...Can HRM Practices Improve Job Satisfaction of Ready Made Garment (RMG) Workers in Bangladesh? An Alternative Solution to Recent Unrest Background of the study Ready Made Garment (RMG) is one of the successful manufacturing sectors with greater contribution to the national economy of Bangladesh. The industry started its journey in late 1970s and enjoyed a rapid rise from 30 enterprises in 1980 increased to more than 5000 in 2014. Average growth rate of this sector was over 20% per over the last two decades. RMG is the main source of export for the last 25 years. This single sector alone earns about 80% of yearly foreign exchange of the country. Its contribution to GDP reaches 13% in fiscal year 2009-2010. This sector employs more than 3 billion people in Bangladesh of whom 90% are women from rural family. Thus this sector is playing a vital role in socioeconomic development of the country. But this sector is struggling with a number of problems. Conflict between owners and workers, labor unrest, shortage of gas and electricity, poor infrastructure, poor port facility, conspiracy of home and abroad are posing a great threat to its survival. In recent time, labor unrest in the RMG sector has been a matter of serious concern. Almost every day electronic and print media cover news of labor unrest in RMG sector in one place or another across the country. Job dissatisfaction have been the prime causes of recent labor unrests across the country. This job dissatisfaction of RMG workers...
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...Industry in Bangladesh Garment Industry Large-scale production of readymade garments (RMG) in organised factories is a relatively new phenomenon in Bangladesh. Until early sixties, individual tailors made garments as per specifications provided by individual customers who supplied the fabrics. The domestic market for readymade garment, excepting children wears and men's knit underwear (genji) was virtually non-existent in Bangladesh until the sixties. Since the late 1970s, the RMG industry started developing in Bangladesh primarily as an export-oriented industry although, the domestic market for RMG has been increasing fast due to increase in personal disposable income and change in life style. The sector rapidly attained high importance in terms of employment, foreign exchange earnings and its contribution to GDP. In 1999, the industry employed directly more than 1.4 million workers, about 80% of whom were female. With the growth of RMG industry, linkage industries supplying fabrics, yarns, accessories, packaging materials, etc. have also expanded. In addition, demand for services like transportation, banking, shipping and insurance has increased. All these have created additional employment. The total indirect employment created by the RMG industry in Bangladesh is estimated to be some 200,000 workers. In addition to its economic contribution, the expansion of the RMG industry has caused noticeable social changes by bringing more than 1.12 million women into labour force. The...
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...relationship that emerges out of day-to-day working and association of labour and management. But when taken in its wider sense, it includes ‘the relation between an employee and an employer in the course of running of an industry’. Actors in the IR system Three main parties are directly involved in industrial relations: Employers: Employers possess certain rights vis-à-vis labors. They have the right to hire and fire them. Management can also affect workers’ interests by exercising their right to relocate, close or merge the factory or to introduce technological changes. Employees: Workers seek to improve the terms and conditions of their employment. They exchange views with management and voice their grievances. They also want to share decision making powers of management. Workers generally unite to form unions against the management and get support from these unions. Government: The Government influences and regulates industrial relations through laws, rules, agreements, it also includes third parties and labor and tribunal courts. 1.2 Definition The Oxford Dictionary defines industrial relations (IR) as the "interaction between employers, employees, and the government; and the institutions and associations through which such interactions are mediated." Sometimes treated as the equivalent of labor relations, industrial relations considers the impact of these interactions on humans and organizations. This article considers industrial relations from the perspectives of researchers...
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...Current Status and Evolution of Industrial Relations System in Bangladesh Dr Abdullah Al Faruque Dr. Abdullah Al Faruque is an Associate Professor and Chairman, Department of Law, University of Chittagong, Bangladesh. Dr. Faruque is a Commonwealth Scholar and holds a PhD from University of Dundee. He is a specialist in labour law, petroleum contracts and environmental regulation. An author of a book, Dr. Faruque has also written several articles in reputed law journals both in Bangladesh and abroad. Copyright © International Labour Organization 2009 First published 2009 Publications of the International Labour Office enjoy copyright under Protocol 2 of the Universal Copyright Convention. Nevertheless, short excerpts from them may be reproduced without authorization, on condition that the source is indicated. For rights of reproduction or translation, application should be made to the ILO Publications Bureau (Rights and Permissions), International Labour Office, CH-1211 Geneva 22, Switzerland. The International Labour Office welcomes such applications. Libraries, institutions and other users registered in the United Kingdom with the Copyright Licensing Agency, 90 Tottenham Court Road, London W1T4LP/ [Fax: +44 (0)20 7631 5500; email: cla@cla.co.uk], in the United States with the Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923 [Fax: (+1)978 750 4470; email: info@copyright.com], or in other countries with associated Reproduction Rights Organizations, may take...
