<PAGE>   1
                                                             Exhibit No. (10)(x)

                        GREAT LAKES CHEMICAL CORPORATION

                      1993 EMPLOYEE STOCK COMPENSATION PLAN

                      As amended by the Board of Directors
                                       on
                                November 21, 1997

         1. SHARES SUBJECT TO PLAN. 2,000,000 shares of common stock, par value
$1.00 per share, shall be reserved for Awards granted under this Plan (the "1993
Plan"). That number does not include 251,900 shares which are reserved for
options granted under the company's 1984 Employee Stock Option Plan, as last
amended on March 6, 1995 (the "1984 Plan"), and which are not subject to
presently outstanding options granted under the 1984 and 1975 Plans. If any
Award granted under this 1993 Plan shall terminate or expire without being fully
exercised for any reason prior to the end of the period under which Awards may
be granted, the shares of common stock to which such termination or expiration
relates shall again become available for Awards thereafter granted.

         2. EFFECTIVE DATE AND DURATION. This 1993 Plan became effective on May
6, 1993, upon its approval by the holders of a majority of the common stock of
the company present and voting (in person or by proxy) at the 1993 Annual
Meeting of Stockholders, and shall continue in effect for a period of ten (10)
years from the date of such stockholder approval. Upon expiration of such
ten-year period, no further Awards shall be granted (although unexercised Awards
theretofore granted shall continue in effect).

         3. AWARDS. The Board may grant Awards, including Incentive Stock
Options meeting the requirements of Section 422(a) of the Internal Revenue Code
of 1986, as amended, (the "Code") and Non-Qualified Options, or other
stock-based awards, collectively referred to as "Awards."

         4. ADMINISTRATION OF THE 1993 PLAN. The Board of Directors (the
"Board"), which may act through its Compensation and Incentive Committee (the
"Committee"), shall administer this 1993 Plan. It may in its sole discretion
determine the person or persons to whom Awards are to be granted and the number
of shares to be covered by each such Award, all within the limitations set forth
in this 1993 Plan. It may interpret the provisions of this 1993 Plan and decide
all questions of fact arising out of its application, and all such
interpretations and determinations shall be conclusive and binding upon the
individual employees involved and all persons claiming under them.
<PAGE>   2
GREAT LAKES CHEMICAL CORPORATION
1993 EMPLOYEE STOCK COMPENSATION PLAN
As amended on November 21, 1997
Page 2

         5. PERSONS ELIGIBLE FOR AWARDS. Individuals who are (a) executive
officers, (b) other key employees (including those who are also directors) or
(c) non-employee directors, in each case of the company or any of its
subsidiaries (the "Company") may be granted Awards. For this purpose, the term
"subsidiary" shall mean any corporation in which the company owns stock having
50 percent or more of the total combined voting power of all classes of such
corporation's stock. A person is a key employee by virtue of meeting all of the
following standards: (i) such person is employed by the company, (ii) such
person has managerial, supervisory, professional, scientific, engineering or
similar responsibilities, and (iii) such person is not covered by any collective
bargaining agreement binding on the company. No Award shall be granted to any
director of the company who is not also an executive officer or key employee of
the company on the date the Award is granted.

         6. TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF OPTIONS. Options granted may be either
Incentive Stock Options as defined in Section 422(a) of the Code, (hereinafter
referred to as "ISOs") or options which are not within the 422(a) definition
(hereinafter referred to as "Non-Qualified Options") (ISOs and Non-Qualified
Options are referred to collectively as "Options").

              (a) INCENTIVE STOCK OPTIONS. The terms of each ISO granted shall
         include those terms which are required by Section 422(a) of the Code,
         and other such terms, not inconsistent therewith as the Board may
         determine.

              (b) NON-QUALIFIED OPTIONS. Subject to the minimum option price
         specified in paragraph (c), the terms of each Non-Qualified Option
         granted, which may be different in each case, shall be determined by
         the Board.

