Goldman Sachs Abacus Fraud: SEC Case and Wall Street Ethics
During the subprime housing bubble, the investment firm Goldman Sachs sold investment instruments which contained many subprime mortgages likely to fail. While pushing those assets as highly recommended, employees 'bet' (sold short) that those assets would fail. When the market collapsed, Goldman made money, but its activities were later investigated by the SEC. This paper profiles that case.
Employee Relations Systems in China, Germany, and Australia
The intent of this analysis is to evaluate the differences between China and Germany, Germany and Australia, and China and Australia. Taking the role of an Employee Relations (ER) Manager who is responsible for managing workforces in these areas, each country is compared based on their history, role of stakeholders, bargaining and labor laws.
China vs Germany
In comparing China and Germany's current Employee Relations practices, a framework including each country's current economic system, their respective histories, role of stakeholders, bargaining practices and labour laws are presented.
Comparative Analysis Chinese versus German Economic & Employment Systems
The Chinese economic and employment systems today reflect the highly socialistic, centrally planned economy versus the social market economy of Germany. The Chinese have defined their employment system and the role of employers with a strong focus on central planning as well. The Iron Rice Bowl and the HuKou systems are designed specifically for the purpose of providing citizens with lifetime employment. The Chinese economic and employment models resemble the Soviet Union in that both nations have a centralized office for managing labor grievances, in addition to openly allowing state-financed monopolies to exist. The goal of communist-based egalitarianism has failed to deliver results for the migrant factory workers who keep the manufacturing industries of China working, while the new economic ruling class, located predominantly in coastal cities, looking increasingly capitalist. China's future as a communist-based government is threatened by this widening gulf of migrant workers relative to the newly-minted wealthy class of entrepreneurs who are savvy enough to gain the Communist party's support for their new ventures. Germany has taken a radically different approach than China in terms of their employment systems. They are focused on a more social or collaborative approach between government and labor, looking to provide a foundation for continual economic growth by ensuring the long-term productivity of their workers. The German approach to managing employment is to concentrate on high skill, high trust, high quality wage models that seek to revolutionize industries. The example of this is shown for the vehicle manufacturing industry. The German focus on high skill, high trust and high quality wages has led to the need for collective bargaining and greater coordination with labor unions.
History
China's current economic and employment systems are predicated on Confucian ideologies of seeking social harmony and cohesion of social relationships. These philosophies still permeate the nation's culture, despite the Liberation in 1949 to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) form of government. In 1978, China adopted a socialist model of state-planned economies both at the regional and state levels. It also created, in 1978, an open door policy for initiating economic transformation. This led to the Chinese economy flourishing in a less restrictive environment. Today China continues to navigate between a communist and capitalist approach to their economic and employment practices with the latter becoming more dominant due to the potential to grow the wealth of the CCP.
Germany was resurged as a global economic power after the devastation the country faced after the Second World War. Germany has emerged as the largest and strong European economy with the high export focus that rivals China. Following the reunification of Eastern and Western Germany, the economic growth of the country has slowed significantly. Between 1994 and 2008, Germany reported only 1.5% economic growth for example. Unemployment rates continue to escalate yet are not as severe as France or the United Kingdom. As of the analysis completed for the course, unemployment is hovering at 8.4%.