Pluralist Perspective
Further to the points discussed in the previous post, Armstrong (2014) states that the employer and employees will not necessarily see eye-to-eye on many issues and that the unitary worldview is naive for believing so. Shaw, McPhail and Ressia (2018) further assert this by stating that the pluralist approach views employment as a strategic relationship between two unrelated parties or groups with diverse goals. Johnstone & Ackers, (2015) whilst agreeing that the pluralist approach does assume that employers and employees have diverse viewpoints, also add that this approach allows room for cooperation in the form of representative participation. Farnham and Pimlot (1990) went further and added that the very purpose of employment relations is to resolve the conflicts that could arise among various parties of interest in the industrial context. Johnstone and Wilkinson (2013) summarize that the fundamental idea here is that the management, unions and workers can work together to achieve positive results. At a large scale, the European Union (I work for a leading BPO company and the department I am attached to serves a British client, so I may tend to focus on the European aspect of things as well), when formulating the policy making framework for employment relations, recognizes the state, employers and the trade unions (Johnstone & Ackers, 2015). Pluralism isan intellectual response to the formation and growth of the industrial working class and it focuses on the formulation of institutions that could integrate workers into stable societies (Kaufman, 2004).
Whilst unitarism views dissent as an inconvenience or an abomination, pluralism views it as a natural outcome of the relationship between parties with conflicting motives. Kochan and Katz (1988) state that employees seek income security and a job, whilst employers intend to increase efficiency and effectiveness. Since this difference in interests is an inherent feature of this relationship, conflict is also a logical outgrowth of the relationship. Another distinction between unitarism and pluralism, as pointed out by Philips (1993), is that unitarism, as a worldview, has a purely industrial origin (ie: an organization needs to function smoothly, so harmony of ideas is important). Whereas pluralism originates from a social standpoint (ie: society is full of diverse people with diverse agenda. So it is fair to infer the same in the case of an organization as well).
As previously mentioned, the conflict between the parties involved, due to their contradictory interests, is inevitable. However, Budd (2004) argues that despite the overtly contradictory interests, both parties share a common interest in the continuance of their relationship, since the achievement of their other goals depends on this. This could lead to the formation of a productivity coalition where all the parties work towards improving the performance of the business in the hopes of achieving their individual goals.
Ex:
The average employee does not really care about overall profits or valuation of shares as much as the directors and/ or the shareholders of a company, as they are predominantly occupied with their income and stability. Similarly, the owners of a business do not really concern themselves with the prosperity of their employees as much as they care about the profitability of the business. Overtly it may look like an arrangement where two parties simply look to undermine one another for the advancement of their interests. But the fact of the matter is that neither of these parties can prosper without the other, as their prosperity depends on the survival of the business.
We will discuss further aspects of the cooperation between these parties in the upcoming posts.
References
Armstrong, M. (2014). Armstrong’s handbook of human resource management practice. 13th ed. London: Kogan Page, p.403.
Farnham, D., and Pimlott, J. (1990). Understanding Industrial Relations, 4th edn. P. 19
Johnstone, S. Ackers, P., (2015), Finding a Voice at Work?: New Perspectives on Employment Relations, 1st ed. New York City: Oxford University Publications, pp. 1-16
Johnstone, S. Wilkinson, A., (2013), Employee voice, partnership and performance, Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publications; pp. 1-22
Kaufman BE(2004) The Global Evolution of Industrial Relations: Events, Ideas and the IIRA. Geneva: International Labour Office.
Phillips, A. (1993). Democracy and Difference. Cambridge: Polity Press. p. 140
Shaw, A., McPhail, R. And Ressia, S., 2018. Employment Relations. Melbourne: Cengage, p.19.
Agreed, in terms of multiple interest groups existing within a workplace, Pluralist thought was similar to Radical theory (Chand, 2017). According to pluralist theory, the workplace is made up of a variety of views, values, attitudes, and behaviours (Tirintetaake, 2017).
ReplyDeleteHi Divakar, Well explained. Mzangwa (2015) mentions that Pluralist perspective allows workers to exercise their power based on decisions which affect them in the workplace. Moreover, it recognizes the potentiality of conflicts, but tends to focus on how it can be controlled with developing procedures, collective bargaining arrangements in particular.
ReplyDeleteAgree with you Divakar. Jarzabkowski ,(2006) Said that Pluralism in organization is a challenge for collective action because it involves "diffuse power and divergent objectives".
ReplyDeleteHi Divakar. Agree with you. Taking a pluralistic perspective is essential for making the concept of sustainable HRM more distinct and robust. Sustainable HRM can offer a challenge to the dominant unitarist perspective on the employment relationship, focusing the attention of researchers on the extent to which employment practices benefit both employers and employees while contributing to social sustainability outside of the employment context (Van Buren, 2020).
ReplyDeletehi divakar, agree with you, adding to your points, the place of corporate unity, reflected in a single focus of authority and loyalty. This view certainly respects the workforce as being characterized by ‘an opposition that does not seek to govern’ (Armstrong, 2010).
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ReplyDeleteHi Divakar, agreed your points and adding to that a pluralist perspective recognizes the rightfulness of different interests and is more realistic and could be argued that values concerned with performance, quality, service, equal opportunity and innovation are not necessarily wrong because they are managerial values (Armstrong & Taylor ,2014).
ReplyDeleteAgreed with you Divakar. Adding to that, according to pluralist tenets, work relationships, as subsystems of society, are platforms for harnessing the various and competing interests of employees and employers toward compromise and consensus (Mzangwa, 2015).
ReplyDeleteA pluralistic company or organization involves employees or members in decision-making rather than letting management dictate all decisions. However, HRM are that it is diverse, strategic and commitment-oriented, adopts a unitary rather than pluralist viewpoint is founded on the belief that people should be treated as assets and is a management-driven activity. In an organization multiple groups tend to influence policies, practices (Edwards, 2015).
ReplyDeleteEdwards, P. (2015). Industrial relations, critical social science and reform: I, principles of engagement. Industrial Relations Journal, 3(46), 173-186. https://doi.org/10.1111/irj.12097
Agree with you Divakar, Pluralistic perspective is a multi structured concept where leadership, grouping and authority plays major role in the organization to build collaboration. Management and the trade unions were categorized under the pluralistic perspective as well (Della Porta and Keating, 2008).
ReplyDeleteAgreed with you Divakar , further Mzangwa(2015) explained on his journal article, the pluralist perspective views the employing organization as a coalition of individuals and groups with diverse objectives, values and interests
ReplyDeleteWell detailed blog, Budd (2004) develops this thinking by characterising between equity and voice. Equity is fair employment standards for both material outcomes (such as wages and safety) and personal treatment (especially nondiscrimination).
ReplyDeleteHi Divakar, well explained, The priciple assumption of pluralist perspective of industrial relations is that the individuals organisation comprises groups which have their own aims, interests and leadership. These aims and interests often conflict and compete with other groups and give rise to tensions which have to be management.S. Wilkinson, A., (2013)
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