Perspective to Industrial Relation

IR has a dynamic perception because the bonding between the employer and employees experiences transformation from thesis to antithesis and then to synthesis.

This altering process turns out to be an incessant characteristic of Industrial relations system and thus the relationship preliminary commence with synergy in a little while metamorphoses into strife or synergistic fission and afterward to its settlement yet again make over into synergistic fusion. Thus, Industrial relations can be described as a coin having two faces, synergistic fusion and synergistic fission. Cordial work relationships generate synergistic working culture, which accelerate the sensation of team sprit to get the common objectives. Conflict or dispute (differences in opinion) on the other hand, is likely to redirect the line of concentration away from organizational effectiveness.

We can illustrate the Industrial relations as a relationship between husband and wife in the Indian joint family. Workman and management are function like a couple in industrial environments. Even though they have, a separate identity but they made for each other; they live for each other; they care for each other. The recherché couple does not run into a few bumps in the road. Albeit every relationship has a succession of both good and unpleasant experiences, successful couples have learned how to manage the bumps and keeps their love life going on right track. While occasionally opinion of differences may exist between them but it can be solved by themselves (just sitting across the table and discuss) or by intervening the parents (the Govt. in case if Industrial relations) into the matter and resolve it at the earliest. If matter still not solved they go to the court for justice. Court resolves the matter and they again live with love and give a proper space to express each other. They hang in there, tackle quandaries, and learn how to work through the involutes issues of daily life. Ultimately, the journey of life is always moving on the track as the Indian economy in case of the Industrial relations.

Perspective/ Philosophy to Industrial Relation:

1. The Unitary Perspective: This approach rests on the personal treatment, direct negotiation with employees, correlative cooperation, team dynamics and common goals. As per Unitary approach all the employees whether they are managers/ workers/ or other staff members have a mundane set of objectives/ purposes/ fascinates/ goals and, consequently they must collaborate as a team towards the accomplishment of these mundane goals. Primary postulation is that everyone benefits when the focal point is on mundane interests and encouragement of synchronization between management and managed within the establishment. This philosophy has considered conflict/ disputes as a temporary discrepancy and the strikes as lethal; hence, there is no need of trade union. This philosophy also permitted the Workers' participation in workplace management has facilitated up to the extent possible. This avails in empowering employees in their respective roles and accentuates team spirit/ creativity/ innovation/ ingenuity/ problem handling ability/ discretion in quandary-solving, quality and improvement groups etc.

2. The Pluralistic/ Conflict Perspective: This philosophy is just diametrical to unitary perspective. The Pluralistic/ Conflict concept is rests on the following assumptions:

• It seems organizations as coalition set of contending interests and management act as a mediator among them. A coalition is a provisional alliance or collaborating of groups in order to achieve a prevalent purport or to engage in joint activity.
• This perception accepts conflict between different interest sets is inevitable and the same has measured necessary for novelty and development.
• Trade unions are genuine agents of employee fascinates. It balances the dynamism between the two basic entities of the industrial relations, i.e., the employees and the employers. Thus, the presence of a strong/ stable/ well-organized trade union in play, is not only enviable but also indispensable. Employees join the trade union to forefend/ protect their intrigues and influence the organizational decision-making legitimacy.
• Independent external arbitrators may be considering acclimate availing in the resolution of disputes.
• Constancy in Industrial relations looks as the result of special considerations and negotiations between the representatives of the two basic entities of the industrial relations.
• Society’s fascinates are sheltered by state involvement through legislation and industrial tribunals which provide methodical process as guideline and decision for early settlement of conflict.

3. The Marxist Perspective: Karl Marx fixates on social class as that one's social class dictated one's social life. Marxist analysis of society is all about the class struggle amid the labor and the capital in the industrial outlook. The class struggle is synonymous to the industrial conflict. The Marxist philosophy observe the potency/ power relationship between the two classes, i.e., the management (capital) and the worker (labor), as the core of the industrial relations system. Conflict arises in the Industrial relations between the two parties; one who buy labor and the other who sell it. Hence, the conflict between the workers and management is unavoidable and arises due to the capitalist society. The notion of alienation also played an important part in Marxian model on industrial conflict. The employer/ management/ capitalist see trade unions as labor reaction against the exploitation. In addition to this, Karl Marx regarded the trade union as a stick to bring about revolutionary social change. The advocate of this philosophy observes that the capitalist can survive longer without labor than the labor class can without work.

4. The Systems Perspective: J. P. Dunlop (1958) articulates the philosophy that is based on the common beliefs of group cohesiveness determined by the societal factors. At par systems perspective, employees are a component of a perpetual but autonomous social system and their comportment, actions and role are fashioned by the cultures of the society. Thus, the society influence the process (inputs convert into output) and determine the result or comeback of the employees. According to this perspective, the Industrial relations system comprises of certain contexts among the three actors (workers and trade unions, management, and the Govt.) with an ideology that well organized them jointly and a body of labor legislation engendered to administer the actors at the place of work and society. Hence, at par the systems approach the industrial relations system (R) is a function of Actors (A), Ideology (I) and the body of Rules (B). Thus, R= f (A, I, B). The consummate Systems approach reposes on the three elements Inputs (in the form of actors, ideology, and environmental contexts), Processes (in the form of bargaining/ arbitration/ conciliation) and output (as a body of rules) and their interaction in industrial prospective.