People Management Fiasco in Honda Motorcycles and Scooters India ltd

Group 5 Section B Ankit Gupta: 13P064 Ganapathy S: 13P074 Manu Mehrotra: 13P084 Nitin Dangwal: 13P094 Gopesh Nakra: 13P104 Sonakshi Gupta: 13P112

1. What is the difference between the rights enjoyed by a registered union and a non-registered union?
A union is registered under the Trade Union Act,1926 It and its members, office holders etc enjoys immunity from criminal conspiracy with respect to trade disputes

They can have a separate fund for political purposes as was made by the HMSI employees
They can negotiate and enforce contracts as was done in HMSI case for adsorption of trainees

1. Contd.. What is the difference between the rights enjoyed by a registered union and a non-registered union?
Before the trade union was formed at HMSI, there was no formal channel for the workers to air their grievances. An unregistered union was treated as an illegal entity by the company as well as the government, which in its order refused to register it. An unregistered union cannot collect funds for political purposes. Any unregistered union has no right to enforce a contract that the employer has ratified

2. What is the role played by AITUC leader, GurudadsDasgupta in this case?

He was instrumental in protecting the rights of the laborers. AICTU was instrumental in the creation of the worker union. It provided support and guidance to the workers.

When the Registrar of Unions refused to register the union.

Gurudas Dasgupta wrote a letter to the CM, which made the registration of the Union possible.

3. What precisely, in your opinion, was the role played by the media in the case?

The media brought to notice of the whole country the inhuman behavior of the police personnel with the workers. They were brutal and simply assaulted the workers. The modern day General Dyer treatment was the extent to which the brutality of the police force was compared to. This led to widespread anger in the people of the country and unmasked the true situation in the region.
The intense media reporting had an Impact and the government had to intervene, the existing Congress party leader Sonia Gandhi had to personally meet with the Union and and understand their grievances

4. What role do you think was played by the Deputy Labour commissioner in processing the dispute; and why you think he did not succeed ? The deputy labour commissioner officer in the Gurgaon region for all general demands dispute Conciliation initiated the proceedings on 26 May 2013 The intention of the commissioner was to bring the parties to a consensus The Commissioner convened 6 meetings for achieving this in a span of 2 months between 3rd June and 19th July 2005, but to no avail The commissioner was not able to resolve the conflict as both the union as well as the management representative were adamant on their demands and not wiling to compromise

5. What do you think were the major concerns of the central as well as the state governments?
The frequent clashes between HMSI management and workers were creating law and order situations The use of brute force by police to handle the demonstration by workers was bringing a bad repute to the state governance The media coverage of the entire episode was bringing to light of the utter failure of state and central government to tackle this issue The incident was portraying the State of Haryana being not suitable to set up factories. This incident could spark similar incidences in other nearby factories

6. What do you think were the principal causes of the trouble that HSMI faced?
The principal cause is that the Management failed to understand that as the plant was growing in age, so as its workers and their needs and understanding of the working conditions. Soon, the workers who were contend at getting a job, were feeling belittled at getting a Rs 600 gift. The Japanese culture was incompatible with the Indian working environment. The micromanagement policy like signing a movement sheet for drink and toilet breaks were festering resentment among the workers The top management was unsympathetic towards the workers. There was no emotional connect. This was symbolized by the idiosyncratic attitude of the VP Manufacturing who regularly dehumanized workers.

7. What are the Key challenges before HMSI in post-July 25 scenario?

To mitigate the bitterness of associates To increase the plant-output as per planning done before the incident To ensure that relationship between managers and associates remain genial After formation of union, Management has to ensure that labourers demand do not go out of hand which put stress on finances and outcome of the company

8. What lessons in people management and industrial relations do you learn from this case?
Dignity and respect of the labourers is important Transparency in policies and Equality of all labourers in eyes of management

Good Communication between management and labourers

We should not consider labourers as machines, should listen to their requirement case to case basis rather than binding everything as per rules .

9. What HRM strategy was followed by HMSI consciously or subconsciously; Why, if at all, are there differences in the pursuit of the global and the local IR strategy of HMSI?

HMSIs policies were aligned with those of the parent company HMCL
Respect for individual differences Promote Three Joys for all organizational members

Performance Appraisal system performed by section head and shift in-charge Works Committee was constituted which included management as well as workers Managers as well as workers wore similar uniforms Differences arose because of the diversity and different perceptions the workers had.

9. Continued .

HMSIs policies were aligned with those of the parent company HMCL
Respect for individual differences Promote Three Joys for all organizational members

Performance Appraisal system performed by section head and shift in-charge Works Committee was constituted which included management as well as workers Managers as well as workers wore similar uniforms Differences arose because of the diversity and different perceptions the workers had.

10. What led to failure of that strategy, and what are the causal roots of the breakdown of industrial relations in HMSI? Japanese management didnt understand expectations and needs of Indian workers. Although their stated policy was to respect the individual, it was hardly followed. Leave requests were denied and workers were threatened with termination of service. Instead of ensuring absence of any discrimination, VP of manufacturing knocked off an employees turban. Indian managers directly interacting with the workers had no understanding of Industrial Relations. Perception of partiality by Indian managers in matters related to job postings. Indian managers prevented the workers from sharing their grievances with the top management.

11. What People Management Strategies should HMSI adopt so as to promote a harmonious working with the union or subtly promote dilution of the unions strength

In the Short Run:

Win back the trust of workers:
Better worker engagement practices (like annual events, involvement of workers families etc.) Proper grievance management systems in place

Taking the Union into confidence:

Show sincerity in relations with the Union

Setting up a dedicated Industrial Relations team

Hiring experts from outside the company Building IR talent from within the company

11. Continued .

In the Long Run:

Building a culture where employees are encouraged to speak up and openness is valued This cultural change can be brought about through strategic HRM by:
Improving worker commitment to the organizational goals through learning opportunities, career advancement options, career talks, job rotation etc. Bringing the middle management on the same platform through management development programs, training on people management etc