Winter 2020 MGMT2430: Foxconn HRM Issues and Solutions Analysis

This case study examines the human resource management challenges faced by Foxconn, a major electronics manufacturer, as revealed in articles from The Guardian and Business Insider. The analysis identifies two key HRM issues: problems with worker training and development and issues with management practices. The assignment highlights the need for improved worker training programs focused on employee psychology and development, as well as addressing issues such as low wages, overwork, and poor living conditions. The study also critiques the management style, particularly the 'bonded zone' system and aggressive management culture, suggesting the need for more effective leadership, improved communication, and tailored compensation packages. Recommendations include fostering effective collaboration, openness, and integrity within the organization to enhance employee well-being and overall organizational success.

Running Head: HUMAN RESOURCES MANAGEMENT
Human Resources Management of Foxconn
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author’s Note:

1HUMAN RESOURCES MANAGEMENT
Reason for the Selection of the Two HRM issues
The two HRM issues that have been identified from the given articles of Foxconn are the
Changes in the management problem and the worker’s training and development issues. Out
of many issues that Foxconn has faced in the recent years I have selected the issues of the
management problem and the worker’s development issues as both the articles have clearly
referred about the increasing number of the suicidal rates among the workforce of Foxconn . The
different surveys and researches that have been conducted in the iPhone assembly factories of
Foxconn both in Shenzhen and Shanghai have revealed pathetic figures of their employees.
The HRM issue of worker’s training and Development
The workers training and development is the most important HRM issue that is faced by
the workers of the Foxconn factory. The factory workers often receive low wages and have to
perform extra work for the production. Training in this respect is important as it is focuses on the
psychology of the workers and their overall development.
The employee development program is mainly the psychology related programme
oriented towards their overall management. The training and development of the Foxcon workers
include various objectives like the individual objectives which includes the achievement of the
personal goals of the employees working here which will finally result in the enhancement of the
individual contribution towards the enhancement of goal of a particular organization.

2HUMAN RESOURCES MANAGEMENT
The HRM issue of Foxconn Management
The second important issue that I will discuss is about the management of the Foxconn
industry and its workers. The first management issue that has been highlighted by reading the
two attached articles is the system of bonded zone. The workers in the Foxconn industry literally
survive in a bonded zone where in order to move in and out of the place they need proper
permission and other stringent procedures of the security of the staff of the industry.
In the mentioned articles that is on life and death of the workers in the forbidden city of
Apple, few workers have also highlighted that there are typical rules like if any employee
commits a major mistake, their higher authorities will not tell them at spot but will wait for the
entire industrial workers to be present the following day where the employee will get scolded.
The nearby cab drivers have also reported that as they go near the industry, the security guards
often give a suspicious look towards the.

3HUMAN RESOURCES MANAGEMENT
Analysis of the HRM issues and the Recommendations
The HRM issues of the workers training and development are the most significant factors
that can affect the operations of the Foxconn industry in the most effective manner. The
management issue of the management and can be resolved with the effective form of the
leadership that can reduce the effects of the issues.
The Foxcon industry should maintain its vision of the coordinated e-cmms model in
comparison to the traditional and the wasteful gadgets and the outsourcing model of the Foxconn
industry. The Industry should make much more effective commitments to the social agreements
that will set higher moral benchmarks in order to accomplish the model of the win-win situation
for the company and the maintenance of the wellbeing of its workers.
Foxconn should make an advancement to the path of the imaginative innovation
measures in order to turn the business of the industry through the different process of the
mechanical integration. The management team of Foxconn industries should try to incorporate
the sic ‘C’ strategies that will evaluate the key competencies that will include the consumer
behavior and the communications strategy of the technologies in order to address the complex
issues in the controlling of the clients of the Foxcon industry.
The key strategies of the selected HRM issues are to create the effective collaboration,
openness and the integrity of the relationships through the values of the integrity and the values
and the dignity of the individuals (Andrijasevic,Sacchetto & Pun, 2019).
The reports drawn from the interviews of the workers mainly working in the regions of Shenzhen
and Shanghai highlighted that the management of the Foxconn industry requires a massive
canvassing effort and the systematic change and the system of clandestine interviewing of the

