The Role of Industrial Relations in Global Business

This assignment delves into the crucial role of industrial relations in shaping global business strategies. It examines the influence of factors like labor laws, trade unions, and social responsibility on HR practices. The analysis encompasses challenges faced by businesses operating in diverse international contexts and emphasizes the importance of understanding local labor dynamics for effective strategic decision-making.

Running Head: Employee exploitation and human resource management
Human Resource Management
Managing employee relations

Employee exploitation and human resource management
Table of Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................2
Employment relations development...........................................................................................3
 State and the government................................................................................................3
 Employer federation and management............................................................................3
 Workers and trade unions................................................................................................4
Review of The Coming of global working class........................................................................4 India: Neoliberal industrialization, class formation and mobilization............................4 China: state capitalism, foreign investment and worker insurgency...............................5 South Africa: post-apartheid labor militancy in the mining sector.................................5
Recommendations to HR manger on resolving the plight of Global South...............................6
Conclusion..................................................................................................................................7
References..................................................................................................................................7
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Employee exploitation and human resource management
Introduction
The report argues over the employment relation and how different aspect affects the
relationship within the organization and the role of different attributes will be discussed. The
situations of employees are discussed as well during the colonized period and current period.
The three cases are quoted in support to the report for understanding scenario and
exploitation taking place within the industry. Thereafter the recommendations will be
elucidated in context of the HR manager (Wilton, 2016).
Initially, the employment relationship with the state and government, employer
federation and management and employees trade unions are described and thereafter the
situation of employees in the context of the article is reviewed and the cases of India, China,
and South Africa will be evaluated and light over the present scenario will also be flashed.
Thereafter the four recommendations will be examined in favor of HR manager as to how the
plight of the employees could be solved out and the role of government shall also be
discussed to analyze where the government is lacking and what all portions could be repaired.
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Employee exploitation and human resource management
Employment relations development
Employment relations are the crucial issues prevailing in the current world scenario.
In order to attain the success in the market the consumers were considered as the important
element but in the present situation along with the consumers, the employees’ satisfaction
must also be highly considered. Employment relations stand for the internal relationship
between the labor, employer, and peers (Novella, n.d.). The employer renders the job to the
employees along with the better working conditions and fair remuneration, the contract has
been signed by the employee and from this point, the employment relationship starts to grow.
It is the duty of the employee to maintain the decorum of the organization and follow the
norms constructed and demonstrated to the employees at the time of induction. Along with
following the policies and procedures of the company the employee should maintain and
manage the healthy relations with the employer as well as the peers (O’Leary, 2017). There
are 3 specific players in establishing the better employment relations that are state and the
government, employee federation and management and the last one is workers and trade
unions. The core elements of employment relations could be briefly discussed:
 State and the government: The industrial relations could be rejuvenated if
the state and government take the better steps for flourishing the industrial
relations. The labor law should be designed and all the industries need to abide
by the laws strictly and on avoiding these rules and regulation the owners and
managers should be penalized and a similar thing applies to the employees as
well that should not take adverse advantage of the facilities provided. These
laws are for the sake that employees’ exploitation could be curbed. Also in
case of the disputes, the industrial dispute commission is constructed to
resolve the grievance by appointing the arbitrator and solving it out through
the mutual understanding (Danshaw, 2017).
 Employer federation and management: The state and government is the
highest authority and there are certain issues that could be mutually resolved
through arbitration and discussing it with the employer federation. Employer
federation is the union of managers and owners where the rules and
regulations in the favor of employers are designed and in case of any unjust
situation the employer federation could be set up. Also, this federation is
constructed so that the market scenario analysis could be made and pricing
policies are discussed so that monopolistic market is supported thereby
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Employee exploitation and human resource management
continuing the healthy competition within the market area (What is human
resource, 2017).
 Workers and trade unions: The worker's trade union is continuing from the
very early times. It is basically the union which supports the labor class
workers and the motive of its construction is to prevent the workers from
getting exploited. They hear to the grievance of the employees and render
them the best possible solution as per the situation. They too have their own
terms and conditions that favor the market as well as the workers. They are
made to provide the workers with their rights and participate in the collective
bargaining. They also negotiate with the employers on behalf of employees to
support the employees and clear out the things in the professional and healthy
manner (NI direct, 2017).
