APPROACHES TO INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS

Systems Approach
Dunlop Model
Oxford Approach
Industrial Sociology Approach
The Action Theory Approach
Marxist Approach
Pluralist Approach
Human Relations Approach
Gandhian Approach
Unitarist Approach

Systems Approach
A complex system comprising several sub-systems
operating at macro, micro and intermediary levels
A mixture of traditions, customs and a web of action,
reaction and interaction among sub-systems
The totality of power interactions among participants
in so far as they involve industrial relations issues
An integral and inseparable part of organisational
structure and dynamics
It is characterised by the following ingredients:
Participants
Issues
Structure

Dunlop Model
IR framework applicable to three broad areas:
Within enterprise, industry or other segment of a
country and comparison among sectors
Within the whole country and comparison with other
countries
As a totality in the course of economic development
It comprises:
Actors
Employers Employees Government
Context
Technological environment market/budgetary
constraints locus and distribution of power
Ideology
The set of beliefs commonly held by the actors

Evaluation
Non-dynamic
Too much focus on structure and too less on processes
within it
Ignores the nature and development of conflict, which
is so central to the study of IR
More emphasis on formal rules to the exclusion of
informal processes
Silent on how inputs into the system are converted into
outputs
Environmentally biased doesnt talk about the
interaction between, and influence of, internal factors
over external ones or vice versa
Its focus on structure rather than on dynamics denies
meaningful to individual personalities in shaping IR

Oxford Approach
Based on the findings of Donovan Commission (196568) expounded by Flanders According to this
approach:
Trade union is external to the organisation
Collective barganing is central to IR system
The rules of the system are determined thro
collective bargaining
CB is a political institution involving power relations
between employers and employees
Evaluation
Over-emphasis on political processes other important
variables like technology, markets, status of parties and
ideology were not given adequate importance

Industrial Sociology Approach

Two major conceptual levels predicated
Intra-plant level situational factors, I.e., job content,
work task & technology
These in turn produce three types of conflict, I.e.,
distributive,
structural
human relations
Extra-organisational conflict involving factors, I.e.,
Trade unions, Government, etc.
Evaluation
This approach rejects the special emphasis placed on
rule-determination by the systems and Oxford
models

Action Theory Approach

Collective regulation of industrial labour is the focal
point
The actors operate within a framework of coalition
relationship
The actors agree in principle to cooperate in resolving
conflict; the cooperation taking the form of bargaining
Evaluation
The primary focus of Action theory analysis is on
collective bargaining, whereas in systems theory is
more comprehensive in its scope

Marxist Approach
Focus on class struggle between labour and capital
The price payable for labour is determined by
confrontation between conflicting interests
Capitalist owners are seen as exploiters seeking to
purchase labour at the lowest possible price
The lower the price paid for labour, the higher the profit
Evaluation
This analysis is not comprehensive
It is more a general theory of society and social
change

Human Relations Approach

Human Relations is integration of people into a work
situation that motivates them to work productively and
collaboratively and with economic, social and
psychological satisfaction
Small, informal work groups are the key to sound
human relations and higher productivity
Open channels of communication between
management and employees
Greater focus on group dynamics and participation
Evaluation
Criticised for over-simplifying the causes of industrial
conflict ignoring the importance of unions, collective
bargaining and economic factors in shaping IR

Gandhian Approach
Worker should be treated as a human being
Professed non-violent communism
The cause of strike must be just; no strike without a
grievance; no violence; non-strikers (blacklegs) should
not be molested
All forms of property are gifts of nature and hence
belong to the society, and not to the individuals
Owners of factories should consider themselves as
trustees; treat workers as the co-owners
Management should share the gains of higher
productivity with workers

Unitarist Approach
There is no inherent contradiction between the interests
of workers and management
IR is too sensitive a field to be left to be handled by
specialists
Every manager is a human resource manager
Trade union and government are outside agencies
and should have nothing to do with organisations
The major focus of this school is on:
Team working
Non-unionism
Individualism
Flexibility
Rewards

Pluralist Approach
Social environment is critical in industrial conflicts
Conflict is inherent in the industrial system and is
inevitable; is not necessarily bad
Strikes are more frequent in unpleasant jobs and
isolated workers
Management-worker relationship has two aspects:
Market relationship the price at which labour is
hired
The nature of managements interaction with
workers, I.e., negotiations, power distribution,
participation in joint decision making etc.
Evaluation
This does not take into account the dilution of conflict
when the parties have a super-ordinate goal

Summing up of Different Approaches

Actors
Context
Ideologies
Intra Organisational factors
Extra Organisational factors
Conflict distributive, structural & human relations
Centrality of Collective Bargaining
In the alternative, third party intervention
Joint determination of wages, benefits and rules

International Developments
United States
American Federation of Labour formed in 1886
Employers resistance to union formation
State had thrown its lot with employers s
Judiciary favoured employers and granted injunctions
against unions restraining their activities
Norris La Guardia Act, 1932 recognised the collective
bargaining purposes of unions
The National Industrial Recovery Act, 1933 guaranteed
the right of labour to bargain through its
representatives

 The National Labour Relations Act, 1935 (Wagner Act)

provided for:
Recognition of workers right to join a union of their
choice
Right to organise without interference from
employer
Compelling employers to recognise and bargain
with the most representative union;
Election machinery to determine the most
representative union; and
Forbidding certain unfair labour practices on the
part of employers

 The LMRA, 1947 (Taft-Hartley Act) provided for

Enumerating unfair labour practices on the part of
unions including closed shop system
Enforcement of labour contracts in Federal courts
Federal injunctions against strikes threatening to
cause national emergencies
A cooling-off period of 8 days

Merger of AFL and CIO under the new name AFL-CIO

in 1955

United Kingdom
First country to industrialise - Long history of industrial
relations characterised by :
voluntarism
representation of workers thro trade unions
union organisation along occupational lines
The Conciliation Act, 1896 and Industrial Courts Act,
1919 provided for:
Conciliation, Arbitration and Adjudication of
industrial disputes

The consolidated enactment TULRA, 1974 -1992

provided for:
Registration of trade unions, employers
associations, unfair labour practices and other
connected matters

Sweden

Highly developed IR institutions Highest union

membership (75% of employees unionised) in the
world
Centralised bargaining between the Swedish
Federation of Trade Unions (LO) and Swedish
Employers Association (SAF)
The unions of Sweden always exhibited a high degree
of responsibility in settling the disputes in a manner that
doesnt affect the national economy

Japan
Japanese IR is characterised by:
Social pressure on parties to arrive at a consensus
A tendency to give industrial action a demonstrative
form to make the public aware of the inequity
The awareness of union that the interests of workers
are intertwined with those of organisation
A union culture that focuses on harmony and
efficiency rather than on individual dignity, freedom
and equality
The three basic cultural anchors of Japan are
NENCO

Life-long employment
RINGI

Bottom-up processes
KAIZEN

Continuous improvement