The target of the thesis was to make an attempt to find out and to describe an optimal compensation strategy, which could be successfully applied by publicly listed companies. The origins of the compensation problem, different approaches and propositions regarding each single compensation component, as well as transparency issues were discussed in the theoretical part of the paper, particularly pointing out possible advantages and drawbacks. In the subsequent praxis-related part the focus was made on the Austrian managers and their compensations. For closer examination two representatives of the largest Austrian companies were selected (OMV AG and Erste Group) and an extensive analysis of the top-management compensation in relation to the annual performance development was conducted. Results showed interesting coherencies and findings ....