Senior management and human resource (HR) professionals in MNCs may inadvertently cause disaster due to their over reliance on past success stories in managing the workforce, and ignoring issues such as new generation workers dynamics, regional realities and cross-cultural HR issues. Maruti-Suzuki India Limited (MSIL)--a subsidiary of Suzuki, Japan--made these apparent mistakes at its Manesar plant. The Gen Y workers at the Manesar plant perceived working conditions to be stressful, work schedules unreasonable and supervisors as indifferent. They decided to form an independent trade union. Senior management's resistance and indifferent attitude created bitterness in industrial relations (IR). But the workers eventual success in registering their union, and cooperation from contract workers, resulted in tensions and unexpected plant violence leading to the tragic burning of the plant's HR chief, and injuries to 96 executives, both Japanese and non-Japanese. The lockout that resulted lasted 34 days, causing production losses of INR 25 billion, and the consequent discharge (termination) of more than 500 core workers. MSIL abolished the contract labour system. Instead, it began to employ temporary workers for seven months and regularly replaced them with fresh temporary workers. In May 2014 the parent Suzuki further tightened its control on MSIL and took away executive powers from the top three Indian executives including the corporate heads of HR, Operations and Supply Chain. The trial court's sentencing of thirteen people for murder, mostly trade union leaders, to life imprisonment led to higher trade unions solidarity and complexity of the problem. MSIL's several strategic HR interventions proved ineffective in improving employee engagement. It is in a dilemma about the use of hard or soft HR intervention techniques for managing the workforce. It is also introspective: what caused the tragic death of the plant's HR head; how could such events be prevented in the future; how should it tackle permanent versus temporary workers hiring issues; how should it deal with cross-cultural issues in the present change dynamics; how should it promote workers' cooperation and engagement; and how can it align its HR strategy with its business strategy?

【書誌情報】

ページ数：17ページ

サイズ：A4

商品番号：HBSP-HK1081

発行日：2016/1/22

登録日：2016/8/8