HRMG/770 HRMG770 HRMG 770 Week 1 Discussion

HRMG 770 Week 1 Discussion 

Week 1 Discussion - Question 1

Thomas Friedman in his best selling 2005 (with updates in 2006 and 2007) book, The world is flat: A brief history of the twenty-first century argues that globalization has fundamentally changed the environment in which firms and even whole countries must compete. By “flat” he means that the playing field is essentially level; work that was once the province of one country can now easily be done in many places around the world. He notes that over 400,000 U.S. tax returns were prepared in India in 2005 or that many companies have outsourced customer service to Ireland and India.

Other challenges in the business environment include technological change, increasing use of the Internet to move information and conduct business (e-commerce), changing demographics in the workforce, global climate change, and increased litigation. Organizations must be aware of these trends and be sufficiently flexible to adapt to the changes as required.

Consider a company such as Procter and Gamble (P&G) and the challenges that it faces. With nearly 140,000 employees operating in more than 80 countries, P&G is at the forefront of many of these changes. Look up the information that P&G provides on its corporate Web site and discuss the following questions.

·         What are the implications of these changes for managing P&G human capital?

·         What kind of responses must P&G make to enable it to meet the challenges of this changing world?

·         How do these changes impact the competencies required of human resource (HR) leaders and professionals if P&G is to successfully meet these challenges?

Support your answers with appropriate research and reasoning and comment on the responses of your peers. Add to them and discuss whether you agree or disagree with their views on these issues.