HRM 530 week 10 discussion: Labor Unions

Week 10

Discussion #1

“Labor Unions” Please respond to the following:

Go to the United States Department of Labor and read the section titled “Employment Rights: Who has them and who Enforces Them”. Next, evaluate the intended effectiveness of The Americans with Disabilities Act and The Rehabilitation Act of 1973. Determine how these laws affect human resource (HR) management. Speculate what the impact of the Act will be in 10 years. Support your position.

The intended effectiveness of The Americans with Disabilities and Rehabilitation Acts of 1973 is that these laws deter employers from discriminating against employees with disabilities. The company must provide each employee with the same applications, the same testing, and ask the same questions.

Use the Internet to research the role of unions in the United States compared to three other countries. Next, examine how the role of unions in other countries differs from the role of unions in the United States. Provide examples of three countries and how unions operate in those countries in regard to HR management.

A union is an organized group of workers who collectively use their strength to have a voice in their workplace. Through a union, workers have a right to impact wages, work hours, benefits, workplace health and safety, job training and other work-related issues.

The three countries that I selected to show how the role of their unions differ from the roles of unions in the United States are the Soviet Union, the European Union, and Japan.

Union membership influenced union operations only at the local level — where an average of 60% of a union’s central committee members were rank-and-file workers.

1. Soviet Union – The trade union system in the late Soviet Union consisted of thirty unions organized by occupational branch. This system was made up of about 732,000 locals and 135 million members in 1984, unions encompassed almost all Soviet employees. Enterprises employing twenty-five or more people had locals, and membership was required. Dues were about 1% of a person’s salary. The All-Union Central Council of Trade Unions served as an umbrella organization for the thirty branch unions and was by far the largest public organization in the Soviet Union.

Labor unions emerged in Japan in the second half of the Meijii period — after 1890 — as the country underwent a period of rapid industrialization.Until 1945, however, the labor movement remained weak, impeded by lack of legal rights, anti-union legislation, management-organized factory councils, and political divisions between “cooperative” and radical unionists. In the immediate aftermath of the Second World War, the US Occupation authorities initially encouraged the formation of independent unions. Legislation was passed that enshrined the right to organize, and membership rapidly rose to 5 million by February 1947. The organization rate peaked at 55.8% of all workers in 1949 and subsequently declined to 18.5% as of 2010.

1. 2) The European Union
2. The European Union is a political-economic union that consists of 28 member states that are located primarily in Europe. The EU operates through a system of supranational institutions and intergovernmental negotiated decision by the member states. The institutions are: the European Commission, the Council of the European Union, The European Council, and The court of Justice of the European Union, the European Central Bank, Court of Auditors and the European Parliament. The European parliament is elected by the EU citizens every 5 years.
3. 3) Japan

The labor movement went through a process of reorganization from 1987 to 1991from which emerged the present configuration of three major labor union federations, along with other smaller national union organizations.

HR develops all kinds of cultures, but they will only do this as long it benefits the company. The average person would state that the Human Resource department is for the employee but it’s actually for the benefit of the company They make sure that the company follows the state and federal regulations that has been sent forth, that the company must adhere follow. HR is the one that determines who gets hired, fired, who gets paid what and when the employee’s will be paid.

Discussion #2 – “Company reorganization and the Future of HR” Please respond to the following:

Provide an example of a company that has done a total “turnaround”. Determine if the turnaround has been effective and improved its profitability.

Turnaround is the step taken by a company to correct the period of their deteriorating financial performance. Dominos has adopted this strategy. They introduced new recipes, created awareness, and strengthened their relationships with their customers. They focused on continuous feedback from their customers and reinvented their pizza in order to win their old customers back.

In my opinion, this strategy is working for them and it is also resulting in their increased profitability. Dominos changed their pizza recipe based on their customer’s comments and feedback they posted on their social media sites. As a result of implementing this strategy, Dominos was able to reposition itself in the “pizza” arena and are now dominating their competitors.

Examine changes and developments that are currently taking place in the field of HR management. Predict two changes and developments that are likely to occur in this field in the next 10 years.

The introduction of globalization has resulted in the changes in development in the field of Human Resource Management. The pressure of change from external environments has initiated the need for internal change within organizations. This change has also resulted in the roles of Human resource management.

Within the next 10 years, the 2 major changes that are likely to occur in Human Resource Management are:

One of the changes and developments that are currently taking place in the field of HR management isglobalization. The pressure of change of the external environment has initiated the need for change in organizations and this change, on the other hand has resulted the change in role of Human resource management. Within the next 10 years, the 2 major changes that are likely to occur in Human Resource Management are:

1. Human Resource Management will be expected to be the strategic leader by contributing in implementing six sigma and total quality management practices in organizations. Adopting these practices can help the organization attain sustainability and attract ideal candidates.
2. Outsourcing is another activity which can bring changes and further challenges for Human Resource Management — mainly if responsibilities are outsourced to international companies. If international companies are involved, HR employees will be required to learn about international compensation policies, establishing cross cultural effective teams, bridging the cultural gaps, and strengthening interpersonal skills as a result of the different cultures.