Human Resource Management Issues at the Port Kembla Steelworks (PDF)

Document from the year 2015 in the subject Business economics - Business Management, Corporate Governance, grade: 2, , language: English, abstract: The steel industry in the world has, in the recent past, had its fair share of challenges. The Australian steel industry, in particular, is an embodiment of such problems. Among other obstacles, such industries face climate change challenges, human resource and constraints associated with the raw materials.

Looking back at history, however, the steel manufacturing in Australia has never had it smooth. The genesis of the trouble that has plagued the industry ever since is the inauspicious beginning following the 1840's discovery of iron deposits at Iron Knob, SA. As a result of poor quality of the iron ore and the coke, the steel imports from Britain presented stiff competition. As such, the Australian industry stalled in the 1870s. But at the onset of the twentieth century, the industry rose from the dust due to the increasing demand for steel. Among other steelworks that went into operation at the time include the Port Kembla industry in the New South Wales. But as such events as the first world war set in, the demand for steel overly burgeoned almost tripling the initial demand. As such, most of the aspects and factors of production in a larger industry were overlooked. Staffing, production, availability of raw materials and market availability were some of the overlooked aspects at the time. Such negligent would later come to haunt the Australian steel industry leading to the closure of some of the most steelworks.

The challenges, primarily human resource, are the basis for the following discussion