A good HR system can still fail if the local labour environment is misunderstood.
One case in Global Lessons looks at a Japanese-owned automotive parts manufacturer in India that was redesigning its HR system to control labour costs and strengthen performance-based pay.
The company consulted the labour union before implementation, but the union opposed the changes and threatened strike action.
The deeper issue was that the company had not built sufficient understanding or a working relationship with the union before the HR reform reached this stage.
The lesson is an important one for Japanese companies operating overseas: labour relations should be addressed early, not when a major HR change is already being introduced.
Japanese headquarters had experience with this approach in the past. Providing education, establishing mutual understanding and building the relationship with labour representatives early can make later HR reforms much easier to implement.
In global HR, preparing the labour-management relationship is part of preparing the HR system itself.
For more cases and insights on global HR, check out Global Lessons: A Page from Modern Japanese Human Resources Management here: