1

GSBS6006 Employment Relations in Globalised Economies

1st Trimester 2023

Assessment 3- Problem Based Analytical Report 2

Developing an Employment Relations Strategic Plan for BTS Co. in China

Scenario

You have been working for the “Best Tech Solutions” (BTS) Company for more than 15 years as a Senior Employment
Relations Advisor. It is a tech-based company mainly operating in Australia. Due to its growing reputation and
business success, BTS Co. is considering expanding its operations into China, particularly Beijing, in mid-2023.

Although it is expected that establishing a new venture in China will lead to further financial benefits for BTS, the CEO
is concerning about some issues in establishing business operations in China. First, the changing legal, political,
economic, and technological context- specifically the highest competition from well-founded companies like Alibaba
Group. Second, employee activism and trade union activity, including employee strikes, have increased over the
decades (China Labour Bulletin’s Strike). Third, the unique work culture of China, specifically, its Toxic Work Culture,
including long work hours and weekends, and poor working conditions, which has resulted in deaths and suicide
(See: Toxic Work Culture and China suppresses workers’ attempts to demand wages). Fourth, some failures of
operations of foreign ventures in China (Companies that failed in China).

Moreover, BTS Co. operating in Australia is mainly based on the ER approach of union acceptance and managerial
pluralism. However, your CEO is concerned about how far this ER approach can be applied to the new Chinese
venture.

Considering the above matters, the CEO has requested your expert recommendations on employment relations in
China and requested you to prepare a brief report that outlines an employment relations strategic plan for BTS Co.
to adopt in China.

Tasks:
You are required to advise and make recommendations to the CEO about ER strategies and practices that BTS Co.
need to adopt, sustaining the company’s performance in its new Chinese venture, given the developing Chinese
employment relations environment described in the Scenario details above.

Your report should include the following elements:

(1) Critically discuss the three Employment Relations issues that might be faced by BTS Co. when it firstly
establishes its business operations in China. Propose some possible Employment Relations strategies/
practices to start and run the BTS’s operations smoothly and successfully in China. These could be practices
relating to employee recruitment, compensation, engagement with trade unions, employee development
polices, or other HR related practices (within the area of ER).

(2) Using the ‘frames of reference’ from Fox and others, discuss what approach BTS Co. should follow for ER in
its Chinese operations that is based on unitarist or pluralist values? Identify the potential
advantages/disadvantages or benefits/risks of each of the two options.

(3) Like the fair and equal ER practices adopted in Australia, BTS Co. considers maintaining equal employment
opportunities in China, including engaging women workers and internal temporary migrants in work. BTS is
also willing to pay minimum wages to workers in China. Discuss the main laws regulating ER practices in
China as a whole and/or in the Beijing municipality that BTS Co. must adhere to. You need to focus on the
 2

laws relating to minimum wages, equal employment opportunities and temporary migrants. You also
need to briefly explain why these laws are essential in regulating ER in China and how they might differ
from what is customary in Australia.

Readings:
Start by reading the various news articles mentioned in the Scenario section earlier in these Instructions. You need
to be familiar with these contextual and background details to develop a meaningful strategic plan.

Compulsory references: you must read and cite the following two references in your report (i.e., they are
compulsory):

• Zhu, Y., Warner, M., & Feng, T. (2011). Employment relations “with Chinese characteristics”: The role of
trade unions in China. International Labour Review, 150(1‐2), 127-143.

• Chan, K-C & He, Y. (2018) ‘The Transformation of Employment Relations in Contemporary China’ in
Wilkinson et al (eds), Routledge Companion to Employment Relations. [This is available in Course Readings
and the whole book is available electronically through the library – just type the book title into the
catalogue.]

Further references:
Beyond these two compulsory references, you must also use at least three additional references from academic
journals (so a total of at least five). The following might help you to build your understanding of the context and
issues.

(i) On ER Values (unitarism and pluralism)

Bray, M., Waring, P. Cooper, R. and Macneil, J (2014). Theoretical Comparisons: Values, Chapter 3 in Employment
Relations: Theory and Practice (3rd ed.). Sydney: McGraw-Hill.

Fox, A. (1966). Management’s Frame of Reference, excerpt from Industrial Sociology and Industrial Relations,
Royal Commission on Trade Unions and Employer Associations, Research Papers 3, HMSO, London, Part 1, pp.2-
14 in A. Flanders (ed) (1969) Collective Bargaining. Harmondsworth: Penguin.
[NB. These were required readings for Topic 1 & 2.]

(ii) On Management ER strategy in relation to unions

Bamber, G. et al. (2009). Low Cost Competition in the Airline Industry. In Bamber, G. et al., Up in the Air: How
Airlines Can Improve Their Performance by Engaging Their Employees. Ithaca: ILR Press, Chapter 1, especially
pp. 11-13. [This can be accessed via Course Readings.]

