They need freedom of speech, of thought, of expression of movement and of control over their timings. They should anticipate and resolve this by securing agreed procedures for settling disputes. According to pluralists, industrial conflict is inevitable and it needs to be contained within the social mechanism of collective bargaining, conciliation, and arbitration. The pluralistic approach totally departs from the unitary approach and assumes that the organization is composed of individuals who form distinct groups with their own set of aims, objectives, leadership styles, and value propositions. %PDF-1.6 % How A Personal Loan Helps Save You Money? An important part of this model is that workers recognize that it's in their best interest for the company to thrive, so while they are loyal to the union, they are also loyal to the employer. Each approach offers a different practice to resolve conflict in the workplace. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc. Gandhiji had immense faith in the goodness of man and he believed that many of the evils of the modern world have been brought about by wrong systems and not by wrong individuals. Thus, the action theory analysis of industrial relations focuses primarily on bargaining as a mechanism for the resolution of conflicts. Staff-management conflicts from the perspective of the unitary framework are seen as arising from lack of information, inadequate presentation of managements policies. Marxists consider conflict as a product of the capitalistic society the gap between Haves and Have Nots. Collective bargaining is central to the industrial relation system. The Alignment of Compensation and Business Strategies, Stress - Causes, Challenges and Prevention Measures, Emotional Intelligence is more Important than Cognitive Intelligence, What is Succession Planning? He was not against strikes but pleaded that they should be the last weapon in the armoury of industrial workers and hence, should not be resorted to unless all peaceful and constitutional methods of negotiations, conciliation and arbitration are exhausted. Unions are portrayed as an outside force that competes for the employer's loyalty and pits employees against management. This relationship is essentially economic in character and based on contracts executed between the parties. Unitary Approach 2. The Marxist approach argues that for social change to take place, class conflict is required. Each offers different interpretations of such events as workplace conflict, the role of trade unions and job . This view of industrial relations is a by product of a theory of capitalist society and social change. This approach emphasises individualism and the direct relationship between management and its employees. Two of these theories describe the relationships in terms of conflict, while the third emphasizes cooperation. The Marxist analysis of industrial relations, however, is not a comprehensive approach as it only takes into account the relations between capital and labour. Definition: Industrial relations is that part of human resource management which studies the formal relationship of the workers with the administration and the employers and ensuring a proper mechanism to manage the industrial disputes and conflicts. The fundamental tenet of the pluralist perspective on labor relations is that each individual organization is made up of groups with their own goals, leadership styles, and interests. Content Guidelines 2. He has taught computer science at Algonquin College, has started three successful businesses, and has written hundreds of articles for newspapers and magazines throughout Canada and the United States. Important to remember that these are analytical categories and not predictive models. This cuts across organisations that prevailed in ancient days and the organisations in the modern days (United States, 2011). 1, pp. The perpetual differences arise due to differences in personalities, attitudes, etc. c = conflict resolved through collective bargaining. care centers. From its point of view, the inevitability of conflict comes from the inequalities of powers caused by capitalism exploitation. The institution of job regulation is categorised by him as internal and external the former being an internal part of the industrial relations system such as code of work rules, wage structure, internal procedure of joint consultation, and grievance procedure. In particular, the two predominant sub-groups in the pluralist perspective are the management and trade unions. Thus, the Weberian approach gives the theoretical and operational importance to control as well as to the power struggle to control work organisations a power struggle in which all the actors in the industrial relations drama are caught up. The three important perspectives on industrial relations are generally known as Unitarism, Pluralism and Marxism. The actors, it is claimed, agree in principle to cooperate in the resolution of the conflict, their cooperation taking the form of bargaining. iii. The focus is on the resolution of conflict rather than its generation, or, in the words of the pluralist, on 'the institutions of job regulation. HR managers are expected to understand these varying approaches because they provide the theoretical underpinnings for much of the role of HRM. Some of the important approaches to industrial relations are:-, 1. According to him, industrial peace was an essential condition not only for the growth and development of the industry itself, but also in a great measure, for the improvement in the conditions of work and wages. If a business owner approaches workers in a spirit of cooperation, she will likely find that the employees she chooses to hire will respond in a similar way. Learn