designed for another computer.2.The ability of all parts of a system (computer, printer, software, and so on) to work together.
compbusters Measures taken to eliminate or reduce the incidence of employee accidents, injuries, or other sources of claims for com- pensation.
compelled self-defamation A legal tort that holds employers liable for giving a false or incorrect reason to an employee for his or her termination, knowing that the employee will have to pass the reason on to a prospective employer.
compensable factors In job evaluation, the basic criteria used to to determine the relative worth of jobs. They consist of the attributes that, in the judgment of management, consti- tute the basis for establishing relative worth;
for example, knowledge, skills, training, expe- rience, accountability, responsibility, working conditions, and so on.
compensation Remuneration for work per- formed or services rendered in the form of pay and allowances, salaries, wages, stipends, fees and commissions, and bonuses and stock options. For some purposes, such as state taxes, compensation is defined as money paid out over a period of less than 10 years.
compensationers A term used to describe annuitants, employees, and Workers’ Com- pensationrecipients by the Federal Health Benefits Program.
compensatory education Educational pro- grams designed to help low-achieving stu- dents (the educationally disadvantaged) catch up to and keep up with their peers.
compensatory opportunity See affirmative action; race-norming.
compensatory time Time off the job and away from the workplace earned by workers by working overtime, on weekends or holi- days, or during scheduled vacations. Usually limited to exempt employees; nonexempt workers are paid overtime wages. In 1996, a law changing the minimum wage also speci- fied that employee commute time to and from work in company vehicles would not be compensable.
compensatory training Training provided to remedy worker deficiencies in knowledge and skills. Includes basic skills training, reme- dial training, andretraining.
competence A social concept involving a comparative judgment about the value or worth of human performance. It is compara- tive in that it compares typical performance with exemplary performance.
competencies A generic mix of knowledge, skills, and attitudes with broad application.
Taught in an integrated way to prepare an individual for many jobs and tasks. Examples are problem solving, troubleshooting, and reasoning.
competency 1.Tasks, results, and outputs as they relate to work. 2. Knowledge, skills, and attitudes (as well as values, orientations, and commitments) as they relate to the character- istics of people who do the work. Attributed to Patricia A. McLagan, “Competencies for the Next Generations,” Training & Develop- ment, May 1997, p. 41. See also attribute bun- dles; knowledge, skills, and attitude compe-
competency assessment 122 complementary and alternative medicine
t e n c i e s ; o u t p u t c o m p e t e n c i e s ; r e s u l t competencies; superior-performer competen- cies; task competencies.
competency assessment In selection for employment or promotion, evaluation of potential based on appraisal of skills and abil- ities.
competency-based pay Compensation based on evaluations that focus on individual job skills and behaviors.
competency-based test In selection and train- ing, a test that measures specific skills or com- petencies, rather than job knowledge.
competency-based training Training that is rooted in the skills and competencies required for acceptable job performance as determined by job and task analysis.
competency-based vocational-technical edu- cation (CBVE) Education based on perfor- mance objectives that define what the learner must do, under what conditions, and to what standard.
competency evaluation An approach to eval- uation that measures the effectiveness of a training or other type of program by comparing the achievement of participants against estab- lished competency standards.
competency power Power derived from expertise. It is power and authority based on skills and experience and is exemplified by leading by example.
competition A characteristic of market eco- nomics in which buyers choose from among alternative goods and services made available in the market by two or more sellers.
competition-based pricing The process of letting competitors establish prices and then setting one’s prices low enough to eclipse the competition to maintain or improve market share. Obviously, price concessions can increase sales. However, irresponsible com- petitive pricing often results in retaliation by competitors. If carried too far, it can lead to price wars and price attrition.
The Competitive Advantage: The Newsletter for Sales and Marketing Professionals A monthly publication of Capital Publica- tions, Inc. Cost: $99 per year. Contact: The Competitive Advantage, 1101 King St., Ste.
110, Alexandria, VA 22314 (phone 800-888-
2084; fax 703-684-2136; Web site www.com- briefings.com/).
competitive benchmarking Determining which company or organization, whether a competitor or noncompetitor, provides the best products or services.
competitive intelligence Information col- lected legally and ethically about how com- petitors achieve superior performance and productivity. Includes reviewing industry pub- lications, accessing electronic databases, probing internal company experts, and tap- ping industry observers and commentators, such as academics and consultants, and inter- rogating customers, clients, dealers, and sup- pliers. Represents a necessary preliminary step in the benchmarkingprocess.See also business intelligence; business espionage.
competitive medical plan (CMP) In gen- eral, a prepayment health care plan requiring fixed monthly payments and minimal copay- ments. CMPs with corporate or Medicare con- tracts offer beneficiaries all services covered by fee-for-service Medicare or other private plans. More specifically, a CMP (1) is state- licensed; (2) provides health care on a prepaid, capitated basis; (3) provides care primarily through physicians who are employees or partners of the entity; (4) assumes full finan- cial risk on a prospective basis with provisions forstop loss,reinsurance, and risk sharing with providers; and (5) meets the Public Health Service Act requirement of protection against insolvency.
competitive price A price that surpasses minimum accounting costs (production and distribution) by an amount that permits the seller to receive an ordinary return on the cap- ital invested in the enterprise, but no more.
compiled list A computerized list of individ- uals and organizations assembled from existing public and proprietary data sources, such as phone books, trade show attendees, car registrations, association member directo- ries, and product warranty cards.
complaint The original statement made in a civil case detailing the reasons the plaintiff is entitled to the aid or relief of the court.
