Suppose that a dual-career couple involves spouses who are at different career stages. Does this situation pose problems for the couple? For the organization or organizations employing them? Discuss.
Suppose that a dual-career couple involves spouses who are at different career stages. Does this situation pose problems for the couple? For the organization or organizations employing them? Discuss.
Application Case 4–1 Solving the Labor Dilemma in a Joint Venture in Japan John has found himself with a critical labor shortage, and he doesn’t know exactly how to solve his problem. John is the founder, president, and CEO of a small manufacturing firm, Johnsco Electronics. The company has approximately 300 employees in its home state of Tennessee. Recently, it was approached by a major Japanese automobile manufacturing company about a possible joint venture in which Johnsco could retain majority ownership. The opportunity seemed attractive, so John agreed to build and operate a plant outside of Tokyo. The plant is expected to employ around 500 workers to fabricate and assemble computer components for new automobiles. John had recently discovered the extremely high cost of maintaining a significant number of expatriate managers in a city with a cost of living as high as Tokyo. Thus, he had agreed to the joint venture expecting to use mostly his host country nationals for the new facility. Unfortunately, John is having problems staffing many of the essential positions. First, he was not aware that equal employment opportunity laws would apply to his international operation. Since John supplies the federal government with certain military components, his hiring practices are scrutinized to see whether minorities and women are appropriately represented in his workforce. Only recently did John discover that few if any Japanese women ever move into managerial positions in Japan. He’s confused about how to balance his obligations under United States law, local customs in Tokyo, and the high cost of using expatriates. John was led to believe that there would be a large supply of inexpensive labor throughout Asia. He had heard that multinational organizations acquire very inexpensive labor by relying heavily on women to staff labor-intensive production jobs. Culturally, he’d heard, these people defer to authority and are willing to work long, tedious hours. Once again, however, he discovered that Japan has strict policies prohibiting foreign labor. In fact, nearly 15,000 undocumented aliens were arrested in Tokyo each year while attempting to find work. The Japanese liaison to Johnsco has told John that Japan’s workforce is aging even more rapidly than the workforce in the United States. Historically, Japanese companies have been dominated by seniority systems that encourage older workers to remain with a single firm until retirement. There are also fewer young, semiskilled workers, because of the ever-increasing percentages of Japanese children who attend college. For example, over half of the more than 4 million Japanese blue-collar workers in construction-related fields are older than 50. John is confused about the implications of these facts for his ability to staff the Tokyo operation; he wonders about problems with his company sponsored retirement programs. And, to add one last problem, John’s American plant is almost entirely unionized. The union steward expects two things: (1) any good promotional opportunities created by the international joint venture must give union members the first right of accepting a transfer and (2) host country nationals who are hired in Japan should be covered by the same union contract as the workers in the United States. John’s enthusiasm over the opportunity to work closely with one of the most powerful automobile makers in the world has diminished. But the agreement is signed, and John now wonders how he can ever get the Tokyo operation off the ground, let alone make a profit, without violating local customs or American laws. Discussion Questions 1. What steps can you suggest that might help John solve his labor problems for the new plant in Tokyo? 2. How could he persuade either the union or his joint venture partner to help him with this problem? 3. What types of cultural training, both here and in Japan, might be necessary for John’s new venture to be successful? 4. What could John have done differently to eliminate some of his current labor problems? ———————————————————————————————————— Application Case 9–2 The Politics of Performance Appraisal Every Friday, Max Steadman, Jim Cobun, Lynne Sims, and Tom Hamilton meet at Charley’s Food Place after work for refreshments. The four friends work as managers at Eckel Industries, a manufacturer of arc welding equipment in Minneapolis. The one-plant company employs about 2,000 people. The four managers work in the manufacturing division. Max, 35, manages the company’s 25 quality control inspectors. Lynne, 33, works as a supervisor in inventory management. Jim, 34, is a first-line supervisor in the metal coating department. Tom, 28, supervises a team of assemblers. The four managers’ tenures at Eckel Industries range from one year (Tom) to 12 years (Max). The group is close-knit: Lynne, Jim, and Max’s friendship stems from their years as undergraduate business students at the University of Minnesota. Tom, the newcomer, joined the group after meeting the three at an Eckel management seminar last year. Weekly get-togethers at Charley’s have become a comfortable habit for the group and provide an opportunity to relax, exchange the latest