INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS - CONCEPTS,

APPROACHES AND ORGANISATIONS

 INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS
Industrial Relations is a multidisciplinary field that studies the
employment relationships. It can be defined as the relations
between management and union, or between representatives of
employees and representatives of employers i.e. it represents all
aspects of employment relations within the organizational
settings. Industrial Relations also includes the processes through
which these relationships are expressed
According to ILO, industrial relations denotes such matters as
freedom of association and the right to organise, right of
collective bargaining of collective agreements, or conciliation and
arbitration proceedings, and the machinery for cooperation
between the authorities and occupational organisations at various
levels of the economy.
The term Industrial Relations comprises of 2 terms Industry and
Relations. Industry refers to any productive activity in which an
individual (or a group of individuals) is (are) engaged. By relations
we mean the relationships that exist within the industry between
the employer and his workmen.
 Two Dominant Aspects of Industrial
Relations
Two important aspects of the industrial relations scene in a
modern industrial society :
Cooperation - Modern industrial production is based upon
cooperation between labour and capital. Here labour stands
for the workers who man the factories, mines and other
industrial establishments or services. Capital stands for the
owners of business enterprises who supply the capital and
own the final products.
Conflict - The second aspect of the system of industrial
relations today is, the existence of conflict. Conflict, like
cooperation, is inherent in the industrial relations set up of
today. It becomes apparent when industrial disputes resulting
in strikes and lockouts become frequent.
 Objectives of Industrial Relations
To protect the socio economic interest of workers
and the management through establishing and
maintaining industrial democracy at work place
To avoid industrial conflicts so as to develop a
healthy work environment
To encourage collective bargaining inter alia to
increase performance, safety, mortality and other
incidental mutual benefits
Helping government make laws to improve the
quality of life of working class
 Aspects of industrial relations
Development of healthy labour-management relations Presence of a
strong, well organized, democratic and responsible trade unions help in
enhancing job security of employees, increase in workers participation in
management etc which lead to better labour management relations.
Collective Bargaining, plant discipline, satisfactory trade union relations,
welfare work undertaken by government, unions and employers lead to
better relations
Maintenance of industrial peace This can be nurtured by setting up
machineries for prevention and settlement of industrial disputes, develop
labour laws like Trade Union Act, Industrial Disputes Act etc and
administrative enactments to negotiate disputes and reduce tension,
government should have the power to refer disputes to adjudication when
there is a major crises, government should enjoy power to maintain status
quo, to be exercised if after referring to arbitration, either party refuses to
comply, and the provision of bipartite and tripartite forums for settlement
of disputes.
Development of Industrial Democracy where the labour has the right to
be associated with the management of an industry. Techniques to achieve
this objective establishment of shop councils and joint management
councils at the floor and plant level, recognition of Human Rights in
Industry, increase in labour productivity and availability of proper work
environment.
 The Three Actors of IR and their roles
Good industrial relations are difficult to define since a good system of
industrial relations involves complex relationships between:
(a) Workers (and their informal and formal groups, i. e. trade union, )
(b) Employers (managers & formal orgns like trade and professional associations)
(c) The government and legislation, government agencies and 'independent'
agencies like the Advisory Conciliation and Arbitration Service.
Roles of the actors-
Management Their roles maybe (i)The Exploitative Authoritarian system,
(ii)Benevolent Authoritarianism, (iii)Consultative Style (iv) Participative Style
Workers Unions - Roles (i) Bargainers (ii) Partners (iii) Enemy of the System
The Government - The third actor is the Government. The Government may
assume any of the following roles (i) Laissez-faire Philosophy (ii)Paternalism (iii)
Voluntarism (iv) Interventionism
The three actors in the system interact with each other to yield the basic
output i.e. set of rules that govern working conditions and terms of
employment.
 Factors that affect Industrial Relations
1.Institutional Factors like state policy, labour laws, collective bargaining
agreements, labour unions, employers federations etc
2. Economic Factors like economic organizations( socialist, communist, capitalist),
type of ownership (individual, company domestic, MNC, government, cooperative
ownership), source of labour supply, disparity of wages between groups, level of
unemployment etc
3. Social Factors These factors like caste, creed, status are loosing importance
with the acceleration of industrialization but cannot be ignored.
4. Technological Factors like work methods, type of technology used, etc as these
factors influence employment status, wage level, etc
5. Psychological Factors like owners attitude, perception of workforce, workers
attitude, their motivation, morale, interest, dissatisfaction etc has an important
impact in the industrial relations
6. Political Factors like system of government, political philosophy, attitude of
government towards labour problems etc. IR are largely shaped by the amount of
involvement of political parties in trade union activities.
7. Enterprise related Factors like style of management, its values, organizational
climate, competition, adaptability to changes, HR policies etc
8. Global Factors like international relations, global conflicts, economic and
trading policies of power blocks, international trade agreements, International
labour agreements.
