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Table of Contents INTRODUCTION 2 RECRUITMENT AND HIRING 5 EMPLOYEE RELATIONS 10 BENEFITS 20 VIRTUAL BUSINESS 23 LOGISTICS 27 CONCLUSION 32 BIBLIOGRAPHY 35 Introduction Germany, France, Norway, Asia, Africa, what do all these places have in common? They are all places where companies are doing business today. Technological innovations have created a new global marketplace at our fingertips. Even though they are accessible does not mean that we can automatically go out there and start doing business. We need to understand the issues facing International Human Resource professionals in today’s business world. Welcome ladies and gentleman. My team members and I are honored to be here today to discuss the latest issues in International Human Resource Management. Our group members are a diverse group of people from differing backgrounds and experience. Most of us are from the United States however we do have one member who is from Asia. We have compiled some interesting information that I am sure you will find informative and useful in your international endeavors. The majority of our focus will be on the employee. As human resource professionals, we are passionate about the employee aspects of a company “going global”. With so many aspects to international human resources, today we will provide you with an overview of the issues facing the International Human Resource manager. Every company has assets; buildings, products, bank accounts. The greatest assets a company possesses are its employees. Many companies look at employees as expenses. There is a considerable cost associated with employees in the amount of money in payroll costs and benefits. If managed correctly, employees can recover that cost for the organization. Jack Welch, former CEO of General Electric was an innovator in the world of management. He certainly has his own style of management. Employees were not always on the positive side of his approach, but he got everything he could out of his employees and they are grateful to him for what they have received. To quote Mr. Welch "The biggest change we made, without question, was the move to a boundary less company. We got rid of the corner offices, the bureaucracy, the `not-invented-here' syndrome. Instead, we got every mind in the game, got the best out of all our people." This is extremely important in international human resources – to get the best out of your people should be the goal of all organizations, international or otherwise. The topics we have selected address current trends in international business, but most of all incorporate some employee issues that face international businesses. The business world is growing more and more global every day. Any company that does not see this and change their strategy to incorporate international business will be left behind. Early change is imperative to success. Jack Welch says “Change before you have to." This short but poignant statement says it all. We are in an ever-changing world of increasing technological advances and increased communication. The world is getting smaller and smaller as we are able to reach into new and uncharted territories previously unavailable to us. Our employees will be the key to unlocking these secret places and untapped marketplaces. Understanding the challenges and issues facing today’s international businessperson is imperative to success in the global business world. Our speech today will run the gamut of international business concerns from the logistics of getting your product to global markets to doing business in a virtual environment and employee relations and human resources issues. Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you the Age of Global Virtual Business. Recruitment and Hiring The website www.google.com has 3,083,324,652 web pages. If one types in the word “job,” one gets 58,300,000 web pages. And when one types “Recruitment and Hiring,” 463,000 web pages are at the tip of the fingers. These figures stand out as overwhelming and just the thought of finding a needle in this haystack is staggering. Yet no part in the history of human civilization has information been so widely distributed and accessed, than in the present period of virtual business. The last decade has seen so much technological progress. We have come from simple word processors like WordStar to the sleek features of Word for WINDOWS. The personal computer is no longer restrained by wires and plugs with the new Intel Centrino. (Intel) At the palm of our hands we have handheld computers and cellular phones that give us information wherever we are on the face of this globe. What other challenges does the future bring? In the aftermath of rapid change what can job hunters do? What do they face in the new millennium? Our company sees a vision, and here we present the historical basis for that vision. In 1965, then-Intel Chairman Gordon Moore forwarded a law that is today’s governing pace for technological introduction and innovation. And if you would allow me to quote Intel: “Moore observed an exponential growth in the number of transistors per integrated circuit and predicted that this trend would continue. Through Intel's relentless technology advances, Moore's Law, the doubling of transistors every couple of years, has been maintained, and still holds true today. Intel expects that it will continue at least through the end of this decade. The mission of Intel's technology development team is to continue to break down barriers to Moore's Law.” (Intel) Such a phenomenon is truly amazing for each and every day we see new gadgets and gizmos that boggle the imagination. In the midst of globalization this is an inevitable trend where dreams are created and realized, and that dream is presented here. Our company sees a future