how your comment data is processed. The second aspect relates to the managements dealing with labour, the nature of their interaction, negotiations between the union and management, distribution of power in the organisation, and participation of the union in joint decision-making. Conflict is inevitable Some theorist also defined Globalisation as a historical stage of accelerated expansion of market capitalism, like the one experienced in the 19th century with the. Out of these . This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. HUr0aJKLp@$F`1i'f!q3={t@l" _o'W:p S$/6)@1Q0 @+*tJ42x&5kv/[V6MNqZN(/ m%Q3r_7U!DT5u BGoK_&]CrGL9U }.Lk_m/hx|RLR#-48OVgX3=}F$]G/`-+!T3p:s|xB?,$'D0gI8o:h3Ca: However, the difference between the two is that while the Systems Theory stresses integration as a vital principle, pluralism emphasises the ethical basis of participation. Abstract This article was provide you the contrasting and comparison of the three main important theory of industrial relations. 188.165.220.50 By clicking Accept, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies. Action Theory Approach 8. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. University of Bradford, school of ManagementBibliographies:Paul Blyton and Peter Turnbull (2004) "The theory of employee relations" The Dynamics of Employee Relations(3rd edition) PALGRAVE MACMILLAN Printed in ChinaSalamon, M. (1992) Industrial Relations: Theory and Practice (2nd Edition). Industrial relations involve attempts to arrive at workable solutions between the conflicting objectives of profit motive and social gains, of discipline and freedom, of authority and industrial democracy and of bargaining and cooperation. At the lower level of analysis, explicit theorisation of the industrial relations situation is poorly developed. The Marxist view of industrial relations is of a clash between the employer (capitalist) and the worker. The scenario of industrial relations is perceived differently by different people. Conflict between the management and workers is understood as inevitable and, in fact, is viewed as conducive for innovation and growth. Weakness and contradiction inherent in the capitalist system would result in revolution and the ascendancy of socialism over capitalism. Besides, Marxists regard state intervention via legislation and the creation of industrial tribunals as supporting managements interest rather than ensuring a balance between the competing groups. This approach sees conflicts of interest and disagreements between managers and workers over the distribution of profits as normal and inescapable. The management uses consultative approaches in reacting and providing solutions to conflicts. 2 Introduction In developing a theory of industrial relations various approaches or perspectives have been identified. These aims and interests often conflict and compete with other groups and give rise to tensions which have to be management. The Unitarist view perceives conflict as a word with derogatory sense and it puts forward three reasons of generating conflict such as agitators, interpersonal friction and communication breakdown. This approach perceives organisation as a coalition of competing interest between management and different groups, trade unions as legitimate representative of employees interests and stability in Industrial Relation as the product of concessions and compromises between management and workers. The term, human resource management (HRM) has become increasingly used in the literature of personnel/industrial relations. From employee point of view, unitary approach means that: From employer point of view, unitary approach means that: In pluralism the organization is perceived as being made up of powerful and divergent sub-groups management and trade unions. In case this is missing, integration will be through coercive means. In contrast, pluralism is a perspective that perceives an organization as being made up of divergent sub-groups having their own legitimate interests. 4. This approach also regards conflict between employers and employees inevitable. 339 0 obj<>stream Gandhiji can be called one of the greatest labour leaders of modern India. The unitary perspective places organizational goals above the needs of individual employees or managers. 4. [citation needed] 1 no.1, pp. Instead of helping others these technologies have made people lose their own jobs because they have been taken out by computer based machines. Individuals should be business process improvement oriented, multi-skilled and ready to tackle with efficiency whatever tasks are required. Similarly, societys interests are protected by state intervention through legislation and industrial tribunals which provide orderly process for regulation and resolution of conflict. In addition, good behavior plays a role in creating a better understanding of the team's roles, responsibilities, and synergies. There is a strong positive relationship has been linked between employee involvement, productivity and quality (MacDuffie, 1995). There are three sets of independent variables the actors, the contexts and the ideology of the system. Each offers a particular perception of workplace relations . Sociological Approach to Industrial Relations: Industry is a social world in miniature, organisations are communities of individuals and groups with differing personalities, educational and family backgrounds, emotions, sentiments, etc., these differences in individuals create problems of conflict and competition among the members of industrial societies. (Know both in detail - might be asked individually). The associated concepts of pluralist, unitarist and radical have played a central role in IR social science ever since, lifting the field above