 CONCEPTS & VALUES THAT GOVERN SOUND
INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS
Equity & Fairness Equity/ fairness refer to equal treatment to one and all
under comparable circumstance in industrial relations.
Power & Authority Power is the ability to influence, impose or control. It
implies use of force. Its various aspects are power to reward/ punish/
coerce others, position power, expert power due to
knowledge/experience/skills, associational power through membership in
unions/coalitions/networking etc. Authority is the right to expect and
command obedience.
Individualism & Collectivism The fundamental basis of a democratic
society is the freedom of the individual. In an employment relationship,
collectivist basis may negate or limit an individuals freedom.
Integrity, Trust & Transparency Integrity is adhering to what is
professional, Trust is established between and among people. Transparency
is promoted through sharing of information, openness in communication,
willingness to explain and reason out the motives behind decisions and
actions.
 3 Theoretical perspectives
Each view offers a particular perception of workplace relations and interprets workplace
conflict, the role of unions and job regulation differently.
1. Unitarist perspective - In unitarism, there is only one source of authority; management.
They own and therefore control. It has a paternalistic approach where it demands loyalty of
all employees. Consequently, trade unions are deemed as unnecessary and avoidable since
the loyalty between employees and organizations are considered mutually exclusive, where
there can't be two sides of industry. Conflict is perceived as irrational, disruptive and the
pathological result of agitators, interpersonal friction and communication breakdown.
Employers and management find the unitary perspective attractive as it legitimizes their
authority to govern. This perspective is outmoded.
2. Pluralist perspective- This is based on the assumption that the organization is composed of
individuals who make up distinct sectional groups, each with its own interests, objectives
and leadership, the two predominant sub-groups -management and trade unions.
Consequently, the role of management would lean less towards enforcing and controlling
and more toward persuasion and co-ordination. This perspective sees conflicts between
management and employees as rational and inevitable. Trade unions are deemed as
legitimate representatives of employees to collectively safe guard their interests. Conflict is
dealt by collective bargaining, Hence pluralist is about mutuality and the reciprocal influence
of management over trade unions and workers.
3. Radical perspective- This is based on the notion that the production system is privately
owned and is motivated by profit. Radical theories are strongly identified with Marxist
theories . This perspective sees inequalities of power and economic wealth as having their
roots in the nature of the capitalist economic system. Conflict is therefore seen as inevitable
and trade unions are a natural response of workers to their exploitation by capital. They
favour transformation of trade unions into revolutionary organizations.
 APPROACHES TO INDUSTRIAL
RELATIONS
Industrial relations can be viewed as a eclectic
system composed of group of people and
organizations working with varying viewpoints. It
can be viewed from various angles ranging from
economic, social, political, psychological, and
managerial
 THE MARXIST APPROACH
The Marxist approach is primarily oriented towards the historical
development of the power relationship between capital and labour. It is
also characterised by the struggle of these classes to consolidate and
strengthen their respective positions with a view to exerting greater
influence on each other.
In this approach, industrial relations is equated with a power-struggle. The
price payable for labour is determined by a confrontation between
conflicting interests. The capitalist ownership of the enterprise endeavours
to purchase labour at the lowest possible price in order to maximise their
profits. The lower the price paid by the owner of the means of production
for the labour he employs, the greater is his profit.
The Marxist analysis of industrial relations, however, is not a
comprehensive approach as it only takes into account the relations between
capital and labour. It is rather, a general theory of society and of social
change, which has implications for the analysis of industrial relations within
what Marxists would describe as capitalist societies.
THE DUNLOPS SYSTEMS APPROACH TO INDUSTRIAL
RELATIONS
An industrial relations system at any one time in its development is regarded as
comprised of three sets of independent variables: the actors, the contents
and the ideology of the system which binds the industrial relations system
together, and a body of rules created to govern the actors at the
workplace and work community. This approach is helpful in studying the
industrial relations as it focuses on participants in the process, environmental
forces and the other inter relations within the IR system.
The actors: They are (i) managers and their representatives, (ii) workers and
their organizations and (iii) specialized government agencies concerned with
workers, enterprises and their relationships.
The environmental contents: (i) technological characteristics of the workplace
(ii) the product and factors market or budgetary constraints that impinge on
the actors (iii) the locus and distribution of power in the larger society
The ideology: These are a set of ideas and beliefs commonly held by the actors
that helps to bind or integrate the system as an entity.
The network of rules: The result of all the interaction within the system, leads
to establishing rules like countrys labour policy, labour agreement etc and
deciding their application so that the workers gat a fair deal.
 Dunlops framework of Industrial Relations System.
