Labour Relations Response to the changing Workplace

Question 1

What are the 2 Theories of Human Motivation and Management?

Answer 1

Theory X
-dislike for work
-people must be directed
-employees are lazy
Theory Y
-Effort is as natural as play and rest
-Ppl are self directed
-Seeks out responsibility
-High degree of imagination

Question 2

What are the assumptions of Taylorism?

Answer 2

• People dislike work
• Pay is more important than job content
• Managers simplify work tasks
• Managers must closely supervise and control employees
• workers will produce up to standard if pay is decent and they are closely controlled
• *this created boring jobs because nobody got to see the finished products of their jobs

Question 3

1. Narrow job definitions
2. High number of job grades
3. Employees communicate through the union
4. Emphasis on the grievance system
5. Distrust of teams
6. Seniority the basis for job allocation
7. Distrust of employee involvement
8. Pay linked to job titles, not to firms performance
9. Standard wages across the industry
10. Unions protect jobs by limiting management authority
    (importance of collective agreement work rules)***
    *What is this system called?

Answer 3

Job control unionism

Question 4

What changed the system since the 1980’s?

Answer 4

Economic changes - freer trade, privatization - shifted initiative to management - they needed to bring down costs so they decided to treat the employees better

Question 5

Strategic Choice Theory

Answer 5

Different firms will choose different responses to these changed economic conditions. Ex) union avoidance or opposition

Question 6

What are the factors that affect employer’s LR strategy(8)?

Answer 6

1. Competitive strategy of employer
2. Union status of competitors
3. Experience with unionization
4. Management values or ideology
5. Union Philosophy
6. Union power and ability to oppose employer
7. Types of employees
8. Legal environement

Question 7

What are the 2 types of LR HRM Strategy?

Answer 7

1. High Commitment

2. Low commitment

Question 8

Explain low commitment strategy and give an example

Answer 8

Cost Leadership:

• competes on prices
• emphasizes low cost
  ex) Walmart
• lower wages
• lower skill levels
• layoffs/outsources
• building employee and union trust not too important

Question 9

Explain high commitment strategy and give an example

Answer 9

Differentiation:
-compete on quality and innovation
-emphasize quality
Holt Renfrew

• Higher wages
• Highly skilled employees
• Employee involvement
• Trust & commitment is critical

Question 10

What are 10 policies and practices for a high performance work system?

Answer 10

1. High standards in selection
2. Job redesign - job enrichment and autonomy
3. High compensation (and based on org. performance)
4. Information sharing
5. Employment security
6. Minimal status differences (btw management an ee’s ex) bathrooms)
7. Employee involvement
8. Dispute resolution systems
9. Training and skills development
10. Performance expectations emphasize continuous improvement
    * ** will need to pick a bunch of these to be successful

Question 11

What are some forms of employee involvement (10)?

*Whole foods is a great example of company who does this

Answer 11

1. Quality circles
2. Problem solving groups
3. Employee-management committees
4. Self-managed teams
5. Co-determination - employees have a say in big decisions (super complicated and very time consuming - benefits are questionable)
6. Less reliance on Tayloristic work principles
7. Reorganize work (greater use of teams, flexible jobs, job enrichment)
8. More emphasis on skills and training
9. Increase employee commitment and motivation and sharing of financial info
10. Compensation linked to performance

Question 12

Who adopts innovative practices?

Answer 12

• Larger firms
• Firms facing some sort of crisis
• Whether the firm is unionized or not does NOT affect the willingness to adopt innovations

Question 13

What are some benefits of innovative practices?

Answer 13

• Innovative HRM practices lead to some improved productivity and employee satisfaction
• Innovative HRM practices helps firms maintain committed staff
• better to implement as packages, not piecemeal - otherwise innovations will be short lived

Question 14

What type of conflict is in traditional workplaces?

Answer 14

Distributive

Question 15

What type of conflict is in innovative workplaces?

Answer 15

Integrative

Question 16

8 barriers to the adoptions of Employee involvement

Answer 16

1. History of poor labour relations
2. Financial cost
3. Short-term mindset that views investment in employees as costly and views labour cost reduction as a better strategy
4. Lack of necessary skills and sophistication
5. Knowledge gap
6. Managers not prepared to share power w/ employees
7. Union officials who think role of union is to oppose management, not to co-manage workplace
8. Union officials who think the employee involvement and other innovations are adopted to weaken the union

Question 17

What are 6 success factors in implementing union management collaboration?

Answer 17

1. Management & union are equal partners
2. Innovations (such as employee involvement in decision making) should not replace or weaken collective bargaining, grievance procedure or employees attachment to union
3. Be careful when introducing innovations during or just after layoffs
4. collaborative efforts often involve a long, slow process - keep expectations realistic
5. prepare to deal with opposition from:
   - some supervisors
   - some union officials
   - some employees
6. Keep all parties informed about changes to minimize uncertainty