International & Comparative Employment Relations Essay

International & Comparative Employment Relations - Essay Example As it is a comparative study, the comparison between America and Japan shows them to be on completely different sides in terms of HR systems while the position of Germany is somewhere in the middle. With the socioeconomic situation in focus, the writer concludes that socioeconomic factors become highly important for the proper establishment of an HR control system. Using these measures other HR systems can be brought in line with the socioeconomic situation the company is placed in internationally. The results are based on a literature analysis conducted by the researcher where 12 elements of a socioeconomic system are used to place the three countries on a scale. Within each of the 12 elements, there are four HRM related operands which further define the position of the HR systems in each country. As the countries were placed and ranked according to these operands and elements their relative positions became clear within the social context which is prevalent in the country. While some of these elements showed the researcher that the countries are more or less similar when it comes to approaching Human Resource Management, the majority of the elements i.e. more than 70% showed that there are vast differences between them. In these cases, American and Japanese HRM systems were at opposite ends of the scale and the German system was in the middle. In this manner, Germany is considered the middle ground between the polar opposites of Japan and America. The pattern described above became very strong when factors such as social demographics and principles of management were examined. The writer notes that the Germans have a system of co-determination when it comes to industrial relations and this is supported by the evidence presented by Block (1999) who reports that it is common to see union members on the board of a company in Germany. Similarly, Torrington and Hall (2002) note the importance of HR in America which is supported by the