Page 25 - DCOM207_LABOUR_LAWS

Labour Laws

Notes 2.3 The Theory of the Conflict between Industrial Relations and
Human Resource Management

In considering the relationship between HRM and IR, two central concerns are: in what way does
HRM pose a challenge to IR and how can conflicts between the two, if any, be reconciled so that
they can complement each other? This section concerns itself with the first of these two issues.
In considering the issue, it is necessary to identify the broad goals of each discipline. The goals
of HRM have already been identified in the previous section. It remains to consider some of the
basic objectives of IR, which could be said to include the following:
1. The efficient production of goods and services and, at the same time, determination of
adequate terms and conditions of employment, in the interests of the employer, employees
and society as a whole, through a consensus achieved through negotiation.
2. The establishment of mechanisms for communication, consultation and cooperation in
order to resolve workplace issues at enterprise and industry level, and to achieve through
a tripartite process, consensus on labour policy at national level.
3. Avoidance and settlement of disputes and differences between employers, employees
and their representatives, where possible through negotiation and dispute settlement
mechanisms.
4. To provide social protection where needed e.g. in the areas of social security, safety and
health, child labour, etc.
5. Establishment of stable and harmonious relations between employers and employees and
their organizations, and between them and the State.

IR is essentially pluralistic in outlook, in that it covers not only the relations between employer
and employee (the individual relations) but also the relations between employers and unions and
between them and the State (collective relations). IR theory, practice and institutions traditionally
focus more on the collective aspect of relations. This is evident from the central place occupied
by labour law, freedom of association, collective bargaining, the right to strike, employee
involvement practices which involve unions, trade unionism and so on. HRM deals with the
management of human resources, rather than with the management of collective relations.
There is of course a certain measure of overlap. Individual grievance handling falls within the
ambit of both disciplines, but dispute settlement of collective issues more properly falls within
the scope of IR. Policies and practices relating to recruitment, selection, appraisal, training
and motivation form a part of HRM. Team-building, communication and cooperation, though
primarily HRM initiatives, have a collectivist aspect. Thus joint consultative mechanisms are as
much IR initiatives, which may (as in Japan) supplement collective bargaining. But IR has not, in
regard to team-building for instance, developed any techniques or theories about how to achieve
it; in fact, it is not a focus of attention because it implies a potential loyalty to the enterprise
through the team and is seen as conflicting with loyalty to the union. IR has a large component
of rules which govern the employment relationship. These rules may be prescribed by the State
through laws, by courts or tribunals, or through a bipartite process such as collective bargaining.
HRM differs in this respect from industrial relations in the sense that it does not deal with such
procedures and rules, but with the best way to use the human resource through, for example,
proper selection and recruitment, induction, appraisal, training and development, motivation,
leadership and intrinsic and extrinsic rewards. Thus “at its most basic HRM represents a set of
managerial initiatives.” Four processes central to a HRM system - selection, appraisal, rewards
and development - leave only limited room for IR as a central element in the human resource
system. “Based on theoretical work in the field of organizational behaviour it is proposed that
HRM comprises a set of policies designed to maximise organizational integration, employee
commitment, flexibility and quality of work. Within this model, collective industrial relations
have, at best, only a minor role.

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