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HRM and the Business Environment

Many practitioners and academics have neglected HRM's environmental context, preferring toconcentrate on technical detail. This is consistent with criticisms of traditional personnelmanagement for its narrow focus on functional or 'micro' matters such as recruitment. In fairness,however, it must be recognised that personnel managers have always required a detailedknowledge of employment legislation, together with an understanding of industrial tribunals andtrade union organization. Nevertheless, this represents a restricted selection from the wide rangeof environmental factors impacting on people management.

Often exponents of HRM have been no better than traditional personnel managers in this respect.Kochan and Dyer (1995: 343) argue that despite the obsession with strategy, HRM theories havea fundamental weakness: 'a myopic viewpoint which fails to look beyond the boundary of thefirm'. Without the ability or the interest to locate their activities in a wider environmental setting,human resource practitioners can lose contact with the 'bleeding edge' of organizational survival.To counter short-sightedness and parochialism, HR managers must widen their perspectivesbeyond their own organizations (Beardwell and Holden, 1994: 613). In contrast to colleagues inmarketing, production and finance, people managers seem less prepared to function in acompetitive world.

This chapter addresses this wider perspective and introduces a number of fundamental issueswhich are developed further in later chapters, for example:

* What is the connection between education and skill levels and national success?

* To what extent is the nature of people management determined by prevailing political ideologyand national culture?

* Is HRM simply a managerial reaction to the spread of market economies throughout the world?

* Is there a contradiction between HRM's long-term emphasis and the short-term priorities of the

stock market?

We observed in the previous chapter that the essence of HRM lies in the competitive advantageto be gained from making the most of an organization's human resources. However, it is obviousthat we are constrained by the availability of suitable people - a factor which is heavily dependenton environmental variables. As we shall see, they include:

- the implications of world and national economic conditions for business growth;- the effect of inflation on the perceived value of wages;- the traditions of local business culture;- the particular nature of national employment markets.

In effect, therefore, these variables have a 'macro' effect on the utilization of human resources.Additionally, in this chapter we consider other effects caused by the activities of externalstakeholders, such as:

- competitors' utilization and demand for human resources;- multinational organizations and strategic alliances leading to restructuring or integration on aglobal basis;- economic and legislative actions by governments;- resistance or cooperation from trade unions;- pressure on senior managers to cut costs and maximise shareholder value.

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We begin the chapter with an examination of situational factors at the international and nationallevels.

Excerpt from chapter 2 - Human Resource Management in a Business Context , (1stedition) Thomson Learning. Copyright A. J. Price - this excerpt may be copied for personaluse only and must be credited to the author if quoted in any text.

Human resource management and global competitivenessHuman resource management is a system within other systems. The most complex of these isthe international business environment. The forces which act on people management are notpurely internal to an organization. (...) Factors outside a company's control will affect itsrequirements for human resources and the way they are managed. 

Read some surprising details about the distribution of information technology skills around the

world 

Growth and employment Economic growth is the most significant overriding variable for people management since itdetermines overall demand for products and services, and hence employment. 

Productivity is a key factor. See:

IMF praises UK economy but highlights productivity as the 'Achilles heel'. Read Unexpectedsectors of the services industry are driving the recent improvement in Australian industryproductivity

Canada's inability to compete successfully in the 21st century's global economy is posing aserious threat to the country's standard of living, according to Jan Grude, National Chair of theCanadian Association of Management Consultants.

Economic turbulence(...) The law of the market jungle rules - survival of the leanest, fittest and fastest. (...) 'MarketDarwinism' forces businesses to change direction at short notice, seeking any possiblecompetitive advantage. Businesses have to keep a worldwide watch for the next revolutionaryimprovement in productivity or service. 

But employment is determined by complex factors. See this article: Nokia to shift proportion of mobile phone manufacturing from U.S. to factories abroad

Globalization

The globalization of human resources'Transnational' companies are relatively free to switch resources and production from one countryto another. Typically this is done in order to maximise the benefit (to the corporation) of greater skills availability and lower employee costs. Further notes: The International Labour Organization has concluded that globalization intensifiedin the latter years of the 20th Century especially in terms of trade, investment, financialliberalization and technological change but also states that:

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"The benefits of globalization have been very unevenly distributed both between and withinnations. At the same time a host of social problems have emerged or intensified, creatingincreased hardship, insecurity, and anxiety for many across the world, fuelling a strong backlash.As a result, the present form of globalization is facing a crisis of legitimacy resulting from theeerosion of popular support."

