2. Human Resources in a Globally Competitive Business Environment
Chapter 1
Human Resources in a Globally Competitive Business Environment

3. 21st-Century Corporations
Global
The timeline for the globalization of companies:
Early days: a company that sold goods overseas
Middle period: a company that manufactured and sold goods in other countries
21st Century: a company that is able to call on talent and resources around the globe, just as it sells its goods and services around the globe
Speed
Speed in the 21st century company is a business strategy built on a virtual network of suppliers, manufacturers, and delivery firms

4. People-Driven Enterprises
The successful 21st-century company is one that realizes that it is the people that make up the business
Some key challenges for managers of 21st-century enterprises:
Understanding the challenges the enterprise faces
Seizing opportunities
Managing frustration

5. Managing People Responsibilities of all managers: Staffing Retention
Development
Adjustment
Managing Change

6. Key Features of the Competitive Business Environment
Globalization
Technology
E-Commerce
Changing demographics
Increasing cultural diversity

7. New Competitive Realities
Emergence of smaller companies with fewer employees
Decline of management hierarchies, with an increase of networks of specialists
Increase of technicians to keep networks operating
Decline of the importance of seniority in compensation
Overall worth based on performance plus the market value of a given position

8. Competitive Strategies
Competitive strategies of the 21st century company
Innovation
Quality Enhancement
Cost-Reduction
Speed

9. HRM Requirements of Competitive Strategies
Innovation Strategy Requires
Highly Skilled Employees
More Employee Discretion
Greater Investment and Risk
Quality-Enhancement Strategy Requires
Repetitive and predictable behaviors
Long-term focus
Modest amount of cooperative, interdependent behavior
High emphasis on quality, modest concern for quantity

10. HRM Requirements of Competitive Strategies
Cost-Reduction Strategy Requires
Tight fiscal and management controls
Minimization of overhead
Pursuit of strict economies of scale
Speed Requires
Highly skilled employees who are time-focused
Managers and employees must support change
Company culture must support the fast-pace

11. The Importance of Productivity
Companies must give employees a higher stake in their success
Companies must convince employees that rewards are derived from productivity
Companies must recognize that no productivity problems have a “quick fix”
Companies must embrace the philosophy of constant learning and improvement

12. The Emergence of QWL Quality of Work Life is Driven By:
Employee understanding of company practices, democratic supervision, and employee involvement
Employees’ perceptions of their overall satisfaction and safety

13. Business Trends and Human Resource Competencies
Human Resource Managers must play four key roles that are consistent with current business trends:
Strategic Partners
Innovators
Collaborators
Change Facilitators