...Introduction Over the last twenty years, numerous studies and researches on the companies’ HR system have moved ever more towards the strategic aspect of this function, rather than the operational one. This shift of interest in the direction of the strategic HR has been substantially determined by the major changes occurred in the external environment in which organizations operate and in their internal environment as well. As Ulrich et al (2001) have argued the HR function was traditionally seen as a primarily executive and professional, with the HR staff focused on administering remunerations, payroll and operational functions. However, from the 1990s, a new emphasis on strategy and the importance of HR system emerged and researchers began to recognise the impact of the HR system in the company’s larger strategy (Ulrich et al, 2001). As stated before, this growth of interest in the strategic HRM has been affected by numerous dramatic competitive changes, growth of new technologies and regulatory reforms that the economic system has seen in the past decades (Boxall e Purcell 2008). Particularly, according to Bas (2012), today’s fast-changing competitive landscape requires that every company needs a clearly defined competitive strategy and in this sense, HR function can assume a strategic partnership role and be a facilitator for the implementation of the strategy. The aim of this article is to critically evaluate how both internal and external aspects of the environment...
Words: 2984 - Pages: 12
...INTERNATIONAL LABOUR ORGANISATION ACT/EMP PUBLICATIONS INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS AND GLOBALIZATION: CHALLENGES FOR EMPLOYERS AND THEIR ORGANIZATIONS Prepared by David Macdonald Senior Industrial Relations Specialist ILO/EASMAT Bangkok Paper presented at the ILO Workshop on Employers' Organizations in Asia-Pacific in the Twenty-First Century Turin, Italy, 5-13 May 1997. [Top] [Next] Table of Contents 1. Executive Summary 2. Introduction 3. Industrial Relations (IR) in the Global Context (a) IR - a definition (b) IR and HRM (c) Liberalization, globalization and IR (i) Overview (ii) The relevance of globalization to industrial relations - a summary (iii) The role of multinational corporations (MNC's) (iv) Information technology and IR (v) The impact of other trends (d) The changing nature of IR - a re-definition? 4. IR in Asia and the Pacific (a) The historical context (i) General (ii) Economic development and industrialization (iii) Industrialization and IR policies (iv) IR arrangements - regional divergence (v) Other considerations (b) The current environment (i) Overview 2 (ii) Current responses to liberalization and globalization (iii) Important regional trends 5. Responding to Current and Prospective IR challenges in Asia and the Pacific developing an agenda for employers and their organizations to facilitate transition to the Twenty-first century (a) Overview (b) General issues (i) Achieving competitiveness (ii) Effective IR is a key to improved enterprise performance (iii)...
Words: 16447 - Pages: 66
...INTRODUCTION: 5 BACKGROUND: 6 Overview: 6 2.0 COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS – LITERATURE REVIEW 8 Public vs Private Sectors 8 Differentiate between formal & informal Sectors: 8 Private Sector Reforms: 9 Public Sector Reforms: 10 3.0 METHODOLOGY: 12 Primary Research: 12 Secondary Research: 12 POPULATION SAMPLING: 12 4.0 FINDINGS: DISCUSSION & ANALYSIS 12 Factors Contributing to the Change of Industrial Relations in the Region 12 Labor Reform Policies: 12 Globalization : 13 Economic integration 14 Change in Technology 14 Changes in Labor Law and Attitude towards Unions 15 Decentralization of Bargaining 15 Management Alteration 16 Conclusion: 17 The End . INTRODUCTION: Industrial relations today by many accounts, is in crisis. In academia, its traditional positions are threatened on one side by the dominance of mainstream economics and organizational behavior, and on the other by postmodernism. In policy-making circles, the industrial relations emphasis on institutional intervention is trumped by a neoliberal emphasis on the laissez faire promotion of free markets. In practice, labor unions are declining and fewer companies have industrial relations functions. The number of academic programs in industrial relations is therefore shrinking, and scholars are leaving the field for other areas, especially human resource management and organizational behavior. The importance of work, however, is stronger than ever, and the lessons of industrial...