Some of the main factors which have been identified as being at the root of the problems andwidespread public disquiet are:

* Reduction in job security because work (and therefore jobs) can be moved from one country toanother.* Undercutting of one country's wages by another, leading to erosion of wage rates.* Exceeding generally accepted working hours and exposure to health and safety risks to cutcosts.

Trading blocsInternational trade has grown to colossal proportions in recent decades. The bulk of this trade is

concentrated in (and between) three major trading blocks: the European Union, the NorthAmerican Free Trade Area (NAFTA) and the 'tiger economies' - newly industrialized states of East Asia.

Not everyone approves of trading blocks.

The developing world Developing countries are gradually being brought into the global industrial economy. (...) Privatecapital is being moved around the world in search of profit from flexible and open economies.Complex factors attract this capital: it is not simply a case of the cheapest employees.

These pages on BestBooks.biz introduce Employment Relations in the Asia Pacific  whichanalyses work and employment relations in seven countries in different stages of development:Australia; Indonesia; Japan; New Zealand; the People's Republic of China (PRC); South Korea;and Taiwan.

Human resource managementand the state

Government and supranational authoritiesGovernment and supranational authorities such as the European Union influence human

resource strategies through a variety of mechanisms.

The perspectives taken by different governments reflect underlying attitudes towards the role of the individual versus the corporation within those countries. For example, Brewster has pointedout that in the USA there is an implicit belief that business corporations can and should devisetheir HR strategies without much regard for the state or wider social implications. Guest puts thisdown to the historical concept of the US as a land of opportunity where anyone can achievesucess through their own hard work and entrepreneurship.

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Paradoxically, however, US employment legislation is some of the most stringent in the world withregard to individual rights. But (by European standards) state control and social protection arefairly minimal. This goes along with a much stronger belief in the rights of managers to manage(in the US) and a relatively widespread attitude of hostility towards trades unionism.

Within unionized companies in the US the 1930's New Deal model of employee relations lingers

on with a frequently excessive emphasis on the separation of managerial and workers' rights andthe control of who does what and how. This can place unionized companies at a disadvantage ineconomic circumstances that demand flexibility in order to compete. Such corporations need toparticluar attention to the development of advanced employee involvement programmes toharness the goodwill, creativity and enthusiasm of their workers.

Correspondingly, in mainland Europe Brewster finds constraints deriving from:

* restriction of autonomy by European Union directives

* conditioning from national-level culture and legislation

* distinctive national patterns of business organizations

* considerably higher levels of trade union organization and consultative arrangements (e.g.works councils.

Countries in the Anglo-Celtic tradition (UK, Ireland, Australia, Canada, New Zealand) adoptintermediate positions between the US and mainland Europe. Developing countries such asMalaysia and South Africa have the opportunity to set the pattern for their national-level strategiesby observing (cherry-picking?) the successes and mistakes of the developed countries.

Market forcesSince the late 1970s the free market has been dominant in the predominantly English-speakingcountries. The concept was raised to the status of a near-religion by governments andeconomists of the Thatcherite persuasion - the New Right.

State intervention and human resource management

The state and interventionShould government take a strong hand in the use of a country's human resources?

East Asian economies have been guided by interventionist governments. In other countries thetrend has been has been in the opposite direction. With the collapse of the communist commandeconomies in eastern Europe and the predominance of New Right ideology in English-speaking

countries,state-ownership has gone out of fashion. In the UK, and even more so in New Zealand,the government further withdrew from many areas of economic regulation. The faith in the virtueof market forces was such that when significant areas of the economy collapsed or were takenover by foreign interests, government reaction was minimal (...)

