Industrial conflict is, thus, seen as being synonymous with political and social unrest. Some of the components of human resource management are (a) human resource organisation; (b) human resource planning; (c) human resource systems; (d) human resource development; (e) human resource relationships; (f) human resource utilisation; (g) human resource accounting; and (h) human resource audit. This approach sees conflicts of interest and disagreements between managers and workers over the distribution of profits as normal and inescapable. iii. The unitary approach is based on the strong argument that there is only one source of authority i.e., the management, which owns and controls the dynamics of decision making in issues relating to negotiation and bargaining. The traditional organization style concentrated on a pyramid order, with supervisors and managers controlling all components of the representatives beneath them, including interpersonal connections, ventures and disciplinary activities. Advantages and Disadvantages of Human Resource Practices. This perspective also considers alternative processes that can be used in decision making (Edwards, 2007). Unions, therefore balance the power between management and employees. Each offers different interpretations of such events as workplace conflict, the role of trade unions and job . Thus, the action theory analysis of industrial relations focuses primarily on bargaining as a mechanism for the resolution of conflicts. What is the theory of pluralism? 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. PHL/320 At the same time, he not only endorsed the workers right to adopt the method of collective bargaining but also actively supported it. i. In the. Definition: The Industrial Relations or IR shows the relationship between the management and the workmen within the industry and the role of a regulatory body to resolve the industrial disputes. . industries to globalization and outsourcing, workers are moving to service counters and health Human Relations Approach 10. The pluralistic approach accepts the legitimacy of workers forming themselves into trade unions to express their interests, influence management decision and achieve their objectives. Pluralistic Approach to Industrial Relations The pluralistic approach suggests that there is more than one source of power in the relationship . Marx argued that: This perspective focuses on the fundamental division of interest between capital and labor, and sees workplace relations against this background. These cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to provide customized ads. 2-19. Reduced prices and greater accessibility improved the well-being of the lower classes in society, with Fords assembly lines being a worldwide symbol of the economic boom of the 1920s. Arrangements are then met through the commitment of these unions that take into consideration an organization to give higher wages, sufficient advantages, and better working conditions to representatives around the globe. Unitary approach He highlighted the need for a formal system of collective bargaining as a method of conflict resolution. This delicate balancing act between interests became prominent in the 1930s during Roosevelt's New Deal government and is still a popular model at many companies today. Several factors such as social, cultural, political and government can affect the dynamics of Industrial Relations. Scholars have described three major theoretical perspectives or frameworks, that contrast in their understanding and analysis of workplace relations. TOS4. When we think of sweatshop, we always want to look at third world countries and never in our own backyard. This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. It is an abstraction that can't take into account all of the factors that affect human behavior or the complexities of society as a whole. 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. This view is in contrast to the belief of the pluralists who argue that state intervention is necessary to protect the overall interest of society. He views trade unions as an external organisation and excludes collective agreements from the sphere of internal regulation. Independent external arbitrators should be used to assist in the resolution of disputes. For the Marxists, all strikes are political. These goals and interests frequently conflict with those of other groups and cause tensions that need to be managed. Industrial relation issues are complex and multifarious. This website includes study notes, research papers, essays, articles and other allied information submitted by visitors like YOU. Disadvantages of Human . Conflict arises not only because of competing interests within the organization, but because of the division within society between those who won or manage the means of production and those who have only their labour to offer. Organizations as coalitions of competing interests, where the role of the management is to mediate amongst the different interest groups. Industrial progress is impossible without labour management. Ackers, P 2002, 'Reframing Employment Relations: The case for neo-pluralism', Industrial Relations Journal, vol. Industrial relations, according to Marxists, are in the first instance, market-relations. Dunlop defines an industrial relations system in the following way An industrial relations system at any one time in its development is regarded as comprised of certain actors, certain contexts, an ideology, which binds the industrial relations system together, and a body of rules created to govern the actors at the workplace and work community. So that, it is the interest of all to create and maintain good relations between employers and employees. They should anticipate and resolve this by securing agreed procedures for settling disputes. Pluralistic Approach 3. Conflict is therefore seen as inevitable and trade unions are a natural response of workers to their exploitation by capital. Capitalists and workers would compete/be in contention to win ground and establish their constant win-lose struggles would be evident. This essay focuses on the three dominant perspectives in industrial relations. Unitarianism has defined conflict as dysfunctional . It over emphasises the significance of the political process of collective bargaining in and gives insufficient weight to the role of the deeper influences in the determination of rules. He also appealed to the workers to behave as trustees, not to regard the mill and machinery as belonging to the exploiting agents but to regard them as their own, protect them and put to the best use they can. Trade unions as legitimate representatives of employee interests. 