Documentos de Trabajo de la Facultad de Ciencias Económicas y Empresariales |
|
---|---|
Biblioteca de la Facultad de Ciencias Económicas y Empresariales. UCM. |
Servicios | Catálogos | Bases de Datos | Colecciones electrónicas | Econred | English version |
Autor: Montserrat Casado
Título: Human capital in the competitive strategy of multinational companies in Spain.
Resumen:
INTRODUCTION
Human capital has been highlighted
in economic literature as a relevant element amongst entreprise
assets, it plays an important role in the determination of
productivity levels, and hence, of entreprises and the countries
competitive power. That role is mediatized by technology, so the
interaction between human capital and technological resources
demands a balanced development of both.
Now, important changes in the
production systems have occurred in the last two decades, which
have completely transformed the traditional relations between
labour and capital. These changes have taken place at
international level, therefore, the eighties have witnessed two
fundamental facts: the deep technological change, on the one
hand, and the innovations in the organisational methods, on the
other.
The introduction of new
technologies has a direct effect upon the qualifications required
to carry out a job. Therefore, availability of duly qualified
manpower for the usage of these technologies becomes a
pre-requirement that ensures quality and productivity standards,
and access to markets other than the ones offered by them (SENKER
and SENKER. 1990). The new methods of organization also reflect
the enterprise strategy adopted in relation with labour force. A
production system characterized by its flexibility involves a
specific personnel policy, where qualification of manpower is a
crucial element to carry out the productive process using new
technologies. Its repercussions must be considered in two
different spheres. First, in the national education systems,
where qualifications of a higher level will be required which
will serve to shape the labour offer adapted to the needs of the
production system. Secondly, in the companies, where an increase
in the training activities of the workers will be essential to
avoid obsolescence and face the challenge of the new productive
conditions.
In short, the productive context
created by the use of sophisticated technology demands, amongst
other things, a labour factor substantially different from that
of previous economic frameworks, essentially characterized by its
high contents of qualified work. Moreover, the worldwide
relevance of this phenomenom, the growing complexity, the
internationalization and speed of change in the economic context
make the labour factor be of greater importance in the economic
life of the company, along with the unavoidable need of its
permanent updating.
The previous statements, which are
generally acceptable for all productive models, have certain
peculiarities in the Spanish case which, in a synthetic way, can
be summarized around two elements. First, the relative lag
development of the Spanish economy in industrial development,
which is immediatly reflected in its dependence on foreign
technologies. Secondly, an educational structure lacking the
sufficient flexibility to give an immediate response to the needs
required by the productive sphere. If we add up the time factor
to all the aforesaid, with the advance in the project of European
construction, it seems logical to expect greater demands from a
more and more competitive market, whose immediate result is the
inevitable need of allowing for a highly qualified labour factor.
Amongst the approaches that have
been made from the theoretical constructions to point out the
function carried out by Human Capital in Economy, we could speak
of three extensive categories. First, from a macro-economic
standpoint, brought about as a result of the search for
explanations of the success of the various countries in
international trade. Theoretical frameworks rooted in the
classical and neoclassical theories of international trade and
expressed as explanatory approaches to Leontief's paradox. Along
the same line, another series of works has highlighted the
importance of Human Capital for economic growth (SCHULTZ, 1980;
LUCAS, 1990; BECKER, MURPHY and TAMURA, 1990).
From the consideration of the firm
as a productive unit, it has been insisted on the explanatory
capacity of Human Capital for the achievement of micro-economic
competition (GUEST, 1987; WERTHER and DAVIS, 1982; YEOMANS, 1989;
RHINESMITH et al., 1989). Finally, standing between both
theoretical contexts, we find the works of the authors who insert
the characteristic elements of the enterprise framework into a
macro-economic sphere, by considering the company's activity
within a global sphere that is the nation which, in turn, is
forced to compete in the international field (BUCLEY and
ARTISIEN, 1987; PORTER, 1990; DUNNING, 1993).
Starting from this conceptual
framework, this article aims to present the empirical results
arisen from the research on the human resources and manpower
qualification strategies followed by the subsidiaries of
multinational companies established in Spain. To this end the
paper has been organized in three sections. The first one
attempts to check whether the introduction of technological
changes has meant changes in manpower qualification and if so, to
detect the labour categories and the organizational spheres
within the company where they have taken place.
The second section analyses the
existence of training schemes in the companies, by studying the
groups of employees they are aimed at. In this part, the main
hypothesis used is that training schemes in companies are
considered to be response to the requirements demanded by
technical change; and a secondary hypothesis is that the training
undertaken by companies is a way out to solve the shortcomings
found in the supply of Spanish manpower. This last aspect gives
way to the third section, where it is studied whether
multinational subsidiaries find difficulties to hire qualified
manpower in the Spanish market. When such problems are detected,
the analysis is extended to the detail of the labour categories
in which they have been identified. Finally, a section of
conclusions synthesizes the most outstanding outcomes.