(iii) On employment relations in Wal-Mart in China

He, B. & Xie, Y (2012) ‘Wal-Mart’s trade union in China’, Economic and Industrial Democracy, 33(3): 421-440.
[This is available through Course Readings]

(iv) On trade unions in China

Cooke, F. L. (2019) ‘Unions and Alternative Forms of Worker Representation in China in an Era of Privatisation
and Globalisation’ in Lee, B-H., Ng, S-H. & Lansbury, R. (eds), Trade Unions and Labour Movements in the Asia-
Pacific Region, Routledge, pp.
(This can be accessed via Course Readings).

(v) On collective bargaining in China

Chan, K-C & He, Y. (2018). Chapter 25, entitled “The Transformation of Employment Relations in
Contemporary China”, in Wilkinson et al (eds), Routledge Companion to Employment Relations. [This whole
book is available electronically through the library – just type the title into the catalogue.]

DUE DATE: 23:59, Tuesday 18 April.

 3

LENGTH: 3000 words

(Maximum text – the executive summary, table of contents and references are not included in the
word count. No appendices please).

SUBMISSION: Electronic copy through Turnitin.

FORMAT: There are many different types of papers/assignments submitted in the real world of business and
in the study of business in universities. The format for this exercise is the same as for PBL 1 – a
report, as it is described hereunder. This brings the following expectations of the exercise’s
structure:

1. Title page:
• Report title, your name, course and date.
• As well, you must provide an Assignment Cover Sheet, copies of which can be found at:
http://www.newcastle.edu.au/service/student-forms/
2. Executive summary:
• This should provide a snapshot of the whole report including key findings and
recommendations.
• This is not an Introduction, it is a synopsis.

3. Table of contents:
• This list of numbered sections in the report and their page numbers is useful, even in a
short assignment like this because it:
→ encourages the student to think about the overall argument and its constituent
parts, and
→ assists the reader to quickly understand the overall argument and the main steps
by which that argument is exposed.

4. Introduction:
• An effective (and clearly identified) introduction is essential if the first Assessment
Criterion [‘A. Scoping of the issue’] is to be addressed. This introduction should include:
→ Clear (but brief) description of the scenario and the question, what the question
is asking you to do, how you will answer the question and the boundaries you are
placing around your answer.
→ In other words, there will always be multiple ways to answer the question / solve
the problem. So, you need to demonstrate how your particular solution fits
within the broad problem presented in the scenario. This is scoping!
→ Definitions of key terms/concepts.
→ A brief plan that anticipates the argument to come.
5. Body:
• This is the main part of the report, with sections and sub-sections (and corresponding
numbered headings) that address the purpose of the report and are distinguished by
appropriate headings and sub-headings.
• This is where the remaining assessment criteria will be addressed.
• Clearly, you must develop the argument and the structure you anticipated in the
Introduction!
• Don’t use too few headings, but don’t use too many headings, especially in such a
short assignment.
• Don’t use ‘Body’ as a heading in your report.

6. Conclusion:
• This states the major inferences that can be drawn from the discussion and
summarises any recommendations.
 4

7. Recommendations:
• Numbered (no more than two or three!), clearly stated, specific and actionable.
• Naturally, any recommendations will flow directly from information and argument
presented in the body of the report and will definitely not be a surprise to the reader!

8. Referencing:
• Use and cite at least the minimum required references (you will lose marks if you
don’t).
• Use the APA system of referencing (described in the Guide to APA 7th Referencing
Style, posted through the “Assessment” tab in the BB site).

No appendices
• You should be able to present your argument in the text.
 5

HINTS:
1. General:
• This is a PBL exercise, not an essay.
• So, you should work through the general advice provided on the course Canvas site about doing PBL
Exercises.
• Please read your feedback from PBL1.
• Check out the practice exercises, which are posted at the same location
• The topic/issue of PBL 2 requires both an understanding of theory and practice. The relevant theory relates
to unitarism and pluralism and to the relationship between these values/frames of reference and
management ER strategy.
• In terms of practice, your account of the two management options should include the actions that
management would take if it adopted a unitarist or a pluralist approach. In other words, you should not rely
on simplistic general assertions but rather get into the detail of what management should do in order to
achieve their desired outcomes. Remember, these need to be consistent with your value position.
• In addition, you need to explain to the CEO (i) how these actions are consistent with the respective value
positions; and (ii) the potential advantages/disadvantages or benefits/risks of each of the two options. In
these ways, you are demonstrating your understanding of both the theory and the practical aspects of the
issue.
• As with all ER analysis, your account of the alternative management strategies and their likely success will
be influenced by context. In other words, given that the scenario relates to retail in China, the plans and
actions of management will be influenced by China’s labour laws and institutions. The likely success of either
strategy will also be influenced by other contextual factors, from the state of the product market and
changing labour market conditions; to the contractual obligations and/or financial situation of the company;
to the personalities and career ambitions of the managers and union representatives involved. Despite the
importance of context, however, this exercise is not expecting you to be experts on China labour law or the
retail industry. Nor do we want you to make all sorts of assumptions about the ‘facts’ of the scenario.

