Industrial Relations Meaning In the broad sense, industrial relations cover all such relationships that a business enterprise

maintains with various sections of the society such as workers, state, customers and public who come into its contact. In the narrow sense, it refers to all types of relationships between employer and employees, trade union and management, works and union and between workers and workers. It also includes all sorts of relationships at both formal and informal levels in the organization. The term industrial relations has been variously defined. J.T. Dunlop defines industrial relations as the complex interrelations among managers, workers and agencies of the governments. According to Dale Yoder industrial relations is the proc ess of management dealing with one or more unions with a view to negotiate and subsequently administer collective bargaining agreement or labour contract. Causes of Poor Industrial Relations Perhaps the main cause or source of poor industrial relations resulting in inefficiency and labour unrest is mental laziness on the part of both management and labour. Management is not sufficiently concerned to ascertain the causes of inefficiency and unrest following the laissez-faire policy, until it is faced with strikes and more serious unrest. Even with regard to methods of work, management does not bother to devise the best method but leaves it mainly to the subordinates to work it out for themselves. Contempt on the part of the employers towards the workers is another major cause. However, the following are briefly the causes of poor industrial relations: 1. Mental inertia on the part of management and labour; 2. An intolerant attitude of contempt of contempt towards the workers on the part of management. 3. Inadequate fixation of wage or wage structure; 4. Unhealthy working conditions; 5. Indiscipline; 6. Lack of human relations skill on the part of supervisors and other managers; 7. Desire on the part of the workers for higher bonus or DA and the corresponding desire of the employers to give as little as possible;

8. Inappropriate introduction of automation without providing the right climate; 9. Unduly heavy workloads; 10. Inadequate welfare facilities; 11. Dispute on sharing the gains of productivity; 12. Unfair labour practices, like victimization and undue dismissal; 13. Retrenchment, dismissals and lock-outs on the part of management and strikes on the part of the workers; 14. Inter-union rivalries; and 15. General economic and political environment, such as rising prices, strikes by others, and general indiscipline having their effect on the employees attitudes. Principles of Good Industrial Relations The willingness and ability of management and trade unions to deal with the problems freely, independently and with responsibility. Recognition of collective bargaining. Desirability of associations of workers and managements with the Government while formulating and implementing policies relating to general economic and social measures affecting industrial relations. Fair redressal of employee grievances by the management Providing satisfactory working conditions and payment of fair wage. Introducing a suitable system of employees education and training. Developing proper communication system between management and employees. To ensure better working conditions, living conditions and reasonable wages. To develop employees to adapt themselves for technological, social and economic changes. To make positive contributions for the economic development of the country.

Features of conflict Conflict occurs when two or more parties pursue mutually exclusive goals, values or events. Conflict arises out of differing perceptions. Conflict refers to deliberate behaviour. Conflict can exist either at the latent or overt level In conflict one side sees on opportunity to interfere with the others opportunity to acquire resources or perform activities. Conflict is not an organizational abnormality but a normal aspect of social intercourse. Level of Conflict Low level of conflict creates conditions of inertia and boredom in the system and excessive conflict results in destruction and dysfunctional tendencies. Managers have to monitor the level of conflict in the system and if there is too little or no conflict at all, the managers may even have to induce some level of conflict to energize the system. As the level of conflict tends to go beyond the optimum level the manager must act to resolve the conflict in a manner that will be beneficial to the organisation. LEVEL OF CONFLICT Stages of Conflict The above model presents conflict as a series of stages namely latent conflict; perceived conflict; felt conflict; manifest conflict and conflict aftermath. Latent Conflict Each episode of conflict starts with a latent conflict but the actual conflict has not emerged. Factors such as competition for scarce resources, competition for positions in the organization exist which could become conflicts. Perceived conflict This conflicts results in due to the parties misunderstanding of each other true position. One party perceives the other to be likely to thwart or frustrate his goals. Felt conflict When the conflict makes one tense or anxious, the conflict is a felt conflict because the difference are personalized or internalized.