Facing the diversity of countries
of origin of the investments on Spanish economy, and with the
purpose of a deeper analysis of the aforesaid aspects, the
empirical study is focused on the companies in Spain controlled
by German and Dutch capital. This twofold origin of the studied
subsidiaries is justified by the relevance of those two groups of
capital within the whole of foreign investments on the Spanish
economic system. The source of the data used in this article is a
survey passed to the companies with German and Dutch capital
established in Spain, within the framework of two research
projects on the performance of the respective multinational
firms. The survey was sent to all the companies with Dutch
capital and only to the industrial firms with German capital;
these facts must be considered at the time of assessing the
results of both groups. The survey covered not only the Human
Capital aspects but also commercial, technological and productive
aspects, although this article offers the most outstanding
results of the first one.
The number of valid questionnaries
obtained was 23 from the first group, and 113 from the second
one, which represents a response rate of 23 and 38.5 %
respectively. The significance of the firms of the sample, in
relation to the total of subsidiaries from the country of origin
established in Spain, is 23.1 % of employment and 36.5 % of sales
in the Dutch case. Percentages that reach 65.2 % and 68.1 %
amongst the industrial subsidiaries of German origin. The
comments from the interviews carried out with company managers of
both groups have also been used as a supplement.
I. TECHNOLOGICAL CHANGES AND THEIR
REPERCUSSIONS ON MANPOWER
The investments made by companies
in the last years have had a direct effect upon the labour
factor. On the one hand, they have modified the typology of the
existing jobs and, on the other hand, they have meant significant
alterations in the contents of the tasks assigned to them.
Starting from this consideration, this section attempts to
analyse whether the technological changes introduced by the
multinational companies operating in Spain have affected labour
qualification by studying where the modifications have taken
place, both in professional categories and organizational areas
in the company.
Taking the information in Table 1
as a starting point, the relations between technological changes
and the workers' needs of qualification in the subsidiaries of
multinationals established in Spain can be observed. The most
relevant point is the large number of companies that declare that
they have undergone changes in their workers' qualification as a
consequence of technological change.
In the German case, where the
larger number of companies of the group has allowed to extend the
analysis up to a sectorial level, we have been able to see that
the phenomenom has been more intense in the more dynamic sectors
within the Spanish industrial system, they are also the
industrial branches where the biggest part of the German
investing flow is located. Basically they are firms belonging to Pharmaceutical
industry, Manufacture of Electronic Material, Chemicals,
Electric Machinery and Material, Metallic Products and
Vehicles, both Automobile Building and Manufacture
of Vehicle Accesories and Spare Parts.
In the same way, drawing the attention to those sectors where the repercussions of technical change have been very slow or nonexistent, we can see that they are companies belonging to the sectors of Iron and Steel, Publishing, Wood Industry, Glass, Non-ferrous Metals, and Manufacturing of Precision and Optical Instruments, and similars; all of them, except the last, may be included in the group known as traditional industries. In short, the empirical evidence indicates that the greatest repercussion of technological change upon manpower qualification has been suffered by those companies situated in the most active sectors of the Spanish industrial system; this conclusion is not surprising for it is in those sectors where the greatest implementation of technological innovations essential to maintain the growth rate is given.
TABLE 1.- GENERAL CONTEXT OF
MULTINATIONAL COMPANIES IN SPAIN IN TERMS OF HUMAN CAPITAL.
GERMAN | DUTCH | |
TOTAL COMPANIES | 113 | 23 |
WITH QUALIFICATION CHANGES | 75 | 17 |
66.4% | 73.9% | |
WITH TRAINING PROGRAMMES | 79 | 20 |
70.0% | 87% | |
WITH HIRING DIFFICULTIES | 52 | 5 |
46.0% | 22.0% |
SOURCE: Taken from the databases
created with information resulting from questionaries passed to
Dutch and German companies.
With the object of evaluating the
effects that technical changes have had on labour qualification,
a typology of workers has been built from a twofold standpoint.
On the one hand, in view of professional categories, and on the
other, considering the various organizational spheres. In this
way we can state exactly to what extent technological innovations
have affected the different groups of employees or the company
areas.
