Critical Political, Economic, and Human Resource Aspects of France
Requirements: Consultancy Report
The assignment should be presented in the form of a consultancy report, and should include reference to relevant theoretical frameworks and empirical data. The report should show evidence of carefully developed arguments, and follow academic conventions including proper use of the Harvard System for referencing, and avoiding plagiarism.
Consultancy brief
Grow-to-munch is a manufacturing firm that specialises in making wooden boxes in which to grow vegetables such as carrots and lettuces, and is located in the South of the UK. Currently, the head office employs 200 people (including marketing, HR, operations management and financial specialists). It also has one manufacturing plant located in the South of England and one in Norway, each of which employs around 100 people. Each plant specialises in the manufacture of different types of painted boxes, but uses wood as the main material.
The company has recently decided to extend its operations to another country, in order to tap into local markets and utilise local labour. In order to evaluate its options, different departments at head office are responsible for producing feasibility reports of the various aspects that need to be considered in taking forward this ambitious plan. The HR Office has been charged with producing a brief report that outlines the key opportunities and challenges involved in locating operations in another country, from an employment perspective. They have already determined the key areas that they wish the report to cover, and although these may not seem to be comprehensive, they address previously identified gaps in knowledge. They have contracted this work out to you.
In order for the report to be focused, the wordcount should be 2,500 words (excluding references and appendices). The following subheadings should be used for the individual sections, but the word counts for each section should be used only as a guideline.
● Executive Summary (around 200 words, and briefly summarising the key findings of each section of the report)
● Introduction (around 200 words, briefly covering relevant country facts not covered elsewhere in the report and justifying what will be covered in the rest of the report)
● The main political parties, level of unemployment and the growth rate in GDP in the host country (around 300 words)
● Attitudes of the host country government toward the informal economy and immigration, illustrated by government policy (around 500 words)
● Employment legislation and government policy relating to discrimination and the extent to which ILO conventions on discrimination appear to have been followed in the host country (500 words)
● The likely impact of globalisation on the company’s ability to attract workers from other countries in the region or from the majority world (developing countries) (500 words)
● Conclusion (including cost benefit analysis of locating a subsidiary in this location, from an employment perspective) (around 300 words)
Students can choose the country where the company might set up a new manufacturing plant. Countries for 2021 will consist of: France, Denmark, Germany and Spain.
Grow-To-Munch HRM Feasibility Report
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Executive Summary
Grow-To-Munch, a UK-based company, seeks to extend its operations to other markets and grow its revenue by starting a manufacturing plant in European countries. The report analyses the opportunities that are present for the company in France. France is a dominating country of Europe with access to European countries. Furthermore, the country’s economy has been steadily growing, and its strategic location provides the country with the opportunity to attract global businesses to gain access to Europe. The country hosts access to quality supply chain infrastructure that global businesses benefit from by locating the country. Regardless of the strategic advantages, the report covers the crucial aspect of HRM and the dynamics of the country to establish feasibility.
Based on the feasibility of the report, Grow-To-Munch may find locating to France challenging due to HRM-related logistics in the country. One of the critical differences is due to cultural and language barriers between UK and France. As per the analysis, the company may face higher costs to set up the manufacturing plant’s human resources, but the benefits outweigh the cost. Therefore, the report conclusively recommends Grow-to-Munch to prepare Strategic Human Resource Management (SHRM) Plan to overcome the challenges related to the HRM department.
Table of Contents TOC \o "1-3" \h \z \u Executive Summary PAGEREF _Toc73122710 \h 2Introduction PAGEREF _Toc73122711 \h 4Politics, Unemployment and GDP Growth PAGEREF _Toc73122712 \h 4French Government Policy PAGEREF _Toc73122713 \h 5Employment Legislation, Government Policy & ILO Convention PAGEREF _Toc73122714 \h 7Impact of Globalization PAGEREF _Toc73122715 \h 9Conclusion PAGEREF _Toc73122716 \h 10References PAGEREF _Toc73122717 \h 12
Introduction
France is one of the leading EU countries with access to various competitive resources in Europe. Grow-to-Munch can gain competitive advantages that span from strategic to operational competencies by developing manufacturing plants in the country. France is a business-friendly country, and its capital Paris is the financial hub of Europe with access to various EU companies. The country’s literacy rate stands at 99%, providing businesses with access to a talented workforce that benefits organizations by spending less on employee training and development. France possesses one of Europe’s most high-quality infrastructure systems that provide businesses with effective supply chain management. The country's strategic location further provides the organization with access to neighboring countries & manages an effective supply chain management strategy that is cost-efficient.
