Changing trends in employment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Changing trends in employment - Essay Example The increased flexibilization process and deregulation of the labour market from both high and low income countries have, over the years, presented new challenges, especially with the intensification of the market competition in search for decreased production costs. The liberalization of the trade schemes plays a key role in reinforcing the competitive pressures of the global markets. As a result, such developments result in profound changes in technological, production, innovation, employment conditions, and the structures of firms (Alvesson 2001, p. 863). By 1980s, the economic restructuring was enhanced through the decentralization of the production. The institutional changes at the micro level ranged from outsourcing and downsizing to changes in the skill requirement, transformations and work organizations towards the workforce composition. The liberalization of trade has also played a key role in changing the requirements in skills and employment due to the dynamics and the relative wages (Scarborough 1999, p. 8). This shifts the labour intensive production processes to the low-wage countries. These transformations impact differently to both men and women, and the variation is dependent on several factors. The feminization of the labour force continues at both domestic and international levels. This has led to increased participation of women labour force as well as deterioration of the working conditions in jobs previously dominated by males (Balakrishnan & Huang 2000, p. 43-7). Changes in employment have profoundly affected the productive processes and have transformed modes and functions for most firms. This has, in turn, affected the labour relations and employment conditions. The structures in labour markets have been reorganized and destabilized. The changing production landscape at micro-level has increased job opportunities as well as generation of new employment positions. The changes in the micro level of

System Feedback Loops Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 2

System Feedback Loops - Essay Example The environment in which organizations operate is not only complex but driven by numerous factors that define the competitive strengths and strategic plans of the business. These factors include the market competition, their strategic approach, customer expectations, preferences, research and development capabilities, economic, political and social aspects driving market trends, and technology know-how that involve new product ideas, techniques, and innovation (Smith, 2001). One of the biggest challenges faced by any organization operating in such environmental conditions is the ability to adapt to the needs of the changing market environment and the capability to harness its resources in the desired direction to achieve defined goals. Competitive strengths and advantages are developed by organizations through a deeper understanding of market driving forces and constant efforts in the direction of enhanced performance and productivity. Human resources play a vital role in helping the organizations achieve the defined goals and targets. A key aspect driving the performance of human resources is employee learning and skills development (Uslar & Prof Norbert, 2007). The paper explores the different dimensions of a learning organization through a study of feedback loops and its application within Industrial Services of America Inc (ISA). The market shares of the company have gone up steadily with the company focusing on delivering high quality products at competitive prices. However, the competitive industry environment offers distinctive challenges in the form of constant focus on product quality and innovative products to retain its market shares. Firms are finding it difficult to maintain pace with the rapid changes taking place in technology and need to adopt innovative work practices to launch new and improved product designs (Nowotny, 2006). ISA’s focus in such a scenario