HR and the Workforce Issues

HR and the Workforce Issues

Human Resources and the Multinational Workforce

Organizational Strategy

The management of a workforce is never easy, but when multinational issues come into play this can be even more difficult (Jennex & Adelakun, 2003). Organizational strategy, ethics, and human resources (HR) are all issues that must be addressed and handled as well as possible but they become complex when different countries and different cultures come together in the same corporation. Discussed here will be these three issues and how they are best handled in an ever-changing global society, as workforces are changing every day and management must know how to address and deal with this for continued corporate growth.

The strategy of a global organization is naturally different than the strategy of an organization that only operates in one country or that only employs people in one country. A company that has people all over the globe must find new ways to reach employees, for example. With the advent of the Internet and e-mail this was made much easier, and it truly allowed for the globalization of workforces (Jennex & Adelakun, 2003). This globalization is helpful and necessary in many ways, but it must be done correctly.

When individuals in business find that they are having trouble with their organization they may want to stop and consider the diversity that they have in that organization and whether they are remaining sensitive to the cultural needs and ideas of the individuals that work for them (Drezner, 2004). Ultimately, strategy has to entail the entire organization. However, organizational strategy can and should be somewhat adjusted to ensure that all individuals are treated fairly and that the people in the organization are allowed to express their culture and nationality within reasonable limits (Jennex & Adelakun, 2003). In other words, when a company moves into another country the company should be aware of the customs of that country and not try to change the employees to a different way of thinking (Drezner, 2004).

Ethics

Ethical considerations are important and significant for many companies, but this is especially true of global or multinational companies. What is ethical is one country, also, might not be ethical in another (Kennedy, 2002). Many people that own and operate companies fail to examine this issue carefully and they end up making mistakes in other countries. Sometimes they just offend someone because of the way that they act but other times they can get into trouble with laws in other countries because they have not done their research. Researching and understanding the laws and customs of other countries and the people in them is vital when a company becomes multinational (Kennedy, 2002). No country should ever be moved into until the company that is making the move understands how things work there.

Human Resources