INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS AND TECHNOLOGICAL CHANGE

INTRODUCTION
The interrelationship between technology, technological change and industrial relations has time and again been the focus of attention of various groups in society. Anyone who is interested in industrial relations is therefore concerned with the effects of technology on labor management issues such as man power, job security, redundancy training etc. The unions and management have their respective points of view, with the government stepping in to resolve issues and give directions for the future, keeping in mind the national interest and objective. Technology is an aid to improving the economic and social life of people yet at the same time it can be used in a manner which is sometime detrimental to this objective.

INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS
Industrial relations are an expression used not only for relationship between employer and trade unions but also involving government with the aim of defining policies, facing labor problems. Industrial relations include following concept. a) Rules for employment management b) Rules and regulation. c) Role of State Government bodies. d) Harmonious relations and technology.

INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS AND TECHNOLOGY

Technology has played a very important role from the early days of civilization in the sphere of production of goods and services. If a country wants to develop and compete successfully in the national and international market, then technology becomes inevitable. Technology is an instrument of change and development. Technological change is a continuous process which covers a series of developments, mechanization, growth of mass production, and the emergence of automation in that order.

 World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) - an agency of United\Nations, defines technology as: "Technology means systematic knowledge for themanufacturing of products, the application of process or the tendering of services, whether that knowledge be reflected in an invention, an industrial' design, a utility model, or a new plant variety or in ,technical information or skills, or in the services and assistance provided by experts for design, installation, operation, or maintenance of an industrial plant or for the management of an industrial or commercial enterprise or its activities."

 Technological change affects the Industrial Relation. IR impact with information and communication technologies, their traditional framework is deeply changing. In fact:a) Horizontal and pervading all sector, more & more reciprocally linked. b) Dynamic, rapidly innovating. c) Labor and capital saving and principally flexible (Suitable for many purposes)

MEANING OF TECHNOLOGICAL CHANGE

Technological change (TC) is a term that is used to describe the overall process of invention, innovation and diffusion of technology or processes. The term is synonymous with technological development, technological achievement, and technological progress. In essence TC is the invention of a technology (or a process), the continuous process of improving a technology (in which it often becomes cheaper) and its diffusion throughout industry or society. In short, technological change is based on both better and more technology.

CONCEPT OF TECHNOLOGICAL CHANGE

Technology is an instrument of development. It is a vehicle .of change. Technological changes affect various aspects of economic and social either directly or indirectly. Haber, Ferman and Hudson have identified certain changes which affect jobs and influence skills in the American industrial system which can be called technological changes. They are; 1. Scientific management of time and motion studies, 2. Changes in the location of plants, 3. Shifts in product demand changes in machinery, 4. Automation

 Rationalization and automation which are different forms of technological change have been systematically introduced in the Indian industrial system in the sixties. Rationalization implies a basic change in the structure and control of industrial activities. In its application it brings together the advantages planed production, pooling, of research, scientific and technical know-how, centralized regulation of finances modernization of productive processes and sales and optimum use of manpower. Thus, rationalization does not refer to any one process.

 The Advisory Committee on the Management 'of ILO defines it as any reform tending to replace habitual antiquated practices by means of methods used by systematic reasoning. Automation is another form of technological change, though often it is used synonymously with technological change.
In automation, technology itself controls the operations. In automation, the machine provides data from its own operations and feeds it back to its own controls which govern the production process. In other words they are self-regulating.

CHARACTERISTICS OF TECHNOLOGICAL CHANGE

The process of technological change has several defining characteristics. a) Uncertain and unpredictable b) Transferrable c) Cumulativeness