Industrial Relations

HRM
Post-Midterm Course
Term - III
Session 1

Dr. Ajay Singh

Understanding IR & its Relevance

What is Industrial Relations?
What is the relevance of studying IR?
Where IR is applicable?

What is the Subject Area of IR?

Specific Definition: A study of relations

between workers (& their union), Employers/

Management (& their Associations), State and
institutions concerned with regulations of
employment.

Broader Definition: All aspects of

employment relations at work and employment

between/among the parties of employment
relations.
(Industrial Relations or Employee Relations?)

Objectives of Industrial Relations

From Management Perspective:
To achieve best return on capital and wages
Create suitable work environment for better results

From Workers/ TUs Perspective:

Improve wages and working conditions
To secure redressed from grievances

From Government Perspective:

To develop sound labour-management relations
For social and economic development

Origin of the concept of IR (Global)

Origin with Industrial Revolution: Influenced by
conditions prevailed in post industrial Revolution era.
Historical Factors that led to the Origin & Growth:

Large Scale Production

Employee alienation
Exploitation of Employees by employers
Insensitive behaviour of managers/supervisors
Poverty, class differences and job insecurity
Condition prevailing around WW I and II brought
Communists or socialist/ mixed economy ideas (govt.
became the only or major employer)

Role of ILO in propagating international labour standards

This has also led to emergence of IR as a independent field of study.

Origin of IR (India)
Evolution of IR in India is traced from mid 19 th Century
It can be distinctly divided in to three phases:
Mid 19th Century to end of W.W. I
End of W.W. I to the Indian Independence
Since Independence

Other factors that influenced growth of IR and TUs in

India (besides the global reasons mentioned in the previous slide)

Mass Illiteracy
Hierarchy
Foreign Rule and political movement
Lack of any protection to workers till 2nd decade of the 20th
Century

What Factors Influence IR framework (Global)?

Historical growth & Industrialization process

State Role & Ideology
Legal Framework of the State
Labour Market
Extent Of Unionization
Technology (level of advancement)
Profile of Employees (general status and maturity levels)
Management Style
National Culture

Approaches to Study IR
(Different perspectives which influenced IR study)

I. Unitarist Perspective:
There is only one source of Authority: the Management
Assumes that capitalist values are legitimate
Believe that Conflict is unnecessary.
How is conflict resolved: Coercion/paternalism/HRM
***
(A large section of the unorganized sector in India unitarism still prevails)

II. Pluralist Perspective

This perspective sees conflicts between management and
employees as rational and inevitable.
Conflict is necessary, but it needs to be managed & resolved
Common interest and mutual dependence are perceived as
necessary
In pluralism, both parities strive to exercise economic (wages
& benefits) as well as political (control) power
Thus Org. is in a permanent/dynamic tension
Conflict of interestsvariety of roles/institutions

Mgt. is expected to reconcile and not suppress conflict

CB and Joint consultation are the variants of pluralism

Both parties survival interest; thus CB takes place

III. Radical (Marxian) Perspective

Production system is privately owned with only profit motive
Class Conflict is necessary for and a source of social
change without conflict society will stagnate
Class conflict is caused by disparity in power

Differential access to education, media, govt. jobs

Employees socialized into accepting the status quo

Law not independent referee

Justice: if revolution

Systems Framework
Systems approach to IR is offered by John Dunlop
To him An IR system is a subsystem of society, distinct
from but overlapping, other subsystems and can be
divided into 4 interrelated elements comprising..

certain actors (Workers/reps; Employers/reps; Govt. & agencies)

certain contexts (Which affects actors decisions, such as.
1. Technological characteristics of workplace; 2. Market or budgetary
constraints affecting the organization; and 3. Locus & distribution of
power in society)

an ideology which binds the actors together

and determine a body of rules that constitute the
output of the IRS

Dunlops Systems model of IR John T. Dunlop

Context
Technology
Market/budgetary
constraints
Locus & distribution
of Power in society

Actors
Of IR

WM/Unions

Ideology

Employers/Mgrs.

Government/Agencies

Work rules
Substantive
& procedural

Problems and
issues that
arrive in IR

Structure and Process of IR

Social System
Economic System
Legal System
Political System

Govt. and
agencies
WM/ Union
Employers
association

Accommodation
and

OUTPUT

INPUT
Collective
bargaining
Day-to-day
interpersonal
relations
Jt. Consultation
Legislation
Mediation
Conciliation

Conflict
RULES

Dunlops Criticism
1. Over-emphasis on stability of the system
Not very useful when roles of actors are changing
With changing business environment new actors (such as
customers and community also play important role in IR
process and outcome)

2. Does not talk about different strategic choices actors

make at different levels (Kochans Model elaborates this)
3. Ignores existence of other actors in Industrial Relations
4. More emphasis on roles than people (thus ignores
behavioural aspects like human motivations and
preferences)

Contemporary Developments Influencing IR

Dramatic Advance in technology, particularly IT
Resulting need for changing skill requirements
Growth of service sector and structural shifts in
employment from industrial to service sector
Growing women and white/gold collar employees
Increasing job mobility
Development of non-union sectors
Decline in union memberships and union power;
and falling rates of Industrial Disputes/ strikes
(Are IR issues no more relevant?)

Key Strategic Shifts in IR in New Era

Adversarial to Cooperative Bargaining
Collective Bargaining to Joint consultation systems
Workers Participation to Employee Involvement
From hostility to Cooperation
Decentralization of IR
From Industrial Relations to Employment Relations
Reactive to proactive:

(leading to IR-HRM integration)

Case: Willington Associates

What do you think were the managerial failures which have led to this situation?
Can management meet the expectations of the staff and thus avoid a unionformation?
What factor will determine Wellington Associates decision whether or not to
negotiate with the union?
Supposing the union does come up, what strategy should Wellington Associates
adopt in handling the union as to promote cooperative working with it?
What are the leanings from the case?

Assignments
Two Group Assignments
Chapter/ Topic Presentation
Class assignment

Case Discussion
Quiz