              (c) MINIMUM OPTION PRICE. The option price payable for the shares
         of stock subject to each Option granted shall not be less than the fair
         market value of the company's common stock at the time of the grant of
         that Option. The fair market value of the company's stock at the time
         of the grant of an Option shall be deemed to be equal to the closing
         price on the preceding trading day on the New York Stock Exchange;
         provided, however, that during the [60]-day period from and after a
         change in control, "fair market value" shall mean, other than in the
         case of shares of common stock subject to ISOs, the higher of (X) the
         highest closing price on the New York Stock Exchange during the 60-day
         period prior to the change in control and (Y) if the change in control
         is the result of a transaction or series of transactions described in
         paragraphs (a), (b) or (c) of Section 13(A)(v) hereof, the highest
         price for shares of common stock paid in such transaction or series of
         transactions, which in the case of such paragraph (a) shall be the
         highest price for shares of common stock as reflected in a Schedule 13D
         filed under the Exchange Act (as defined in Section 13(A)(v)(a) hereof)
         by the person having made the acquisition.
<PAGE>   3
GREAT LAKES CHEMICAL CORPORATION
1993 EMPLOYEE STOCK COMPENSATION PLAN
As amended on November 21, 1997
Page 3

               (d) MAXIMUM NUMBER OF SHARES. Subject to the provisions of
         Paragraph 11 hereof, the maximum number of shares that may be awarded
         to any employee in any year hereunder shall not exceed 150,000.

         7. TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF OTHER STOCK-BASED AWARDS. The Committee may
grant other stock-based Awards either alone or in addition to other Awards under
the 1993 Plan. The Committee will place such restrictions on such Awards as the
Committee determines to be necessary.

         8. TRANSFER LIMITATIONS. No Award granted shall be transferable
otherwise than by will or the laws of descent and distribution, and no Award
granted may be exercised by any person other than the person to whom the Award
shall initially have been granted during the lifetime of such initial Awardee.

         9. EXERCISE OF AWARDS. Awards shall be exercised by written notice to
the company. Option exercise notices must be accompanied by payment in full of
the option price and may be exercised in one or more installments. Payment of
the option price may be made as specified in each Award Agreement (as discussed
below), in cash, by exchanging common stock of the company already owned by the
optionee for at least six months prior to the date of exercise, or by delivery
of a combination of cash and common stock. The exchanged shares, plus cash, if
any, must be equal to the aggregate option price of the shares acquired upon
exercise of the Option. The value to be used for any exchanged shares shall be
the closing market price of the company's common stock on the preceding trading
day on the New York Stock Exchange. Notwithstanding the foregoing, during the
[60]-day period from and after a change in control, all optionees, with respect
to any or all of their respective Options (including, in the case of
Non-Qualified Options, Options already outstanding on [insert effective date of
amendment], 1997), shall, unless the Committee shall determine otherwise at the
time of grant, have the right, in lieu of the payment of the full Option price
of the shares of common stock being purchased under the Options and by giving
written notice to the company in form satisfactory to the Committee, to elect
(within such [60]-day period) to surrender all or part of the Options to the
Company and to receive in cash an amount equal to the amount by which the fair
market value of shares of common stock on the date of exercise exceeds the
option price per share of common stock under the Options multiplied by the
number of shares of common stock granted under the Options as to which the right
granted by this proviso shall have been exercised.

                 (a) MANDATORY WITHHOLDING TAXES. Whenever a Non-Qualified
         Option is exercised, the company may require as a condition of delivery
         that the optionee remit an amount sufficient to satisfy all federal,
         state and local withholding tax requirements related thereto. The
         optionee may elect to pay the tax by remitting (1) cash, (2) shares of
         common stock already owned by the optionee for at least six months, (3)
         withholding a
<PAGE>   4
GREAT LAKES CHEMICAL CORPORATION
1993 EMPLOYEE STOCK COMPENSATION PLAN
As amended on November 21, 1997
Page 4

         portion of the shares otherwise deliverable to the optionee upon the
         exercise, or (4) by any combination of the above. The value to be used
         for any shares delivered or withheld shall be the closing market price
         the preceding trading day on the New York Stock Exchange.

                (b) DISQUALIFYING DISPOSITIONS OF ISO SHARES. An optionee shall
         be required to notify the Company of any disposition of shares issued
         pursuant to the exercise of an ISO under the circumstances described in
         Section 421(b) of the Code (relating to certain disqualifying
         dispositions), within ten days of such disposition.

         10. AWARD AGREEMENT. No person shall have any rights unless and until
the company and the person to whom such Award shall have been granted shall have
executed and delivered an Award Agreement containing provisions setting forth
the terms of the Award.

