Perspectives of industrial relations Flashcards
The management of workers is influenced by views on industrial relations practice, what are these views?
- Unitary perspective
- Pluralist perspective
What is the unitary perspective?
It places an emphasis on strategy and the strategic fit between an organization’s human resource strategy and its broader business strategies
What are the distinguishing features or assumptions of the unitary perspective?
- work organization is an integrated entity with a common purpose and a shared goal.
- the employment relationship is based on mutual cooperation and harmony of interest between employers and employees.
- there is no fundamental conflict between those who own capital and those who supply labour
- Industrial conflict is temporary or the product of bad behaviour by troublemakers, poor management or bad communications
- trade unions are usually regarded as unwelcome intruders and their presence upsets the unified and cooperative structure that exists within the organization
- unions are in competition with management for the loyalty of employees.
- it promotes strong leadership in order to achieve the commitment of employees to the job and to the organization
- represents a single source of authority and a single focus of authority
- represents a single source of authority and a single focus of loyalty
What is one criticism of the unitary perspective?
It takes a narrow view of the nature of industrial conflict over the distribution of the proceeds of the business, security of employment, the status of labour as a factor of production, and the issues of power and control in industrial decision making
What is the pluralist approach to industrial relations?
It points to the likelihood of diverse interest groups and multiple forms of loyalty and attachment. It points out that management needs to recognize that there are other legitimate sources of leadership and focus of loyalty within an organization and that they must share their decision-making authority with these competing interest groups
What are some assumptions or distinguishing features of the pluralist approach?
- a firm has people with different interests, aims and aspirations. Power is therefore diffused among the main bargaining groups in such a way that no party dominates the others
- The employment relationship is open-ended and indeterminate, creating an employment underlying structural antagonism that has the potential to produce conflict in the labour market and the workplace
- The state is regarded as the impartial guardian of the ‘public interest’. Its role is to protect the weak and restrain the power of the strong.
- Conflict is an inevitable and legitimate consequence of the variety of interests in the workplace
- Unions are representatives of employee interests at work with the right to challenge the right to manage and the responsibility to seek compromise.
- management should understand the limitations to their power and seek cooperation by influencing team spirit
- cooperation must be created and trust must be earned by management by developing power-sharing and decision-making procedures and equitable policies that accommodate the potential conflicts of interest that occur between employees and management
What are the criticisms of the pluralistic approach?
- balance of power between the competing interest groups within organizations or within broader society (Child 1981).
- power has been heavily weighted towards management (Hyman and Fryer, 1975). There is a substantial power imbalance between capital and labour.
- emphasizes the promotion of rational, efficient and effective conflict management. It, therefore, focuses on the types of rules, regulations and processes.
What is the central focus of industrial relations?
The study of rules and rule-making regarding employment relations
How did Dunlop model Industrial relation system?
He models it as a sub-system of society which is different but overlaps the economic and political sub-systems
What are the 4 elements in Dunlop’s system approach to industrial relations?
- Actors: managers, employees, government agencies
- Contexts: influence on the actions of the actors from society
- Ideology: beliefs that influence the role of the actors.
- Rules: the regulatory framework defining the employment relationship
What are some criticisms of Dunlop’s system approach to industrial relations?
- emphasizes roles and not people
- inadequate reflection of reality of society
- need for a wider approach to the study of industrial relations: rulemaking process, the context for rule-making
The changing context of the employment relationship is affected by which factors?
- the political environment and the role of successive governments;
- the economic environment and issues such as globalisation,
- the growth of private sector employment and unemployment;
- the technological environment and the impact of information and
- communication technologies;
- the social environment includes increasing female participation in the labour force and changing social attitudes.
What is the impact of the changing context of employment relationships on the structure of organizations?
Structures of organizations:
1. expanding IT resulting in the boundaries between firms becoming blurred and the occurrence of virtual organizations;
2. intensifying globalization;
3. disaggregation of organizations’ functions to profit centres, franchises, sub-contractors etc.;
4. new managerial ideologies: downsizing, JIT, TQM;
5. hierarchical structures being replaced by networking in which horizontal coordination is emphasized
What is the impact of the changing context of employment relationships on the nature of work?
Nature of work :
1. work is increasingly knowledge-based;
2. team working being used to involve employees at lower levels;
3. management based on coordination of ideas;
4. employers select, reward and promote according to competencies, values and individual performance rather than rate for the job and seniority;
5. workers increasingly selling skills to a range of organizations rather than climbing organizational hierarchies;
6. employment contracts are increasingly transactional rather than relational
What is the impact of the changing context of employment relationships on the political environment?
- government’s power and authority to change the rules of the employment relations system.
- government’s direct and indirect control of organizations and the associated potential to demonstrate preferred model
- the influence of government’s social and economic policies on the general environment within which employment relationships are conducted
