U.S. Automobile Manufacturing
U.S. Automobile Manufacturing
Case Study 2
Human Resource Planning
U.S. Automobile Manufacturing
I. What human resource issues should managers in the automobile industry be prepared for in the future?
Resistance of human resources due to their gradual displacement in automobile manufacturing businesses comprises the encompassing issue in the industry in the future. Human resource displacement results from two economic trends. One is increasing outsourcing (1998; 2003) of manufacturing activities to developing countries offering more competitive labor prices and plan establishment costs. ("Research articles," 2011) According to Greer, The trend toward outsourcing has been extremely widespread, and recent surveys have found as many as 91 to 93 percent of responding companies engaging in outsourcing. (Greer, 2001) The other is technological innovations in manufacturing processes such as the development of highly intelligent computer systems to operate plan equipment minimizing the number of needed human labor and shifting labor demand to highly skilled workers for highly technical work. These developments in the industry are likely to heighten resistance of employees and workers to displacement in the industry particularly due to the lifetime employment agreements with manufacturing companies. ("Research articles," 2011)
II. How might the employee skills, management practices, and automobile manufacturing companies change in the future? How would you expect the managerial trends discussed in Chapter 2 to affect human resource practices and policies in future automobile manufacturing?
Unskilled employees are rarely needed now. New technologies and operations require new competencies, as well as experience with autonomous problem solving and decision making.
Creating a workforce with these new capabilities requires more effective human capital strategies and approaches. Better workforce planning is essential,
Case Study 2
Human Resource Planning
U.S. Automobile Manufacturing
I. What human resource issues should managers in the automobile industry be prepared for in the future?
Resistance of human resources due to their gradual displacement in automobile manufacturing businesses comprises the encompassing issue in the industry in the future. Human resource displacement results from two economic trends. One is increasing outsourcing (1998; 2003) of manufacturing activities to developing countries offering more competitive labor prices and plan establishment costs. ("Research articles," 2011) According to Greer, The trend toward outsourcing has been extremely widespread, and recent surveys have found as many as 91 to 93 percent of responding companies engaging in outsourcing. (Greer, 2001) The other is technological innovations in manufacturing processes such as the development of highly intelligent computer systems to operate plan equipment minimizing the number of needed human labor and shifting labor demand to highly skilled workers for highly technical work. These developments in the industry are likely to heighten resistance of employees and workers to displacement in the industry particularly due to the lifetime employment agreements with manufacturing companies. ("Research articles," 2011)
II. How might the employee skills, management practices, and automobile manufacturing companies change in the future? How would you expect the managerial trends discussed in Chapter 2 to affect human resource practices and policies in future automobile manufacturing?
Unskilled employees are rarely needed now. New technologies and operations require new competencies, as well as experience with autonomous problem solving and decision making.
Creating a workforce with these new capabilities requires more effective human capital strategies and approaches. Better workforce planning is essential,