Tendencies of Copper Price Rises in the UK - Case Study Example

Considering the fact that BHP Biliton is the majority owner of the said mining (Escondida) firm, and the workers are demanding for high income due torise of prices of copper, then the increase of wages. If we are to analyze, if you have the majority of the shares, then you are considered as one if not the pillar of a certain company. However, we cannot discredit the fact that workers are also considered as pillar of the company which is infact they are considered as the workhorse and the frontline in making money. In the case of Escondida, BHP Hilton, has the share above anyone else that is why BHP Biliton can be considered as the main stakeholder in the said mining activity. To further understand why BHP Hilton is considered as the main stakeholder looking into the definition of it is vital in order to establish the claim. The legal definition of it according to Lectric Law Library's Lexicon defined stakeholder as "STAKEHOLDER - A third person, chosen by two or more persons, to keep in deposit property, the right or possession of which is contested between them and to be delivered to the one who shall establish his right to it. Thus each of them is considered as depositing the whole thing. This distinguishes this contract from that which takes place when two or more tenants in common deposit a thing with a bailee. A person having in his hands money or other property claimed by several others, is considered in equity as a stakeholder. The duties of a stakeholder are to deliver the thing holden by him to the person entitled to it on demand. It is frequently questionable who is entitled to it. In case of an unlawful wager, although be may be justified for delivering the thing to the winner, by the express or implied consent of the loser yet if before the event has happened he has been required by either party to give up the thing deposited with him by such party, he is bound so to deliver it or if, after the event has happened, the losing party give notice to the stakeholder not to pay the winner, a payment made to him afterwards will be made in his own wrong, and the party who deposited the money or thing may recover it from the stakeholder (2007)." Also, if taken into consideration is the 57.5 percent share of the BHP Biliton. The aforementioned company is considered as the prime owner and is more likely considered to be associated with mining activity. In this case, we still have to track the stakeholders which are considered as the third party or person to keep the property which is being contested. In the case of the erring parties between Escondida and the worker's union, the shareholders of the said mining firm could temporarily took over the operation of the company and could be regarded as the caretakers or stakeholder of the company while the workers are on strike and could also be present in the negotiating table between Esconcondida and the workers union. As the determinants of the losses or gains of the company, then they are more than capable of being the caretaker of it while the case is being settled. Of course, one has to take into consideration that these shareholders have their parts and stocks in the company, and then they are also concerned with the welfare of the company. If they act as the stakeholder during the negotiation until the dispute has been settled, then should anything happen then they are capable of making things work for both parties by making both ends meet through their finances and bonds in which they are capable of providing the aforementioned resources. Of all the stakeholders, definitely, it is BHP Biliton has the right above the other entire stakeholders since the said company has the most number of shares in the company. Therefore, they have the right to be the caretaker of the entire mining firm because of their contribution in the company plus the fact that it owns more than half of the share of the company. Should this scenario arises, what are the responsibilities of BHP Biliton while the company is under dispute What the said company should do in order to protect both the interest of the workers and Escondida The first thing that stakeholders should do is to influence the operation of the company. However, there are positive and negative implications in influencing the project while the case is being settled. The website tensteppb.com (2007) stated that "Stakeholders may have a positive or negative influence on a project. Positive stakeholders are those who would normally benefit from a successful outcome from the project, while negative stakeholders are those who see negative outcomes from the project's success. For example, business leaders from a community that will benefit from an industrial expansion project may be positive stakeholders because they see economic benefit to the community from the project's success. Conversely, environmental groups could be negative stakeholders if they view the project as doing harm to the environment. In the case of positive stakeholders, their interests are best served by helping the project succeed, for example, helping the project obtains the needed permits to proceed. The negative stakeholders' interest would be better served by impeding the project's progress by demanding more extensive environmental reviews. Negative stakeholders are often overlooked by the project team at the risk of failing to bring their projects to a successful end." To add to that the stakeholders must provide the following " Project manager. The person responsible for managing the project. Customer/user. The person or organization that will use the project's product. There may be multiple layers of customers. For example, the customers for a new pharmaceutical product can include the doctors who prescribe it, the patients who take it and the insurers who pay for it. In some application areas, customer and user are synonymous, while in others, customer refers to the entity acquiring the project's product and users are those who will directly utilize the project's product. Performing organization. The enterprise whose employees are most directly involved in doing the work of the project. Project team members. The group that is performing the work of the project. Project management team. The members of the project team who are directly involved in project management activities. Sponsor. The person or group that provides the financial resources, in cash or in kind, for the project. Influencers. People or groups that are not directly related to the acquisition or use of the project's product, but due to an individual's position in the customer organization or performing organization, can influence, positively or negatively, the course of the project. PMO. If it exists in the performing organization, the PMO can be a stakeholder if it has direct or indirect responsibility for the outcome of the project. tensteppb.com (2007)" It is very obvious that it is due to uneven distribution of profit and uneven distribution salary is the main reason why this kind of problem arises. Basically, if we are to analyze, the people would not dare to have their works halted and be put into