4HUMAN RESOURCES MANAGEMENT
workers at periodic intervals. The pace of work in the Foxconn industry is often considered
relentless and the management culture is referred to cruel. The employees have often reported
apart from retaining their physical strength after giving such hard labor they also need to retain
their mental management as they are insulted at every point of time by their higher authorities.
The human resource management of the training and the development of the workers in
the case of the Foxcon industry will be concerned with the activities of the organization and its
associated activity that will evaluate the performance of the individuals and groups in the
different organizational settings. This will be characterized by the factors like the resource
development and the learning and development among the workers.
It is the responsibility of the department of the human resources management to look
after the workers of Foxconn so that they receive proper skills through the training programs that
will be conducted. In the interviews of the employees taken by the Guardian the employees have
highlighted about the issues of overwork within a very limited period of time and at a very low
wage level. This situation should be taken care by the Human resource department and should
provide adequate training to the workers so that they acquire the skills for such work.
They should also receive adequate remuneration for such production. It is the duty of the
management to take care of the proper working conditions to the employees working in
Foxconn. The employees in Foxconn face several issues like improper working and living
conditions where they have to fit themselves into small sized rooms and on various occasions
have to the succumb to the wills and fancies of the of the security staff of Foxconn industry
(Zheng, 2019).

5HUMAN RESOURCES MANAGEMENT
The employees of the industry have repeatedly reported that that the industry and the bonded
zone inside the iPhone city is not at all a good place for the human beings to survive. On of their
employees Xu has reported that the employees have to work in the most severe conditions and
there have been no developments yet even after the broad level of the media coverage of all these
issues.
The organizational objectives of the training and development of the workers of Foxconn
will assist the organization with the fundamental objectives by bringing in the system of the
effectiveness of the individuals. The functional objectives include the overall maintenance of the
company’s contribution to maintain a suitable level of the needs and the requirements of the
organization and its goals (Sparrow.Brewster & Chung, 2016).
The employees have reported that the management of the Foxconn industry is duplicitous
and at the same time aggressive where the workers are constantly being demotivated because of
their rate of work they perform. The workers have painted a bleak picture of the conditions of the
high pressure. The management problem has often been the main cause of the problem among
the employees (Wei & Usman, 2017).
Further the management of the Foxconn should be enhanced and should be made
adaptable to the standard conditions of the survival that will enhance the success of the industry
in general. The management should offer the individual tailored salary mechanisms and the
different compensation packages that will comprise of the equity components and the bonus
structure along with the reward system (Dundon & Wilkinson, 2020).

6HUMAN RESOURCES MANAGEMENT
Reference
Andrijasevic, R., Sacchetto, D., & Pun, N. (2019). One firm, two countries, one workplace
model? The case of Foxconn’s internationalisation. The Economic and Labour Relations
Review, 1035304619880680.
Dundon, T., & Wilkinson, A. (2020). Work, employment and human resource management:
Case study applications. In Case Studies in Work, Employment and Human Resource
Management. Edward Elgar Publishing.
Sparrow, P., Brewster, C., & Chung, C. (2016). Globalizing human resource management.
Routledge.
Wei, N. R., & Usman, A. B. (2017). Organizational Challenges and Opportunities in the Case of
Foxconn Technology Group. Advanced Science Letters, 23(4), 2991-2994.
Zheng, C. (2019). Labor Relations and Human Resource Management in China. Routledge.
Bibliography
www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/jun/18/foxconn-life-death-forbidden-city-longhua-
suicide-apple-iphone-brian-merchant-one-device-extract
www.businessinsider.in/Inside-iPhone-City-the-massive-Chinese-factory-town