         11. ANTI-DILUTION PROVISION. If, prior to the complete exercise of any
Award, there shall be declared and paid a stock dividend upon the shares of
common stock of the Company or if the shares shall be split up, converted,
reclassified, changed into, or exchanged for, a different number or kind of
securities of the Company, the Award, to the extent that it has not been
exercised, shall entitle the holder upon the future exercise of such Award to
such number and kind of securities or other property subject to the terms of the
Award to which the holder would be entitled had such holder actually owned the
shares subject to the unexercised portion of the Award at the time of the
occurrence of such stock dividend, split-up, conversion, exchange,
reclassification or exchange; and the aggregate purchase price upon the future
exercise of the Award shall be the same as if originally optioned or awarded
shares were being purchased thereunder; or the Compensation and Incentive
Committee shall make such other adjustment to such Award as it deems
appropriate. If any such event should occur, the number of shares with respect
to which Awards remain to be issued, or with respect to which awards may be
reissued, shall be similarly adjusted.

         In the event the outstanding shares of common stock shall be changed
into or exchanged for any other class or series of capital stock or cash,
securities or other property pursuant to a recapitalization, reclassification,
merger, consolidation, combination or similar transaction (other than a
transaction described in the previous paragraph), then each Award shall
thereafter become exercisable for the number and/or kind of capital stock,
and/or the amount of cash, securities or other property so distributed, into
which the shares subject to the Award would have been changed or exchanged had
the Award been exercised in full prior to such transaction, provided that, if
the kind or amount of capital stock or cash, securities or other property
received in such transaction is not the same for each outstanding share, then
the kind or amount of capital stock or cash, securities or other property for
which the Award shall thereafter become exercisable shall be the kind and amount
so receivable per share by a plurality of the shares; or the Compensation
<PAGE>   5
GREAT LAKES CHEMICAL CORPORATION
1993 EMPLOYEE STOCK COMPENSATION PLAN
As amended on November 21, 1997
Page 5

and Incentive Committee shall make such other adjustment to such Award as it
deems appropriate. If any such event should occur, the number of shares with
respect to which Awards remain to be issued, or with respect to which awards may
be reissued, shall be similarly adjusted.

         12. AWARDS GRANTED UNDER OPTION PLANS. Options granted under the 1975
and 1984 Plans shall be governed by the provisions of the respective Plan as
amended. Awards granted under this 1993 Plan shall be governed by the provisions
of this 1993 Plan.

         13. ADDITIONAL PROVISIONS.

         A.  VESTING, TERMINATION OF EMPLOYMENT.

         The following provisions shall be applicable to all Awardees; provided,
         however, that in the case of an Awardee whose employment terminates in
         connection with the distribution to company stockholders of the stock
         of Octel Corp., such provisions (including but not limited to any
         provisions relating to vesting and post-termination exercisability)
         shall be so applicable except as may be otherwise determined by the
         Board or the Compensation and Incentive Committee.

                  (i) Upon a change in control of the Company (as defined
         below), all Options shall immediately vest and become exercisable and
         all restrictions on other Awards shall immediately lapse.

                  (ii) An Award shall be exercisable only during the Awardee's
         employment by or service with the Company and for up to three months
         after the termination of such employment or service for any reason
         (including but not limited to any such termination of employment or
         service which occurs following a change in control of the Company),
         except that in the Board's (or, if such authority is delegated by the
         Board, the Compensation and Incentive Committee's or the Chief
         Executive Officer's) discretion, an Award may be exercisable for a
         period of up to three years after retirement or death, or for up to ten
         years after mandatory retirement under the Executive Mandatory
         Retirement Policy.

                  (iii) An Award may be exercised after the termination of an
         Awardee's employment or service with the Company only to the extent
         that (a) the Awardee was entitled to do so on the date of termination
         (after giving effect to Section 13(A)(i) above), and (b) the Award
         would not have expired had the Awardee continued to be employed by (or
         to be in the service of) the Company.

                  (iv) The Board (or if such authority is delegated by the
         Board, the Compensation and Incentive Committee or the Chief Executive
         Officer) may in its discretion determine
<PAGE>   6
GREAT LAKES CHEMICAL CORPORATION
1993 EMPLOYEE STOCK COMPENSATION PLAN
As amended on November 21, 1997
Page 6

         that an authorized leave of absence or disability shall be deemed to
         satisfy this 1993 Plan's employment or service requirements.