strike if the kind of profit that they are earning compensates the amount of work they render. The owner and the shareholders of the company claim that the salary that they give into the workers is in accordance to what the law dictates on that certain country. However, the workers claim that due to the rising prices of the copper in the global market, their salaries must also rise as what these workers claim due to the fact that they are the ones who are experiencing how difficult it is to unearth copper which is now considered as a commodity in the steel and construction industry. However, if one has to further analyze, it all boils down to one thing and it is called globalization. In this case different products such as copper will penetrate different markets, minus the tariff and taxes which would cause unfair adjustments on prices in which there is a variation of prices with the same goods on different countries. Due to these adjustments, the fate of the mining workers in Escondida has suffered the same fate. They were paid according to what the law in Chile requires but has another turn-out to where the products has been disposed. In the Human Resources Management perspective, the management of Escandida fails to give or apply meritocracy among its workers. In this case, providing the workers with merits and incentives as an added perks to the workers was not met. Of course, one cannot blame the workers due to the fact that they somewhat felt they were exploited in this particular case. They have seen how expensive and how precious copper particularly in UK. In this case, the management fails to acknowledge the hard work of the people who are working in the mining firm. Acknowledging the fact that the workers have done a lot in terms of making money for the company is lacking. And how does meritocracy works for the workers, it is done through additional bonuses and benefits for the workers. To further understand what meritocracy is, looking on to the definition of it is very important. The website infoplease.com (2007) defined meritocracy as "a system in which such persons are rewarded and advanced." Therefore the management must acknowledge that giving rewards and merits adds enthusiasm to the workers to do more plus the fact that they would avoid the feeling of underprivileged in any circumstances. In this case, establishing that the management is willing to give perks and incentives due to the success of the mining firm, would boost the morale of the people concerned. In this case, giving merits would be the driving force of the people concerned and would be the instrument of the management to further gauge the capability and efficiency of the workers plus the workers would have additional compensation on this kind of system. In discussing the case to the upper management of the company, it is very important to discuss the effects of the strike on the status of the company. Here, one would take into consideration the effect and the internal and external damage it brought to the company. If we are to analyze and further delve with the problem, it is very obvious that the company is loosing tremendous amount of money due to the strike. In this case, establishing the damage is very important. Also included in the discussion is the solution to the problem. Should they give into the demands Enter into collecting bargaining agreement In this particular case, the company must not only look into the possibility of saving the company but also for the welfare of the workers per se. It is obvious that it filled the airwaves through news on televisions and radio as well as newspaper. Therefore it is very important to lay plans and the action plan that the company would exercise in order to give solution to the problem. In this case, studying the financial status and the demand of the people and workers who are demanding for the age increase must be looked upon and also, it is very important to establish the way and plan on how to recover from the deficit each and every day until the dispute. In order to accomplish and establish the said step the stakeholder's role must come into picture. It is how the stakeholder must influence both parties could be regarded as the key to resolve the problem. Basically, in the earlier premise that has been laid, it is due to the fact that globalization has taken place in the rest of the world giving the people and the countries concerned unequal opportunities on trade and salaries of the workers. Basically, the one that will benefit from this is the receiving country. If we are to analyze, the tariffs and trade would be minimal on ports and immigrations which sells price which is the same as in its point of origin giving the capitalist a larger opportunity generate huge amount of income. If we are to deal with the definition of globalization, we will get a clearer picture on why is the blame being put into the hands of Globalization. Wikipedia (2007) defined globalization as "Globalization refers to increasing global connectivity, integration and interdependence in the economic, social, technological, cultural, political, and ecological spheres. Globalization is an umbrella term and is perhaps best understood as a unitary process inclusive of many sub-processes (such as enhanced economic interdependence, increased cultural influence, rapid advances of information technology, and novel governance and geopolitical challenges) that are increasingly binding people and the biosphere more tightly into one global system." The latter reference also suggests that "Globalization of the economy depends on the role of human migration, international trade, movement of capital, and integration of financial markets. The International Monetary Fund notes the growing economic interdependence of countries worldwide through increasing volume and variety of cross-border transactions, free international capital flows, and more rapid and widespread diffusion of technology.Theodore Levitt is usually credited with globalization's first use in an economic context (Wikipedia 2007)" To sum it up, the problem concerning the workers in Chile is a clear manifestation that Globalization has its negative effects on the society particularly in the economic side. On the premise that it gives unequal opportunities, like that on Chile which resulted into strike of workers. In this case, if we are to look into HRM principles such a scenario would be resolved. However, if the problem on globalization is still at hand, then this kind of problem would be at hand all over and over again. Reference: 1) The 'Lectric Law Library's Lexicon (2007). " Stakeholder" [online] available from http://www.tvu.ac.uk/lrs/guides/harvard.html [accessed April 17, 2007] 2) tensteppb.com (12 April 2007). Project Stakeholders. [online] available from http://www.tensteppb.com/2.2ProjectStakeholders.htm [accessed April 17, 2007] 3) infoplease.com (2007). Meritocracy. [online] available from http://www.infoplease.com/dictionary/meritocracy [accessed April 17, 2007] 4) Wikipedia (2007) "Globalization"[online] available from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Globalization [accessed April 17, 2007] Read More