Article Review on "Globalization"

Article Review 9 pages (2638 words) Sources: 9

[EXCERPT] . . . .

globalization has been increasingly brought to the forefront. This is because most firms have been focusing on reducing costs in an effort to increase profit margins. To achieve these objectives, a number of organizations are relocating their operations overseas. This means that many multinational corporations have been forced to integrate their policies and procedures with specific cultural practices in the region. To help them achieve these objectives, various firms are utilizing the Human Resources (HR) department. Their job is to serve as go between for: managers and employees in addressing critical issues. (Martens 2010)

To fully understand how this can take place requires looking at literature on the best practices. This will be accomplished by examining the article titled Performance Human Resource Management by Ladislav Mura. During this process there will be an emphasis on a number of areas to include: the author's assumptions, analyzing the research methodology, exploring the evidence, comparing / contrasting other articles on the topic and assessing the validity of the arguments / conclusions. Together, these different elements will provide specific insights as to the role that HR is playing in effectively integrating a multinational corporation with specific cultural attributes inside a particular region.

Summary of the Article

Indentify the Underlying Assumptions about the Topic

In the article, Mura (2011) is talking about how globalization is forcing businesses to rely on their HR department. This is because most managers do not have time to deal with employee related issues. As they are focused, on meeting different organizational objectives (which is: taking up most of their time). Moreover, many employees are reluctant to speak openly about challenges they have. Then, when they do, executives may not understand the issues impacting this individual. This is from their lack of comprehending different social norms and customs. When this happens, the odds increase that the workplace is becoming a hostile environment from these kinds of misunderstandings. (Mura 2011)

To mitigate these potential issues, most firms will rely heavily on their HR departments. This is because these individuals will work with employees in addressing a host of challenges including: pay and compensation. To understand how a corporation can deal with these problems Mura is looking at MOL Hungarian Oil and Gas (MOL). (Mura 2011)

What Mura found, is that HR plays an essential role in troubleshooting employee issues. This is because they are addressing any kind of potential conflict the moment the employee will start at the firm. This is when HR staff members will explain to them what is required and the various polices of the company. When the employee has any kind of issues with pay or compensation, they will discuss it with HR personnel. They will bring these areas, to the attention of managers. It is at this point that executives will discuss these challenges and provide possible solutions that can be implemented. Evidence of this can be seen in the below diagram (which is highlighting the role that the HR will play in this process). (Mura 2011)

The Role of HR in Working with Employees and Managers at MOL

Employees

Human Resources

Executives (Mura 2011)

This is showing how HR is playing a critical part in addressing potential issues between managers and employees. This is accomplished by having them listen to both sides and then discussing them with each party (in a non-confrontational format). As a result, Mura determined that this kind of approach is helping companies to address critical elements with their international operations. A few of the most notable include: it reduces costs, streamlines training / orientation, it provides compensation packages that are addressing the employees' needs and there is a focus on integrating different operating environments with the firm's policies / procedures. These areas are showing how the HR department is helping the firm to be able to streamline their operations around the globe. (Mura 2011)

The basic method that they used for studying the firm was through: having managers, employees and HR personnel take different surveys. These ideas were contrasted with literature that was collected from various studies and scholarly sources. Once this took place, is when the different data was analyzed and compared to other information (in determining the impact of HR). This led Mura to make different conclusions that were highlighting the overall benefits of this strategy for an international organization. (Mura 2011)

These areas are illustrating how HR can be able to address the most critical needs impacting firms (based upon the author's assumptions and the way they are supporting it). This is because Mura carefully studied MOL for an extensive period of time and used their procedures to highlight how all international conglomerates should be operating. As a result, this led to the belief that HR plays a critical role in addressing the challenges that are impacting these kinds of organizations. This is when they were able to reduce any kind of risks to their operations overseas. (Mura 2011)

Analysis

Assess whether the research methods chosen are appropriate

The research methods that were chosen are appropriate. This is because there was a focus on identifying the most important characteristics of this approach by: surveying an actual organization. The results were compared with the trends that were discovered in other journals and articles. These ideas were then integrated together to create a working foundation for understanding how HR can address these issues. Once this occurs, is when the information makes sense and will follow a logical pattern. This helps the reader to understand the main points of the author and how it is influencing them. (Mura 2011)