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...Business and Human Rights is the embodiment of that mission. By creating a safe haven for open dialogue and convening relevant voices for discussion around practical solutions to some of the world’s most pressing problems, the Center, and by extension this report, demonstrate that profit and principle can co-exist. ” –Peter Henry, Dean NYU Stern School of Business Dean Henry launched the Center for Business and Human Rights in March 2013 with a strong belief in the power of business to create positive change in society. In that spirit, the Center’s mission is to challenge and empower businesses to make practical progress on human rights in their own operations. It is the first center to focus on human rights as an integral part of a business school. We start from the premise that business can and does work for the good of society. We support the goal of business to create value while emphasizing high standards for human rights performance. Each year, we take on a major project around a set of human rights challenges in a sector that is of foremost concern for companies, consumers, regulators, and investors. We use the convening platform of the NYU Stern School of Business to bring together groups of companies from different sectors and different parts of the world, along with outside stakeholders and experts. We devote significant attention and resources to ensuring that the Center provides a safe environment to discuss sensitive human rights and business issues that...
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...1. Introduction 1 2. Bangladesh: An Emerging Destination For Foreign Economy 1-10 3. Foreign Investment Opportunities 10-13 4. Current Situation Of Foreign Investment In Bangladesh: 13-19 5. Foreign Investment Trends In Bangladesh 20-34 6. Why Should Foreign Investors Invest In Bangladesh 35-39 7. How Can Our Government Come Forward To Attract Foreign Investors 39-46 8. Recommendation 47 9. Conclusion 48 10 References 48 INTRODUCTION: Bangladesh is now trying to establish itself as the next rising star in South Asia for foreign investment. The government has implemented a number of policy reforms designed to create a more open and competitive climate for private investment, both foreign and local. The country has a genuinely democratic system of government and enjoys political stability seen as a sine qua non for ensuring a favorable climate for investment and sustained development. Bangladesh has been quick to undertake major restructuring for establishing a market economy, with the major thrust coming from the private sector. The country enjoys modest but steady economic growth. Its current development strategy is based on the premise that the creation and distribution of wealth occurs through the acceleration of growth driven by competitive market forces, with the government facilitating growth and making a clean break from the practices of a controlled economy where private investment is constrained. With this end in view. The government...
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...Effectiveness of Corporate Social Responsible practices handled in the petroleum industry in Bangladesh: A case study of Shell By Delwar 2014 Dissertation submitted to Anglia Ruskin University in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Masters Programme Abstract The research issue is that multinational organisations in the petroleum industry such as Shell and British Petroleum are being pressurised by their stakeholders to take responsibility for their business activities. In view of stakeholder pressure, companies have developed and implemented CSR policies and practices. However, the effectiveness of these CSR policies and practices is questionable as the effects of companies activities have negatively impacted the lives of their stakeholders and continue to do so (Amao, 2013). There is extensive research being carried out on understanding the effectiveness of multinationals CSR practices as there exists a wide gap between what companies are saying and what they are actually doing. Practising CSR makes companies responsible for looking after the needs of their stakeholders, makes companies take steps to protect the environment, improve people's livelihoods, motivates employees and increases organisations' effectiveness and efficiency. Multinational state they are practising CSR. Yet their activities have caused much harm to stakeholders. Shell's activities in Nigeria have caused severe health risk to families’ drinking water...
