Phoenix Communications’ Global Staffing Strategies

Phoenix Communications’ Global Staffing Strategies

Acquiring a firm from a foreign country involves learning to do business in a different way. Many firms fail to successfully achieve this, and much of the failure can be attributed to poor execution in a number of human resource management (HRM) areas (Rees & Edwards, 2009). The original firm must adapt itself to a new legal and ethical environment and to a new set of expectations from all stakeholders in the foreign state. Disparate customs, practices and attitudes must be taken into account when acquiring the firm and when assimilating the employees into the organization’s culture. This paper looks at the challenges of such an action related to Phoenix Communications’ acquisition of a telecommunications company in Japan and considers the specific HRM changes that will be needed.

HR Challenges

It is evidenced that the performance of firms formed through mergers and acquisitions fail to live up to expectations and studies have show that HR and employment relation issues are poorly handled (Rees & Edwards, 2009). As a result of this merger, Phoenix Communications’ human resources management needs to prepare for challenges that may arise. One challenge that HR will need to consider is the shrinking labor population in Japan. By the year 2025 the ratio of the population aged 65 and above is expected to reach 29% in Japan (International Conference). Japan has one of the fastest aging societies in the world. As of 2009, about four million people were estimated to become eligible for retirement (International Conference). The worker shorter is an imminent problem that HR must understand. Phoenix Communications needs an awareness of the retiree policies, health and pension systems and lifetime employment system. A declining and aging workforce creates severe challenges to workers and companies. Phoenix Communications will need to create strategies to motivate older workers to stay in the workforce and take...