The company's organizational
structure has been subdivided into four areas: Production,
Maintenance, Administration and Others. As regards professional
categories, three divisions have been taken into account. The
first one -Directors- includes all those workers with
managerial responsibility jobs and with a higher degree of
academic qualification. Under Intermediate Managers all
the workers with jobs of medium technical qualification levels
and those who carry out tasks of limited responsibility are
gathered. The group Other Personnel lists the workers with
a lower level of qualification and who can not be included in the
former group because of the post they have.
TABLE 2.-
PERCENTAGE DISTRIBUTION OF THE COMPANIES WHICH HAVE UNDERGONE
CHANGES IN THE
QUALIFICATION OF MANPOWER IN CATEGORIES AND ORGANIZATIONAL AREAS.
ÉÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÑÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÑÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÑÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ»
º ³ DIRECTORS ³ INTERMEDIATE ³ OTHER º
º ³ ³ MANAGERS ³ PERSONNEL º
ÇÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄĶ
º ORGANIZATIONAL ³ G D ³ G D ³ G D º
º AREAS ³ % ³ % ³ % º
ÇÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÂÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÂÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÂÄÄÄÄÄÄĶ
º Production ³ 44 ³ 18 ³ 84 ³ 35 ³ 61 ³ 41 º
ÇÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄĶ
º Maintenance ³ 25 ³ 6 ³ 51 ³ 23 ³ 37 ³ 18 º
ÇÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄĶ
º Administration ³ 40 ³ 41 ³ 59 ³ 88 ³ 33 ³ 53 º
ÇÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄĶ
º Others ³ 9 ³ 18 ³ 19 ³ 41 ³ 19 ³ 29 º
ÈÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÏÍÍÍÍÍÍÏÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÏÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÏÍÍÍÍÍÍÏÍÍÍÍÍÍÏÍÍÍÍÍÍͼ
SOURCE: Vid. Table 1
The results highlight some
differences between both groups of subsidiaries (Table 2). Such
differences are related to the organizational areas of the
companies where the effects of technological innovations are
noted with greater strength. Thus, whereas changes have taken
place mostly in the productive sphere in the German group,
followed at some distance by Administration and Maintenance, the
rule is quite the opposite in the Dutch case. Therefore, the most
affected area is Administration in the Dutch subsidiaries,
whereas Production and Others appear in second place with equal
number of responses, and Maintenance becomes the company sphere
least affected by technological innovations.
In spite of these differences, an
ample coincidence exists between both groups in relation to the
workers categories most affected by technological changes,
Intermediate Managers and Workers of a lower qualification level
being the groups where this effect has been greater. As regards
Directors, they appear as recipients of the changes with
percentages about half the number of companies in both groups of
subsidiaries. Again it is interesting to stress here that this
group with a higher qualification has been affected in virtually
equal number of companies in the areas of Production and
Administration amongst German subsidiaries, whereas for the Dutch
group, the responses show Administration Directors to be the most
affected by technological change.
The results of the sectorial
analysis of the modifications in job qualification confirm the
existence of substantial differences among the various industrial
branches. Thus, the effect of technological changes upon
Directors has been stronger than average in companies belonging
to Pharmaceutical Industry, Manufacture of Electric
Material, Manufacture of Metal Products, and Manufacture
of Machinery and Mechanic Equipments. Intermediate Managers
were more affected especially in the cases of Manufacture of
Machinery and Electric Material, Chemical Industry, Pharmaceutical
Industry, Manufacture of Car Spare Parts, and Transformed
Plastics.
Finally, the effect upon the group
of Other Personnel appears stronger than average in companies
belonging to the areas of Chemical Industry, Ceramic
Products, Construction of Automobile Vehicles, Manufacture
of Electrical Material, and Manufacture of Car Accesories
and Equipment. In any case, the available information does
not permit to build a reasonable explanation to such differences,
and we can only venture to suggest that the degree of technical
complexity as well as the specific situation of each of them are
two of the reasons for the fact that the repercussions of
technical change have a stronger effect upon some of the
categories.
On the other hand, breaking up the facts in terms of the size, (Table 3), we can note that the total of the companies on the biggest size level have been affected by the changes in the qualification of their labour force. In a parallel way, the highest percentage of companies where variations in this variable have not occurred corresponds to those smaller in size, particularly to those with a staff of less than 100 workers. Therefore, the existence of a relationship between the company size and the effect of technological changes in manpower qualification can be pointed out, although not in a strictly lineal way.
(TABLE 3)
By combinig company size with
professional categories, some specific points can serve to
complete what has just been presented. First, the professional
group with a higher qualification is a little more relevant in
the smaller size strata than in the rest, which proves that the
group of Directors is more affected by technological changes in
small companies than in big ones. On the other hand, Intermediate
Managers are the professional group most affected by changes,
this fact being especially relevant in companies whose total
number of workers ranges from 250 to 1,000. Finally, the least
qualified professional categories become more representative as
the company size is bigger.