                  (v) For purposes of this 1993 Plan, a "change in control of
         the Company" shall be deemed to have occurred if the conditions set
         forth in any one of the following paragraphs shall have been satisfied:

                  (a)      any "person" (as such term is used in Section 13(d)
                           and 14(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as
                           amended (the "Exchange Act")) other than (i) the
                           Company, (ii) a trustee or other fiduciary holding
                           securities under an employee benefit plan of the
                           Company, (iii) an underwriter temporarily holding
                           securities pursuant to an offering of such
                           securities, or (iv) a corporation owned, directly or
                           indirectly, by the stockholders of the Company in
                           substantially the same proportions as their ownership
                           of shares of the Company (any such person is
                           hereinafter referred to as a "Person"), is or becomes
                           the "beneficial owner" (as defined in Rule 13d-3
                           under the Exchange Act), directly or indirectly, of
                           securities of the Company representing more than 20%
                           of the combined voting power of the Company's then
                           outstanding securities (not including in the
                           securities beneficially owned by such Person any
                           securities acquired directly from the Company);

                  (b)      there is consummated a merger or consolidation of the
                           Company with or into any other corporation, other
                           than a merger or consolidation which would result in
                           the holders of the voting securities of the Company
                           outstanding immediately prior thereto holding
                           securities which represent, in combination with the
                           ownership of any trustee or other fiduciary holding
                           securities under an employee benefit plan of the
                           Company, immediately after such merger or
                           consolidation, more than 70% of the combined voting
                           power of the voting securities of either the Company
                           or the other entity which survives such merger or
                           consolidation or the parent of the entity which
                           survives such merger or consolidation;

                  (c)      the stockholders of the Company approve any plan or
                           proposal for the liquidation or dissolution of the
                           Company or an agreement for the sale or disposition
                           by the Company of all or substantially all the
                           Company's assets; or

                  (d)      during any period of two consecutive years (not
                           including any period prior to the date of this 1993
                           Plan), individuals who at the beginning of such
                           period constitute the Board and any new director
                           (other than a director designated by a Person who has
                           entered into an agreement with the Company to effect
                           a
<PAGE>   7
GREAT LAKES CHEMICAL CORPORATION
1993 EMPLOYEE STOCK COMPENSATION PLAN
As amended on November 21, 1997
Page 7

                  transaction described in clause (a), (b) or (c) of this
                  paragraph) whose election by the Board or nomination for
                  election by the Company's stockholders was approved by a vote
                  of at least two-thirds (2/3) of the directors then still in
                  office who either were directors at the beginning of the
                  period or whose election or nomination for election was
                  previously so approved, cease for any reason to constitute a
                  majority thereof.

         For purposes of this 1993 Plan, where a change in control of the
         Company results from a series of related transactions, the change in
         control of the Company shall be deemed to have occurred on the date of
         the consummation of the first such transaction. For purposes of clause
         (a) of this subsection, the stockholders of another corporation (other
         than the Company or a corporation described in subclause (iv) of clause
         (a) of this subsection) shall be deemed to constitute a Person.
         Further, the sale, transfer, or other disposition of a subsidiary of
         the Company shall not constitute a change in control of the Company
         giving rise to payments or benefits under this 1993 Plan.

         Notwithstanding any other provision hereof, a "change in control of the
         Company" shall not be deemed to have occurred by virtue of the Company
         entering into any agreement with respect to, the public announcement
         of, the approval by the Company's stockholders or directors of, or the
         consummation of, any transaction or series of integrated transactions
         (including any merger or other business combination transaction)
         entered into in connection with, or expressly conditioned upon the
         occurrence of, a spin-off (such transaction or series of integrated
         transactions, the "Spin-Off Transaction") immediately following which
         the recordholders of the common stock of the Company immediately prior
         to the Spin-Off Transaction continue to have substantially the same
         proportionate ownership in the spun-off entity as they had in the
         Company immediately prior to the Spin-Off Transaction; provided that
         such Spin-Off Transaction (including any related merger of other
         business combination transaction) has been approved by a vote of a
         majority of the Company's Continuing Directors (as defined below) then
         in office. For purposes of this 1993 Plan, a "Continuing Director"
         shall mean any member of the Board of the Company who is a member of
         the Board as of the date of this 1993 Plan and any person who
         subsequently becomes a member of the Board, if such person's nomination
         for election or election to the Board is recommended or approved by a
         majority of the Continuing Directors. Notwithstanding any other
         provision hereof, "Company," for purposes of the definition of "change
         in control of the Company," shall mean Great Lakes Chemical
         Corporation.