  Read a series of articles drawn from a 1996 Symposium at the EJROT site: "The New Zealand Experiment" A World Model for Structural Adjustment with major contributors suchas Noam Chomsky (focused on ideas in a book by Jane Kelsey) 

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Minimum wagesShould governments set minimum wages? This is a key point of dispute between left- and right-wing thinkers. Yet minimum wage legislation has been adopted by governments in manydeveloped countries.

Developing Human Capital

European initiativesWithin Europe, the EU has created a new dimension for people management. It has undertaken anumber of initiatives which are aimed at improving economic conditions in less privileged regions.

Investigate the European Commission: main information site for the European Union 

Human capital Personal and national success are increasingly correlated with the possession of skills. Skilledindividuals can command a premium salary in periods of high economic activity. Worldwide,unemployment levels remain high, while organizations have difficulty filling vacancies whichrequire specific expertise. A shortage of skilled people can act as a limiting factor on individualorganizations and the economy as a whole. It is in the interest of any country to maximise itshuman resources by investing in the skills of its workforce, its human capital.

The concept encompasses investment in the skills of the labour force, including education andvocational training to develop specific skills. Human capital is one component of a country'soverall competitiveness. The most successful developing countries, for example, Singapore andMalaysia, are investing heavily in the education and technical skills of their population.

The legal framework One of the most important environmental constraints on the job market and the activities of people managers comes from the law. (...) During the twentieth century, national governmentshave become law-making machines, creating a complex legal environment for businesses.Governments implement statutes for strategic reasons, ensuring, for example, that employeeswho are disciplined or dismissed are dealt with in a particular manner (...)

Within Europe, national traditions have led to wide variations in legislation relevant to humanresource management. The European Court of Justice has contributed to harmonization with anincreasing body of case law. The different legal systems in the EU can be divided into three

traditions:

The Roman-German system prevailing in Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy and theNetherlands. Government has a pivotal role in employee relations, guaranteeing a fundamentalcore of constitutional rights. These provide the foundation for national industrial relations.Legislation covers significant aspects of employment market conditions such as working hoursand trade union representation.

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The Anglo-Celtic system in the United Kingdom and Irish Republic. A minimalist approach to therole of the state with limited legislative protection. (Note: EU directives are changing thisapproach).

The Nordic system, covering Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden. The 'basic agreement'between employers and unions forms the foundation of employee relations. The state plays a

limited role, intervening only at the request of the two parties.

Countries in the central and dominant group of the EU follow the Roman-German model. Notsurprisingly, their way of thinking shapes most proposals to the Commission. However, debate onemployee relations reflects changing business practices and a shifting balance of attitudes withinan enlarging Union.

Cultural differences and HRM

Introduction

This section examines the concept of culture at international, national and organizational levels.Human resource literature places considerable emphasis on the role of corporate culture inachieving high performance levels. In particular, people working within a culture of commitmentare prepared to work longer, apply greater ingenuity to resolve a problem and try that muchharder to win an order.

Culture and international HRM The market place is global and the key players are the multinational organizations. Modernhuman resource managers cannot confine themselves to an understanding of peoplemanagement in their own countries. Everyone must develop an awareness of international HRM. Further notes: The main perspectives on international HRM are:

* The global approach - using analytic frameworks or broad thematic interpretations tounderstand HR issues on a global scale.

* The comparative approach - comparing and contrasting the different ways in which HRM is practised in the light of culture, history and other factors.

Torrington (1994) concluded that international HRM is not simply human resource management on a grander scale. He considered that several familiar aspects of HRM, such as recruitment,selection and employee realtions are actually outside the scope of international HRM because of the different (primarily national) legislative frameworks to which they must adhere. For example,he stated that:

"Employees are selected in one country or another, and wherever the selection is undertakenthere are a range of conventions and legal requirements that have to be met. The personappointed will usually have a contract of employment that will fit within the legal framework of onecountry but probably not another".

Of course, supra-national bodies such as the European Union are attempting to 'harmonize' suchdifferences out of existence. 

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Respecting cultural differencesThere is a misleading assumption that the social, class and cultural values underlyingmanagement ideas are - or should be - 'normal' for every country. (...) Rooted in nineteenthcentury imperialism, this misconception is based on the belief that important ideas are conveyedin one direction - from western 'civilization' to less developed countries.

