IHRM Assignment 3: Analyzing Global Industrial Relations and Unions

This report analyzes global industrial relations, focusing on union relations in Japanese and Chinese organizations, and addresses the Ford Motor Company's global industrial relations. It compares union structures, bargaining processes, and the role of government in each context, highlighting differences in worker participation and collective bargaining. The report examines the challenges faced by multinational corporations (MNCs) when negotiating with unions across various countries, emphasizing the importance of cultural sensitivity and communication training. It then predicts the future of unions in the global economy, anticipating a resurgence of union power and the emphasis on fair labor practices, international trade agreements, and the protection of human rights, particularly in the context of emerging global challenges such as AI, economic shifts, and human rights concerns.

IHRM Assignment 3
1. In Japanese organizations with paternalistic management style, worker participation
and involvement are based on mutual trust and production efficiency. There is,
however, also a reverence for the senior management that may lead to workers being
more of passive participants rather than active voices. Collective bargaining is an
autonomous process between the union and the management of the organization.
Comparatively, in Chinese organizations, unions are in a nascent stage and bargaining
is done at regional levels than at organizational level relations (Cooke et al., 2019). In
Japanese organizations, worker participation is sought through quality circles or
suggestion schemes while managers relay the concerns of the workers to the top
management in China. The government drives the legislative policies for worker
welfare while organizations handle the industrial relations (Cooke, Liu, Liu, & Chen,
2019). In Japanese organizations, the government plays the role of a welfare state
when it comes to trade unions and encourages worker involvement and participation
through multiple modes. In the present era, Japanese labour activism is not tolerated
by the government and the membership as well as strikes by these unions went down
in the last decade or so (Yanadori, 2017). There is, however, a possibility that the
political influence of labour unions may turn in the future.
2. When dealing with the unions of two different countries, the national cultural norms
are one of the biggest challenges faced by MNCs. For example, in countries with low
power distance such as the United States, union negotiations may get completed
between the two parties at the table. In countries with high power distance such as
India, negotiations may have to undergo multiple rounds of bureaucratic levels before
the final decision makers hear the pleas. The union leaders need to understand that if
the home country finds the union negotiations to be difficult in the host country, they
can create a subsidiary in a third country instead of dealing with non-mandatory
bargaining with the host country union members. MNEs deal with different national
cultures and hence need to prepare their negotiating staff, both union and
management, with cultural sensitivity and communication training for the process to
be smooth for both the interested parties. MNEs need to be mindful that every
country has a unique style of working and bargaining can be fruitful when these
differences are accounted for rather than come as a surprise, as suggested in the case,
as well.

3. The global economy is on an unprecedented path set by artificial intelligence,
dwindling of few economies, withdrawal from international coalitions, increase in
religious discrimination, nuclear warfare, worker immigration and mobilizations,
environmental changes, population growth, development of emerging economies, and
a more focussed outlook towards human rights protection. In such a scenario, global
labour relations would be a major challenged faced by any MNE. The power of
unions for political gain and creating required changes in legislations would take a
turn for most developed economies. There would be strong tactical responses created
internationally to deal with decent work agenda, worker exploitation, refugee
mobilization, safe and hygienic working conditions especially in third world
countries, ethical manufacturing practices, and protection of human rights. The
governments of most nations would thus encourage worker involvement and
participations through trade unions, that transcend the geographical borders as well as
the support diversity and inclusivity. There would also be a greater emphasis on
international trade agreements between more nations to design, implement, and
control fair and ethical workplace practices, especially when dealing with minorities,
children, and refugees. Thus, I predict, that in the future global economy, trade
unions will regain their power and enable fair practices of bargaining and
representation.

References
Cooke, F. L., Liu, M., Liu, L. A., & Chen, C. C. (2019). Human resource management and
industrial relations in multinational corporations in and from China: Challenges and
new insights. Human Resource Management, 58(5), 455-471.
Yanadori, Y. (2017). HRM research on Japanese organizations in the twenty-first century:
Review and emerging research topics. In Japanese Management in Evolution (pp.
293-311). Routledge.