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1-2. Nature of
Industrial Relations:
Traditional & Changing
Perspectives
Debi S. Saini
Professor & ChairpersonHRM Area
Management Development Institute, Gurgaon
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The issues discussed in the presentation are:
Importance of theory for managers for diagnosingHRM-IR issues
Conflict dynamics in different organizations
Nature of industrial conflict &industrial relations
Focus of the discipline of IR
Traditional issues in IR
Two extreme models of employee relations
Frames of reference of IR: UnitaristPluralistMarxist
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Two Main Components of this Course:
Management of Personnel/People
(System, skills, productivity, efficiency, engagement)
Management of Industrial Relations
(Conflict, interests, rights, democracy, discipline)
Lately, thetwo perspectives are getting
merged into anintegrated HRM framework
On Intertwining Theory
and Practice:
Understand IR Issues
in Context
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Some Models
of
Employee Relations
Tata Steel Ltd.: HRM Model
Sr. Mgt. work at less than60% of market worth; dont leave
Meets need for dignity, stability, security: No strike since 1958
Participation
It usedpaternalism (kin employment) & family invitation
CSR creates a sense of pride in employees
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500 WMincludingcontract WMMost are blue-collared
Manufactures automobile graphicsEst.: Kishore Mushale
4 WM25yrs. ago(in10 x 10):
Built 44 acre campus inVasai
3plantsnow: Mumbai; Vasai; HardwarNo Union
Kishore Musale Charitabel Trust,
carries out many charitable activities
Mainmotto: dignity at work.
Believes in: valuing everyindividual, giving people their due,
freedom, respect, opportunity backedbylotsof training.
Classic Stripes (Mfg.): Come Out of Control Mindset
http://classicstripes.com/manufacturing_plants.html
Won Safety &Environt 2003 award
(SIGA givento5cos. worldwide.)
Kaizen Training: 2hrsper month
A relationship committee: Meetstwice in a month
Comprisesof employees across levels
Hasalibrary with trade journals, magazinesandbooks
DMPolicy: Women make 1/3
rd
of theworkforce
Proactive DM policy: Even for handicapped WM
Shares with employees a %age of itsannual profits
Classic Stripes: Some HR Initiatives contd
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Glaziano Fiasco
Maruti problems
How do we go about
Understanding the issues
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On Understanding
the Roots of
Industrial Conflict
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Why Labour-Management Conflict Occurs
Conflict is at the centre of IR, society, in orgs.
Why: Divergence of interests, values, goals, attitudes
Industry: A microcosm of society
Societal/indl. Conflicts: Complex phenomenon
Difficult to fully understand/describe: HMSI case shows that
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Nature
of
Industrial Relations
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Industrial Relations: Simply Speaking:
Industrial relations (IR)
is the process of rule making
that mediates between divergent interests
of capital and labour
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How can we view Industrial Relations
J. H. Richardson (Leeds University)
Industrial relations is
the art of living together
for purposes of production
Important
Some
regulation
is needed
in
all relations;
State
determines
the regulation
framework
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How can we view Industrial Relations contd
Hugh Clegg (Clegg & Flanders pioneers of Classical Oxford School of IR)
Industrial relations is a study of
workers and their unions,
employers and their associations,
and State & its institutions/agencies
concerned with regulation of employment.
Imp.: Different powers, roles, interests, duties of Actors
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Dynamics of Industrial Conflict: Factors at Macro Level
Industrial conflict dimensions in a country depend on:
Acceptance of Market or Social justice as values
Distribution of power in societySocietal Ideology
State of the economy
Nature of labour market
Use & acceptability of strike/Collective bargaining
Globalization diluting welfare state: Focus on market economics
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Have the
Environmental factors
of IR changed in the
past some years?
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What Does Globalization mean?
