Challenges Facing Canadian Organizations Essay

Canada. They be the worlds bigheartedst maker of newsprint, nickel, and asbestos. Montreal, Toronto, and Vancouver ar rated some of the best cities in the world. on that point is also Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), which bring us Canadians radio and television broadcasts the news, music, and entertainment. (Schwind, 2010, p. 3) compensate though Canada is a leader and a top competitor somewhat the world in regards to business, resources, talent, and innovation, there are still galore(postnominal) challenges cladding Canadian organizations. In this paper I get out discuss the many ways that Canada, from a business stand point and as whole, faces challenges and what we as a country are doing to rise and succeed through these challenges. there are five study challenges that are facing Canadian businesses sparing, Technological, Demographic, Cultural, and Legal.Economic challenges are broken down into three separate categories surviving a recessionary cycle, facin g the global trade challenge, and meeting the challenge of productiveness improvement. All three of these are interrelated and I allow for before long describe each section of the challenges. Surviving the recessionary cycle is a tough challenge especially for the Human Resource Managers, who are tasked with planning, organise and ultimately implementing layoffs. Recessions are a misfortune that proceeds everyone and every company, big or small. Job security and overall high morale of employees at a company are troubled as well in these gruelling times. The global trade industry is another issue that Canadians are facing. transnational trade has been critical to Canadas prosperity and growth. (Schwind, 2010, p. 5) Canada is ranked number nine-spot in the world for exporting internationally, (Metcalfe, 2008), only per capita we export more than the coupled States or Japan.To face this challenge Canadian organizations are expanding abroad by opening new plants and increasing activity rates in contradictory countries. This is to be c endurer to the customers and also for the trim back labour costs. Being a multicultural nation has given Canada a competitive advantage in regards to art with other countries. However, other countries have a lower-cost based trading system due to brokers such as lower labour costs, has caused Canada to lose our market share in some industries such as form and paper, cotton yarn, and steel manufacturing. (Schwind, 2010, p. 6) Productivity is the third aspect of economic challenges we face. Technically, productiveness is the ratio of output to input. It is a measure of how efficiently and effectively a business or an economy uses inputs such as labour and metropolis to produce outputs such as goods and services.Alan Greenspan, an ex-chairman of the Federal Reserve of the United States, was quoted as saying Productivity the goods and services produced from each hour of work is the whoremaster elixir of economic progre ss. Its why we live better than our grandparents did, without operative longer hours. (Demos, 2011) Canadas largest trading partner, the United States, has been improving their productivity blistering than we have. We have to increase our productivity as a nation in ordinance to continue to thrive and grow. A report conducted in 2000 say that if the productivity gap between Canada and the U.S. were to continue, it would reduce Canadas living standards from 61 percent of U.S. levels in 1999 to 52 percent in 2010. (McCallum, 2000) In order to maintain and improve its productivity, Canada must update its engineering science to increase its levels.There are twain technological changes and challenges face the Canadian businesses today, computerization and automation. Computers and their technology are rapidly growing and they affect all aspects of work. They produce large amounts of experience in a timely matter, and have the ability to massively store and transfer the informati on. There is an increase in flexibility, such as being able to work at home, or even enchantment on vacation, if need be, due to the internet, emails and data transfers. Telecommunicating is also a factor in helping with productivity, morale and cost reduction. Not only is there internet, many companies also have intranet, which are a private information ne bothrk within the company. The mix of telecommunicating and intranet increase communication and information knowledge between members of an organization to also increase productivity.Automation is the automatically controlled surgical procedure of a process, system, or equipment by mechanical or electronic devices. The two major reasons for automation is speed and better service. In some keen equipment items, Canada takes six to twelve months to make, where Japan takes six to twelve weeks. (Schwind, 2010, p. 10) This is a major challenge that Canada must face. The service factor is continuous. A machine is programed to do th e same exact operation over and over to visualise attribute and effectiveness, where as a human might make an error on one or more areas of the operation. Another challenge with technology and automation is cost. Machines are expensive and not all companies can afford the advanced equipment, and therefore must rely on manual labour.Demographic challenges allow in the changes associated with the labour force, such as education levels, age, and participation levels which occur easy and are usually known in advance. The number of female workers in the work force has greatly increased over the last three decades, and with that so has the way organizations are ran. In the past the men worked and the women stayed home and took cope of the house and home. Now, more and more women are out in the workforce and companies have had to change the way to operate, in order to accommodate. Also, more and more workers are getting higher