2. Scoping the issues:

• An essential element of problem solving is defining the problem and ensuring that your solution is sharply
focused on solving that problem.
• Scoping the issues means explaining to the reader at the beginning the nature of the problem and how you
will address it (including the boundaries of your analysis). Then, in the rest of the report, you deliver what
you said at the beginning.
• This is addressed in Assessment Criterion A (Scoping of the issue).

3. Dealing with the “facts”:

• There are not that many “facts” in the scenario, so use them as clues to meeting your organisation’s
objectives.
• At the same time, don’t make assumptions or assertions about new or additional “facts”. This is important
to the realism of the report: head office will not get value from the report if you make assumptions that may
not be true.
• This can partly be avoided through your writing style. For example, rather than simply asserting (or
assuming) facts, use words like:
o “The literature states that …... might be an issue”, or
o “He & Xie’s (2011) article about trade unions in Walmart identifies a common issue as…”.
o “In the past the ACFTU has.....which may impact our operations”
• The better your research and the better you relate your research to the specifics of the problem, the more
plausible will be your suggestions and the more likely management will accept your recommendations.
 3

LENGTH: 3000 words

(Maximum text – the executive summary, table of contents and references are not included in the
word count. No appendices please).

SUBMISSION: Electronic copy through Turnitin.

FORMAT: There are many different types of papers/assignments submitted in the real world of business and
in the study of business in universities. The format for this exercise is the same as for PBL 1 – a
report, as it is described hereunder. This brings the following expectations of the exercise’s
structure:

1. Title page:
• Report title, your name, course and date.
• As well, you must provide an Assignment Cover Sheet, copies of which can be found at:
http://www.newcastle.edu.au/service/student-forms/
2. Executive summary:
• This should provide a snapshot of the whole report including key findings and
recommendations.
• This is not an Introduction, it is a synopsis.

3. Table of contents:
• This list of numbered sections in the report and their page numbers is useful, even in a
short assignment like this because it:
→ encourages the student to think about the overall argument and its constituent
parts, and
→ assists the reader to quickly understand the overall argument and the main steps
by which that argument is exposed.

4. Introduction:
• An effective (and clearly identified) introduction is essential if the first Assessment
Criterion [‘A. Scoping of the issue’] is to be addressed. This introduction should include:
→ Clear (but brief) description of the scenario and the question, what the question
is asking you to do, how you will answer the question and the boundaries you are
placing around your answer.
→ In other words, there will always be multiple ways to answer the question / solve
the problem. So, you need to demonstrate how your particular solution fits
within the broad problem presented in the scenario. This is scoping!
→ Definitions of key terms/concepts.
→ A brief plan that anticipates the argument to come.
5. Body:
• This is the main part of the report, with sections and sub-sections (and corresponding
numbered headings) that address the purpose of the report and are distinguished by
appropriate headings and sub-headings.
• This is where the remaining assessment criteria will be addressed.
• Clearly, you must develop the argument and the structure you anticipated in the
Introduction!
• Don’t use too few headings, but don’t use too many headings, especially in such a
short assignment.
• Don’t use ‘Body’ as a heading in your report.

6. Conclusion:
• This states the major inferences that can be drawn from the discussion and
summarises any recommendations.
 7

You might find helpful articles in these journals about worker collective action and workplace collective bargaining
in Western countries. But you need to contextualise these articles and discuss how the lessons they provide for
Costco are affected by the different time, place and other circumstances in which they occurred.

You will also find many non-academic sources that will also be helpful. Some examples
are:
• There are many news items that report on Wal-Mart and Costco.
• The China Labour Bulletin is a great source of information.

By all means use these sources in your report, but make sure you acknowledge their limitations. This is consistent
with the third dot point under Criterion B, which says you need to demonstrate:

“Awareness of strengths and weaknesses of different reference materials (e.g., company information,
academic literature, personal experience) as bases for arguments.”
 4

7. Recommendations:
• Numbered (no more than two or three!), clearly stated, specific and actionable.
• Naturally, any recommendations will flow directly from information and argument
presented in the body of the report and will definitely not be a surprise to the reader!

8. Referencing:
• Use and cite at least the minimum required references (you will lose marks if you
don’t).
• Use the APA system of referencing (described in the Guide to APA 7th Referencing
Style, posted through the “Assessment” tab in the BB site).

No appendices
• You should be able to present your argument in the text.