Chap. 6), are compared in Chapter 7. The results of the management survey at CTT (Chap. 8) related with the literature reviewed contribute to the establishment of a conceptual framework for redesigning career planning and pay policies and identify relevant areas for further research (Chap. 9) before the Portuguese organisation decides in what direction they want to develop a model for career-development and pay systems for its Executives and Senior Managers. The principal research findings from this study must be seen in the context of Portuguese economic development and culture and the absence hitherto of systematic research into management topics including human resource management. Explanations have been developed for the understanding of the differences in' organisational practices using an integrated model relevant both to an international context and to a national one. The study using international comparisons highlights the importance of language and concepts as applied to management (starting with the difficulty of translating the term "management" in Portuguese). A comprehensive framework was developed in order to re-evaluate Portuguese practices concerning career development and pay systems, not only to the specific case of CTT but also as a general methodology that can be applied to Portuguese organisations of a similar nature. Finally, this study is useful in confirming the results of previous research studies conducted in other countries that effective career development and pay policies require an appropriate top management strategy and a strong commitment to Human Resource policy.

MPhil thesis.