Understanding Labor Relations, ICT, and Stock Management

Labor Relations

Labor relations involve the company's interactions with employee representatives, which can include:

• Company Committee: In companies with over 50 employees.
• Staff Officer: Up to 3 in companies with between 10 and 50 employees.
• Representatives: Unions are associations of workers created to defend their common interests. All workers have the freedom of association.

The company and employee representatives collaborate on collective labor conditions, negotiate collective agreements, and seek solutions to conflicts. A collective agreement is a contract negotiated and concluded by representatives of workers and employers, regulating working conditions in a specific geographic area and activity.

If the company and employees disagree on an aspect of the employment relationship and no solution is reached through agreement, conciliation, or mediation, a strike or lockout may occur if no settlement is reached.

Control of Personnel

This involves managing staff motivation, assessing performance, controlling absenteeism, managing staffing levels, overseeing overtime, and tracking employee movements.

ICT (Information and Communication Technology)

ICT is used for:

• Recruiting staff
• Managing knowledge (of customers, experience, contacts, details, etc.)
• Facilitating remote working
• Exchanging information

Examples of ICT usage include:

• Intranet: An internal computer network with internal email.
• Telecommuting: Work done outside the company through the internet.

Stock Management

Stocks are a reservoir of raw materials, materials, finished products, and merchandise. Reserve stocks are necessary because inputs and outputs don't always match, and to maintain a buffer against unexpected demand increases or delays in order fulfillment.

Types of Inventory

• Raw materials and semi-finished products (destined for a manufacturing process)
• Goods and finished goods (destined for customers)
• Parts (for machinery and equipment)

Store Management

"Just-in-Time" Method

Production only occurs when there is an order.

"Wilson" Model

This model calculates the optimal order quantity and the optimal time to order. The optimal order quantity is the square root of (2 * the cost to issue an order * the quantity ordered per year) / inventory costs of a product.