Bachelor Thesis from the year 2015 in the subject Business economics - Personnel and Organisation, grade: 1,3, University of Cologne (Seminar f?r ABWL und Personalwirtschaftslehre Prof. Dr. Dirk Sliwka), language: English, abstract: Examining the relationship between individuals and groups is, among others, one of the key issues in sociology that originates from the concept of reciprocity (Gouldner, 1960). Reciprocity, the tendency of people to return a favorable action after having received one (Gouldner, 1960), is a guiding principle that forms human actions. Surely, this principle is applicable to the employer-employee relationship in companies, as both wish to receive such favorable actions from one another. Companies require their employees to show high performance and excellent work behavior at all times and employees expect the company to compensate their effort and loyalty in return. Now, what does it take to deliver excellent work behavior nowadays? According to company profiles, characteristics like responsibility, communicational and analytical skills, capacity of teamwork and leadership abilities are demanded in many cases. Evidently, individuals are naturally equipped with these skills and abilities to different extents, but it is also the company's concern to influence employees in such a way that they are willing to deliver optimal work behavior. In order to do so, companies must strive to create encouraging compensation plans, in economic contexts referred...