International and Comparative Employment Relations - Literature review Example

Review of Academic Journal Articles Review of Academic Journal Articles Human resource is the vital resource for any organization as the success or failure of the business depends on the contributions made by them. This very reason compels the organizations to set up a separate department for the care and wellbeing of its employees. Ever since Human Resource Management has become an important concern for the organization, volumes have been written on managing human resources. Two of the important works are discussed here that tell us how organizations maintain industrial relations and carry out the functions of recruitment and selection of employees from other countries to meet the goals of the organizations at cheaper costs. 1. International and Comparative Employment Relations The book International and Comparative Employment Relations by Bamber, Lansbury and Wailes (2004) mainly contemplates on Industrial Relations and Human Resource management from an international perspective. To give the readers a comprehensive idea of employee relations, they have attempted an interdisciplinary approach which use analytical tools that have been drawn from various streams. To get a better view of internationally comparative approach to HR, the employee information in a number of states are also enclosed here by the authors. The employee relations of various developed countries that have well defined market economies have been described and systematically analyzed. The employ relation of the past is compared with the present affairs. With advent of globalization, the HR scenario got changed. The ripples of this change were visible in fields like industrial relation systems and collective bargaining. As globalization helped the growth of employee mobility, it is easy for the organizations to recruit and train employees at a cheaper cost. As for the employment and industrial relations in Britain, there have been immense changes in the last couple of years. The labor governments supported private sector involvement through a number of programs. Similar policies of the governments of other countries also helped easy and fast recruitment and selection. Whenever the labor force of the home country demanded a higher wage, employers resorted to selecting expatriates as they were ready to work even at a lesser wage and they had more potential as compared to the natives. As far as the developing or underdeveloped countries are concerned, they could find some qualified workers from the developed countries. Apart from Britain, other nine countries are also examined in the light of a similar format that analyzed the environment relations and the people and organizations that play major roles in determining the solidarity of the employer- employee relationship. Studying the experiences of other countries helps the reader to get an overview of his own country and the existing practices (Bamber, Lansbury & Wailes, 2004). However, the matters discussed herein are confined to ten developed countries that have got a well developed market economy. The points of view of other countries have been forgotten conveniently. What the world witness in the present day is the triumphing of Asian nations including India and China as economic powers. Being two vast countries in terms of population, they provide majority of the work force to other countries. It is odd to avoid such nations that constitute the majority of the labor force in prominent companies worldwide. If the details of employee and industrial relations of the developing countries also have been included this article would have been an excellent work providing information about the industrial relations around the world at a single glance. This book does not provide information as to how an organization maintains a good relationship between its managers and the employees. With the passage of time, industrial relations have become one of the most delicate and complex problems of the modern industrial society. The term industrial relations are used to imply the collective relationship between management and employees. However the relationship is not a simple mutual relationship. It is a set of functional interdependence which is influenced by various factors such as economic, social, psychological, technological, politico-legal and occupational. A good labor management relation depends on employers and trade unions being able to deal with their mutual problems freely, independently and responsibly. A multinational organization can use the following methods to improve the employee relationship. 1. Fulfilling the fundamental needs of employees By fulfilling the basic needs of the employees an organization can make him proud of his work as well as his organization. If they get what they desire they will feel a sense of belongingness with the organization and work earnestly to achieve the objectives of the organization as they are pursuing their own goals. For this the organization has to identify his psychological as well as physical needs. 2. Training Training is the process of improving the knowledge and skills of doing a particular job. The purpose of training is basically to bridge the gap between job requirements and present competence of an employee. Required training will help the employees to match needs of the organization. It will raise the productivity of the workers and their quality of work. As the employee gets rid of the fear of doing his job, he can perform better than he used to do and this will in turn improve his morale too. 3. Provisions for personal growth In order to ensure a good industrial relation, an organization has to make some provisions for the personal growth of the employees. I can help them to develop themselves for promotion to higher posts and to develop future managers. 4. Sound personal policies In order to implement policies of the organizations effectively, they must be formulated in the presence of the employees. It means they should have a say in the policy formulation of the organization. In addition, its execution must be uniform throughout the organization. 5. Role of governments Government must pass laws to be observed by the labor unions and the organizations alike. Government should interfere whenever there is a crack in the industrial relation. 6. Sincere execution of contracts The Management must be keen to execute the agreements and contracts that have been entered with the trade unions. Any breach of these contracts or agreements will result in being skeptical in each other’s affair. 2. Managing Human Resources Managing Human Resources by Bohlander and Snell (2010) explains how to deal with the human resource of an organization. This book covers almost all the areas that an HR executive must be well equipped with. Starting from the major challenges faced by the HR department, the book explains how an organization meets its human resource requirements. This book was written from the view of the changing business environment. The topics covered are strategic human resource management (SHRM), systems approach to HRM, quality of life work life, HRM in knowledge industry and international HRM. The contents have been neatly organized into the following six sections: human resource management in perspective, meting human resource requirements, developing effectiveness in human resources, implementing compensation and security, enhancing employee management relation and expanding human resource management horizons. In addition to these, the chapters also contain short news items from various business magazines and dailies. Moreover, they are presented with the help of color pictures which makes the pages beautiful. All these sections are again divided into several detailed chapters including topics of contemporary interest to provide the reader with a comprehensive and balanced coverage of the subject. Each chapter ends with a summary of the discussed portion. The major strength of this book is that it provides lot of insights about the practicality of the concepts from a global perspective. This book views human resource management as the set of policies, practices and programs that have been designed to maximize the organizational and individual objectives. Human resource management functions as a link between the organization and the employees so that employees are retained in the organization without much difficulty. It has been an in depth study of the prominence of the human resource department in an organization. The human resource management helps the organization to attain the preset goals by providing well trained and well motivated employees. Apart from providing, the human resource department plays an important role in effectively utilizing the so provided employees. To identify and realize the real potential of an employee, it encourages and assists each and every employee. The HR department imparts training to the employees to bring about maximum individual development of its members. A sound human resource management has a great significance for the society. It helps to enhance the dignity of labor by providing suitable employment that provides social and psychological satisfaction to the people. It maintains a balance between the jobs available and the jobseekers in terms of numbers, qualifications, needs and aptitudes. Furthermore, it helps to eliminate waste of human resources through conservation of physical and mental health. Human resource department has to create a culture of change and responsibility among the employees within an organization. It is the HR department that has to instill a sense of social corporate responsibility among its members. In addition to this the HR staff must be willing to abide by the labor and social protections laws of the states in which their organization functions. The HR executives must be capable of providing a fair, equal and positive work environment to all the employees of the organization. References Bamber, G. J., Lansbury, R. D & Wailes, N. (2004). International and Comparative Employment Relations: Globalization and the Developed Market Economies. London: Sage Publications. Bohlander, G & Snell, S. (2010). Managing Human Resources. USA: South-Western Cengage Learning. Read More