All the aforesaid leads us to
state that the size variable contains a differenciating germ in
the repercussions that technical innovations have upon the
qualification of the various professional categories,
independently from these categories. Thus, in small companies,
the degree of technical complexity introduced is possibly lower,
and only the best qualified groups are affected by it, whereas
technological change is deeper in large companies, affecting
essentially the requirements of the professional groups with
lower qualification.
II.- TRAINING PROGRAMMES IN
COMPANIES
The ability to exploit
technological innovations in a competitive way is closely related
to the degree of labour force qualification. Therefore, training
schemes in companies are not only a response to the new
qualification requirements needed for the use of new
technologies, but also a need imposed by the attainment of higher
levels of competition.
Therefore, the aim is to analyse
whether the training programmes undertaken by companies with
foreign participation are a reactive method to the technical
innovations introduced, attemptig to consolidate or foster their
competition levels, not only from a national standpoint but from
an international and especially European prospective, where a
good part of their economic activity develops
To this respect, one first
question to consider is whether the subsidiaries have tackled
efficiently the carrying out of training programmes for their
workers. The results show a high percentage of companies that say
they carry out training programmes. In fact, both in the group of
German subsidiaries (70 per cent), and in the Dutch group (87 per
cent), the accomplishment of training programmes is usual
practice within their strategies (Table 1).
If we compare the previous figures
with the ones related to the effect of technological change upon
the requirements of manpower qualification, it is evident that
the line followed by them in terms of preparation of human
capital goes beyond the mere circumstancial coverage of the needs
brought about by technological innovations and it is in agreement
with an enterpreneural philosophy, where worker's training is a
strategic variable, determinant of competition, THUROW (1992),
PORTER (1990), DALY et al. (1985) have remarked this from
different standpoints in their works.
In short, the general trend of the
multinational firms present in Spain is the accomplishment of
training and qualifying programmes for their manpower, going
beyond a mere response to the demands derived from the use of new
production and organization techniques. Therefore, it seems
obvious that these firms have a dynamic personnel strategy in
terms of training; they carry out activities aimed at the
consolidation of a labour force adequately trained to solve not
only the problems that may arise at short term from the use of
new technologies, but also seeking the strengthening of
competition at long term through the supply of a highly qualified
labour factor.
An interesting consideration when
analysing the existence of training projects in companies is to
know the group of workers they are aimed at. This procedure
permits us to evaluate the workers' strata on which the company
strategy insists (Table 4).
TABLE 4 TYPOLOGY OF THE PERSONNEL THAT RECEIVES TRAINING PROGRAMMES IN THE COMPANY
TYPE OF PERSONNEL | German Companies | Dutch Companies | G | % D |
DIRECTORS AND ENGINEERS | 14 | 4 | 18 | 20 |
INTERMEDIATE MANAGERS | 36 | 9 | 46 | 45 |
OTHER PERSONNEL | 48 | 8 | 61 | 40 |
ALL LEVELS | 18 | 8 | 23 | 40 |
UNDETERMINED | 1 | - | 1 | - |
SOURCE: Vid. Table 1
NOTE: The total sum of the
percentage columns is over 100, this is due to the fact that each
company can carry out more than one training programme for the
different groups of workers.
As regards to the categories
receiving the training programmes, the profile of both groups is
slightly different. Thus, the least qualified groups are the main
recipients in German industrial companies; since they are the
groups with greatest difficulty to become adapted to the
technical change, the effort of the company must be addressed to
them in order to overcome the initial difficulties of working
with advanced techniques. In some of the interviews, this
shortcoming of the less qualified workers to use new technologies
was pointed out, due to the average advanced age of the Spanish
staffs and the high degree of permanence in the company, which
was an added difficulty to the use of innovating production and
organization techniques. On the other side, Dutch subsidiaries
present a more uniform range of the categories that receive
training programmes, although showing a slight superiority of
Intermediate Managers.
In short, the previous results
seem to confirm the hypothesis that the less qualified categories
find the greatest difficulties to become adapted to the work
methods required by the use of advanced technologies in spite of
the noticeable differences in both groups of multinationals, and
therefore, companies direct their efforts to overcome such
shortcomings through the implementation of training schemes for
their manpower. However, companies do not neglect the education
of the level of better qualified workers.
It is also important to stress
that not a small number of the programs extend to workers of all
levels, this is done by 23 percent of the German subsidiaries and
in a larger extent by the Dutch ones; these facts allow us to
support and reinforce the abovementioned comments.