International cultures

Cultures and standardsWe take our own culture for granted. In fact, we are scarcely aware of it until we interact withanother. Each culture has a worldview: a set of values and beliefs. This is meaningful to itsmembers but alien to others. As a consequence, we look at people from other cultures, see thattheir ways are different and often dislike these ways.

Cultural variety (...) there are differences not only between cultures but also within cultures. For example,Australian culture can be identified with that of the majority Anglo-Celtic population; but thenation's culture also encompasses a number of distinctive subcultures.

Hofstede argues that an individual's culture may have several levels: (1) national; (2) regional,ethnic, religious, linguistic; (3) gender; (4) generation; (5) social class; (6) organizational.

We can see readily that this mixture provides an intriguing cocktail for a selector to attempt todisentangle; for a performance assessor to misunderstand; a management developer to 'correct'.All in all, there is massive scope for a clash of cultures - and prejudices. (...)

The perception of timeThis section of Human Resource Management in a Business Context consider some differencesregarding the perception of time in different cultures. We all have in-built standards, the origins of which we rarely question and which we interpret as 'normal'. This has profound implications for people management at the global level.

Triandis pinpoints the perception of time as one element of cultural complexity. He argues thatdifferent cultures have different attitudes towards time. Time-keeping is treated tolerantly inunderdeveloped societies - with few things to do, one can do them in any order. But inindustrialized countries there are many thigs to do and they must be co-ordinated with other people. Hence, time becomes more important and is regarded as something precise and highlysignificant.

Another significant time characteristic is that of short- or long-term orientation. Typically, EastAsians are considered to have a longer time perspective than nationals of many other regions (...)

RolesTriandis also relates cultural complexity to the way we define our working and other roles. Incomplex societies roles become increasingly specific - compartmentalized into separate mental

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boxes. We can be finance managers, parents and social club officials, and behave differently ineach role. In less complex societies, on the other hand, roles are diffuse, affecting every aspectof people's lives. Religion, politics and matters of taste are important in diffuse cultures. They areless important in role-specific cultures. Developed countries tend to be role-specific, avoiding roleconfusion.

Theory and best practice in key HRM areas such as selection, performance measurement anddevelopment assume an equal opportunities approach in which people are dealt without favour or prejudice. However, this notion is alien to diffuse-role cultures, in which it is natural to favour members of one's own family or community. (...)

Cultural training

Cultural training Human resource managers have a considerable role to play in preparing staff for work overseas.Given the range and sensitivity of cultural differences (...) it is clear that people working in aninternational context can benefit from tuition in the business customs and social manners of thecountries they will work in. HR managers can play a major part in developing programmes for sales and other staff whose behaviour must be fully acceptable in target countries.(...) trainingcan encompass language, social behaviour, local business, structure and practice, and tableetiquette.

Non-verbal behaviour (...) the most critical area is that of non-verbal behaviour. Stories abound of contracts being lostbecause of inappropriate expressions, overeagerness, unacceptable familiarity and generalinsensitivity. Argyle details a number os jey behavioural features: proximity, touch and gaze;expressiveness; gestures; accompaniments of speech; symbolic self-presentation; rituals. Theseare explained in this section of Human Resource Management in a Business Context  

Read: Do Your Employees Need Intercultural Services? by Gary M. Wederspahn.

Customs or rulesThe way in which business is conducted is conditioned by historical practice and differentconcepts of morality. Some key issues include: bribery, nepotism, gifts, buying and selling, eatingand drinking, rules about time.

Language

The use of language has critical implications. For example, in appraisal feedback meetings or interviews people managers must be aware of cultural differences covering:

Directness Westerners may begin an informal meeting with a joke (well, some of us might). Atthis stage in a Japanese relationship such familiarity would be regarded as extremely offensive,expecting formality until each other's status and authority are clearly understood.

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Politeness All cultures employ polite forms of address which are expected in particular circumstances(...) Politeness is socially supportive behaviour which maintains harmony andrespect between individuals (...)

