People Management

Fiasco in Honda
Motorcycles and
Scooters India ltd
Group 5
Section B
Ankit Gupta: 13P064
Ganapathy S:
13P074
Manu Mehrotra:
13P084
Nitin Dangwal:
13P094

1. What is the difference between the rights

enjoyed by a registered union and a non-registered
union?
A union is registered under the Trade Union Act,1926
It and its members, office holders etc enjoys immunity
from criminal conspiracy with respect to trade disputes
They can have a separate fund for political purposes as
was made by the HMSI employees
They can negotiate and enforce contracts as was done in
HMSI case for adsorption of trainees

1. Contd.. What is the difference between the

rights enjoyed by a registered union and a nonregistered union?
Before the trade union was formed at HMSI, there was no
formal channel for the workers to air their grievances.
An unregistered union was treated as an illegal entity by
the company as well as the government, which in its
order refused to register it.
An unregistered union cannot collect funds for political
purposes.
Any unregistered union has no right to enforce a contract
that the employer has ratified

2. What is the role played by AITUC leader,

GurudadsDasgupta in this case?
He was instrumental in protecting the rights of the
laborers.
AICTU was instrumental in the creation of the worker
union. It provided support and guidance to the workers.
When the Registrar of Unions refused to register the
union.
Gurudas Dasgupta wrote a letter to the CM, which made
the registration of the Union possible.

3. What precisely, in your opinion, was the role

played by the media in the case?

The media brought to notice of the whole country

the inhuman behavior of the police personnel with the
workers. They were brutal and simply assaulted the
workers.

The modern day General Dyer treatment was the

extent to which the brutality of the police force was
compared to. This led to widespread anger in the people
of the country and unmasked the true situation in the
region.

The intense media reporting had an Impact and the

government had to intervene, the existing Congress party

4. What role do you think was played by the Deputy

Labour commissioner in processing the dispute;
and why you think he did not succeed ?

The deputy labour commissioner officer in the

Gurgaon region for all general demands dispute
Conciliation initiated the proceedings on 26 May 2013

The intention of the commissioner was to bring the

parties to a consensus

The Commissioner convened 6 meetings for

achieving this in a span of 2 months between 3rd June and
19th July 2005, but to no avail

The commissioner was not able to resolve the

conflict as both the union as well as the management
representative were adamant on their demands and not

5. What do you think were the major concerns of

the central as well as the state governments?
The frequent clashes between HMSI management and
workers were creating law and order situations
The use of brute force by police to handle the
demonstration by workers was bringing a bad repute to
the state governance
The media coverage of the entire episode was bringing
to light of the utter failure of state and central
government to tackle this issue
The incident was portraying the State of Haryana being
not suitable to set up factories.
This incident could spark similar incidences in other
nearby factories

6. What do you think were the principal causes of

the trouble that HSMI faced?
The principal cause is that the Management failed to
understand that as the plant was growing in age, so as
its workers and their needs and understanding of the
working conditions. Soon, the workers who were
contend at getting a job, were feeling belittled at
getting a Rs 600 gift.
The Japanese culture was incompatible with the Indian
working environment. The micromanagement policy like
signing a movement sheet for drink and toilet breaks
were festering resentment among the workers
The top management was unsympathetic towards the
workers. There was no emotional connect. This was
symbolized by the idiosyncratic attitude of the VP
Manufacturing who regularly dehumanized workers.

7. What are the Key challenges before HMSI in

post-July 25 scenario?
To mitigate the bitterness of associates
To increase the plant-output as per planning done before
the incident
To ensure that relationship between managers and
associates remain genial
After formation of union, Management has to ensure that
labourers demand do not go out of hand which put stress
on finances and outcome of the company

8. What lessons in people management and

industrial relations do you learn from this case?
Dignity and respect of the labourers is important
Transparency in policies and Equality of all labourers in
eyes of management
Good Communication between management and
labourers
We should not consider labourers as machines, should
listen to their requirement case to case basis rather than
binding everything as per rules
.

9.What HRM strategy was followed by HMSI

consciously or subconsciously; Why, if at all, are
there differences in the pursuit of the global and
the local IR strategy of HMSI?

HMSIs policies were aligned with those of the

parent company HMCL
Respect for individual differences
Promote Three Joys for all organizational members

Performance Appraisal system performed by

section head and shift in-charge
Works Committee was constituted which included
management as well as workers
Managers as well as workers wore similar
uniforms
Differences arose because of the diversity and

9. Continued .

HMSIs policies were aligned with those of the

parent company HMCL
Respect for individual differences
Promote Three Joys for all organizational members

Performance Appraisal system performed by

section head and shift in-charge
Works Committee was constituted which included
management as well as workers
Managers as well as workers wore similar
uniforms
Differences arose because of the diversity and

10. What led to failure of that strategy, and what

are the causal roots of the breakdown of industrial
relations in HMSI?
Japanese management didnt understand expectations
and needs of Indian workers.
Although their stated policy was to respect the
individual, it was hardly followed. Leave requests were
denied and workers were threatened with termination
of service.
Instead of ensuring absence of any discrimination, VP of
manufacturing knocked off an employees turban.
Indian managers directly interacting with the workers
had no understanding of Industrial Relations.
Perception of partiality by Indian managers in matters
related to job postings.
Indian managers prevented the workers from sharing

11. What People Management Strategies should

HMSI adopt so as to promote a harmonious working
with the union or subtly promote dilution of the
unions strength
In the Short Run:
Win back the trust of workers:
Better worker engagement practices (like annual events, involvement of
workers families etc.)
Proper grievance management systems in place

Taking the Union into confidence:

Show sincerity in relations with the Union

Setting up a dedicated Industrial Relations team

Hiring experts from outside the company
Building IR talent from within the company

11. Continued .

In the Long Run:

Building a culture where employees are encouraged to
speak up and openness is valued
This cultural change can be brought about through
strategic HRM by:
Improving worker commitment to the organizational goals through
learning opportunities, career advancement options, career talks, job
rotation etc.
Bringing the middle management on the same platform through
management development programs, training on people management
etc