Comparing these results with the
ones brought about by the survey which was carried out under the
direction of Cranfield School of Management and Price Waterhouse
throughout 1989, with a sample of companies in France, Spain,
Sweden, Grat Britain and Germany, where a broad range of themes
related to Human Resources is analysed, additional considerations
can be established. In the aforesaid work is pointed out, in
first place, the unanimous acceptance by companies of all
countries of the central role of the Human Resources variable;
according to the companies, this is so because it is one of the
most influencing elements for the success of their activity.
Another common feature to the
companies analysed in the abovementioned survey is the increase
of their expenditure on training in the last years. The need for
higher expenses on manpower training is given, to a large extent,
by the shortage of qualified work observed in nearly all
countries, even though the circumstances of each of them vary
considerably.
The Spanish case shares the
increase of the expenses made by the companies in the last years
with the rest of the countries, although there is a substantial
difference regarding the groups that receive the training. Thus,
The biggest increases of training expenses have occurred in the
categories of Technicians and Professionals, recipients of the
biggest efforts made by 66 percent of the companies, whereas 46
percent of the companies confirm to have spent less on the group
of unqualified workers. Likewise, a lower effect upon training of
boards of directors can be observed in Spain in comparison with
other countries, which serves to reinforce the fact that Spanish
companies direct their training programmes to the groups of
technicians and intermediate managers (this category can be
assimilated to the group of professionals without higher
qualification), and to a lesser extent but significantly, to the
categories with a lower qualification level.
Comparing the general trend for
Spanish companies presented by the aforesaid international report
with what has been observed in the specific cases of the
subsidiaries analysed herein, and taking into account the
difficulties of the comparison derived from the different
construction of the categories or companies making up the sample,
the following aspects can be pointed out: In general, the
multinational subsidiaries share with Spanish companies the
stress on the training of the workers with intermediate
qualification, even though its effect upon the group of lower
preparation is a lot bigger, especially amongst the German
companies, than the one presented by the Spanish group as a
whole.
An explanation of this divergence
can be found in the characteristic of the industrial investment
of German capital in Spain, located mainly in branches like chemicals,
metal-mechanics, cars, and electric products,
where the effect of technical change has brought about bigger
needs of preparation within the group of less qualified workers;
besides, the data from the empirical analysis are based
exclusively on the universe of German industrial subsidiary
companies.
The most noticeable divergence
lies on the fact that training appears as a response to a problem
of insufficience in the supply of qualified manpower in the
Spanish case, whereas in the Dutch and German subsidiaries the
training programmes are the overcoming way of the bigger demands
for workers' qualification required by the technological
innovations introduced in the production processes.
The consideration from the
sectorial side shows some differences among industries when
selecting the groups of workers the training is aimed at. For
instance, the Chemical sector directs its trainig
programmes to the two extremes, the one with higher and the one
with lower labour qualification, whereas others like Car
Components and Accesories concentrates essencially on the
category with lower qualification. Other sectors like Car
Construction or Pharmaceutical Industry extend their
programs to all categories.
If we introduce the size variable
into the consideration of the theme, the most outstanding element
is the existence of a direct relation between both questions
(Table 3). Thus, the companies with more than 1000 workers carry
out proyects in 91 percent of the cases whereas the companies
with less than 100 employees do it only in 58 percent of the
cases. Therefore, it seems clear that training is a generalised
practice in bigger companies, and its importance grows along with
the growth of the company size.
By relating this result to the one
obtained with regard to the connexion between the company size
and the changes in manpower qualification brought about by the
use of new techniques, some supplementary notes may become clear.
Thus, for the group of companies with a smaller number of
workers, the training schemes seem to respond only to the
requirements demanded by technical changes; they are, in all
cases, training programmes meant to tackle new demands in the
levels of manpower qualification. On the contrary, in companies
of bigger size, the efforts made for training have a greater
scope than the mere response to the demands originated by the use
of new technologies.
III.- DIFFICULTIES WITH THE SUPPLY
OF SPECIALISED MANPOWER IN SPAIN.
The relation between the education
system and the needs of the production system has been the object
of concern in the last years, which has affected the preparation
of a large amount of specialised research works. It seems
adequate within this context a study in depth on the perception
that the two groups of foreign multinationals studied here have
about the capacity of the Spanish supply of specialised work to
meet the requirements of their economic activity.
One first aspect to consider is
that less than half of the German subsidiaries have answered that
they had found difficulties in the hiring of specialised work in
Spain, and only 22 percent of the Dutch subsidiaries (Table 1).
This fact makes evident that the disagreement between the supply
and the demand of qualified work, even when it exists, does not
seem to be very big, and the Spanish education system as a whole
is not so inadequate to supply the required qualifications for
the productive needs, even though certain shortcomings are
perceived that must be overcome.