Manifest conflict This is the stage for open confrontation. It takes the form of conflictual behavior including aggression, sabotage, apathy etc. all of which reduce organizations effectiveness. Conflict resolution When conflict is resolved in some form, it is called conflict resolution. Conflict aftermath The aftermath of conflict may be either positive or negative for the organization depending on how the conflict is resolved. If the conflict is genuinely resolved, it can lead to more enduring relationship between parties; if the conflict is merely suppressed but not resolved, the latent of conflict may be aggravated and explode in more violent and serious forms. This is called conflict aftermath, Types of conflicts Conflicts may take following forms: Individual conflict Inter-individual conflict Inter-individual or inter-personal conflict involves two or more individuals who hold polarized points of view. The most common reasons for inter-personal conflicts are personality differences, perceptions, clashes of values and interests, and competing for scare resources. Intra-individual conflict Intra-individual conflict is internal to the person and probably the most difficult type of conflict to analyze. Basically, intra-personal conflict can be related to two things; conflict arising due to divergent goals or conflict arising from out of multiple roles to be played. Goal conflict occurs when a goal that an individual is attempting to achieve has both positive and negative features. Generally three separate types of goal conflicts are indentified.
Approach-approach conflict: A person wants tow positive situations but can have

only one.
Approach-avoidance conflict: In this form of goal conflict the person attempts to

achieve a goal that has both positive and negative aspects but wants to avail of positive and negative.
Avoidance-avoidance conflict: This type of conflict can be resolved because a

person faced two negative goals and he may not choose either of them and may simply leave the situation.

Role conflict is the result of divergent role expectations. It exits when the expectations of a job are mutually different or opposite and the individual cannot meet one expectation without rejecting the other. An individual confronting with role conflict will experience psychological stress leading to emotional problems, resulting in poor performance. Group conflict Inter-group conflict Every group is in atleast partial conflict with every other group it interacts with. The groups differ in goals, work activities, power and prestige. The sources of intergroup conflict are incompatible goals, task interdependence, resource allocation, competitive incentive and reward system, differences in values or perception etc. Intra-group conflict Intra-group conflict is essentially same as the bases of interindividual conflict. Organizational conflict Inter-organizational conflict The bases to inter-organizational conflicts are essentially the same as the bases on inter group conflict. The types of inter-organizational conflict are between management and government, management and management, union and government etc. Intra-organizational conflict Intra-organisational conflict are mainly three kinds:
Horizontal conflict: It refers to conflict between employees of departments a the

same hierarchical level in an organization.

Vertical conflict: If refers to any conflict between different hierarchical levels in an

organisation. It occurs usually in superior-subordinate relations. The reasons for vertical conflicts are inadequate communication, differences in interest, perception and attitudes between position holders occupying different levels.
Line and staff conflict: It refers to conflict between line managers and staff specialists.

Conflict Management Conflict has to be resolved as soon as the optimum level is crossed and before dysfunctional consequences start occurring. Following are some of the techniques employed to resolve conflict. Dominance through position Quiet often managers use positional authority to fire a lower ranking subordinate they consider to be a trouble-maker. Individuals, in organisation, with rare exception, recognize and accept the authority of their superiors as an acceptable way or resolving conflicts. Although they may not be in agreement with these decisions, the abide by them.

Appeals procedures The people in disagreements may appeal to higher authority to help them to arrive at a solution by resolving the problem satisfactorily. Liaison groups To arbit differences between two warring factions, an arbitrator can be appoint who can use this expertise and persuasion to achieve coordination and get people together. Reduce interdependence On way to resolve conflict is to reduce interdependences. Departments may be provided with resources that are independent of those provided for other departments. Conflict Resolution Model Thompson suggested five styles such as competiting, avoiding, accommodating, collaborating and compromising to resolve conflicts. If two parties experience conflicts, each one could be more concerned above their own self or could be more concerned for the other. When the concern for self is very low they could be very unassertive. If the concern for he self is very high, they could be very assertive. If their concern for the other is low, they would tend to the non-cooperative. If the concern for the other it high, they could be co-operative. In a conflicting situation: If an individuals concern for self and others is low, he will avoid the conflict; If he has high concern for himself and low condern for others he will compete; If he has high concern for himself and for others, he will collaborate; If he has high concern for other but low concern for himself, he will accommodate; If he has medium level of concern for both himself and the other, he will go for compromise. All the five styles have its own advantage and disadvantages and a suitable style depends upon both the nature of the individual and the situational factors