complementary and alternative medicine See complementary care.
complementary care 123 Comprehensive Environmental Response
complementary care Alternative treatments such as acupressure, biofeedback, chiroprac- tic, guided imagery, hypnotherapy, medita- tion, oriental medicine, prayer, reflexology, therapeutic touch, and yoga. Sometimes used with cancer patients as adjuncts to surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy.
completed staff work Products of employ- ees’ labor that arrive at their supervisor’s desk ready for his or her signature or in final draft, ready for review and approval.
complete meeting package (CMP) A pric- ing method used by conference centers. It is based on per-person, per-day and typically includes room, food, beverage refreshment breaks (except liquor and tax), conference ser- vices (meeting room, breakouts, support staff, gratuities, and audiovisual basics), and recre- ation facilities.
completion item A test item that requires the testee to “fill in the blanks.”
complexity theory A spin-off from chaos theory. Postulates that, in complex organiza- tions such as businesses, simple agents obey- ing simple rules can interact to create elabo- rate and unexpected behavior and positive results.
compliance program Criteria established by the U.S. Sentencing Commission to determine whether a company has an effective program to prevent fraud, theft, or antitrust violations.
Its seven elements: (1) the company has pol- icies defining standards and procedures to be used by its agents and employees; (2) a spe- cific high-level person in the organization has been given responsibility for ensuring compli- ance with policy; (3) the organization has used due care not to delegate significant discretion- ary authority to persons whom the organiza- tion knew, or should have known, had a pro- pensity to engage in illegal activities; (4) the company has effectively communicated its standards and procedures to its agents and employees; (5) the company has taken reason- able steps to achieve compliance with stan- dards, such as monitoring, audits, and report- ing systems; (6) the standards have been consistently enforced by means of appropriate disciplinary mechanisms; and (7) when an offense has been detected, the organization
has taken reasonable steps to ensure that it could not occur again.
composite review and analysis Evaluation of an organization’s operating program as a whole, developed and presented by the head of the organization. It makes use of the verti- cal reviews and analyses prepared by subor- dinate managers.
composite score A single score that combines several scores, usually simply by summing them, but sometimes weights are assigned to the separate scores to increase or decrease their importance in the total composite score.
compositing The process of combining mul- tiple layers of video or audio into one image.
comprehensive benefit package A health care insurance package in which each partic- ipant is covered for as many essential services as the system can afford.
comprehensive budgeting A general term covering all types of budgets used in a com- pany such as the annual budget and supple- mentary budgets.
comprehensive budget program Character- istic of most for-profit organizations. Consists of two major components: the annual profit plan and the financial budget.
Comprehensive Employment and Training Act of 1973 (CETA) Provided for block grants to 475 state and local units of govern- ment, which served as prime sponsors. Prime sponsors identified employment and training needs in their geographical areas and planned and operated job training and the services needed to meet those needs. CETA funds were used for classroom instruction in occupational skills and other job-related training; on-the- job training by public and private employers;
recruitment, orientation, counseling, testing, and placement; and support services such as medical and child care services. CETA legis- lation expired at the end of fiscal year 1982 and was replaced by the Job Training Part- nership Act of 1982.
Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA)(Superfund) One of five major environmental laws, since significantly revised, expanded, and extended. The Act identifies 717 hazardous substances and provides a federal
“superfund” to clean up uncontrolled or
comprehensive health planning (CHP) 124 Comp Time Act of 1996
abandoned hazardous-waste sites as well as accidents, spills, and other emergency releases of pollutants and contaminants into the envi- ronment. The Environmental Protection Agency was given authority to seek out parties responsible for any release and ensure their cooperation in the cleanup. EPA cleans up orphan sites when potentially responsible par- ties cannot be identified or located, or when they fail to act. Through various enforcement tools, EPA obtains private party cleanup through orders, consent decrees, and other small-party settlements. EPA also recovers costs from financially viable individuals and companies once a response action has been completed. EPA is authorized to implement the Act in all 50 states and U.S. territories.
Superfund site identification, monitoring, and response activities in states are coordinated through the state environmental protection or waste management agencies.
comprehensive health planning (CHP) Health planning that includes all personal fac- tors and community programs that affect peo- ple’s health.
comprehensive interview An employment interview in which the interviewer, in addition to asking specific, preplanned questions, is encouraged to probe important points as they arise in the interview.
comprehensive medical coverage Medical insurance plans that cover hospitalization and the fees of medical and surgical practitioners.
Often includes prescription drugs.
comprehensiveness One of the characteristics of an acceptable test. A test is comprehensive when it takes liberal and complete samples from whatever is being measured — the objectives of the training program or system.
comprehensive outpatient rehabilitation facility (CORF) A health care facility that provides speech, occupational, and respiratory therapies and counseling and related services.
If prescribed by a physician and the facility participates in Medicare, Part B, Medicare will pay for services provided.
compressed hypertext markup language (CHTML) A “microbrowser” standard for presenting Web pages on a mobile phone.
compressed speech Spoken material recorded at normal speed and played back three to five
or more times faster than the recorded version.
It makes use of the known fact that humans can receive and understand aural material much faster than the typical person can artic- ulate it. Used in training to save time.
compressed video Images that have been compressed to eliminate redundant informa- tion and reduce the bandwidth required to transmit them.
compressed workweek A scheduling plan that allows employees to rearrange their work hours to help balance work and family respon- sibilities. For example, the 40-hour work week could be compressed into four 10-hour workdays, or a fortnightly schedule may be used to allow workers one additional day off every 2 weeks.
compression 1. In wage and salary adminis-