National and organizational culturesThis section of Human Resource Management in a Business Context provides an extensivediscussion of specific contributions to cross-cultural understanding, including the classic researchconducted by Hofstede. He compared several thousand IBM employees in over 50 countriesusing attitude questionnaires. He found significant differences between employees in one country and another, despite their similar jobs and membership of an organization which is renowned for its strong corporate culture. He identified 4 main dimensions:

Power distance - how marked are the status differences between people with high and low  power.

Collectivism versus individualism - is a culture focused on individuals or groups? 

Masculinity versus feminity - Hofstede rated aggressiveness (level of individual assertivenessand competition) as masculinity.

Uncertainty avoidance - a measure of flexibility and need for rules.

Organizational Culture

Corporate cultureIt has long been recognized that the organization cannot simply be described in terms of itsformal structure (...) The concept of corporate culture is a central theme of the 'excellence'

literature as well as HRM and total quality management. Its major exponents presented a 'strong'corporate culture as a key factor in enhancing competitive performance through greater employeecommitment and flexibility. Employees in strong cultures know what is expected of them.Conversely, staff in weak cultures waste time trying to discover what is required. According to thisargument employees identify with a strong culture and take pride in their organization.

Long before Sept. 11, technology was creating a workplace where phone calls, voice mail and e-mail messages were regularly monitored by employers Watching employees on HRM Guide USA 

See this account of ' Branding aligns employees with organizational goals also on HRM Guide USA

See how building a culture relates to : Top Talent and Passionate Employees again onHRM Guide USA

The Deal and Kennedy model of corporate cultureDeal and Kennedy's Corporate Cultures (1982) was inspirational and incorporated five critical elements:

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1. The business environment - the orientation of organizations within this environment - for example a focus on sales or concentration on research and development - leads to specific cultural styles.

2. Values - are at the heart of corporate culture. They are made up of the key beliefs and concepts shared by an organization's employees. Successful managers are clear about these

values and their managers publicly reinforce them.

3. Heroes - personifications of the organization's values, achievers who provide role models for success within the company. (...) Heroes have vision and go against the existing order if necessary in order to achieve that vision.

4. Rites and rituals - ceremonies and routine behavioural rituals reinforce the culture (product launches, sales conferences, employee birthday celebrations...)

5. The cultural network - the carrier of stories and gossip which spread information about valued behaviour and 'heroic myths' around the organization.

Corporate culture and people managementThis section of Human Resource Management in a Business Context provides a critique of thesimplistic approach to corporate culture

Commitment

Commitment (...) Commitment is one of the original 4-Cs featured in the influential Harvard model of HRM

(Beer et al., 1984). It is regarded as an immediate and, perhaps, the most critical outcome of human resource strategy since employee commitment is seen as the key factor in achievingcompetitive performance. (...) For Hendry (1995) commitment 'implies an enhancement of theindividual and his or her skills, and not simply what this can deliver to the organization'. Goss(1994) wonders if commitment is 'HRM's Holy Grail?'

Commitment and cultureAccording to this viewpoint, commitment to the mission and values of the organization is afundamental principle. As a concept it is clearly related to that of 'strong' corporate culture.Commitment goes further than simple compliance: it is an emotional attachment to theorganization.

Commitment strategiesCommitment is an element of the 'psychological contract' between employer and employee.

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Justifying commitment There are a number of contradictions inherent in the notion of commitment. (...) As a combinationof these, commitment can range from affective identification, a real intellectual and emotionalidentification with the organization, to mere behavioural compliance, simply presenting anappearance of the attitudes and behaviours expected by senior managers (Legge, 1995).

The softening economy and accompanying layoffs has workers feeling insecure and defensive, which manifests in negative behavior such as pessimistic talk and bad attitudes.Managing Workplace Negativity on HRM Guide USA

 A Gallup study indicates that "actively disengaged" employees - workers who arefundamentally disconnected from their jobs - are costing the U.S. economy between $292 billionand $355 billion a year. Actively disengaged workers cost U.S. hundreds of billions a year on HRM Guide USA

Committed to what? Individuals may identify with their work at a variety of levels: their job, profession, department,boss or organization. realistically, commitment may be diverse and divided between any or all of these. (...) Commitment conflicts with the notion of flexibility. Numerical flexibility has been apredominant feature of recent years, with 'downsizing' and 'delayering' being an obsession of many large companies. A climate of fear has been created for those people remaining.(...)

