Human Resources Management at Foxconn - Essay Example

?Introduction Foxconn represents the backbone of the modern consumer electronics industry given that it supplies a large amount of the components fora number of devices. Historically, Foxconn has been an original equipment manufacturer and has created electronics ranging from the Atari computing line to the current market leaders such as Apple, Nintendo, Play Station, Hewlett Packard and the like (Dean, 2007). The Foxconn establishment emerged through the ambition of its founder Terry Gou with the company initially set up as Hon Hai Precision Industry in 1974 in Taiwan. Over time, the industrial establishment has evolved to emerge as the world’s largest electronic products supplier. It has been estimated that Foxconn currently supplies nearly forty percent of all electronic components required worldwide (Duhigg & Bradsher, 2012). Additionally, Foxconn generates a revenue of around 3.5 billion USD each year and employs around 1.2 million people worldwide, making it the single largest global employer (Business Week, 2013). In recent years Foxconn’s employment practices have come under intense scrutiny given a number of untoward incidents with Foxconn employees. The suicide rate in Foxconn workers shot up following 2010 in China while there was an intense riot in the Mexican manufacturing plant (Daily Mail, 2006). Human Resource Management (HRM) Issues and Solutions HRM Problems Foxconn has been blamed for providing workers with low compensation compared to other establishments. However, it must be taken into account that Foxconn’s Chinese plants are in one of the country’s poorest regions and hence people are willing to work for the wages offered (Daily Mail, 2006). As long as labour supply and demand economics remain unaltered, the minimum pay of the workers in Foxconn’s plants will remain the same. On another note, there have been massive complaints that Foxconn tends to skip out on overtime payments even though workers are forced to work overtime. In certain cases, Foxconn employees have not been paid wages for various reasons without much proper justification. Additionally, there have been instances where work place accidents were either ignored outright or paid little attention to (Williams, 2012). This indicates that management attitudes towards safety are relatively low if not lax altogether. There have also been allegations that work place accidents are common at Foxconn manufacturing plants and often such accidents go unreported. HRM Solutions A number of different HRM solutions can be presented in order to deal with Foxconn’s current problems. This paper will limit its focus to Goleman’s Emotional Intelligence model and the Managerial Grid model in order to solicit solutions for Foxconn’s employment problems. Goleman’s Emotional Intelligence Goleman (1998) has declared that emotional intelligence is essentially the “sine qua non” of any leadership mechanism (Goleman, 1998). Emotional intelligence can be seen as the ability to recognise, evaluate and manipulate the emotions and emotional states of oneself and of other individuals. Goleman’s model (1998) asserts that a leader needs to be able to identify emotional symptoms in order to manipulate the worker to submit to the leader’s settled direction. However, it must be kept in mind that Goleman’s model (1998) has come under intense scrutiny on a number of different accounts and needs to be evaluated accordingly to provide solutions for Foxconn’s problems. For one thing, Goleman’s model (1998) has been criticised for being too qualitative in nature and of being unfounded through actual HRM practice. Goleman’s model (1998) and its derivatives do boast of quantitative tools such as the Emotional Competency Inventory (ECI) and the Emotional and Social Competency Inventory (ESCI) but the use of such tools has not been approved of except in academic circles (Bradberry & Greaves, 2009). The application of Goleman’s model and its derivatives to the world’s largest private employer, Foxconn, would make little sense as a number of issues need resolution before such a major application occurs. The Managerial Grid The managerial grid model proposed initially by Blake and Mouton (1964) has evolved over the years as one of the most widely applied HRM models for a variety of purposes (Ray, 2012). The managerial grid model proposes that the manager must balance his concerns for production against his concerns for people in order to achieve a balanced leadership style (Blake & Mouton, 1964). The model espouses a number of different leadership styles such that each leadership style characterises or fits certain situations. The most optimal leadership style according to this model and its derivatives is where the manager balances his concerns for people and production so as to maximise both. The flexibility allowed under the managerial grid model makes it suitable for a number of different HRM problems such as conflict management, production maximisation, increases in worker satisfaction etc. (Wertheim, 2011). Given the HRM problems of Foxconn and their myriad facets, it would be more suitable to install the managerial grid model in order to solve the HRM problems. Conclusions and Recommendations Foxconn’s HRM problems are a mixture of actual problems and perceived biases against Foxconn. The nature of different challenges to Foxconn, such as the Mexican plant incident where workers rioted perceiving management delays in bus arrival, calls for a flexible management and leadership system. The emotional intelligence model proposed by Goleman (1998) requires extensive training in more of an art than a social science that HRM claims to be. Installing and training an emotional intelligence based model would be impossible given the wide geographical distribution of Foxconn’s plants and associated cultural complexities. Instead, it would make more sense if the managerial grid model were introduced throughout Foxconn as it would make the managers more flexible and adaptable to the various situations. In the current scenario, Foxconn’s biggest HRM challenge is the lack of concern for people that leads to problems such as delayed wages, absent overtime payments etc. The managerial grid model has the capability to introduce the element of concern for people in the manager’s list of priorities throughout the Foxconn umbrella. The other HRM problems faced by Foxconn are essentially perceived symptoms of the actual problems listed above. Once greater management concern begins to arrive in the Foxconn framework, the perceived HRM challenges are essentially going to abrade over time. References Blake, R. & Mouton, J., 1964. The Managerial Grid: The Key to Leadership Excellence. Houston: Gulf Publishing Co. Bradberry, T. & Greaves, J., 2009. Emotional Intelligence 2.0. San Diego: Talent Smart. Business Week, 2013. hon hai precision industry (2317:Taiwan). [Online] Available at: http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/financials/financials.asp?ticker=2317:TT&dataset=incomeStatement&period=A¤cy=US%20Dollar [Accessed 3 May 2013]. Daily Mail, 2006. The stark reality of iPod's Chinese factories. [Online] Available at: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-401234/The-stark-reality-iPods-Chinese-factories.html [Accessed 3 May 2013]. Dean, J., 2007. The Forbidden City of Terry Gou. The Wall Street Journal. Duhigg, C. & Bradsher, K., 2012. How the United States lost. [Online] Available at: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/22/business/apple-america-and-a-squeezed-middle-class.html?_r=0 [Accessed 3 May 2013]. Goleman, D., 1998. Working with emotional intelligence. New York: Bantam Books. Ray, A., 2012. Important Leadership Theories in the Realm of Management Sciences. Grin Verlag. Wertheim, E.H., 2011. Conflict Management Styles. Wiley. Williams, M., 2012. Foxconn audit finds illegal overtime and unpaid wages at Apple factory. [Online] Available at: http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2012/mar/29/apple-foxconn-audit-labour-violations [Accessed 3 May 2013]. Read More