Analysis Of The Company Issue And Implications For The HR Strategy

Question: explaining whats going with Deutsche bahn and german train drivers but i have the guideline on the picture of all the thing that i have to talk about it Answer: 1.Analysis of the Business Issue a.The Situation in the Industry, Trends and Competition The Rail Industry in the country Germany has a strong demand characterization. This industry has sophisticated financing and organization activities. The German Rail industry also abides by complex budgetary and economic requirements. The fundamental structure of the long distance passenger rail transport in the country is foreseeing several changes in the next few years. The Deutsch Bahn Fernverkehr AG is the market leader in the Industry which was allocated around 70 percent of the countrys rail budget (SCI Multi client studies, 2013). The competitors to the Deutsch Bahn Fernverkehr AG are non-electrified routes and networks that are having around 6 percent of market share in the industry. The player Veolia Verkehr is the main competitor b. Business Strategy of DB The Business Strategy of the market leader Deutsch Bahn Fernverkehr would be to unify its market presence in terms of achieving better efficiency, technology adaptation and commerciality in its operations. The Company strategizes to come up with new multiple units. The Locomotive- hauled trains would be accordingly removed from the market, replaced by efficient and technology savvy electric trains. (DW, 2014). Main Reasons for development described in the Article The Main reasons for development of the urban rail market according to the Article are as follows (DW, 2014): The increasing demand for the rail services necessitates the development in this area. The Increasing over loading of the road transport services of the country makes higher dependency on rail network. The overloading of public roads and car parking shortages especially in the inner city areas, fuel the necessity for development of the urban rail market The Rising fuel prices for vehicular transportation The Increasing attractiveness of urban rail transportation. 2.HR Strategy a. Strategy that HR needs to embrace to support the business strategy in the given context The HR has to carefully deal with the tense situation of series of strike being conducted by GDL, which is affecting the economy and business of the country. The dependency of the commuter transportation and freight transportation of the Deutsch Bahn, is very high (BBC News Europe, 2014). Hence HR of the Deutsch Bahn, the state owned company should quickly try to come up with a win-win situation to resolve the issue. Introduction of Performance linked wage system instead of merely increasing the wage rate in a fixed pattern, can be an in-between solution to this issue. The Wage rate of the workers may be directly linked to the number of hours of operations, so the worker that works for more than the minimal work hours, would automatically be paid increased wage amounts. b. Chapters of the textbook that help address the issue The concepts and theories of the Human resource management studies would be quite a useful in analyzing the issues involved in the Deutsch Bahns case and formulate solutions to overcome the tensed situation. The issue of the Article is mainly surrounded with conflict resolution in the work place, and wage and salary administration. Thus, this issue can be addressed with reference to the following chapters of the book- Determination of the wage Structure Wage incentive schemes Conflicts in Personnel Management. Collective Bargaining Joint Consultation and Participation Settlement of Disputes Handling disciplinary and legal matters 3.HR implementation a.The Likely next steps that the HR Organization should take in the situation The following are the likely steps that the HR organizations may take to deal with the discussed situation in the Article: Conducting careful analysis of the situation and issues Trying to strike a conversation with the members of the GDL and putting efforts to take them in the consideration Attempting Persuasion techniques with the GDL union members with utmost patience, tolerance and display of affection (The Local, 2013). Showing readiness to increase the wage payoff, in exchange of increased performance or work for extended hours. Tying to strike the right balance between the conflict and coming up with a win-win situation for both GDL as well as DB b.The methods and ways in which the HR can deal with the situation; and the list of stakeholders and their role in the situation: The following are the Key methods and ways with which the HR can effectively deal with the dispute situation between the DB and GDL: 1.Integration of the Interest of the Employees and Management The management could have worked together with the union representatives to set a balance between accepted hours of work and adequate payment of wages as per the market rates. The union representatives could have agreed to ensure maximum productivity by their workers in return for their demand of increased compensation 2.Filing Legal Disputes in context of public litigation for the inconvenience caused to the local commuters and Goods transporters. The Suit filed in the court of law, in form of the public litigation, can also include the amount of opportunity losses that the German economy is constantly suffering due to continuous periodic strikes by the GDL (Word Socialist website, 2014). 3.Going for a partial Disinvestment (Privatization) in the Deutsch Bahn on an immediate basis. Co-ordinate efforts by the management of the state owned company Deutsch Bahn, with the regulators of the country, can help the company disinvest its share to the Private Sector. This would in turn help curb this issue, as the decision of the wage increment, would not remain in the sole hands of this state owned company. The following are the list of the key stakeholders that would be involved in the situation: The Management an Board of Directors of the Deutsch Bahn All Employees of the Deutsch Bahn The Union leaders and Members of GDL The Customers and commuters utilizing the rail services The Suppliers of the Deutsch Bahn The General Public and Community at large The German Government and the regulators The Media Representatives 4.Alternative solutions a.The company Deutsch Bahn could have offered wage revision to its workers based on their performance shown by each of them on their respective jobs. Thus, a performance based wage structure instead of offering a fixed wage revision could have been a way out of these disputes. The company Deutsch Bahn would have to take few steps back wards in terms of formulating measurable models to regularly measure the performance and the job hours completed by each of the workers with the company. The highly efficient workers (cream of the group) could have been given wage increments. b.Performance Recognition is a very important tool in the Hands of an HR manager that can be used, whenever and wherever, money is a non-determinant factor (Ulrich Dave, 1996). The well performing workers could have been kept happy by the company, by recognizing their contributions and efforts towards their services to the company. The workers could have been motivated and kept happy in this manner. c.Persuasion, with the Help of utmost patience, tolerance, consideration and affection displayed by the management of the company towards the worker, while negotiating terms with the workers, in a tiff situation, may even have done wonders in the negotiation process (Johnason, 2009). References BBC News Europe, 2014, Deutsch Bahn strike hits Berlin Wall commemorations, retrieved from DW, 2014, DB not quite back on track, but GDL strike ends early, retrieved from DW, 2014, German Train drivers strike to end on Saturday, retrieved from DW, 2014, German train drivers union close to deal, retrieved from DW, 2014, Major German train drivers strike hits DBs passenger services, retrieved from Johnason, P. ,2009, HRM in changing organizational contexts, In D. G. Collings G. Wood (Eds.), Human resource management: A critical approach (pp. 19-37), London: Routledge SCI Multi client studies, 2013, The German Railway Market: Facts, Figures, Players and Trends, SCI/ Verkehr cologne 2013. The Local, 2013, Rail strikes not over yet: local GDL boss, retrieved from Ulrich Dave, 1996, Human Resource Champions. The next agenda for adding value and delivering results, Boston, Mass.: Harvard Business School Press. Word Socialist website, 2014, German GDL union shuts down train drivers strike, retrieved from