Recruitment and selection

IntroductionThis section examines current practices and decision-making in recruitment and selection. (...)they are critical elements of effective human resource management. (...) We cannot discuss howrecruitment and selection take place without asking why certain techniques are used inpreference to others. Within the HRM paradigm, they are not simply mechanisms for fillingvacancies. Recruitment and redundancy can be viewed as key 'push' and 'pull' levers for organizational change.

Recruitment and selection allow management to determine and gradually modify the behaviouralcharacteristics and competences of the workforce. The fashion for teamworking, for example, hasfocused on people with a preference for working with others as opposed to the individualist 'stars'preferred by recruiters in the 1980's. Attention has switched from rigid lists of skills and abilities tobroader-based competences. In general - as we noted in the previous section - there is greater regard for personal flexibility and adaptability - a reorientation from present to future stability.

Recruitment: marketing jobsPotential candidates may come from an internal trawl of the organization, or from the external jobmarket. The latter are reached through channels such as recruitment advertising, employmentagencies, professional asociations or word of mouth. The approach differs according to theorganization's resourcing philosophy:

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- Organizations with a strong culture are likely to seek malleable new employees at school-leaving or graduate levels. More senior jobs are filled from the internal job market.- Companies looking for the 'right' (best fit for the job) person however may rule out internalapplicants because they do not match the personnel specification prepared for the job.

  Cultural fit and web-based recruiting A culture fit tool has the potential to make job seekers more savvy while also providing a smaller,"better fitting" applicant pool for organizations.

Informal recruiting Word-of-mouth applicants are likely to stay longer and may be more suitable than recruitsobtained by advertising. But word-of-mouth is discriminatory, since it restricts applications toestablished communities and excludes recently arrived minority groups who have not had time tobecome part of informal networks. (...)At senior levels the informal method known as 'headhunting' or executive search has becomecommon. Specialist consultancies aim to find 'outstanding' people to fill higher-paying jobs.Whether they really are 'outstanding' is questionable.

Project work valuable for evaluating prospective hires: Enterprising job hunters havelong sought to get a foot in the door as a way into their next job. A new survey for Robert Half Technology shows employers also embrace this approach.

Formal recruiting Equal opportunity demands equal access. This can only be achieved through public and openrecruitment. (...) The likelihood of attracting 'suitable' applicants depends on the detail andspecificity of the recruitment advertisement or literature. Key factors such as salary, job title,career and travel opportunities obviously influence response rates. But remember that employers

do not want to be swamped with large numbers of applications from unsuitable people. Thissection of Human Resource Management in a Business Context goes into further detail such as:quality of agency recruiters, comparison of different media channels, cultural variation inrecruitment practice. 

The Internet is becoming an increasingly popular method of recruitment:

  E-cruitment is revolutionising the Recruitment Industry

The real strength and power of online recruitment, when done properly, lie in harnessinginternet technology to not just attract candidates but to deal with them too. See Introduction toOnline Recruitment 

But sometimes people search for some unusual jobs: Any jobs going for astronauts? athrmguide.co.uk.

5 Tips for a Safe Online Job-Search: Conducting a job search using the Internet hasdefinitely transformed how jobseekers contact hiring companies. With the Internet's convenience,a breeding ground for scam artists continues to grow each year as well.

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Targeting Competition for the 'best' graduates requires employers to have a clear idea of what they meanby 'best'. Recruitment needs to send a strong, distinctive message to these people. Check outone of the internet providers on this page to see how jobs are described and marketed.

The recruitment practices and tactics for retaining employees that have the bestorganizational "fit" in a number of top companies:Recruitment and Succession Planning: Finding and Keeping Those Who 'Fit' on the HRMGuide USA site.

Use of corporate websites varies from country to country:Online recruiting best practice on the HRM Guide Canada site.

More and more of Australia’s largest employers are moving to online graduate recruitmentand away from slow and costly 'traditional' methods:

Managing Diversity - Sex and Gender 

Gender and sexual discrimination

Internationally, the United Nations concludes that women are facing a global glass ceiling andthat in no society do women enjoy the same opportunities as men. In the most developedcountry, the USA, the Glass Ceiling Commission states that between 95 and 97 per cent of senior managers in the country's biggest corporations are men (...)The term 'glass ceiling' describes theprocess by which women are barred from promotion by means of an invisible barrier.

White male culture and dis/advantage 

Workplace culture favours men - Canadian women executives don't feel fully accepted intoexecutive-level culture, according to a POLLARA survey.

Gender differences

Traditionally, sexual differences have been used to justify male-dominated societies in which

women have been given inferior and secondary roles in their working lives. There are differencesbetween men and women, other than the physical, but there is little agreement as to what theyare.

Employers complacent about gender pay gap - Most employers do not intend to check that they are paying women fairly, despite the fact that the gap between women's and men'saverage full-time pay is still 19% per hour. 

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  Gender imbalance in State Bureaucracies - integration of women into administrative and  professional positions at state governmental bureaucracies has been slow over the past decade

Sexual harassment 

Definitions vary considerably but most are agreed that it is sexual attention which is unwanted,repeated and affects a woman's (usually) work performance or expectations from her job.However, it is possible for one incident to be sufficiently severe to be regarded as asharrassment. It differs from sexual banter or flirting since it is one-way; it does not have theinvolvement and acceptance of both parties. In the USA the Equal Employment OpportunityCommission has extended the definition of sexual harrassment to include a range of actionswhich lead to a 'hostile working environment'. The definition includes unwelcome touching, joking,teasing, innuendos, slurs, and the display of sexually explicit materials.

Sexual harassment is no joke - Jenny Watson, Deputy Chair of the UK's Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC), says that sexual harassment is no laughing matter for 

hundreds of thousands of British workers who experience it.

 Armed Forces sexual harassment to be addressed   - Secretary of State for Defence JohnReid has signed an agreement with the Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC) to addresssexual harassment in Britain's Armed Forces.

Gender and the law 

Generally, legislation to promote gender equality is complex and varied, with a wide divergence indifferent countries. In the UK, the principal legislation is found in the Equal Pay Act of 1970,providing for equal pay for comparable work; and the Sex Discrimination Act of 1975, which

makes discrimination against women or men (including discrimination on the grounds of maritalstatus) illegal in the working situation.

Sex Discrimination and Equal Pay Acts in the UK

The Equal Opportunities Commission  is the expert body in Great Britain on equality between women and men.

Old boys

Old boys' networks are a principal factor in preserving male privileges at work. These networksare informal and frequently invisible. They date from school and university and are reinforced bysemi-social activities such as playing golf. Men devote far more time than women to suchactivities and are more likely than women to get jobs through personal contacts. Many of these

 jobs are unadvertised.

Managing Diversity - Sex and Gender 

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Gender and sexual discrimination

Internationally, the United Nations concludes that women are facing a global glass ceiling andthat in no society do women enjoy the same opportunities as men. In the most developedcountry, the USA, the Glass Ceiling Commission states that between 95 and 97 per cent of senior 

managers in the country's biggest corporations are men (...)The term 'glass ceiling' describes theprocess by which women are barred from promotion by means of an invisible barrier.

White male culture and dis/advantage 

Workplace culture favours men - Canadian women executives don't feel fully accepted intoexecutive-level culture, according to a POLLARA survey.

Gender differences

Traditionally, sexual differences have been used to justify male-dominated societies in whichwomen have been given inferior and secondary roles in their working lives. There are differencesbetween men and women, other than the physical, but there is little agreement as to what theyare.

Employers complacent about gender pay gap - Most employers do not intend to check that they are paying women fairly, despite the fact that the gap between women's and men'saverage full-time pay is still 19% per hour. 

Gender imbalance in State Bureaucracies - integration of women into administrative and  professional positions at state governmental bureaucracies has been slow over the past decade

Sexual harassment 

Definitions vary considerably but most are agreed that it is sexual attention which is unwanted,repeated and affects a woman's (usually) work performance or expectations from her job.However, it is possible for one incident to be sufficiently severe to be regarded as asharrassment. It differs from sexual banter or flirting since it is one-way; it does not have theinvolvement and acceptance of both parties. In the USA the Equal Employment OpportunityCommission has extended the definition of sexual harrassment to include a range of actionswhich lead to a 'hostile working environment'. The definition includes unwelcome touching, joking,teasing, innuendos, slurs, and the display of sexually explicit materials.

