UGC NET COMMERCE December 2018 Q22
- Option : C
- Explanation : Unitary Approach
Under unitary approach, IR is grounded in mutual co-operation, individual treatment, team-work and shared goals. Work place conflict is seen as temporary aberration, resulting from poor management, from employees who do not mix well with the organisation’s culture. Unions co-operate with the management and the management’s right to manage is accepted because there is no ‘we-they’ feeling. The underlying assumption is that everyone benefits when the focus is on common interest and promotion of harmony. Conflict in the form of strikes is not only regarded as unnecessary but destructive.
Pluralistic Approach
The pluralistic approach totally departs from the unitary approach. This approach perceives:
1. Organisations as coalitions of competing interests, where the management’s role is to mediate amongst the different interest groups.
2. Trade unions as legitimate representatives of employee interests.
3. Stability in IR as the product of concessions and compromises between management and unions.
Legitimacy of the management’s authority is not automatically accepted. Conflict between the management and workers is understood as inevitable and, in fact, is viewed as conducive for innovation and growth. Employees join unions to protect their interests and influence decision-making by the management. Unions thus balance the power between the management and employees. In the pluralistic approach, therefore, a strong union is not only desirable but necessary. Similarly, society’s interests are protected by state intervention through legislation and industrial tribunals which provide orderly process for regulation and resolution of conflict.
The theories on pluralism were evolved in the mid-sixties and early seventies when England witnessed a resurgence of industrial conflicts. However, the recent theories of pluralism emanated from British scholars, and in particular from Flanders and Fox. According to pluralists, industrial conflict is inevitable and it needs to be contained within the social mechanism of collective bargaining, conciliation and arbitration.
Marxist Approach
Marxists, like the pluralists, regard conflict between employers and employees as inevitable. However, pluralists believe that the conflict is inevitable in all organisations. Marxists see it as a product of the capitalist society. As Marx himself put it, “the mode of production in material life determines the general character of social, political and spiritual process of life.”
Adversarial relations in the workplace are simply one aspect of class conflict. The Marxist approach thus focuses on the type of society in which an organisation functions. Conflict arises not just because or competing interests within the organisation, but because of the division within society between those who own or manage the means of production and those who have only their labour to offer. Industrial conflict is thus seen as being synonymous with political and social unrest. The application of Marxian theory as it relates to industrial relations derives indirectly from later Marxist scholars rather than directly from Marx himself.
Trade unions are seen both as labour reaction to exploitation by capital, as well as a weapon to bring about a revolutionary social change. Concerns with wage-related disputes are secondary. Trade unions focus on improving the position of workers within the capitalist system and not to overthrow. For the Marxists, all strikes are political.
Besides, Marxists regard state intervention via legislation and the creation of industrial tribunals as supporting management’s interest rather than ensuring a balance between the competing groups. This view is in contrast to the belief of the pluralists who argue that state intervention is necessary to protect the overall interests of society. To Marxists, the pluralist approach is supportive of capitalism, the unitary approach is anathema. Consequently, enterprise bargaining, employee participation, cooperative work culture, and the like which help usher in cordial IR are not acceptable to Marxists. Such initiatives are regarded as nothing more than sophisticated management techniques designed to reinforce management control and the continuation of the capitalist system.
The Human Relations Approach
The human relations theory was propounded by the human relations school founded by Elton Mayo. The approach offers a coherent view of industrial conflict and harmony. The human relations approach highlights certain policies and techniques to improve harmony, morale, job satisfaction and productivity. The theory stresses the role of small groups to remove irritants in labour management relations. Elton Mayo and his team were humanists and believed in the positive nature of employees. They believed that given human initiatives from managements, workers would respond positively and conflicts would have no place. But excessive stress on positive nature of workers was not appreciated by Marxists and Pluralists.
