Human Resource Management in a Business Context
3rd edition

by Alan Price

Human Resource Management in a Business Context provides an international focus on the theory and practice of people management. A thorough and comprehensive overview of all the key aspects of HRM, including case studies, articles from HRM Guide and other sources, key concepts, review questions and problems for discussion and analysis.
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HRM Guide Sections

HRM Guide Australia

HRM Guide Canada

HRM Guide NZ

HRM Guide UK

HRM Guide USA

Introduction Overview of HRM Guide

HRM Guide Updates Latest updates on the HRM Guide websites

Jobs and Careers Advice, job postings and leads

HRM Topics Hundreds of pages of information, updates and links to articles

HR Directory Links to HR service providers

HR News Releases Announcements, news, reports

  The globalization of human resources

'Transnational' companies are relatively free to switch resources and production from one country to another. Typically this is done in order to maximise the benefit (to the corporation) of greater skills availability and lower employee costs. 

Further notes: The International Labour Organization has concluded that globalization intensified in the latter years of the 20th Century especially in terms of trade, investment, financial liberalization and technological change but also states that:

"The benefits of globalization have been very unevenly distributed both between and within nations. At the same time a host of social problems have emerged or intensified, creating increased hardship, insecurity, and anxiety for many across the world, fuelling a strong backlash. As a result, the present form of globalization is facing a crisis of legitimacy resulting from the eerosion of popular support."

Some of the main factors which have been identified as being at the root of the problems and widespread public disquiet are:

• Reduction in job security because work (and therefore jobs) can be moved from one country to another.
• Undercutting of one country's wages by another, leading to erosion of wage rates.
• Exceeding generally accepted working hours and exposure to health and safety risks to cut costs.

  Singapore - World's Most Globalized Economy - The 2005 A.T. Kearney/FOREIGN POLICY Globalization Index (TM) records Singapore's rise to the top ranking based on the strength of its increased political engagement and foreign trade ties.

  CBI says benefits of off-shoring outweigh drawbacks - The CBI argues that the benefits of off-shoring outweigh the drawbacks, saying the process will increase productivity, profitability and economic growth. The main drawbacks to off-shoring are the difficulties of exercising managerial control and the risk of supply disruption. Smaller companies are less likely to off-shore than larger businesses but there is no sign of a reversal in the trend as 87% of respondents are satisfied with the off-shoring experience.

  Outsourcing Medical Records Threatens Lives
Thousands of lives are being threatened because of the 'dangerous practice' of sending medical notes overseas for typing, according to speakers at the UNISON annual conference.

  Offshoring Worries But Does Not Demotivate Employees
A fifth of employees in the UK worry about their jobs because of the risk of 'offshoring' to low-cost countries such as India or China, according to new research from consultants Watson Wyatt.

Trading blocs

International trade has grown to colossal proportions in recent decades. The bulk of this trade is concentrated in (and between) three major trading blocs: the European Union, the North American Free Trade Area (NAFTA) and the 'tiger economies' - newly industrialized states of East Asia. 

Not everyone approves of trading blocs. See  UAW attacks NAFTA model

  The developing world

Developing countries are gradually being brought into the global industrial economy. (...) Private capital is being moved around the world in search of profit from flexible and open economies. Complex factors attract this capital: it is not simply a case of the cheapest employees.

These pages on BestBooks.biz introduce  Employment Relations in the Asia Pacific  which analyzes work and employment relations in seven countries in different stages of development: Australia; Indonesia; Japan; New Zealand; the People's Republic of China (PRC); South Korea; and Taiwan.

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