From a sectorial standpoint, the
biggest number of difficulties has been detected in the electrical
and metal-mechanical branches. This is due, in the first
place, to the technological complexity of these sectors, and to
the processes of modernisation they have undergone in the last
years. The companies belonging to these industries say they have
hiring problems within the Spanish supply in more than half of
the cases.
On the contrary, in other sectors
like Car Building and Manufacturing of Equipments and
Components, most companies confirm they find not problems to
recruit qualified personnel in the Spanish supply. We must point
out equally the case of the Pharmaceutical Industry in
which all the companies of the sample say they do not have any
problems to recruit specialised manpower. An identical situation
is given in the Textile Industry. Finally, the affirmative
answers were slightly above the general average in the Chemical
Industry, which was confirmed in the interviews in depth
carried out in four of these companies.
As regards labour categories, the
two groups of multinational studied agree to point out that the
greatest difficulties are found in the spheres of less
qualification (Table 5). The assesment carried out by both goups
amongst the employees with higher qualification varies
considerably. German companies do not seem to find serious
problems in the Spanish market, whereas the problems are more
important in the Dutch case.
Now, the small number of Dutch
companies that confirmed they had experienced difficulties to
hire specialised manpower in the Spanish market makes us be
careful to consider these results. In any case, it does not seem
risky to state that, in general, not an excessive number of
problems to recruit qualified manpower in the Spanish market are
observed amongst the surveyed subsidiaries, and that, when
difficulties exist, they are more noticeable in the group of
workers with intermediate and low qualification levels.
TABLE 5.- TYPOLOGY OF THE
PERSONNEL WHERE DIFFICULTIES ARE FOUND IN THE SPANISH SUPPLY.
TYPE OF PERSONNEL | German Companies | Dutch Companies | G | % D |
DIRECTORS AND ENGINEERS | 13 | 2 | 25 | 40 |
INTERMEDIATE MANAGERS | 24 | 2 | 46 | 40 |
OTHER PERSONNEL | 33 | 3 | 64 | 60 |
ALL LEVELS | 1 | - | 2 | - |
UNDETERMINED | 2 | - | 4 | - |
SOURCE: Vid. Table 1
NOTE: The total sum of the
percentage columns is over 100, due to the fact that one company
can find difficulties in more than one personnel category.
Both groups coincided in remarking
the lack of personnel with some command of foreign languages in
the Spanish supply. This aspect was stressed in the case of the
German subsidiaries facing the small number of workers with some
command of German. Since the use of foreign languages is accepted
as a key tool to tackle the challenges of a growing competition
(HIDALGO, 1994), there is an area left in need of attention by
the educational policy.
From a sectorial standpoint, we
can see that the problems of recruitment of highly qualified
personnel are more relevant in the sectors of Chemical and
Construction of Machinery and Electrical Materials.
Also, the greatest gaps to hire Intermediate Managers are
detected in the sectors of Construction of Machinery and Mechanical
Equipment, Manufacturing of Electronical Material and Manufacturing
of Equipment, Car Accesories and Spare Parts. Finally,
the jobs of lowest qualification present recruitment problems in
a wide range of sectors, but mainly in Cars, both
manufacturing and auxiliary services, Construction of
Machinery and Mechanical Equipment, as well as Manufacturing
of Metallic Products.
By relating the possible
difficulties that companies have to hire specialised manpower in
the Spanish market to their size, it is possible to analyse
whether this variable is a differenciating element, both
regarding the perceived difficulties and the categories where
they take place. Thus, the companies' difficulties to have
specialised manpower are bigger in large companies. Nearly 73
percent of the firms with more than 1000 workers declare they
have hiring problems in the Spanish supply of specialised work,
whereas only 42 percent of the small ones answer affirmatively to
a similar exposition. (Table 3).
On the other hand, the noticeable
differences make evident that the degree of complexity in the
productions of big organisations requires a higher qualification
of their work factor and, therefore, the shortcomings of the
Spanish market to meet the specific demands of these
organisations are bigger.
By establishing a connection
between the size of the companies with the typology of the
workers where recruitment problems are perceived, the previous
comments can be completed with some notes. For instance, the
difficulties of higher qualified personnel are more obvious in
big companies. Shortcomings in the Spanish work supply are more
evident for big companies in the categories of Directors and
Intermediate Managers. Likewise, smaller companies find the
biggest problems in the recruitment of personnel of lower rank
and Intermediate Managers.
IV.- CONCLUSIONS
The growing degree of
internationalisation of economies, the progressive increase of
competition, and the evident technological change can serve as
characteristical notes of the worldwide economic background in
the nineties'. In this context, and as a universally accepted
fact, human capital becomes an essential resource for enterprise
competition which extends to each country.