educations and becoming more knowledgeable in many areas of the field. Canadas challenge with these issues are to be able to find, bring through in home country, and continually train and increase the overall knowledge to produce further success in Canadian organizations in the future. historic period is a key factor that has started in will continue to affect Canadian operations.The term baby- thriveer is defined as any one born(p) between the years 1946-1966. (Krotki, 2012), and the majority of that population is al realize, or getting ready for retirement. This is social (health care) and organizational challenge facing the workforce is termed as the gray age crisis. (McLeans, 1983) The challenge facing Canada now is the vast amount of workers that will be retiring, and the knowledge that they take with them. The largest sector that this crisis will affect is the trades department. accord to Statistics Canada, in 2007, the ratio for non-trades was 0.7, indicating significantly more workers nearing retirement than in the aborigin al stages of their careers. This was substantially lower than the ratio of 1.6 in 1987 and illustrates the well-known phenomenon of the baby boom generationnow approaching retirementand the subsequent significantly littler generation beginning their careers.When this ratio is below one, meaning fewer bulk in the early stages of their careers than will be retiring soon, it points to a electromotive force net out-flow of workers (Pyper, 2008) So as the baby-boomers retire, there will be a shortage of skilled workers to fill their shoes. The last factor of the demographic challenge is that of the temporary workers and contractors or contingent workers. There is a disadvantage as well as an advantage to this line of work. For the employee it means less benefits and lower chip in than that of a full-time worker. But on the other hand, the employer will in turn pay less labour cost, and benefit payouts, to part-time workers, as well as contractors, who are not on the pay roll, thus re ducing long-term costs. The cultural challenges facing Canada today are crucial due to the multicultural nation that we are.The main areas are work-related attitudes and ethnic diversity. People now are requesting more vacations and holidays than before and a alter workweek. Instead of the typical two week vacation a year, and Monday to Friday 9-5, they call more and want more flexibility. There is also a major attitude difference between the baby-boomer generation, Generation X, and Generation Y workers. Canadian organizations have to accept these differences and find ways to accommodate each group. ball club as a whole are also more ethically orientated now.Business can run like they used to two decades ago. People and employees are more aware of the ethics and expect to be treated fairer and with respect. Canadas society and workforce is a cultural mosaic. Hosting and employing a variety of ethnics, races, cultures and social groups. Having this vast array of differences pose s opportunities as well as challenges for Canadian organizations. They prosper by gaining knowledge of each opposite group, but they must also take into consideration that they are all different and have different views, beliefs, and backgrounds than other tidy sum.The final factor is that of legal matters, which are categorized into five sections employment equity, human rights laws, charter of rights, minimum betroth acts, and safety-related legislation. Employment equity is an act that was amended in 1996 and is a federal law that states one must remove employment barriers and promote impactity. It was set to ensure equal opportunities for four different groups women, persons with disability, Aboriginal flock, and people of a visible minority. The Canadian Human Rights Act, in effect process 1978, proclaims that all people regardless of age, sex, race, ethnic origin, colour, religion, sexual orientation, marital status, family status, disability, or conviction for which a p ardon has been granted, shall not be discriminated upon, and should have equal opportunity to make for themselves a life which they choose.The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms is a federal law enacted in 1982, guaranteeing individuals equal rights before the law. Federal organisation passed the Minimum Wage Act in 1935, but minimum lucre jurisdiction falls under provincial legislation. So each obligation has their own set of wages and rules to follow. The safety-related legislation is an area implicated with the safety and well-being of individuals in the workforce. These above mentioned legal matters are a definite challenge facing Canadas organizations. More than ever people know their rights and freedoms, and expect safety in the workplace. The challenge for organizations is to uphold the law, and ensure safety and wellbeing for not only themselves but to the employees, their families and everyone involved whether its internally or externally.ReferencesDemos, D. (2011, Feburary). The New Formula for Branch Productivity. Retrieved Janurary 27, 2013, from Novantas http//www.novantas.com/article.php?id=303Krotki, K. J. (2012). Baby bonanza. Retrieved Janurary 28, 2013, from The Canadian Encyclopedia http//www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/articles/baby-boomMcCallum, J. (2000, May). Will Canada Matter in 2020?. Royal buzzword Current Analysis, Royal Bank of Canada Economics Department, p. 5.McLeans. (1983, Janurary 17). Our Coming Old senesce Crisis. MacLeans, p. 24.Metcalfe, L. (2008, March 2011). Economic Statistics. Retrieved Janurary 27, 2013, from Nation Master.com http//www.nationmaster.com/graph/eco_exp-economy-exportsPyper, W. (2008, October). Skilled Trades Employment. Perspectives on churnand Income, 9(10).Schwind, H. F. (2010). Canadian Human Resource Managment (9th ed.). (J. Cotton, Ed.) Whitby, Ontario, Canada McGraw-Hill Ryerson.