Final answer:
There was universal consensus on eight out of nine compensation practices across ten countries, with seniority considerations not universally prioritized. The competitive nature of the job market in the U.S. suggests a meritocracy, while unionization trends vary widely across high-income economies.
Step-by-step explanation:
According to a study of ten countries on nine compensation practices, there was universal consensus on eight as being significant in the field of workforce management. Not all nine practices gained universal consensus due to various factors such as cultural differences, economic trends, and attitudes towards unionization and meritocracy. Specifically, while seniority considerations are valued in some countries, they are not universally prioritized over other compensation factors.
For instance, in the United States, evidence suggests that the workforce is largely driven by meritocracy, indicated by the fact that highly skilled jobs typically offer better compensation than low-skill jobs, thereby promoting a competitive job market. However, different trends in unionization across various high-income economies suggest that certain compensation practices, including those negotiated by unions, affect a significant portion of the workforce—even those who do not officially belong to a union. This drives home the point that while there may be some consensus, there's not complete unanimity on every compensation practice across all countries in the study.