From this starting point, and in
the Spanish scope, the analysis of some of the central cores
around which an enterprising strategy in terms of human capital
is articulated was considered relevant. For this reason, and due
to the strong imbrication of the foreign company in the Spanish
economic substratum, the analysis focused on the groups of German
and Dutch subsidiaries that operate in our country.
In general, the empirical evidence
brought out some interesting facts. First, the technological
innovations introduced by companies in the eighties' involved
substancial changes in work methods that brought about new
requirements in workers' qualification; those needs were more
compelling amongst the workers with lower levels of professional
qualifications.
Secondly, less than half the
companies studied have found difficulties to recruit specialised
manpower in the Spanish market, difficulties that were bigger
amongst employees with lower qualifications. This fact reveals
certain weaknesses in the Spanish education system which must be
overcome. To this purpose, it seems advisable to think of a
design of an educational project according to the demands of
technological change, which is able to provide workers with a
broader and more polivalent formation. These aspects are directly
connected with the need of the educational policy to tackle an
intense reform of secondary education without delay, especially
of vocational education, in order to integrate it fully and
efficiently in the national productive system.
Finally, training is taking shape
as a key element for the defence of three flanks: the demands of
qualification brought about by technological change; the
overcoming of the existing gaps in the Spanish specialised
supply, and the response to the challenge of an ever increasing
competition. Consequently, the hypothesis presented in the
beginning of the article seems to consolidate, which stated that
the training schemes in the analysed subsidiaries are established
to tackle both the changes in qualification caused by
technological innovations and, to a lower degree, to overcome
some of the shortcomings which exist in the Spanish market for
some specialised jobs. However, again through the explanatory
information obtained from the interviews, we can state that
training programs are adapted to specific posts in most
situations; this training line is coincident with the general
trend observed in the whole of the Spanish market.
ABSTRACT
By accepting the relevance of
human resources in the determination of the levels of
productivity in the company, in this article some aspects of
enterprising strategy concerning human capital are tackled,
studied in two groups of multinational firms: German and Dutch;
both groups have an important presence in the Spanish economic
framework. The outcome underlines that the technological changes
of the last years have affected significantly the qualification
levels of manpower in general. Training schemes appear as a
company strategic response to tackle the requirements brought
about by technological change, on the one hand, and to fill the
gaps detected in the recruitment of specialised work in the
Spanish supply, on the other. Evidence points towards the jobs
that need less preparation as the most affected ones by the
introduction of technological innovations.
REFERENCES
BECKER, G; MURPHY, K. y TAMURA, R.
(1990): "Human Capital, Fertility and Economic Growth"
In Journal of Political Economy. Vol. 98, num 5.
BUCKLEY, P. y ARTISIEN, P. (1987):
North-South Direct Investment in the European Communities: The
Employment Impact of Direct Investment by British, French and
German Multinationals in Greece, Portugal and Spain.
Macmillan Press. London.
BUESA, M. y MOLERO, J. (1988): Estructura
Industrial de España. Fondo de Cultura Económica. Madrid.
BUESA, M. y MOLERO, J. (1993): Estrategias
de las Empresas de Capital Extranjero en España. El caso de las
filiales de multinacionales holandesas. Instituto de
Análisis Industrial y Financiero. Complutense University. Mimeo.
BUESA, M.; MOLERO, J. y FERNANDEZ,
J. (1990): "Requerimientos de formación en puestos de
trabajo vinculados al uso o generación de tecnologías
innovadoras" in Revista de Educación, núm. 293.
Septiembre-Diciembre.
CAMARAS DE COMERCIO, INDUSTRIA Y
NAVEGACION DE ESPAÑA (1992): La Formación Profesional en el
Nuevo Contexto Europeo. Madrid.
CANTWELL, J. (1990): "The
growing internationalization of industry: a comparison of the
changing structure of company activity in the major
industrialized countries" in WEBSTER, A. y DUNNING, J.
(Eds): Structural Change in the World Economy. Routledge.
London.
CARRASCOSA, A. (1991): "Notas
sobre el origen geográfico de la inversión extranjera directa
en España" in Revista de Economía, num. 9.
CASADO, M. (1992): Las Estrategias de las Empresas Multinacionales en España dentro del Nuevo Espacio Económico Europeo: el caso de las filiales alemanas". Ph.D. dissertation. Faculty of Economics. Complutense University. Madrid.
COOPERS & LYBRAND ASSOCIATES
(1985): A Challenge to Complacency: Changing Attitudes to
Training. A report to the Manpower Services Commission and
the National Economic Development Office. Coopers & Lybrand
associates. November. London.
