ASSIGNMENT 3

DOWNSIZINGThe main idea behind outsourcing has always been, If you’re not good at it, outsource it. Find a vendor who specializes in it. If you’d rather not be bothered by trivial—read: noncore—processes such as benefits and payroll; recruitment, training, and performance evaluation; then maybe you should consider human resource (HR) outsourcing.The human resource department, contrary to what most people think, is not merely a central database of information and statistics. Neither is its main function merely to convert this database into reports of employee performance. Human resource involves attracting, retaining, and developing a company’s main asset: its employees and their knowledge.Why Outsize?Outsizing reduces the need for large capital expenditures on noncore functions, among which is HR. This has gained popularity as companies aim to gain speed and flexibility needed to compete in today’s business environment. Companies need not invest capital to maintain and upgrade HR systems and infrastructure as this is left to the outsourcer.Outsize to have the work done by experts. Companies that choose to outsource their HR functions prefer partners whose main business is in human resource management. Outsourcing allows for faster response time and convenient access to benefits and other HR data. Outsource to access and maintain critical expertise. High-quality HR delivery means specialized HR knowledge. HR tasks are becoming more complicated with the improvement of technology. Companies that have undergone corporate restructuring, mergers and acquisitions, or repeated downsizing may have dismantled HR functions and lost pertinent expertise. The downsizing of Ford Motor CompanyContrary to popular wisdom, size does not matter. As big as you are, the rules and risks are the same. Large size does not guarantee survival. Another example of that fact was confirmed on Monday, 23rd January, 2006, Ford Motor Company announced its long awaited restructuring plan. Some 30000 jobs will go and about 14 plants will be shuttered. One of them is the Wixom facility, home of the Lincoln, a few miles from my home.With the closure will come accusations, finger pointing and anger. Wixom is the largest manufacturing plant in the immediate area. The effects of its closure will be felt for miles around. One can only guess how many suppliers may also be shuttered, employees made redundant, restaurants and stores that will face closure as they lose business. The entire community will suffer. Metropolitan Detroit house prices were already flat and falling contrary to the general upward trend throughout the rest of America. Now, one can expect a glut of houses on the market as people try to leave the area, finance companies repossess property from families who cannot pay their mortgage, which is rising along with rising national interest rates.SOURCE:http://www.outsourcing.ph/hr_outsourcing.htmhttp://saferpak.com/the%20downsizing%20of%20ford%20motor%20company.htm