based on the same principle of Moore’s Law, but this time applied to the creation of jobs, recruitment of personnel, and the hiring of talent. We see a future where change is so rapid that constant education is part of any job, where intellectual enrichment are not limited to masters degrees or doctorate degrees, but professional advancement that rivals the shift and innovation of technology. Let me give you one particular example. Presently, the Philippines has dispatched more than 10 million people as overseas contract workers (even though the national government only recognizes six million), and they are located in the remotest places in Nigeria, the coldest places in Canada, professional corporations in New York, and in the socially responsible reconstruction of Afghanistan and Iraq. They are described as the “first” global workforce. These people pump an estimated US $7 to $8 billion annually into the local economy. (poea) They speak English very well, most are highly educated, but tend to concentrate on service-oriented professions. By taking both the principles of Moore’s Law and the work force phenomenon in the Philippines, probably including the United States, we submit the vision that in the next decade professionals will be judged by the academic or educational attainment found in the combination of technology and higher education, that is, for lack of a better term, “constantly renewable.” Let me define this seeming redundancy. We use the word “CONSTANTLY” because we believe the next generations of professionals have a ceaseless desire to pursue progress and development. “CONSTANTLY” because intellectual enhancement is proportionate to professional advancement. “RENEWABLE” because constant shifts in professional specialization can render job definitions obsolete in a few years, by the introduction of technology and competitive advantage. “RENEWABLE” because information is not limited by political restraints or hindered by geographical boundaries. Education is accessed when, where, and how it is needed for a specific job. After which other means or sources of information are gathered, collated and utilized to render past educational achievements as mere stepping-stones rather than career accomplishments. And we see this beginning in MNCs or trans-national corporations that fund and support academic institutions for research and development. We see this in schools that operate more like profit-oriented corporations, and we see this in the rise of MBA enrollment around the world. (bizjournals) We see this dream as inevitable and unavoidable. And we invite you to realize these changes for your advantage, for further productivity and maximized profitability. Our company believes that we should not have a monopoly to this vision. We invite you to learn from what we present to make our parts in the global economy more competitive for the long term. So, the next big question is how does one find the best applicant? How do we go about looking for the right man or woman, as the case may be, and separate the husk from the rice, the gold from the ore, the talent from the raw, unbridled potential? We don’t. We let them come to us. We aspire to help create a new generation, a new industrial society, if you will let me use that term, geared towards a “Constantly Renewable” global educational system. Our present theories on professional recruitment and hiring goes back far earlier to any applicant or would-be professional’s background. By looking at both upbringing and the genes, nature and nurture, we hope to select the best candidates for any job. The recent sequencing of the human gene by Human Genome Project has given us an edge in pre-selecting candidates. (NCBI) Our company believes that there exists within all of us a “Capitalist Gene” that allows for some to be more entrepreneurial or successful in business, and for most expect a paycheck every week. We believe that the best business minded professionals have inherited the traits of success and leadership, nurtured at a young age, harbored in the adolescent and early adult stage, and professionally practiced in jobs and careers. In the end, recruitment and hiring are no longer limited to the mundane tasks and corporate gambles of interviews, unscientific and arbitrary elimination processes, or nepotism and connections. It will rely upon a scientifically and biologically explainable and predictable process that maximizes profit, by selecting the best possible candidate. Moore’s Law applies to the selection of the species, considering both technology and biology. This is our company’s dream. We invite you to dream with us. And once we find and hire this perfect candidate, what comes next? Employee Relations Employees of companies across the globe are working hard for their employers. They are the backbone of the organization and without them the company would be non-existent. I think we can all agree that the human resources of an organization are their greatest assets. The relationship between employee and employer is one of give and take. The employees give the organizations their time, skills and knowledge and the employers give them a paycheck and a place to grow and learn. It is important then that the relations between the organization and its people be a strong, supportive and respectful one. Employers in every country are concerned with the safety of their employees while on the job. Unfortunately, their concern is not enough and is not widespread. Regulations are needed to insure the safety of every employee. Although regulations are sometimes viewed by organizations as a necessary evil and a cost of doing business, it is much cheaper to keep employees safe. Workplace injuries cost companies more than the cost of taking care of the employee.
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