Words: 4622 - Pages: 19
...management’ Unsurprisingly, there is no one clear or definitive answer to the question of what defines cross-cultural management. The answer depends on which perspectives on ‘management’ and the relation of this process to ‘culture(s)’ we choose to emphasise. Mead and Andrews define cross-cultural management as the ‘development and application of knowledge about cultures in the practice of international management, when the people involved have different cultural identities’ (Mead and Andrews, 2009: 16). This can be compared with the definition given by Laurie Jackson in his book International HRM: A Cross-Cultural Approach (2002). He emphasises the importance of ‘examining the contributions of different cultures in interaction’. This emphasis on the complexities of ‘interaction’ or ‘communication’ between ‘cultures’ (i.e. groups of people or stakeholders) is one shared by Mead and Andrews, and it is developed throughout this course, where we discuss several case studies from the field of human resource management (HRM) and international human resource management or IHRM (cf. Briscoe and Schuler, 2004; Harris, et al., 2003). The text Cross-cultural Marketing, edited by Rugimbana and Nwankwo (2003, from which you’ll be reading in Unit 5) highlights the importance of communicating one’s cultural identity in international and cross-cultural management. The book eschews the traditional practice of asking how far marketing ideas that work in one context may be applied elsewhere...
Words: 3728 - Pages: 15
... For this reason these competitors are posing much more of a threat and Toyota may need to change or adjust its current strategy to deal with this problem. These competitors are also investing heavily in the emerging markets Toyota is currently trying to capitalize on. Recommendations After assessing the current strategy at Toyota there are a few recommendations I would make to help them succeed going forward. For one they may want to consider focusing less on labour productivity, as this no longer provides them with as much of a competitive advantage. They may also want to consider investing more in the emerging markets like China and Europe, as well as areas in Africa. They are currently a leader in environmentally friendly technology in the industry, and they should put more emphasis on this because it is becoming more and more important. This is also a great way to separate themselves from competitors. Key Evidence Some of the key evidence to support this involves productivity measures and various manufacturing processes recently being adopted. For example both Hyundai and GM have surpassed Toyota’s productivity in terms of cars per employees and/or production hours required. We also currently only have one plant in Africa that serves a market of over a billion consumers. Toyota was the first to make the Hybrid vehicle widely available and they need to continue to be the first to offer similar...
Words: 1477 - Pages: 6
...The study of International Human Resource Management (IHRM) has focused mainly on the policies, practices and strategies of Human Resource practitioners in individual multinational firms. The goal of this special issue is to move beyond this narrow focus at the enterprise level and situate HRM within wider economic, organizational, political and institutional contexts. HRM differs across countries but to date the comparative literature has tended to focus on cultural issues. Research that systematically analyzes socio-economic, institutional and societal contexts and their impact on HRM remains underdeveloped and there is a significant opportunity for work which draws on theory from adjacent fields - e.g. the varieties of capitalism literature, theories of cross-national organization and research in comparative political studies and economic geography all offer potentially useful frameworks. Companies are socially embedded on different levels; local economies, regional districts, national institutions, international networks and transnational regulation are all aspects of the social, organizational and economic structures in which companies are situated. Despite the all-pervasive talk of globalization, the seasoned international business traveller will be acutely aware of differences in the ‘way of doing things’from country to country and from region to region. Such differences are seldom more apparent than in the field of organization and management. Not only will...
Words: 3423 - Pages: 14
...Introduction This chapter provides an assessment of the contemporary labour market context of Human Resource Management and the impact of current trends in labor market on the practices associated with Human Resource Management in relation to attraction, motivation and retention of talents. 1.2 Review of Prior Work A labour market can be understood as the mechanism through which human labour is bought and sold as a commodity and the means by which labour demand (the number and type of available jobs) is matched with labour supply (the number and type of available workers). As such, the labour market constitutes the systematic relationship that exists between workers and work organisations. In order to achieve its strategic objectives, a fundamental concern for an organisation is to ensure that it has the right people with the right skills, knowledge and attributes in the appropriate positions. Labour market is divided into two the internal labour market and external labour market. The internal labor market refers to that which exists within a single organisation and represents its internal supply or stock of labour. In its broadest sense, the internal labour market is the mechanism by which existing employees are attributed particular roles within a firm. The specific characteristics of an organization’s internal labour market are reflective of a number of HR policy emphases, for example, the...
