General Motors Co. (GM) announced on Friday, October 3rd that it was recalling approximately 530,000 vehicles due to potential latch problems and loose parts. The recalls consist mainly of Cadillac and Saab SUVs and small Chevrolet cars. This could bring General Motors (the number 1 car manufacturer in the United States) to 71 this year and tarnish the reputation of the company. In addition, GM told dealerships to stop selling the newly released Chevrolet and the GMC Canyon due to possible airbag problems.

This obviously shines a negative light on any company but especially GM who is trying to bounce back from the financial crisis of 2008 in which the suffered tremendous losses. GM has a history of recalls and due to the nature of these recalls, people’s views on the company are turning to be more negative. GM is still a reputable company, and mistakes are of course inevitable. However, because these cars have defects that could possibly endanger the lives of customers, I think that it gives consumers reasons to choose competing car manufacturers over GM.

The government of Ontario is requesting the school board trustees to reverse their decision on a pay raise they granted themselves. On average, school board trustees earn from $5,900 to $6,900 however, the Government imposed a “salary freeze ” upon the trustees for a period of 4 years. As a result, the trustees feel disrespected and under compensated for their services.

Education is an extremely important element of society and it is important to ensure that the quality of education in a developed country  such as Canada is of the highest quality. The government’s rationale for extending the salary freeze is that everyone needs to play their part in order to put less strain on the government’s financial abilities. However, I feel that a small increase such as 4% in the salaries of school board trustees, who already earn very little is not going to be a major financial burden on the government. To them it is not about the money but also about feeling appreciated. In addition, one can relate this situation to the one in British Columbia, in which educators were in the midst of negotiation for such a long period of time until the government finally gave in. The only party that would lose in a situation like this is the students who are in essence the future.

Chinese executives claim that the labour laws in place in B.C. are limiting them in the way they are used to doing business. They are complaining that labour costs take up 35% of all operational expenses and that the minimum wage and maximum work week hours are hurtful for their businesses. This is due to the labour regulations in China; which are rarely enforced. China’s business laws are in the extreme favour of business owners and as a result, the workers have no opportunity to economically advance. The backward mentality in China is such that they own the workers and treat them very poorly and compensate them with very little.

Although I understand that it is important to stay profitable as a business; it is also crucial to treat workers well and abide the laws in place. A company is what it is due to the hard work of the employees and cutting costs by under compensating them, a negative environment will be created. As a result, quality of work will naturally deteriorate and it is the company that will ultimately suffer. After taking an organizational behaviour course, I realize that it is crucial to make sure that the employees of a company are kept happy and motivated in order to achieve a high level of efficiency.