The way that this was accomplished is through focusing on different themes. Two of the most notable are examining how HR plays a critical role in addressing challenges through: training and motivation / career development. According to Mura, training is a vital task where HR will concentrate on: team building, problem solving, the importance of feedback and improving fields of development. This will help the firm to address critical areas that could influence the kind of job that a particular employee is performing. Once they have been properly trained, is when they will be more effective in helping the company to meet its different objectives. (Mura 2011)

Motivation and career development is when there is focus on factors that will influence the levels of enthusiasm in employees. This means that there is a concentration on various financial and non-financial measures during this process. Financial measures are when HR personnel are working to address the employee's monetary needs. This is accomplished by focusing on how their pay and benefits package can tackle these challenges. Non-financial measures are when there is an emphasis on areas that will affect attitudes about the firm such as: working conditions, flexibility and the way they interact with others. These areas are showing how HR can help a firm to deal with issues that could have an impact on: productivity and profit margins at specific facilities in particular regions. (Mura 2011)

Explore what the author considers as evidence and how they interpret it

The basic evidence that author is focusing on is through using the responses from: various surveys of HR managers, employees and executives inside MOL. This is in order to understand how this department can address critical issues inside a firm. At the same time, they are taking the general patterns that were identified from previous research and they are using this to determine how everyone is reacting in comparison to the other data. (Mura 2011)

Evidence of this can be seen with Mura saying, "From this study we can draw the following conclusions: 1) 69% of human resources managers consider that the human resources development is very important, 2) training and employees' development is a priority in multinational companies, 3) small firms are interested in training employees (but because of the lack of material resources they prefer on-the-job training), 4) the planification of human resources development (is over the short periods of time vs. long-term) and 5) big scale companies are more interested in buying computer programs in order to make the activities of the human resources department more efficient." These different areas are showing how HR can address the needs of all firms. The biggest challenges are having the resources to effectively allow personnel to perform different functions. As a result, larger organizations will have an advantage over smaller firms. (Mura 2011, pg. 124)

These different areas are showing how Mura used an approach that is designed to help create a working strategy firms can use. However, the basic problem with the research is that only one company was studied. This is challenging, as it applying its policies and procedures for every organization. Once researchers move beyond the oil and gas industry or Hungarian companies, is when they could find these ideas are ineffective. As a result, the one size fits all approach is creating various assumptions with no further research to backup these basic viewpoints.

Compare and contrast the article to others covering… READ MORE

How to Reference "Globalization" Article Review in a Bibliography

Related Article Reviews:

Globalization and the Impact to Democracy Essay

Globalization and Democracy

"Some argue that [democracy and globalization] go hand in hand -- that unrestricted international transactions encourage political accountability and transparency and that politically free societies are least… read more

Essay 7 pages (2251 words) Sources: 10 Style: Harvard Topic: Government / Politics

---

Employee Benefits Article Critique

employee benefits has been increasingly brought to the forefront. Part of the reason for this, is because globalization has been having an impact on the workforce. As, more companies are… read more

Article Critique 5 pages (2208 words) Sources: 12 Style: Harvard Topic: Career / Labor / Human Resources

---

Teaching Methodologies Essay

teaching methodologies has been increasingly brought to the forefront. This is because globalization and anti-poverty reduction efforts are having an impact on the kinds of approaches that are utilized. However,… read more

Essay 5 pages (1474 words) Sources: 5 Topic: Education / Teaching / Learning

---

Globalization Refers to How Local Processes Essay

Globalization refers to how local processes are increasingly becoming part of the greater world, and is usually used to describe economic aspects of these processes. Globalization has largely been a… read more

Essay 2 pages (716 words) Sources: 0 Topic: Anthropology / Culture

---

Environmental Sustainability Has Been Increasingly Embraced Dissertation

Environmental sustainability has been increasingly embraced as an important agenda by government agencies worldwide. Environmental sustainability and sustainable development have become a component of government planning and policymaking. At the… read more

Dissertation 50 pages (14123 words) Sources: 1+ Topic: Business / Corporations / E-commerce

---

View 100+ more related papers  >>