案例翻译8-微软案例薪酬激励归类.pdf

Case: Microsoft Abandons Stock Options 案例：微软放弃优先认股权As Microsoft Corporation became hugely successful, many of its employees became rich. One important source of their wealth was incentive pay in the form of stock options. The company would issue the options to employees, and as the value of Microsoft stock rose, the employees exercised the options to receive an immediate return and then realize enormous returns over time. 因为微软的巨大成功，员工也变得富裕起来微软员工收入的一个重要来源是优先认股权公司为员工提供优先认股权，因为微软的股价一直在涨，员工可以使用选择权马上得到回报，并随着时间的推移得到巨大的回报。

Options were extremely motivating through the 1990s because they give a right to buy stock at a fixed price. The stock price of Microsoft and other technology companies rose so fast that exercising options was extremely profitable. But when stock prices dropped in 2000 and afterward, options became worthless. It doesnt pay to exercise an option if the stock price is less than the exercise price; you would lose money on the deal. 90 年代优先认股权是巨大的激励手段，因为持有人可以使用这一权利在一个固定的价格上买公司股票在当时微软和其他一些技术公司的股价增长很快，行使认股权是很好的获利手段。

但 2000 年后股价开始呈现跌势，认股权变得毫无用处如果股价低于预购股票价格，使用认股权无利可图，并且会赔钱From a high of $59.56 near the end of 1999, share prices for Microsoft tumbled during the following year to price near $20 per share. Since then, prices have roughly ranged between $25 and $30 a share. In response to this situation, Microsoft in 2003 announced that it would no longer reward employees with stock options. Instead, it began using restricted stock, meaning shares of stock that employees could sell only at a specified point in the future and only if they still worked for Microsoft. The use of stock instead of stock options avoids the risk of options being worthless if stock prices dont rise fast enough to make the exercise price profitable. The move away from stock options signals that the company does not expect a return to the fast-growth 1990s. In the words of Microsofts chief financial officer, John Connors, “If you think what happened in the nineties is going to happen again it s not.”从 1999 年末的每股 59.56 美元到第二年的20 美元，微软的股价暴跌。

从那时起，微软的股价在每股20 美元到 30 美元之间波动为回应对这种形势，2003 年微软宣布以后不再给员工提供优先认股权作为奖励而采用有限制的股票作为替代，这意味着员工只能在未来以某个指定价格出卖股份，并且必须是他们还在微软工作的前提下当股价增长不快，不能获利的情况下，使用股票而不是认股权可以避免认股权不能赚钱的风险这个变动意味着公司不再奢望出现90 年代快速增长的情况用微软首席财政官(CFO) John Connors的话说，就是如果指望90 年代的情况再次出现，那是不现实的Recognizing that the personal computer industry in general and Microsoft in particular have left the early fast-growth days behind, the companys management believes that stock options no longer have a place in the companys performance-based pay. By replacing the stock options with stock grants, the company hopes that employees will continue to be rewarded by the now-mature companys long-term growth and profits. 纵观个人计算机行业和细看微软早期的快速增长，微软管理层相信优先认股权不会再在以绩效付酬的公司中有任何地位。

公司希望用股票奖励取代认股权，可以让员工继续在一个长期平稳增长并获利的成熟公司中得到回报Because Microsoft, with over 50,000 employees and revenues of almost $37 billion, is such a dominant player in the technology sector, the decision to abandon stock options signals a major change in how technology companies compensate their employees. Exceptions might be start-up companies that expect to grow fast and enjoy rapid growth in their earnings and stock prices. Despite those exceptions, in the two years since Microsoft announced its decision, the use of stock options has been declining in every industry sector. The trend has been accelerated by a recent federal government requirement that companies treat stock options as an expense, an accounting change that reduces a companys reported profits when it issues stock options. Forexample, Microsoft said that if it has counted stock options as an expense during the nine months ending March 31, 2003, its profits would have been one-fourth less than it had reported. Thus, the new regulations governing stock options can have a major impact on companies financial reports. 因为微软拥有全球5 万员工、年收入370 亿美元，在技术领域是个绝对的主角，所以它的放弃认股权的决定标志着技术性公司怎样付酬给员工的巨大变化。

例外的是那些新兴公司，它们期待着快速增长，并享受着收入和股价快速增长带来的快乐不考虑这些新兴公司，微软发布它的决定两年后，使用认股权奖励员工的激励方法在每个行业变得黯然失色最近联邦政府提出的一个规定加速了这种取消认股权的趋势，联邦政府要求公司要把认股权作为一项开支，一项财务原则变更，如果采用认股权，就要减少公司的报告利润例如，微软宣布如果把认股权作为一项开支，截止到2003 年 3月 21 日的 9 个月时间内，微软的报告利润将会减少四分之一因此，政府对认股权的新规定可能是对公司财务报告的最大冲击Were stock options just a good idea whose time has passed? One person who evidently disagrees is Microsofts own chairman, Bill Gates. Gates recently told a Business Week report, “ I actually regret that we ever used stock options. Theres some benefit, but approach were taking now is just a better approach.”是不是优先认购权是一种已经过时的好的激励方法？反对这种观点的人正是微软自己的董事长比尔盖茨，盖茨最近对商业周刊的记者说：“对我们以前采用认股权方法事实上我感到很遗憾，它有优势，但我们现在使用的方法更好。

Questions: 1In general, stock options are most valuable if the stock price rises above the exercise price during the lift of the option, and stock grants are most valuable if the stocks value rises during the entire time the person owns the stock. From the point of view of an employee receiving stock options or stock grants, is this difference significant? Would this difference affect the kind of motivation 。