Review of The Coming of global working class
“The Coming of Global Working Class” is the essay given by Kilkauer describes the
situation of employees and their complaints. It is basically based on the worker's
exploitation and the industrial relations in the Global South. Kilkauer explained the
global scenario with reference to the three cases that were highly deprived of it. The 3
countries where the exploitation rate was high as compared to other portions of the
world are India, China and South Africa (Vicent, 2016). These cases could be briefly
discussed to develop the clear understanding of the scenario and how people over
there fought to for their rights and brought up revolution so that future generation
could become safe and sustainability retains.
 India: Neoliberal industrialization, class formation, and mobilization
In the scenario of pre-independence when the British rule prevails the conditions of
Indian farmers was worst enough. Their lands have been snatched from them. The poor
farmers were made to work on their own land and the token amount was given to them which
worsened the situation of tenants. The agrarian problems of the rural people have touched the
heights as all of their resources have been used up by the white people so they sabotage
against it and migration took place resulting in moving of the rural poor in the urban areas for
the search of living and urbanisation get started over there and people came to know about
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Employee exploitation and human resource management
the situation of rural people and social activist took step and developed trade unions to
support the industrial as well as the rural workers from exploitation (Walker, 2008).
 China: state capitalism, foreign investment, and worker insurgency
In China, the state capitalist has suppressed the employees for the sake of their own
advantage and benefits that are driving out of the foreign investors. The Chinese workers
were highly exploited diabolically and they were diligently helpless and became mindlessly
docile. The people who migrated to China for the job purpose were treated badly and
considered as the second class citizens thereby carrying the discrimination. Laid off and
retirement took place in the global factory where the export-oriented sun belt was established.
The Chinese workforce raised the voice against these unjust happenings and the changes
were brought in collectively by the aggrieved group of workers and migrants (Lee, 2007).
 South Africa: post-apartheid labor militancy in the mining sector
In South Africa, the foremost discrimination of employees was developed on the basis of
color, caste, and creed. Racism elongated in South Africa for the long period of time. Also at
that time, Africa was facing the economic crisis situation. The situation of South Africa was
getting deteriorated and that was the moment when Nelson Mandela came up with their
thoughts and amounted for the changes in working condition of the workers. He concentrated
upon the education so that people gain knowledge and understand things in the better manner.
And that was the first time when the power of governance shifted from whites to black
without shedding the single strand of blood and the racial equality was introduced along with
the creation of harmony within the regions of South Africa (Crush & Dodson, 2007).
Along with these in recent times as well the exploitation of the workers are continuing in
one or the other formats. The major contribution is of government, the governance gap gives
origin to the child labor in various industries of distinct countries. In China, within a factory,
the employees committed suicide because of the elongated 36-hour working. Also, the child
trafficking is been done and they are made to work in the industries where Heparin which is a
blood thinner is produced and the active ingredients that are been used in the pharmaceutical
product come from the pig's intestines. On claiming the China jurisdiction quoted is as the
chemical product and not the pharmaceutical product so they do not perform the audit and the
US didn’t consider the case and it was out of their jurisdiction. In the chocolate factory
around the world, the cocoa is extracted from Cote d’Ivoire and Ghana and this is harvested
by the child slaves. The government of these areas is just covering up the mistakes and
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Employee exploitation and human resource management
loopholes in the system. The citizens only have to take a front to fill up the governance gap
(Heerden, n.d.).
Recommendations to HR manager on resolving the
plight of Global South
After analyzing the situation of the global south the condition of the people was worst and
they were the prey of high exploitation and stress. Measures need to be taken by HR manager
to resolve the situation and turn out the condition into the pleasant one. Following are the
certain recommendations that could be adopted by the HR manager to improvise the situation
and answer the plight of the worker in a positive manner.
 Maintaining the corporate social responsibility: The corporate social
responsibilities are the social and cultural norms that every organization is abided
by. Within an organization, there are multiple people involved which are from
different regions and nations carrying divergent background and that cultural
norms need to be respected and discrimination on this basis should be curbed. The
natural environment must also be supported to increase the belongingness of the
society (Suliman, Al-Khatib & Thomas, 2016).