gossip heard around the plant, and give and receive advice about problems encountered on the job. This week’s topic of discussion: performance appraisal, specifically the company’s annual review process, which the plant’s management conducted in the last week. Each of the four managers completed evaluation forms (graphic rating scale format) on each of his or her subordinates and met with each subordinate to discuss the appraisal. Tom This was the first time I’ve appraised my people, and I dreaded it. For me, it’s been the worst week of the year. Evaluating is difficult; it’s highly subjective and inexact. Your emotions creep into the process. I got angry at one of my assembly workers last week, and I still felt the anger when I was filling out the evaluation forms. Don’t tell me that my frustration with the guy didn’t bias my appraisal. I think it did. And I think the technique is flawed. Tell me—what’s the difference between a five and a six on “cooperation”? Jim The scales are a problem. So is memory. Remember our course in human resource management in college? Phillips said that, according to research, when we sit down to evaluate someone’s performance in the past year, we will be able to actively recall and use only 15 percent of the performance we observed. Lynne I think political considerations are always a part of the process. I know I consider many other factors besides a person’s actual performance when I appraise him. Tom Like what? Lynne Like the appraisal will become part of the permanent written record that affects his career. Like the person I evaluate today, I have to work with tomorrow. Given that, the difference between a five and a six on cooperation isn’t that relevant, because frankly, if a five makes him mad, and he’s happy with a six. . . . Max Then you give him the six. Accuracy is important, but I’ll admit it—accuracy isn’t my primary objective when I evaluate my workers. My objective is to motivate and reward them so they’ll perform better. I use the review process to do what’s best for my people and my department. If that means fine-tuning the evaluations to do that, I will. Tom What’s an example of fine-tuning? Max Jim, do you remember three years ago when the company lowered the ceiling on merit raises? The top merit increase that any employee could get was 4 percent. I boosted the ratings of my folks to get the best merit increases for them. The year before that, the ceiling was 8 percent. The best they could get was less than what most of them received the year before. I felt they deserved the 4 percent, so I gave the marks that got them what I felt they deserved. Lynne I’ve inflated ratings to encourage someone who is having personal problems but is normally a good employee. A couple of years ago, one of my better people was going through a painful divorce, and it was showing in her work. I don’t think it’s fair to kick people when they’re down. Tom Or make her complacent. Lynne No, I don’t think so. I felt she realized her work was suffering. I wanted to give her encouragement; it was my way of telling her she had some support and that she wasn’t in danger of losing her job. Jim Sometimes, you get someone who’s a real rebel, who always questions you, sometimes even oversteps his bounds. I think deflating his evaluation is merited just to remind him who’s the boss. Lynne I’d consider lowering the true rating if someone had a long record of rather questionable performance, and I think the best alternative for the person is to consider another job with another company. A low appraisal sends him a message to consider quitting and start looking for another job. Max What if you believe the situation is hopeless, and you’ve made up your mind that you’re going to fire the guy as soon as you’ve found a suitable replacement? The courts have chipped away at management’s right to fire. Today, when you fire someone, you must have a strong case. I think once a manager decides to fire, appraisals become very negative. Anything good that you say about the subordinate can be used later against you. Deflating the ratings protects you from being sued and sometimes speeds up the termination process. Tom I understand your point, but I still believe that accuracy is the top priority in performance appraisal. Let me play devil’s advocate for a minute. First, Jim, you complained about our memory limitations introducing a bias into appraisal. Doesn’t introducing politics into the process further distort the truth by introducing yet another bias? Even more important, most would agree that one key to motivating people is providing true feedback—the facts about how they’re doing so they know where they stand. Then you talk with them about how to improve their performance. When you distort an evaluation—however slightly—are you providing this kind of feedback? Max I think you’re overstating the degree of fine-tuning. Tom Distortion, you mean. Max No, fine-tuning. I’m not talking about giving a guy a seven when he deserves a two or vice versa. It’s not that extreme. I’m talking about making slight changes in the ratings when you think that the change can make a big difference in terms of achieving what you think is best for the person and for your department. Tom But when you fine-tune, you’re manipulating your people. Why not give them the most accurate evaluation, and let the chips fall where they may? Give them the facts, and let them decide. Max Because most of good managing is psychology—understanding people, their strengths and shortcomings;
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