         B.  LISTINGS, REGISTRATION AND COMPLIANCE WITH LAWS AND REGULATIONS.

              (i) Each Award shall be subject to the requirement that if at
         anytime the Board shall determine, in its discretion, that the listing,
         registration, or qualification of the shares
<PAGE>   8
GREAT LAKES CHEMICAL CORPORATION
1993 EMPLOYEE STOCK COMPENSATION PLAN
As amended on November 21, 1997
Page 8

         subject to the Award upon any securities exchange or under any state or
         federal securities or other law or regulation, or the consent or
         approval of any governmental regulatory body, is necessary or desirable
         as a condition to or in connection with the granting of such Award or
         the issue or purchase of shares thereunder, no such Award may be
         exercised or paid in common stock in whole or in part unless such
         listing, registration, qualification, consent or approval shall have
         been effected or obtained free of any conditions not acceptable to the
         Board and the Awardee will supply the company with such certificates,
         representations and information as the company shall request and shall
         otherwise cooperate with the company in obtaining such listing,
         registration, qualification, consent or approval. In the case of
         executive officers and other persons subject to Section 16(b) of the
         Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the Board may at any time impose any
         limitations upon the exercise of an Award which, in the Board's
         discretion, are necessary or desirable in order to comply with Section
         16(b) and the rules and regulations thereunder. If the company, as part
         of an offering of securities or otherwise, finds it desirable because
         of federal or state regulatory requirements to reduce the period during
         which any Award may be exercised, the Board may, in its discretion and
         without the Awardee's consent, so reduce such period on not less than
         15 days written notice to the Awardee.

              (ii) Notwithstanding the terms of this paragraph, no Awardee shall
         have the right to require the company to register, list or qualify said
         Award or any of the stock underlying such Option.

         C. AMENDMENT OF THE 1993 PLAN. Except as provided in the following
         sentence and as required by law, the company's Board shall have
         complete power and authority to amend this 1993 Plan at any time and no
         approval by the company's stockholders or by any other person,
         committee or other entity of any kind shall be required to make any
         such amendment effective. The Board shall not, however, increase the
         maximum number of shares available for Awards granted unless such
         increase shall either be approved by the company's stockholders or
         shall be permitted by Paragraph 11. No termination or amendment may,
         without the consent of the individual to whom any Award shall have been
         granted under the 1993 Plan, adversely affect the rights of such
         individual under such Award.

         D. CAPTIONS. The captions (i.e., all boldfaced words) are for
         convenience only, do not constitute a part of this 1993 Plan, and shall
         not be deemed to limit, characterize or affect in any way any
         provisions of this 1993 Plan, and all provisions shall be construed as
         if no captions had been used.

         E. SEVERABILITY. Whenever possible, each provision in this 1993 Plan
         and in every Award at any time granted under this 1993 Plan shall be
         interpreted in such manner as to
<PAGE>   9
GREAT LAKES CHEMICAL CORPORATION
1993 EMPLOYEE STOCK COMPENSATION PLAN
As amended on November 21, 1997
Page 9

         be effective and valid under applicable law, but if any provision of
         this 1993 Plan or any Award at any time granted under this 1993 Plan
         shall be held to be prohibited by or invalid under applicable law, then
         (i) such provision shall be deemed amended to accomplish the objectives
         of the provision as originally written to the fullest extent permitted
         by law, and (ii) all other provisions and every Award at any time
         granted under this 1993 Plan shall remain in full force and effect.

         F. NO STRICT CONSTRUCTION. No rule of strict construction shall be
         applied against the company, the Board, or any other person in the
         interpretation of any of the terms of this 1993 Plan, any Award granted
         under this 1993 Plan or any rule or procedure established by the Board.

         G. APPLICABLE LAW. Every Award at any time granted under this 1993 Plan
         shall be deemed to be a contract made under the laws of the State of
         Indiana. For all purposes, both this 1993 Plan and every Award granted
         under this 1993 Plan shall be construed in accordance with and governed
         by the laws of the State of Indiana.


2/20/98