Words: 5311 - Pages: 22
...its trading partner. When we talk about comparative advantage we must think of the pattern of trade, which explains how each country will specialise and export the goods, in which it has a comparative advantage, and import the goods which it doesn’t have the comparative advantage. This will only be possible if free trade is allowed. Also if a country exports its specialised goods they will gain rather than failing at producing goods that they don’t have comparative advantage in. Lastly every country will have some specialist good in which they will have the comparative advantage, therefore every country can gain by free trade. However, non-economists believe that a developing country will have an advantage over richer countries as the labour is a fraction of the cost. There are two possible outcomes for a country when one commodity is considered as a comparison: 1. Its dominance of productivity is the highest, in other words, its absolute advantage is at its highest. 2. Its inferiority of productivity is at its lowest, also can be described as the country’s comparative advantage being at its lowest....
Words: 1526 - Pages: 7
...syllabus (0128) which previously were examined by UCLES. Although no previous study of the subject is assumed by the syllabus, it would be recommended that students should have done 'O' Level Business Studies 1.2 1.3 2 SYLLABUS AIMS The syllabus is intended to lead to courses that will encourage students to: 2.1 2.2 Understand and appreciate the nature and scope of business and its role in society; Develop critical understanding of organisations, the markets they serve and the process of adding value. This should involve consideration of the internal workings and management of organisations and, in particular, the process of decision making in a dynamic environment; Be aware of the economic, environmental, ethical, governmental, legal, social, technological etc issues associated with business activity; Develop skills in: decision making and problem solving in the light of evaluation, the quantification and management of information, where appropriate, effective communication, entrepreneurship. The emphasis should be on the application of concepts and issues to the local context where appropriate. 2.3 2.4 2 ASSESSMENT OBJECTIVES Candidates are expected to demonstrate the following skills: 3.1 3.2...
Words: 7797 - Pages: 32
...resources but also by its investments in agriculture and manufacturing. There are lots of opportunities for private sectors now in Africa. As because of Asia’s economies growth is slow and their labor wages rise therefore Africa will become the next preferred destination for labours intensive manufacturing of products such as garments sector. They are attracted by people for their low-cost and light manufacturing though it’s still important to need to work on their humanitarian interventions. Africa will emerge in a respected member of global community in few years. Their new mission will be how to do the work in development aid to attract more private sectors. Suddenly, Africa’s economies changed for their three reasons. First of all, global uncertainty continues to be the norm in 2013, trade and investment flows between Africa and BRIC (BRAZIL, RUSSIA, INDIA, and CHINA). The second reason is Africa promotes stronger economic ties at home (AFRICA). And the third aspect is Africa's economic transition is continuing struggle with weak transition and weak governance. Identification of the Problem: As organizations seek to maintain or gain competitive advantage they are drawn towards new fertile markets. Here South Africa also emerged economy for their better opportunities. The importance...
Words: 1793 - Pages: 8
...1. Introduction Demand for South African (S.A) labour has been undoubtedly a critical issue for the state of its economy. The country faces many issues such as jobless growth which is as a result of critical labour demand in S.A. It is important to continuously monitor changes in the labour demand because the affect several factors which have chain reactant effect. The recent financial crises for example was one of the biggest factors that recently contributed to the fragile demand for labour, many industries were hampered, jobs lost, companies left in debt amongst other things. This paper will focus on factors that determined labour demand trends in South Africa. This paper will focus on the relationship between education and labour demand, followed by a brief discussion about the productivity of labour, then, the economic growth and lastly unemployment, labour unions and price of labour is influenced by labour demand. 1. The relationship between education and labour demand Barker (2010, p.62) highlights that employers of primary segments spend large amounts of money training their workers because they want to improve labour productivity which in turn is attributed to high and rising wages. Labourers in the primary segment have prospects of promotion, as opposed to labourers in the secondary segment whom are identified as a group that have little chance of entering internal labour markets and are therefore trapped and education and the help of government will not...