 To incorporate the laws: Every industry must follow the social obligations and
the labor laws are meant to follow. They must not be made just for showcasing the
government and even the government should make a timely investigation that
whether the laws made are been followed and the workers are been treated well or
not. In order to manage the position in the market and stay ahead of competitor
only the highest sales and maximum profit should not be considered but the
company’s corporate social responsibility and employee satisfaction should also
be considered within the parameter of measuring the success of an industry
(Kavanagh and McRae, 2017).
 Setting up the grievance cell: The HR manager should set up the grievance
redressal committee which is meant to patiently listen to the problems and fairly
render the solutions to the employees so that the trust get build up and
belongingness of the employees is retained (University of Texas, 2017 ).
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Employee exploitation and human resource management
 Entertainment purpose of employees be fulfilled: HR manager should also
focus the relaxation portion of the employees as well and for that purpose the
trips, office appreciation programs, and other related plans should be organised so
that the staff gets comfortable with one another and convey their things to the
managers in conventional manner and bind gets developed and refreshment is
promoted (Future HR trends, 2017).
Conclusion
From the above report, the conclusion could be drawn that in the earlier time
the exploitation of employees was to the great extent and the motive of the owner
was to maximise the profits in whatever manner possible. It started from
colonization time and the thing still prevails in the current period as well. The
employment relations are the cause of concern from the pre-independence time
and the measures have been taken to resolve and turn the situation another way
around. The employment relations and its 3 core elements have been discussed.
Thereafter the situations of the employees in the previous and current period are
discussed with reference to the 3 cases of India, China, and South Africa. The
recommendations to HR manager are quoted in the context of the global south and
general perspective to improvise the situation.
References
Crush, J. and Dodson, B., 2007. Another Lost Decade: The Failures of South Africa's post‐
apartheid Migration Policy. Tijdschrift voor economische en sociale geografie, 98(4), pp.436-
454.
Danshaw, 2017, What is the role of industrial relations? Viewed on 12Th October 2017, <
https://www.danshaw.co.za/role-government-in-industrial-relations/>.
Future HR trends, 2017, Challenges for human resource management and global business
strategy, viewed on 12th October 2017, <
http://futurehrtrends.eiu.com/report-2015/challenges-for-human-resource-management-and-
global-business-strategy/>.
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Employee exploitation and human resource management
Heerden. A. V., n.d., Marketing global labor fair, viewed on 12th October 2017,
<https://www.ted.com/talks/auret_van_heerden_making_global_labor_fair/transcript>.
Kavanagh, M. and McRae, E., 2017. Employment law: Protecting vulnerable workers
amendment to fair work act. Governance Directions, 69(4), p.241.
Lee, C.K., 2007. Against the law: Labor protests in China’s rustbelt and sunbelt. Univ of
California Press.
NI Direct, 2017, Introduction to trade union, viewed on 12th October 2017,
<https://www.nidirect.gov.uk/articles/introduction-trade-unions>.
Novella, n.d., The role of the state in the employment relations, viewed on 12th October 2017,
< http://novella.mhhe.com/sites/dl/free/0077127412/892305/SWCh06.pdf>.
O’Leary, L., 2017, ‘Introduction’, In Employment and Labour Relations Law in the Premier
League, NBA and International Rugby Union, p.p. 1-18.
Suliman, A.M., Al-Khatib, H.T. and Thomas, S.E., 2016. Corporate Social
Responsibility. Corporate Social Performance: Reflecting on the Past and Investing in the
Future, p.15.
University of Texas, 2017, Problem solving information and tips, viewed on 12th October
2017, < https://hr.utexas.edu/current/services/problem-solving>.
Vicent, 2016, Sothern Insurgency: The coming of the global working class, viewed on 12th
October 2017, < https://libcom.org/library/southern-insurgency-coming-global-working-
class>.
Walker, K.L.M., 2008. Neoliberalism on the ground in rural India: Predatory growth,
agrarian crisis, internal colonization, and the intensification of class struggle. The Journal of
Peasant Studies, 35(4), pp.557-620.
What is human resource, 2017, Employer’s association, viewed on 12th October 2017,
<http://www.whatishumanresource.com/employers-association>.
Wilton, N., 2016. An introduction to human resource management. Sage.
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