百度与罢工员工举行谈判
Posted: May 18th, 2009, 3:39 am
百度在薪酬政策上的执行偏差（减薪幅度、执行上的地区差异、市场外部环境）导致员工罢工进而危害到企业运营，分析公司的薪酬结构设计与外部环境因素（市场的不成熟体现在哪些方面）对组织绩效与运营的重要性。
* TECHNOLOGY * MAY 18, 2009
China's Baidu Holds Talks With Its Striking Workers
By LORETTA CHAO
BEIJING -- Executives of Baidu Inc., China's leading Internet search company, held talks over the weekend with striking workers who say they are angry over salary cuts and new sales commission policies that they believe are designed to force them out of their jobs.
Hundreds of Baidu employees in southern China have either stayed home or gone to the office and refused to work since May 4.
The industrial action burst into the open on Friday, when several hundred employees of the Shenzhen office marched to their local labor bureau to file a complaint against the company, according to strikers and officials in the labor bureau. In the nearby city of Guangzhou, the labor bureau said it had received complaints from "scores" of employees.
Baidu executives declined to comment. Several striking workers, who spoke to The Wall Street Journal on condition of anonymity said that on May 1 Baidu cut the base salaries of sales agents, which averaged about 4,000 yuan ($590), by about 30%. At the same time it raised sales targets and threatened to withhold commissions and dismiss sales agents who failed to meet them.
The company "wants us to feel uncomfortable and choose to leave the company voluntarily," said one of the strikers in Shenzhen, adding that he didn't think negotiations would be easy.
Employees said they believe the measures apply only to staff in the company's southern offices. The strikers are demanding that the company cancel the new policies and fire the regional executives who introduced them. They will go to work on Monday to hear the company's response, and may continue the strike if they are not satisfied.
Baidu has been investing heavily in marketing to restore its image after receiving negative publicity late last year for carrying ads from unlicensed medical companies.
The company employs thousands of staff in China, which has the world's largest number of Internet users but a relatively immature Internet advertising market. Baidu relies heavily on its sales teams to aggressively call and educate potential customers, typically small- to medium-sized business owners with limited knowledge of Internet marketing.
Baidu is by far the leader in China's Internet search market with about three times the share of industry revenue as chief rival Google Inc. But it is facing a challenge from reduced advertising spend in the slowing economy and posted quarter-to-quarter falls in revenue in the last quarter of 2008 and the first quarter of 2009.
Still, Baidu reported that year-to-year income in the first quarter of 2009 rose 24% to 181.1 million yuan ($26.5 million), exceeding expectations despite spending 40 million yuan ($5.85 million) on a high-profile television ad campaign to offset the bad publicity.
Liu Ning, an analyst for consulting firm BDA China Ltd., said that despite its better-than-expected income performance, Baidu is facing growing pressure from all sides. "Their clients are small to medium-sized enterprises, which are under a lot of pressure now because of the economy," Mr. Liu said.
Baidu's shares have rebounded since taking a dive in November after the bad publicity. Shares closed at $235.01 Friday, 134% higher than its lowest trade in the past year.
source: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124255398780927552.html
* TECHNOLOGY * MAY 18, 2009
China's Baidu Holds Talks With Its Striking Workers
By LORETTA CHAO
BEIJING -- Executives of Baidu Inc., China's leading Internet search company, held talks over the weekend with striking workers who say they are angry over salary cuts and new sales commission policies that they believe are designed to force them out of their jobs.
Hundreds of Baidu employees in southern China have either stayed home or gone to the office and refused to work since May 4.
The industrial action burst into the open on Friday, when several hundred employees of the Shenzhen office marched to their local labor bureau to file a complaint against the company, according to strikers and officials in the labor bureau. In the nearby city of Guangzhou, the labor bureau said it had received complaints from "scores" of employees.
Baidu executives declined to comment. Several striking workers, who spoke to The Wall Street Journal on condition of anonymity said that on May 1 Baidu cut the base salaries of sales agents, which averaged about 4,000 yuan ($590), by about 30%. At the same time it raised sales targets and threatened to withhold commissions and dismiss sales agents who failed to meet them.
The company "wants us to feel uncomfortable and choose to leave the company voluntarily," said one of the strikers in Shenzhen, adding that he didn't think negotiations would be easy.
Employees said they believe the measures apply only to staff in the company's southern offices. The strikers are demanding that the company cancel the new policies and fire the regional executives who introduced them. They will go to work on Monday to hear the company's response, and may continue the strike if they are not satisfied.
Baidu has been investing heavily in marketing to restore its image after receiving negative publicity late last year for carrying ads from unlicensed medical companies.
The company employs thousands of staff in China, which has the world's largest number of Internet users but a relatively immature Internet advertising market. Baidu relies heavily on its sales teams to aggressively call and educate potential customers, typically small- to medium-sized business owners with limited knowledge of Internet marketing.
Baidu is by far the leader in China's Internet search market with about three times the share of industry revenue as chief rival Google Inc. But it is facing a challenge from reduced advertising spend in the slowing economy and posted quarter-to-quarter falls in revenue in the last quarter of 2008 and the first quarter of 2009.
Still, Baidu reported that year-to-year income in the first quarter of 2009 rose 24% to 181.1 million yuan ($26.5 million), exceeding expectations despite spending 40 million yuan ($5.85 million) on a high-profile television ad campaign to offset the bad publicity.
Liu Ning, an analyst for consulting firm BDA China Ltd., said that despite its better-than-expected income performance, Baidu is facing growing pressure from all sides. "Their clients are small to medium-sized enterprises, which are under a lot of pressure now because of the economy," Mr. Liu said.
Baidu's shares have rebounded since taking a dive in November after the bad publicity. Shares closed at $235.01 Friday, 134% higher than its lowest trade in the past year.
source: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124255398780927552.html