Labor Market in Corporations

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Table of Contents

Introduction and Executive Summary
General and Specific Analysis
Literature Review
Skills, Knowledge and Aptitudes for Entry
Normal Career Path
Employment Prospects: Long Term and Medium Term
Value of Internship and Work Experience
Feedback from Learning Set
Conclusion
Reference List

Introduction and Executive Summary

Labor market consists of four sections. This includes skilled, semi-skilled, unskilled and professional labor. This paper analyzes the labor market from the professional perspective. It narrows down to Management Consulting.

The paper also looks at the applicability of views of Scholars in a Literature Review. Finally, I analyze the requirements for entry into this market and employment prospects in the medium-term and long-term.

General and Specific Analysis

Labor market is of a forum where people trade their skills and knowledge. This forum consists of those who want the skills and knowledge and those who wish to provide them. Demand and supply may not always be the same. Sometimes supply exceeds demand. Employers are the people who buy these skills or enter into this market to seek people with particular skills. The holders of the skills are employees.

The labor market has four major sections. This includes the skilled labor, unskilled labor, professional labor and semi-skilled labor. In this paper, I will discuss Management Consulting.

This falls under professional labor. In summary, the rest consist of a different set of skills. If I may use a typical organization that manufactures vehicles as an example, skilled labor includes the persons whose technical skills form the core business. They design the vehicles and look into the intricacies that follow.

Semi-skilled labor includes the others who make the organization to flow smoothly. This includes secretaries and bookkeepers. Lastly, the unskilled labor includes messengers and gatekeepers among others. This last set does not require any skills to enable them complete assignments.

In this paper, I will discuss Management Consulting. This falls in the category of professional labor. The people who offer this are highly trained in their fields. They have in-depth knowledge acquired through experience and education. Their advice is paramount to the success of an organization.

They undertake highly specialized duties. A professional takes quite some time to acquire that expertise. Hence, growth in only one area seems logical. This category consists of doctors, consultants, health practitioners and lawyers. The former list is an example of a possible long list.

Literature Review

Different scholars present different but related views on this subject.

In his article in Harvard Business Review, Kim Chan looks at fair Knowledge Management in a perceived unfair economy. He presents this idea by looking at a case study involving a woman and a police officer. Apparently, there is a big gap between integrity and the need to offer good services.

Considering this is a public figure and the women goes ahead to demand her rightful duties, it is clear to me that the context has completely changed. The economy both at the micro and macro levels present a different operating context as opposed to what was happening some time back.

Does this mean that we use unfair means to justify our ends? In the above case, the writer brings about the perspective of bad labor use. He insinuates that big corporations use the exceedingly available labor in the world to oppress both the givers of labor and overcharge the recipients of the products at their advantage (Kim Chan 2003).

Ballou and Heitger, also writing for the Harvard Business Review, look at a risky section of the labor market. This labor market consists of unskilled workers. This article is critical to my discussion as it points out the intricate nature of the labor market. With governments and rights organizations constantly pressuring business organizations to uphold human rights in hiring, there is an immediate need to look for cheaper solutions.

That is the reason some American companies shifted to China to tap into the lowly paid and highly available unskilled workforce. Additionally, China does not have strict labor laws as compared to USA. To me, this is a pointer of the things to come in future. A worker will have a clear backing from any quarter. On the other hand, organizations may have to rethink strategy.

Professional workforce in different countries receives different remunerations. Studies show that even in the smallest regional area like a country, payment may vary a lot. As the geographical area increases, so does the discrepancy. For example, in south and East Africa, professionals receive very different payments.

South Africa pays professional quite well followed by Kenya. In the remaining countries, professional labor does not attract good remuneration. However, payments in western countries cannot compare with the African counterparts (Ballou and Heitger 2006).

In another Article Michael Yaziji asks whether time to rethink capitalism has come. He looks at a situation where an investor would put up so much capital and offer employment in a firm. This capital is at risk of depletion if factors such as poor reception or mismanagement come into play. Hence, he has enough justification to pay workers poorly to compensate for the huge risk he takes.

The article, further, puts this into a context sometime back and concludes that this is what happened. The laborers received poor pays and their working packages did not include permanency. The writer continues to asses this as regards the current set up. Tables have turned and employees form a core business outlook in any organization (Yaziji 2008).

Skills, Knowledge and Aptitudes for Entry

Professional labor requires expertise in the field of entry. Management Consultants must understand most of the organizational functions.

For example, it is critical for a Management Consultant to understand personnel, core business strengths and weaknesses, an external environmental analysis and goals plus objectives formulation. He should also have an exceptional knowledge in risk assessment using various models and intuition. A Management Consultant should also have a visionary attitude (Schmidt 2000).

It is paramount that the person has prior knowledge in management and an education in that field. This includes professional and academic fronts. This way he will understand different models and theories proposed by other scholars and appreciate them.