descriptive empiricism and encouraging a lively and constructive debate about social philosophy, social science and public policy. No single perspective is "correct", they . The priciple assumption of pluralist perspective of industrial relations is that the individuals organisation comprises groups which have their own aims, interests and leadership. So that, it is the interest of all to create and maintain good relations between employers and employees. At the end of 1600s, trade union emerged as the times require. The second level is outside the firm and, in the main, concerns with the conflict not resolved at the intra-organisational level. Human Relations Approach to Industrial Relations: Human resources are made up of living human beings and not machines. But, this is not true in most situations. . HR assume a crucial part in the work place in managing worker 's organizations. Pluralist Theory of Flanders (1970) This theory is also known as Oxford Model. Please include what you were doing when this page came up and the Cloudflare Ray ID found at the bottom of this page. Conflict is dealt by collective bargaining and is viewed not necessarily as a bad thing and if managed could in fact be channeled towards evolution and positive change. Pluralistic Perspective In pluralism the organization is perceived as being made up of powerful and divergent sub-groups - management and trade unions. The class conflict analysis of industrial relations derives its impetus from Marxist social thinking and interpretation. Marxist Approach 4. Many factories now a days do not have the employees they use to have, everything is computer based. Coming out of industrialisation in the late 19th century, mass produced items became the norm. It is mass-quantity that people care about now a days. The Oxford Approach can be expressed in the form of an equation r = f (b) or r = f (c) where, r = the rules governing industrial relations. 3. The Marxist approach is primarily oriented towards the historical development of the power relationship between capital and labour. The pluralistic approach accepts the legitimacy of workers forming themselves into trade unions to express their interests, influence management decision and achieve their objectives. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Whereas globalisation is a broad of set of processes concerning multiple networks of economic, political and cultural interchange, contemporary economic globalisation is propelled by the rapid growing significance of information in all types of productive activities and by the developments in science and technology. However, pluralists believe that the conflict is inevitable in all organizations. Sample question: Compare and contrast the unitary and pluralist perspectives of industrial relations and provide some typical examples of unitarist and pluralist features in workplaces. Some of its views were criticised by Marxists, pluralists, and others on the ground that it encouraged dependency and discouraged individual development, and ignored the importance of technology and culture in industry. Industrial relation issues are complex and multifarious. They should regard themselves only as trustees, or co-owners. Before publishing your Articles on this site, please read the following pages: 1. It does not store any personal data. These approaches to industrial relations at a primary level are analytical categorizations and not theories having predictive values. In the pluralistic approach, therefore, a strong union is not only desirable but necessary. Flanders, the exponent of this approach, considers every business enterprise a social system of production and distribution, which has a structured pattern of relationships. Margerison argued that conflict is the basic concept that should form the basis of the study of industrial relations. Also, authors are of the opinion that there is no one right approach, rather these approaches, individually or collectively, provide an opportunity for creating a paradigm for understanding the complexity and diversity among the various actors and players in Industrial Relations. Those who subscribe to this theory (employers and employees alike) despise trade unions. Generally, industrial relations means the relationships between employers and employees in industrial organisations. The pluralist perspective makes use of conflict management strategies to engage groups that are in conflict, so that resolutions can be discussed and implemented (Kessler and Purcell 2003: 315). The Pluralist Theory of Industrial Relations In pluralist theory, the relationship between employers and workers is also one of conflict but not to the extent Marxism portrays it. The organisation is seen as multi-structured in terms of groups, leadership, authority and loyalty. Introduction Employee relations and management is an essential aspect of organisations. Human Relations Approach 10. These perspectives are unitary perspective, pluralist perspective and Marxist perspective as Dzimbiri (2008) suggests. Staffing policies should try to unify effort, inspire and motivate employees. His approach to labour problems was completely new and refreshingly human. Most of the modern trends are towards to empowering workers, flattening hierarchies, and increasing responsibilities which include greater job discretion and more worker autonomy and involvement (Adler 1992, Heckscher 1994). Theories . Unions, thus, balance the power between the management and employees. Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. The social action approach of Weber has laid considerable importance to the question of control in the context of increasing rationalisation and bureaucratization. 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