The report will focus on critical political, economic, and human resource aspects of France to evaluate locating the manufacturing plant. France provides Grow-to-Munch with a strategic advantage in the region. Therefore, the report critically analyses the key opportunities and challenges affecting the company and analyzes for the company to develop the strategy.
Politics, Unemployment and GDP Growth
Three major political parties govern the political environment in France. The current President Emmanuel Macron’s political party is La République En Marche, which is currently leading the French state (Pumain and Torre 2020). The political party supports neoliberalism and economic liberalism that supports foreign businesses to invest in the French economy. The second leading political party is the National Rally Party that focuses on its mandate for conservatism, nationalism, and euro-skepticism. The third leading political party, “The Republicans,” also promotes nationalism, conservativism, and a liberal approach. The overall political dynamics of France are in favor of businesses, but the National Rally Party promotes euro-skepticism and is one of the top leading political parties. Therefore, there is a slight risk for foreign businesses to have heavy obligations if the party was to come into power.
The unemployment rate of France is 8.34% as of 2020, and the annual GDP growth of $2.716 trillion is second to Germany, standing at $3.861 (Rouanet 2021). The overall economy of France is comparatively better than that of other European countries. The unemployment rate within European countries varies from 3.1% of Poland to 16% of Spain and based on that, France stands in a comparatively more stable state (Rouanet 2021). The country's unemployment rate combined with the literacy rate predicts the higher availability of skilled labor for businesses. However, France has strict labor laws to oblige with a minimum wage of around EUR 1,539.42, which is slightly lower than Germany, standing at EUR 1,584 (Rouanet 2021). The minimum wage is higher in France, but as compared to UK’s EUR 1,598.69, it is lower. Hence, France is a reasonably fair choice for operations for the company as the country also provides a strategic advantage of supply chain network.
French Government Policy
The dynamics of French government policies are more focused on generating favorable outcomes for the country. Therefore, the French government has an upfront approach to welcome other businesses into the country. However, the corporate tax rate of 26.5% of the country is drastically higher than the UK’s corporate tax rate of 19% (Rogowski 2020). Grow-To Munch will have to bear higher taxes on its revenue from France than that of the UK. The current political party in power favors economic liberalism to support the businesses in the country, but regardless, the corporate tax rate is higher in France that creates a mixed scenario for the business. Hence, considering the country's situation and its strategic opportunities for the business, France holds a higher operational cost for the business (Rogowski 2020). Regardless, the cost is justifiable as it provides Grow-To-Munch with the strategic advantage of easy access to EU countries and penetrates the market effectively.
France has been the victim of several terrorist attacks in the past decade, leading the country to strengthen its immigration laws. The immigration process requires extensive background checks to ensure that the immigration process is well guarded (Syrovatka 2020). Therefore, the immigration process of the country is comparatively slower, creating the higher cost of hiring internationally. However, according to French laws, companies are provided with the added advantage of having the international hiring process expedited by the express immigration service. While this may not be the primary concern for the company as the manufacturing plant focuses on the local labor force for operations. Regardless, hiring talent from outside France will be a slight challenge for the company as the cost of acquisition for the employees would be higher, and therefore, the financial suitability of the decision would be compromised (Syrovatka 2020).
As per the analysis, the cost of setting up HRM practices in France is higher for Grow-to-Munch than for the company headquartered in the United Kingdom. The country's economy provides businesses with the added strategic advantage of access to EU country's talent pool and further facilitates trade. Another significant advantage to situating in France is that English is most widely spoken in the tourist regions of the country (Sachs 2020). Situating the manufacturing plant near Paris will provide the company with the added advantage of connecting with various other global trade leaders in Paris. The supply chain network for the company requires close contracts with logistical supply chain service providers. Furthermore, the locations would also enable the company to access human resources that are well-versed with English. Therefore, the company could avoid ...