Sexual harassment is no joke - Jenny Watson, Deputy Chair of the UK's Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC), says that sexual harassment is no laughing matter for 

hundreds of thousands of British workers who experience it.

 Armed Forces sexual harassment to be addressed   - Secretary of State for Defence JohnReid has signed an agreement with the Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC) to addresssexual harassment in Britain's Armed Forces.

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Gender and the law 

Generally, legislation to promote gender equality is complex and varied, with a wide divergence indifferent countries. In the UK, the principal legislation is found in the Equal Pay Act of 1970,providing for equal pay for comparable work; and the Sex Discrimination Act of 1975, which

makes discrimination against women or men (including discrimination on the grounds of maritalstatus) illegal in the working situation.

Sex Discrimination and Equal Pay Acts in the UK

The Equal Opportunities Commission  is the expert body in Great Britain on equality between women and men.

Old boys

Old boys' networks are a principal factor in preserving male privileges at work. These networksare informal and frequently invisible. They date from school and university and are reinforced bysemi-social activities such as playing golf. Men devote far more time than women to suchactivities and are more likely than women to get jobs through personal contacts. Many of these

 jobs are unadvertised.

Managing Diversity

Introduction

This section considers how opportunities are constrained to the detriment of individuals and

organizations. We examine how businesses and their managers can maximise human capital.

The environment and opportunity 

Anthony Jay is reputed to have said that 'success is when preparation meets opportunity'.Preparation depends on personal effort but opportunity is linked to social factors such aseconomic conditions, education and other people. Effectively, society determines who is givenopportunity and who is not through the process of discrimination. Overt prejudice is comparativelyeasy to observe but the true nature of unfairness lies in the way opportunity has beeninstitutionalized within society. The status quo is constructed to benefit certain types of individualfrom particular backgrounds or those who are able to adapt most easily to its requirements.

Typically, this has denied opportunity to women and minority groups.

See Canadian Employment Acts - HRDC link page for information on employment acts inCanada

The South African Employment Equity Act (1998) is amongst the most ambitious equal opportunities legislation in the world. See the Department of Labour site for detailed information.

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The Employment Standards Administration - provides summaries of legislation in theUSA.

Education and meritocracy 

Education plays a key role in causing and, potentially, curing institutionalized discrimination inadvanced countries. This section in Human Resource Management in a Business Context looksat the French cadre system in comparison with Germany and the UK. 

The meritocratic ideal 

People in developed - and many developing - countries no longer 'know their place' in society.Those who have a vested interest in preserving plum jobs for a select elite are facingoverwhelming opposition from a generation whose career aspirations and expectation of equitable treatment by employers would have been unthinkable a few decades ago. However,there is some way to go before a universal meritocracy prevails.

The Council for Equal Opportunity in Employment Limited focuses on Australianworkplaces 

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in the USA

Diversity and the organization

The management of diversity goes beyond equal opportunity. Instead of merely allowing agreater range of people the opportunity to 'fit in' or to be an honorary 'large, white male', theconcept of diversity embodies the belief that people should be valued for their difference andvariety. Diversity is perceived to enrich an organization's human capital. Whereas equalopportunity focuses on various disadvantaged groups, the management of diversity is aboutindividuals. It entails a minimization of cloning in selection and promotion procedures and a modelof resourcing aimed at finding flexible employees.

Communicating workplace diversity a top priority  

Strategies for diversity 

Many organizations have adopted equal opportunities policies - statements of commitment to fair human resource management. However, equal opportunities policies are notoriously ineffective,

often no more than fine words decorating office walls, designed to appease politically vociferousactivists and soothe consciences. They disturb vested interests too rarely. The obstacles tocreating a diversified workforce are embedded in organizational culture - particularly thesubculture at the top.

Workplace diversity is more rhetoric than reality  

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  Female and minority job-searchers look for diversity in the workplace - In a US study,one-third of survey respondents have eliminated companies that lacked gender and ethnic diversity from employment consideration.