DALY, A.; HITCHENS, D. y WAGNER,
K. (1985): "Productivity, machinery and skills in a sample
of British and German manufacturing plants", in National
Institute Economic Review. Vol. III. February.
DUNNING, J. (1993): The
Globalization of Business. Routledge. London.
THE ECONOMIST PUBLICATIONS
(1990/1991): "Multinational management strategies" in Multinational
Business, num. 4.
FREEMAN, C. y OLDHAM, G. (1991):
"Beyond the Single Market" en FREEMAN, C.; SHARP, M. y
WALKER, W. (Eds.): Technology and the Future of Europe.
Pinter Publishers. London.
GUEST, D. (1987): "Human
resource management and industrial relations" en Journal
of Management Studies. Vol. 24. num.5.
HIDALGO, A. (1994): "La
formación como factor estratégico de la competitividad en
Europa" in Boletín ICE, num. 2403. Madrid.
H.M.S.O. (1989): Training in
Britain. A Study of Funding, Activity, and Attitudes. The
Main Report. England.
THE INDUSTRIAL SOCIETY (1985): A
Survey of Training Costs. The Industrial Society, num. 1.
London.
IRANZO, S. (1991):
"Inversión extranjera directa: una estimación de la
aportación real y financiera de las empresas extranjeras en
España" in Información Comercial Española, nums.
696-697. Agoust.September.
JUHL, P. (1985): "West
Germany's participation in international trade, investment and
technology transfer" en DUNNING, J. (Ed.): Multinational
Enterprises, Economic Structure and International Competitiveness.
John Wiley & Sons. Chichester.
LUCAS, J. (1990): "Why
doesn't capital flow from rich to poor countries?" in American
Economic Review, vol. 80. 2. May.
MARTINEZ SERRANO, J. y MYRO, R.
(1992): "La penetración del capital extranjero en la
industria española" in Moneda y Crédito, num. 194.
MODREGO, A. (1993):
"Innovación tecnológica, competitividad y formación de
recursos humanos" in CIRCULO DE EMPRESARIOS: Política
Económica y las Reformas Estructurales de la Economía Española.
Madrid.
MOLERO, J.; BUESA, M. y FERNANDEZ,
J. (1990): Demandas del Sistema Productivo Español y
Adaptación de la Oferta Educativa. Centro de Publicaciones
del Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia. CIDE. Madrid.
MUÑOZ, J.; ROLDAN, S. y SERRANO,
A.: La Internacionalización del Capital en España.
Edicusa. Madrid.
MYRO, R. y GANDOY, R. (1993):
"Sector Industrial" in GARCIA DELGADO (dir): Lecciones
de Economía Española. Editorial Civitas. Madrid.
PORTER, M. (1990): The
Competitive Advantage of Nations. Macmillan Press. London.
PRICE WATERHOUSE (1990): The
Price Waterhouse Cranfield Project on International Strategic
Human Resource Management. Price Waterhouse. London.
RHINESMITH, H.; WILLIAMSON, J.;
EHLEN, D. y MAXWELL, D. (1989): "Developing leaders for the
global enterprise" en Training and Development Journal.
April.
SCHULTZ, T. (1980): "Nobel
Lecture: The Economics of being poor" in Journal of
Political Economy. August.
SENKER, P. y BRADY, T. (1989):
"Corporate strategy: skills, education and training" in
DODGSON, M. (Ed.): Technology Strategy and the Firm:
Management and Public Policy. Longman Group. London.
SENKER, J. y SENKER, P. (1990): Technical
Change in the 1990's: Implications for Skills, Training and
Employment. SPRU. Paper. February.
TAYLOR, D. (1989):
"Training" in MOLANDER, C. (Ed.): Human Resource
Management. Chartwell-Bratt. Sweden.
THUROW, L. (1992): La Guerra
del Siglo XXI. Javier Vergara Editor. Buenos Aires.
TRAINING & DEVELOPMENT JOURNAL
(1990): May. August and June 1989. Published by American Society
for Training and Development.
UNITED NATIONS CENTRE ON
TRANSNATIONAL CORPORATIONS (1988): Transnational Corporations
in World Development. Trends and Prospects. United Nations.
New York.
WERTHER, W. y DAVIS, K. (1982): Personnel
Management and Human Resources. MacGraw-Hill. England.
YEOMANS, (1989): "Building
competitiveness through HRD renewal" en Training &
Development Journal. October.
Menú principal de la Biblioteca de la Universidad Complutense | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Catálogo BUC | Servicios | Bibliotecas de Centros | Internet por materias | Búsquedas |
Fecha de actualización: 07/08/98