SYSTEM APPROACH TO INDUSTRIAL

DUNLOPS APPROACH TO
INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS

Synopsis

Meaning
Elements of system approach
Conculision

INTRODUCTION
The industrial relations can be viewed from various
angles which may range from the economic to the social,
political to the legal, psychological and managerial.
For instance: an economist tries to interpret the problem
of industrial relations in terms of forces of the law of
demand and supply.
So industrial relations cannot be understood by using any
of the approaches as they are not subject to objective
enquiry

There are various approaches in

industrial relations like
Psychological

approach
Sociological approach
human relations approach
Gandhi an approach
Human resource management
approach
System approach

Meaning
System:
The term "systems" is derived from the Greek word
"synistanai," which means "to bring together or
combine." The term has been used for centuries.

A system is a community situated within an

environment.
A system is a dynamic and complex whole, interacting
as a structured functional unit.

System approach
A

system is basically a combination of parts and

subsystems. Each part may have various subparts. Parts and
sub parts of the system are mutually related to each other.

The

concept of system has been defined by many in many

fields such as biology, physics, and psychology, sociology,
and so on as a set of components interacting within a
boundary possessing the property of filtering both the kind
and rate of flow into and out of the system

Craig (1983), applying the system approach to industrial relations,

explains that a system consists of four basic components

Internal inputs as summarized by the concepts of goals, values, power

of the
participants (actors) in the system, which are conditioned by
the flow of effects from environmental subsystems (external inputs)

The processes or complex of private and public activities for

converting
inputs into outputs

The outputs, comprising the material, social and psychological

rewards employees receive in rendering their services; and
A feedback loop through which the outputs flow directly into the
industrial relations system itself and also into the environmental
subsystem. The outputs which flow through the feedback loop can
shape the subsequent goals, values and power of the actors in the
industrial relations system.

System Approach
System approach is one of the significant theories of industrial labor relations
was put forth by john Dunlop in 1950s.
This approach was quite helpful in studying the industrial relations that is it
focuses on

Participants in the process

Environment forces

Output

He also states that none of these institutions could not act in an autonomous or
independent . Instead they were shaped at least to some extent by their market ,
technological and political contexts

Environmental forces

Dunlops approach to
industrial relations

The basic elements of system approach are

a) Participants in the system

Workers and the organization

Management and their representatives
Government agencies

b) Environmental forces
Dunlop as identified three types of environment forces that
are relevant to industrial relations

Technological characteristics
Market or economic constraints
The locus and balance of power existing in a society

Technological characteristics

Industrial relations would be very different in a

labor intensive industry from those of capital
intensive.

Market or economic constraints

These factors also influence industrial relations, because the

need for labor is closely associated with the demand for the
products.

Existence of competition in market.

Locus And Balance Of Power

The locus and balance of power in a society in the form of power
centers
Workers organizations
The

employers
The government
Also influences the relationships between the labor and
management
The regulatory role of government is therefore an important part
in shaping the pattern of industrial relations

So, these factors influence the relationships between the

government , business and labor and their interactions lead to
the formulation of rules of behavior.
(like labor laws, collective agreements, codes etc which
govern the behavior of each of the three parties participating in
industrial relations system.)

The output is the result of interaction of parties of the system

which is manifested in the network of rules, country labor
policy and labor agreements etc, that facilitates fair deal to
workers.

The Dunlops model gives great significance to external or

environmental forces. In other words, management, labor, and
the government possess a shared ideology that defines their
roles within the relationship and provides stability to the
system.