USA & CANADA Gabrielle De Pourtalès Philippine Jungmann

SUMMARY  INTRODUCTION  I/. CONTEXTS : POLITICS, ECONOMICS, CULTURAL  II/. Managing the Human Resources  CONCLUSION

INTRODUCTION  Economically interwined :  Close geographical location  Strong trade relations  Commun socio-economic and historical backgrounds  Similar organizational characteristics  Numerous distinct differences in HRM functions and relationships between employees  Many transformations in both countries because of the globalization

I/. Global environment - Economy  US economy is the largest in the world :  25 to 35 % of the world market  A leading industrial power with highly diversified and technologically advanced production systems  Canada is a competitive free market economy :  Dependent on international trade and investments  + 10% of the world’s demand for grain  US & Canada : safe places for foreign investors beause of the stable and safe business environment : both provide good examples of managing accross cultures.

I/. Global environment -Politics  Both enjoy stable political systems and are federal democracies  Differences in their approach to government and political agendas  Canada has a constitutional monarchy and a parliamentary democracy.  US has a constitution-based federal system  Dominated by two major political strands, the Republicans and the Democrats.

I/. Global environment -Culture  US & Canada :  Multicultural societies  Most of the population are foreigners  Small power distance  Individualism  Masculinism (US more)  Low uncertainty avoidance (US is lower)  Influenced by protestant work ethics and the commitment and dedication of skilled

I/. Global environment -Culture “ American culture is deal-focused, informal, monochromic and moderately expressive » Gesteland, 1996  American tend to do business immediately and like to express their business concerns explicitly.

II/. MANAGING HUMAN RESOURCES CONTEXTS :  Both are knowledge-based, diverse and relatively stable due to the international competition and technological developments.  Market sector in constant changes :  Unemployment  educated workforce  Older and healthier Workforce : 67% of years old  Flexible working practices  Diversity : women’s and immigrant’s labour  A rise in public and services sectors

II/. MANAGING HUMAN RESOURCES ORIGINS :  Modern practices were borned in the US and West Europe  Taylorism, Mc Donald’s operations manual, American dream  Optimistic, humanistic and superficially simple  Industrial developments, polictial and socio-economic changes caused changes in HRM in terms of :  Strategic awareness,  Trade union avoidances,  Legally binding employee-employer agreements,  Management of diversity.

II/. MANAGING HUMAN RESOURCES  « Many responses by employers to these changes were traditional : layoffs dramatically reduced employment in many industries, and the use of part-time and casual workers rose substantially » Thompson, 1998

II/. MANAGING HUMAN RESOURCES RECRUITMENT AND SELECTION :  Several ways like poaching, headhunting, e-information...  A preference to hire already trained employees and to attract a skilled and talented workforce  Vocational education  Equal opportunities laws controlled by the EOEC

II/. MANAGING HUMAN RESSOURCES Reward and Remuneration :  performance appraisal used in order to determine the appropriate reward for each employee  the level of pay depends on whether the organization is unionized or non-unionized.  Canada :  minimum wage policy in all provinces but the rate can differ  NWT at $8.25 per hour and Nunavut at $10.00 per hour.  US :  FLSA regulates the pay and hours of employees.  Minimum wage varies between states  Federal minimum wage rate was 7.25$ per hour in 2009

II/. MANAGING HUMAN RESSOURCES Employee relations Trade union :  Differents approachs to employee relations  signs of convergence as a result of the increasing presence of US multinational companies in Canada.  labour relations in Canada were very similar to those in the US  Trade unions became more accepted, better organized, and stronger in Canada than in the US

II/. MANAGING HUMAN RESSOURCES Employee relations : Trade Unions  Canada :  tradition of union recognition and collective bargaining.  the most stable system  first trade unions were formed by craftsmen about the 1870s  the labour movement has become more organized and grown further apart from its US counterparts over the last 20 years  union density has declined more gradually  US :  US employers prefer not to deal with trade unions  first trade union were « the craft unions » around the 1880s  trade unions in the US have been weakerand less organized

II/. MANAGING HUMAN RESSOURCES Employee relations : Collective bargaining  collective bargaining agrements are legally binding  adopt a cooperative  Canada :  the process of collective bargaining is decentralized  US :  the national labour relations board has responsability for making sure that labour-management negotiations are conducted according the existing employment laws  trade union have opted for cooperative approach to meet their demands

CONCLUSION  American and Canadian have differents maneers to managing their own employees, do not have the same organizations organisms like trade unions but still have a lot in commun and have to keep on their interwined practices to involve at the same time of the market and the economy changes.