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...GLOBALIZATION Globalization is the increasing integration of different national economies into one global market economy. It alters competitiveness conditions with the arrival of new players on the global scene and causes traditional roles to be redefined. GLOBALIZATION AS A GLOBAL TREND What seems to be a novelty is, in fact, a series of changes related primarily to the gradual removal of trade barriers, financial market deregulation, the communication technology revolution, and the impact of a more informed society. The causes of the current globalization wave include: • Technical and scientific progress, especially developments in the telecommunications sector and the communications sector as a whole. • Widespread transport use on an international scale. • A strong increase in demand for goods and services, resulting from a wealthier population and greater life expectancy. THE DIMENSIONS OF GLOBALIZATION Globalization is far from being one-dimensional. Economically, the primary effects of globalization are seen in the reduction of protectionist policies, the liberalization of international economic transactions, and the expansion of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI). Technological advances contribute decisively to productivity improvement, economic growth, and international trade. From a political perspective, one of the consequences of globalization is the loss of the countries’ independence on certain issues in that international decisions are directly filtered...
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...services. The cross border assimilation can be social, economic, cultural, or political. But most of the people fear cultural and social assimilation as they believe this would have a negative impact on the existing culture of their society. Globalization therefore has mostly narrowed down to economic integration and this mainly happens through three channels; flow of finance, trade of goods and services and capital movement. Globalization is a term that includes a wide range of social and economic variations. It encompasses topics like the cultural changes, economics, finance trends, and global market expansion. There are positive and negative effects of globalization - it all comes as a package. Globalization helps in creating new markets and wealth, at the same time it is responsible for extensive suffering, disorder, and unrest. The great financial crisis that just happened is the biggest example of how negative globalization can turn. It clearly reveals the dangers of an unstable, deregulated, global economy. At the same time, this gave rise to important global initiatives, striving towards betterment. Globalization is a factor responsible for both repression and the social boom. What happens when there is a growing integration of economies across the globe? Majorly there have been positive impacts of this global phenomenon - through liberalization, privatization and globalization (LPG). Due to globalization, there has been significant flow of inward foreign direct investment...
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...Economic Policy Paper on Political Stability and Economic Development: The Case of Bangladesh 1. Introduction Among the non-economic variables considered as sine qua non for development, political stability comes first. One may argue that other non-economic factors like rule of law, law and order situation are subsumed under political stability. On the other hand, major determinants of development like savings and investment, relative price stability, human resources, level of technology, factor productivity can play an effective role when political atmosphere is congenial. For example, it is argued that political stability and convenient law and order ensure the confidence of the people in the economy and its further development, which encourages the people to save. It also promotes confidence of the investors in the economy and convinces them to invest and reinvest. Of course, price stability, higher education and technical qualifications of the population, increasing factor productivity, technological modernity, export promotion etc. may not be directly related to political stability. But political stability in the long run ultimately ensures a relative price stability, improves educational and qualification status of the people, increases factor productivity, enables technology transfer, promotes exports. Those are the factors essential for economic growth. Moreover, long term political stability provides a congenial atmosphere for evolution of democracy. Democratic political...
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...of Chinese investment in Africa; there is now even anxiety about the effects of investment by Chinese state-owned firms into the Western economies. The Chinese Communist Party is also expressing concerns. The themes of its 2007 Congress included protection of the environment and the achievement of social harmony. According to some estimates, China has displaced the USA as the world's biggest source of greenhouse gases. Inequality is rising as fast as pollution: China now has over 800 individuals with a personal wealth of more than a hundred million US dollars each, up from 500 in 2006; while the average income in rural areas of China is 480 dollars per year. Made in China. Hu Jintau's remark on the extraordinary nature of the most recent years can be faulted in only one sense: China has been making phenomenal economic strides, and along the way accumulating serious social problems, for almost three decades. How China achieved its status as the world's fastest-growing major economy is a matter, not just of academic curiosity, but of practical interest. The Cuban government, for instance, is being urged from within and outside the island to follow China's example in order,...
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...Investment and Enterprise of UNCTAD is a global centre of excellence, dealing with issues related to investment and enterprise development in the United Nations System. It builds on three and a half decades of experience and international expertise in research and policy analysis, intergovernmental consensus-building, and provides technical assistance to developing countries. The terms country/economy as used in this Report also refer, as appropriate, to territories or areas; the designations employed and the presentation of the material do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Secretariat of the United Nations concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. In addition, the designations of country groups are intended solely for statistical or analytical convenience and do not necessarily express a judgment about the stage of development reached by a particular country or area in the development process. The major country groupings used in this Report follow the classification of the United Nations Statistical Office. These are: Developed countries: the member countries of the OECD (other than Chile, Mexico, the Republic of Korea and Turkey), plus the new European Union member countries which are not OECD...
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