Words: 1758 - Pages: 8
...capitalism solely on factors and conditions in Europe? STUDENT ID: 377170tm The term capitalism has been a center of a heated debate from many scholars in the discourses of politics, economy, law and academia for a long time. There is no straight forward definition of that term. However, in a context of this work, capitalism has four distinctive characteristics (Ellen, Wood: 2002).In the capitalist society, the economy is highly controlled by the market. By large the government is supposed to put no restriction in the markets and it lets an intense competition to drive the economy. The other characteristic of capitalism is that all the goods produced by capitalist are sold for profit. The primary purpose of capitalist society is to maximize profit by any means especially through exploitation of labour. Apart from that in capitalism, labour is considered to be a commodity like any other commodities and it can be sold and purchased in the market. In addition to that, all the means of production such as land, tools, machinery etc belong to the appropriators and not the producers. The producer can only render his expertise and labour power in exchange of the meager wages. Different approaches have been used by scholars to explain the reasons for the rise and growth of capitalism in Europe. Some scholars argue that the growth of capitalism was a result of conditions in Europe only while others explain that the growth of capitalism grew due to a combination of factors both internal and...
Words: 1554 - Pages: 7
...Streur, Denmark in 1925. Started by making early record players, speaker and audio equipment but has branched out its product range over the years. The original factory of Bang and Olufsen dating from 1925 was bombed in World War 2 and a new factory was not constructed until 1948, this factory is still used today. Where we are now? Bang and Olufsen now have a range of products from audio, video and multimedia, these products are designed to be cutting edge, different and contemporary. A strong emphasis is put on research and development, Bang and Olufsen have a building on its site in Streur called ‘idealand’ this is where ideas for products and research takes place. Bang and Olufsen employ over 2,550 staff and has a turnover of 548.6 million (euros) in the 2007/2008 financial year. It also has 1,200 dealers in over 100 countries. 65% of the stores are B1, which exclusively sell Bang and Olufsen products. The B1 stores account for 81% of the total turnover. A strong emphasis is put on environmental issues, a WEEE (Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment) system of recycling is used by Bang and Olufsen to dispose of waste material, this not only is good for the environment but create a positive public image for the company. The Marketing Environment [pic] Internal Environment Bang and Olufsen are based in Streur, Denmark, its production, research and development and logistics all happen on this one...
Words: 1441 - Pages: 6
...resource management. It assumes a certain familiarity with the evolution of HRM, early HRM models and frameworks and their theoretical underpinning as discussed in Chapter 1. The aim of this chapter is to provide a challenging and critical analysis of the strategic human resource management literature, so that you will be able to understand the synthesis both within and between strategic human resource management and strategic management in its various forms. Since the early 1980s when human resource management arrived on the managerial agenda, there has been considerable debate concerning its nature and its value to organisations. From the seminal works emerging from the Chicago school and the matching model of HRM (Fombrun et al., 1984), the emphasis has very much concerned its strategic role in the organisation. Indeed, the now large literature rarely differentiates between human resource management (HRM) and strategic human resource management (SHRM). Some writers have associated HRM with the strategic aspects and...
Words: 70707 - Pages: 283
...WORK-LIFE BALANCE IN THREE DIFFERENT COUNTRIES: UK, SWEDEN AND AUSTRALIA…………………………………………….….……………………………………8 4.4 EVOLUTION OF TRENDS IN FLEXIBILITY………………………………………………………………….9 4.5 THE REGULATORY AND INSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORK OF THE EMPLOYMENT RELATIONSHIP……………………………………………………………………………………………………..12 4. MANAGING FLEXIBILITY AND WORK-LIFE BALANCE: CULTURAL FACTORS AN HR MANAGER NEEDS INSIGHT INTO, IN ORDER TO UNDERSTAND THE FLEXIBILITY AND WORK-LIFE BALANCE TRADE-OFFS THAT ARE PREFERRED IN ANY PARTICULAR COUNTRY…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..16 5. GIVEN THE IMPERATIVES OF MODERN CAPITALISM, IS IT LIKELY TO SEE CONVERGENCE ACROSS COUNTRIES OR AT LEAST CONVERGENCE ACROSS THE NATIONAL OPERATIONS OF MULTINATIONAL COMPANIES?................................................................................18 6. CONCLUSIONS…………………………………………………………………………….……………………………..19 7. REFERENCES………………………………………………………………………………………………………………19 1. INTRODUCTION Blyton and Jenkins (2007;74) defined Flexibility through two different approaches, “For employers, workforce flexibility refers to the ability to use labour in a more adaptable and variable way. For employees, flexibility refers particularly to the degree of choice available in their work arrangements”. This essay will analyse the evolution of flexibility and work-life balance since...
Words: 6019 - Pages: 25