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. The human relations school founded by Elton Mayo and later propagated by Roethlisberger, Whitehead, W. F. Whyte and Homans offers a coherent view of the nature of industrial conflict and harmony. Employee participation in workplace decisions is enabled. HR assume a crucial part in the work place in managing worker 's organizations. How Does Enterprise Computing Support BusinessOrganizations? Industrial relations is the study of one portion of a society. 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. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance". For most of the 20th century, however, mass production was confined to the national scale. It aimed at achieving economic equality and the material advancement of the have-nots in a capitalist society by non-violent means. Oxford Approach 6. Unitary Approach 2. The action you just performed triggered the security solution. See also Nature and Functions of Human Resource Management 2. It argues that there are multiple interest groups in the society and there are also multiple interest groups in a firm, industry and not only the management. This view of industrial relations is a by product of a theory of capitalist society and social change. This approach also regards conflict between employers and employees inevitable. Margerison the Industrial Sociology Approach: 4. Most of the managerial literature argues that in economy based on Knowledge, it is essential and not only appropriate to adopt flexible workplace practices (Kelly 1998, Atkinson & Court 1998). The three popular approaches to industrial relations are the unitary approach, pluralistic approach and marxist approach. According to this perspective, the Industrial relations system comprises of certain contexts among the three actors (workers and trade unions, management, and the Govt . It is now substituting human work and goes hand-in-hand with foreign manufacturing in reducing the need for employees and causing a shrinkage in job opportunities. This is because the pluralist industrial relations theory has been in use for a long time and little has been detailed in the literature concerning its shortcomings. Staffing policies should try to unify effort, inspire and motivate employees. The three main theories of industrial relations are the unitary, pluralist and Marxist perspectives. Coming out of industrialisation in the late 19th century, mass produced items became the norm. 2. This report will clarify the significance of unions and the part they play in today 's economy and work power and how a business can stay union free. The perpetual differences arise due to differences in personalities, attitudes, etc. in this essay these perspectives will be discussed in . The objective of this essay is to discuss the different approaches to the study of employment relations such as unitary, pluralist, and radical. Line managers should take ownership of their team/staffing responsibilities. A performance-oriented philosophy is followed; no one is guaranteed compensation just for adding another year to organisational service. Advocates of the unitary approach emphasize on a reactive industrial relations strategy. 3. For Marxists industrial and employee relations can only be understood as part of a broader analysis of capitalist society in particular the social relations of production and the dynamics of capital accumulation. Through trade unions, workers argue for higher wages, increased benefits and better working conditions, while employers want to keep as much money as they can for profit. 1 no.1, pp. Psychological Approach to Industrial Relations, 3. This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. According to the descriptions toward three perspectives, it is obviously that they have different understandings against conflict. The perspective of not having similar approaches is another vital difference between unitarist and pluralism (Dawkins et al., 2021, p. 30). Pluralistic-Perspective In pluralism the organization is perceived as being made up of powerful and divergent sub-groups - management and trade unions. Commons (1919, 43 . Any conflict is seen as a result of a temporary aberration resulting from poor management. It is how the labour and the industry interact based on two traditional approaches namely the Unitarian approach and the Pluralist approach. Findings. The implications of the pluralistic approach to industrial relations include: Marxist perspective is also called radical perspective. It can be seen that the Pluralist view pays much attention to conflict resolution and how to how to manage conflict. Closely related to Webers concern related to control in organisations was his concern with power of control and dispersal. What is pluralist perspective of industrial relations? A core assumption of unitary approach is that management and staff, and all members of the organization share the same objectives, interests and purposes; thus working together, hand-in-hand, towards the shared mutual goals. 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