Inputs Processes Outputs

Actors Bargaining
Environmental Contents Conciliation Rules
Ideology Arbitration
Lawmaking etc

All these factors are critical in an industrial relations system and may be expressed
in a variety of forms: regulations & policies of management , decrees, decisions,
awards, or orders of government agencies, collective bargaining agreements,
customs and traditions of workplace & work community etc. These rules may be
incorporated in a number of these forms, they may be written, in oral form or
customary practice.
Some limitations of the systems framework: With liberalization and growing
environmental concerns, apart from managers, workers and governments,
consumers and community also plays a critical role in IR processes and outcomes.
Also behavioral aspects like human motivations, preferences etc have been
ignored.
 PSYCHOLOGICAL APPROACH TO INDUSTRIAL
RELATIONS:
Psychologists associated the problems of industrial relations with
the perceptions and attitudes of the focal participant: labour &
management. Mason Harie conducted a test on both the groups
and concluded that
a. The general impression about a person is radically different when
he is seen as a representative of management from that of the
person seen as a representative of labour.
b. The management and labour see each other as less dependable
c. Both parties see each other as deficient in terms of emotional
characteristics and inter personal relations.
These variance is due to their individual perception. The conflicts
between management and labour occur mainly because each
group negatively views/ perceives the behavior of the other. This
leads to strained inter-personal and inter-group relations breeding
disharmony and during conflicts not only their interest but also
personalities are at stake.
 SOCIOLOGICAL APPROACH TO INDUSTRIAL
RELATIONS
The industry is a social world comprising of a community made up of individuals
with differing personalities, varying educational background, family breeding,
emotions etc. Various sociological factors like value system, customs, norms of both
labour and management affect the industrial relations and their work behavior is
largely influenced by these factors.
Moreover social consequences of industrialization like social mobility, migration
generates many social evils like family disintegration, stress & strain, delinquency,
personal & social disorganization leading to vices like drinking, gambling, drug
abuse etc. These affect the efficiency and productivity of the workers and
influences Industrial Relations.
Whenever industrialization gains momentum, consequently new social patterns
emerge along with new relationships, institutions, behavioral patterns and
techniques to handle human resources develop.
All these shape the industrial system. With the passage of time the profile of the
industrial worker has changed and he has become more urban in outlook, no
longer unskilled or neglected by society and is more secure in his employment.
Management also gives importance on the use of behavior techniques while
dealing with the human side of the enterprise and the flow of authority, power or
control has become more democratized. Sociologically, in the process of change,
industrial relations are becoming more complex.
 HUMAN RELATIONS APPROACH TO INDUSTRIAL
RELATIONS
The human relations approach highlights certain policies and techniques to
improve employee morale, efficiency and job satisfaction. It encourages the small
work group to exercise considerable control over its environment and in the
process helps to remove a major irritant in labour-management relations.
This approach deals with the most delicate area i.e. humans who have their own
emotions, perceptions, attitudes, personality etc. These factors makes them
complex individuals and when they interact with each other their complexity
multiplies. The problems of industrial relations rises when they are not properly
managed both at individual and group level. The human resource management
policies relating to leadership and motivation has a profound influence on work
behavior. E.g. autocratic style may lead to dissatisfaction and demotivate people to
work.
Another important factor to maintain good human relations and industrial relations
is the study of human need and the satisfaction of these needs. The 4 basic needs
are physiological, safety & security, social and egoistic needs. Each higher order
need arises once the lower order needs are satisfied. Though no specific diagnosis
can be made, but the management should try to design a suitable motivational
strategy to provide their optimum need satisfaction required to maintain good
human relations.
Application of techniques oh human relations will lead to good industrial relations.
The workers will have greater job satisfaction, develop greater involvement in their
work, and can identify their objectives with that of the organization.
The manager will develop a greater insight and effectiveness in his work.
 GANDHIAN (TRUSTEESHIP) APPROACH TO
INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS
This approach to industrial relation is based upon fundamental principal of
truth, non-violence and non-possession. This approach presumes the
peaceful co-existence of capital and labour. Gandhiji emphasized that if the
employers follow the principal of trusteeship than there is no scope of
conflict of interest between labour and management, Gandhiji accepted the
workers right to strike, but should exercise this right for a just cause and in
a peaceful and non-violence manner and this method should only be
resorted when all methods failed in getting employers response.
In case of conflict Gandhiji advocated-
The workers should seek redressal of reasonable demands only through
collective action
If they have to organize strikes, it should be peaceful and non violent.
Strikes should be avoided in industries of essential services
Indias industrial relations system has been largely influenced by Gandhian
thought. There is an emphasis on peaceful settlement of industrial disputes
and the government expects the parties to resolve their disputes peacefully
and stresses on mutual negotiations. In case the parties desire to refer their
disputes to arbitration, it is imperative that the trade unions serve a 14 day
notice of strike to the employers