Parties to

Industrial Relation

Employers Employees

Government
HONDA MOTORCYCLES AND SCOOTERS INDIA
LTD

1. What were the causes for industrial

unrest at HMS?
2. Why HMS was so reluctant to allow
union formation?
3. What barriers they erected, why it
backfired?
4. What role did government and political
parties played?
5. What HRM strategy could be adopted
to end hostility in IR?
 Employer Employees

• Cross-cultural issues • Pay package & Bonus issue

• Union-avoidance/suspension • Nature of emplyment contract

• Arbitariness and nepotism • Charter of demands

• Collusion with state agencies • No conflict manager

• Tough floor practices • Tough leave/promotion policy

• Rheoteric vs. Reality
• Perceived sense of fairness
Government & Political
parties

• Legal framework? • Political support

Trade Unions Act – 1926 (violations)

WHY UNION FREE WORKPLACE? CAN UNIONS BE BENEFICIAL?

1. Multiplicity of unions 1. Ease of communication

2. Political affiliaiton 2. Central negotiation
3. Unfair demands/CB 3. Buffer for individual disputes
 Firms based on employment practices Pure HRM (ILM)

Progressive HRM long term view

Significant costs involved (cost-benefit)
Profitability and competition dependent

• Bottom: low road, sweatshop, little HRM,

• Middle: bulk of firms, decent work place, professional HRM
• Top: well developed ILM, HRM, Unitarist (win-win) situation
keeps on shifting left and right over time (recession etc.)
More HRM, More ILM Cons:
worker complacent
Entitlement mentality
Less motivation to pursue innovation
 Competitive D-S Model -ELM

• Labour can be treated as a commodity in a competitive market

• Walrus (1954) observed stock market exchange in Paris,
• However modelled it using more general commodity
• Critical assumption: Goods and services are homogenous (e.g. stock or bushels of wheat)
• BTUs from coal, tensile strength of steel are determinate (commodities)
• Work effort of human is discretionary contingent on IR/HR factors

• Perfect competition: Prices and quantities are entirely market-determined

• Free interplay of D-S adjust wages up and down till labour are fully and efficiently employed
• Production function Q = f(x1,x2….xn) labour treated identical to other xi factors
• Human aspect can be ignored for theory building