He may incorporate them in his consultancy work. Considering that work in this field changes constantly, it is paramount to have adequate flexibility and ability to handle different situations differently. This will ensure that a consultant meets clients’ specific needs (Schmidt 2000).

Other skills that help a consultant in line of duty include time management skills, discipline, interpersonal, people skills, and good oral and writing skills. He should also have the ability to bond well with people from different backgrounds. He should also have exceptional creativity and analytical ability.

Statistics show that Management Consultants’ demand has increased over the last decade. Most businesses required a professional dimension. Many people run business from a personal or a family level. It is not common to find a business whose foundation is professionalism.

Hence, there is a huge gap to ensure that there is a professional dimension to the running of a business. This is not willingness. Rather, it is the demand of the current market where competition and sophistication of end users dictate requirements (Schmidt 2000).

Normal Career Path

Professional jobs do not have a particular career path. This is because they are not a normal job. It is possible to start immediately after completing a Master’s class. This is the minimum recommendation for entry. After that, the person may enter into formal employment. This is not mandatory but it is important. A person acquires experience of a real work environment.

In the case of a Management Consultant, understanding various functions of the organization is critical. However, it means that one has to incorporate wide knowledge in quick assessment of an organization and offer quick solutions.

Hence, experience matters extensively. A Management Consultant does not retire early. However, that is not dependent upon outside factors as a person can decide to retire at whatever age or time in his career (Schmidt 2000).

Employment Prospects: Long Term and Medium Term

Studies show that there is a promising positive trend as far as Management Consulting goes. As we approach the first quarter of the 21^st century, the market for both goods and services becomes more complicated. Liberalization is the order of the day. This leads to cut throat competition. Companies try to outdo each other to win the majority share in the market.

The market, on the other hand, is sophisticated and more demanding compared to the last century. This trend will continue as information becomes easily accessible to everyone. Currently, a customer can easily get a huge number of similar products at the click of a button. Therefore, what makes a company stand out is the selling point (Schmidt 2000).

There is also the government. It defines the rules of the game. Government involvement in the livelihoods of its citizens in the current century is beyond expectation. As more governments become democratic, the power shifts to the people. Hence, regulations and policies formulations are in line with the demands of the people. Consequently, corporations have no choice but to give people what they want.

At the backdrop of the above discussion, it follows that organizations need to reengineer to meet different needs. Hence, as we live this era, there is need for professionals to ensure organizations achieve this goal. Management Consultants are those professionals. This trend will continue as more people become increasingly aware of their rights as citizens and information becomes more available.

Demographic studies show that the world’s population is growing at a high rate. Estimations show that it currently stands at over seven billion. This is a very huge market. Hence, many small and medium enterprises will come up to meet the inherent demand in goods and services (Schmidt 2000).

Value of Internship and Work Experience

Most professional jobs require in-depth experience. In most cases, there is a direct relationship between growth plus subsequent remuneration at work and the years of experience. When people hire expertise, they pay differently. Normally, the professional with a high reputational standing and experience receives the highest payment. Sometimes, certain group of people can hire a certain professional.

It is also important to have mentorship while at school. The value of internship is enormous. However, just as the value of these two is indispensable, learning and education is paramount. A person learns some of these jobs best while actually doing them.

For example, a doctor needs real patients to learn. A Management Consultant needs real organizations to learn. Normally, attaining this education is a costly affair. It also takes a lot of time (Schmidt 2000).

Feedback from Learning Set

Management Consulting is a professional job that requires enormous input. In the labor market, emphasis on this labor type has not been explicit. However, it is increasingly becoming a required business tool to ensure success.

From what I learnt, the drivers of this change are the people who form the market, governments, rights organizations and the competitive environment because of free availability of information. It also brings out a clearer understanding of labor market (Schmidt 2000).

Conclusion

It is evident that the market for labor is different from what it was a decade ago. Free information and availability of rights organizations makes it mandatory for corporations to have a sense of responsibility. In the professional world, this is not too common. This is because in most cases organizations hire the best they can get to tackle one-off tasks.

However, the case is quite different in the unskilled and semiskilled departments. These form majority of the workforce. Corporations do not respect the rights of these segments. It is also evident that professionals require longer times to learn and gain experience. He should also have the ability to bond well with people from different backgrounds.

Reference List

Ballou, B. & Heitger, D.L. 2006, Tapping a Risky Labor Pool. Web.

Kim Chan, W. 2003, Fair Process: Managing in the Knowledge Economy. Web.

Schmidt, J. 2000, Disciplined Minds – A Critical Look at Salaried Professionals and the Soul-Battering System that Shapes their Lives, Rowman & Littlefield, New York.

Yaziji, M. 2008, Time to Rethink Capitalism? Web.

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