Managing Change, Human Resource Management, and Timex by Graeme Martin and Martin Dowling - Assignment Example

A factory was opened in Dundee, Scotland in 1946 which instituted a cost leadership strategy based on mass production.

This impetus was followed by a series of strategies with aggravated the situation of Timex, to wit: diversification into electronics manufacturing, subcontracting, employment of Peter Hall as the manager, cost reduction through lay-offs, and wage reductions.  The ultimate result was the closure of the Dundee plant in August of 1993 after an industrial dispute that lasted eight months.

            In analyzing the case of Timex, the authors averred that the “failure to take into account the wider context that relates the present to the past and to situate the conflict in the emergent and interrelated nature of business decisions and human resources policies”

was the root cause for the closure of Timex and its failure to adapt and adjust to the culture of the host country as well as to the changes is in the environment.

            The relevant lessons that Martin & Dowling emphasized in this article are as follows: International firms should adapt and adjust to the culture and organizational competencies of the host country.  There is a need to evaluate the qualifications of managers who will lead and operate international firms.  As required, training and development programs should be undertaken for managers (as well as the rest of the personnel) to be assigned to international organizations. Multinational corporations should have broader efforts to internationalize their organizations in terms of encompassing cultural diversity, environmental scanning, and open-mindedness in accepting lessons from each other.