Global movement of capital
Global movement of businesses
To expandbeyond their domestic borders
Driven by principles of free market economy
& less obstructedpeople movement
Across borders within companies
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Globalization & Other Causes of Changes in Business
1. GLOBALIZATION Syndrome
2. Information Revolution/Internet
3. New Technology
4. Emergence of Service Industry
5. HRM Philosophy:
M. Thatcher has beennamedUKs most
effective prime minister of the20th century
by BBC History Magazine 30Aug, 2006, TOI
Globalization has led to:
Internl integration of economies
PSU reforms & privatization
Collaborations & jt. ventures
Dominance of market rationality
Decline of welfare state
Psychological Contract
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Focus of
the Discipline of IR
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Focus of the Discipline of IR
A. IR Institutions
(permanent form of custom or law)
Unions
Employer associations
State/ Labour Bureaucracy
ILC ILO
Tribunal/Labour Court
Labour law
Higher judiciary
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Focus of the Discipline of IR
B. Characters (or actors) in IR
Union leaders
HRM Managers
Conciliation Officers/ Mediators
Arbitrators/judges
Labour Courts/
Labour Lawyers/Consultants
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Focus of the Discipline of IR cond
C. IR procedures (aim at: Procedural justice)
Bargaining/Negotiation
Conciliation
Arbitration
Adjudication
Reference
Procedure for going on strikes/ lockouts
Inquiries/Disciplinary procedure
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Traditional issues
in
Industrial Relations
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Traditional Problems in IR
1. Job satisfaction: Job designreward
2. Negotiating Wage/salary/VRS
3. Alienation & discontent: Social & psychological problems
4. Grievance management: BossEnvironmentRule-centricity
5. Formation of trade union
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Traditional Problems in IR
6. Industrial dispute settlementDealing with Impasse
7. Tackling Indiscipline, absenteeism& mobility
8. Managing Labour Laws
9. Designing Labour welfare /QWL
10. Communication
11. Joint consultation, participation, involvement
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How do IR actors
try to derive Power:
Various Sources across
the Frames of Reference?
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Two Extreme Models
of Industrial Justice/IR
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Perfectly Pluralist IR Model
Presence of trade union/s; unionrights respected
Recognition of the trade union by the employer
Presence of adversarial collectivebargaining
Freedom to strike/lockout to the parties
Negotiated settlement guides IR
Reflected in: Classical Oxford School of IR (by Allan Flanders & Hugh Clegg)
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Perfectly Neo-Unitarist Industrial Relations
Employer strives for Decent Work, Cooperative IR
Commonality of interests is its hallmark
Union is considered undesirable; a state of sickness in IR
Union-substitution strategies: Psychological contract
Reflected in HRM Approach to IR
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Frames of Reference
in Industrial Relations
& New Issues in IR
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III. Marxist (Radical) Perspective
Pluralist view of society based on post-capitalism is wrong
Capitalist profit is keyinfluence on co. policy
Control enforced downwards by capitals agents
Surplus value generationbycapitalist
The Marxist general theory of society argues:
Class conflict is thesource of societal change
Without conflict society will stagnate
Class conflict is caused by disparity in power
Differential access toeducation, media, govt. jobs
Employees socializedinto accepting the status quo
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Marxist Perspective contd
CB: limited accommodation of fundamental divisions
Unions/IR instts. are concerned only with marginal issues
Law not independent referee
Industrial Justice: only if revolution
I. Traditional
Pluralism
(German Pharma)
II. Paternalistic
Pluralism
(Tata Steel/NDPL)
III. Ambivalent
Pluralism
(Most unionized cos.
Maruti-Suzuki Ltd.)
IV. Repressive
Pluralism
(Simran Foods Ltd.)
V. Coercive
Unitarism
(Glaziano before the
violence; SMEs)
VI. Ambivalent
Unitarism
(Or manoeuvred
Unitarism through law,
shenanigans,
paternalism, collusion
with bureaucracy)
VII. Paternalistic
Unitarism
(Indian SMEs,
Flaxo Exports)
VIII.
IBM type Unitarism
(New Unitarism)
(Hero-Honda, AirTel)
Eight Broad Typologies of IR Models
Debi Sai ni 2010