Unitarist, Pluralist and Radical Approaches in HRM - Case Study Example

CASE STUDY Name Course Tutor University Department The commonalities and differences of interest (unitarist, pluralist and radical) This paper will discuss the commonalities that are shared among employees from all the three departments, that is, design, fabrication and assembly regarding how employees and management view the workplace organization, and how far it go. Also, we will discuss divergence that exists between employees and management and if there exist imbalance of bargaining power between management and employees at LIPC Integration Plant Plc, as well as solutions. Unitarist Perspective In this perspective, employing organization is perceived to consist of different groups of people and individuals that share interest and objectives, and thus, they should work together (Rose 2008). The management has the highest authority; however the emphasis is on employee loyalty. The management is expected to make all the authoritative decision making of the organization which should be followed by employees. In the design department, the management proposition is that work and creation of the design department professional employees remain a property of the company as long they remain employed in the organization. Another problem of this perspective is that the management may take the harsh decision to meet organization interest (Smith, Farmer & Yellowley 2012). For instance, the management refused to increase the assembly workers' pay and change the work structure, and this may hinder the efficiency of the employees. Therefore, the organization should offer a healthy working environment to their workers that reduce an amount of conflicts. Unitarist perspective is more concerned about the organization goal, and thus the management makes the employees more concerned about the organization goal rather than their interests. Therefore, the management plays a significant role in ensuring that the employees are satisfied and enthusiastic towards achieving the organization goal. The management ensures that a win-win situation is created for the employees and organization by aligning their objectives. For instance, in the in the fabrication department at LIPC Integration Plant Plc, the workers have been favored by the new reward system based on performance. Now the workers can work longer hours, be more dedicated and pay more attention to getting more to get a higher reward. As a result, the workers productivity has also improved. Consequently, the workers have also asked for more training and the management has agreed to support them and reward high performing employees. In other words, the unitarist approach has helped to achieve organization goal effectively by achieving a common goal and smooth work environment. Pluralist Perspective Pluralist perspective is based on the assumption that organization is composed of groups and individuals with different interests and objectives. Therefore, these interests and objectives are likely to conflict. It is more likely to see that there are conflicts with the organization between the employees and different management functions because all employees do not have the same interests and expectations (Rose 2008). At LIPC Integration Plant Plc., the design department employees have a conflict with the management because of different interests and expectations. The workers feel that since their work is complex, they should be rewarded for creativity, and these designs should remain their individual intellectual property. However, the management is against this idea and argues that so long as they remain to be employees at LIPC Integration Plant Plc, their design remains part of the company. Pluralist approach believes that in every conflict there is the need to bargain with the employees and employer. Conflicts should not just be overlooked but should be managed effectively. Similarly, the LIPC Integration Plant Plc management has tried to negotiate with the design department's professional staff members as a way of harmonizing the situation, but it did not yield results. Radical Perspective On the contrary, radical perspective is derived from the fact that in an organization or any other context there exist inequality between the rich and the poor, the strong and the weak, as well as inequalities regarding power and wealth. Radical perspective shows that conflicts are thus inevitable in the organization because everyone expects to be treated equally (Lewis, Thornhill & Saunders, 2003). In an organization that is dominated by the radical approach, people at the top management have more power than the subordinates, and thus, the rules and procedures laid down must be followed by the subordinates at any cost. The staffs are denied any opportunity and power. In the case of LIPC Integration Plant Plc. the assembly department employees are having a conflict with the management because their request for more flexible working hours and coffee breaks has been declined. In fact, the management stated that they are unwilling to increase pay or change the work structure. Instead, they have threatened to outsource the duties of assembly department to a low-cost country where labor is cheaper such as Vietnam since their work requires basic skills. This clearly shows the difference between the rulers and laborers. Such practices can ruin the relationship between the employee and management and becomes an obstacle to organizational growth and success. The kind of relationship shows a clear difference between the rich and the poor. The employees when they complain are threatened are there are no strategies put in place to solve conflicts since there is no cooperation between the workers and the management of LIPC Integration Plant Plc. Design Department Recommendations The conflicts arose because the workers argue that their work requires creativity and is very complex and thus they should be recognized and rewarded for this talent and creativity. Moreover, employees believe that these designs should remain their intellectual property. On the other hand, the management proposition is that these creations and designs are the sole property of the LIPC Integration Plant Plc. as long as they are working for the organization. Pluralist perspective would recognize the divergence interests and objectives with assembly department (Boxall & Purcell 2003). This approach accepts that each party interest can come into conflict because they are viewed as being in competitions with each other to attain separate objectives. The management of LIPC Integration Plant Plc. needs the skills of design department professionals because they are finding it hard to hire replacement staff members with the required talent and skills. Under pluralism perspective, it is recognized that both management and employees interests are dependent on each to advance their interests and objectives. In other words, a common need to survive and desire to foster will foster an interdependence may limit the amount of conflicts between parties due to their mutual survival and prosperity. The shared assumptions serve to integrate to have a functional working relationship. The pluralist approach portrays that the prospects for resolving any differences as necessary for the advancement of both the management and design department employees using the principle of collective bargaining. The aspect of collective bargaining, and therefore mutual understanding is required for them to work together for the success of the organization. On this view, collective bargaining suggests a set of procedures that allows the LIPC management and design department to reconcile. The management should negotiate the reward system to ensure that the quality of designs is not affected. Fabrication Department Recommendations The employees in the fabrication department at LIPC Integration Plant Plc. have not raised any complaints because they have been favored by the relatively new performance-based pay and reward system. As a result, their performance has also improved. The unitarist perspective has instilled loyalty to the organization and management of employees. In the unitarist perspective, the management is expected to provide a good working environment and employees are expected to be loyal to the management. Assembly Department Recommendations In the assembly departments, there is a conflict between employers and employees. These disputes have an association with the terms of employment or condition of labor. The employees in this department feel that the organization performance-based reward is not favorable because they have not seen an increase in pay as their counterparts. Also, the workers have also requested for more flexible working hours and coffee breaks due to their repetitive job design. The management can solve these conflicts if the assembly department workers are given an equal chance like organization can grow only if people in its organization can are given equal the design department employees to negotiate their rewards and job conditions with the management so that they can work effectively for organization success. The workers argue that workers proposition is that if they were given coffee breaks, they would refresh their minds and consequently improve performance. On the contrary, the management argues that their work their work is simple and require no training and thus have declined the proposal. The management has also planned to relocate their duties to a low-cost country like Vietnam. Such threats result in unsatisfied employees leading to low production. The best approach would be employment is pluralistic approach because it allows consideration of collective opinions from both parties because they are both important for the success of the organization (Bray, Waring & Cooper, 2011). The discussion thus is essential not only because it is a key aspect of pluralist collective bargaining, but also it act as a limiting to avoid unrestricted collective by both the management and assembly employees it would employee's acceptance of basic fairness of collective bargaining is to be sustained. References Bray, M, Waring, P, & Cooper, R 2011, Employment Relations, New York: McGraw-Hill Australia. Boxall, P & Purcell, J 2003, Strategy and Human Resource Management, Palgrave Macmillan, Basingstoke. Lewis, P, Thornhill, A, & Saunders, M 2003, Employee Relations: Understanding The Employment Relationship, New York: Financial Times Prentice Hall. Rose, E 2008, Employment Relations, New York: Financial Times Prentice Hall. Smith, P, Farmer, M. & Yellowley, W 2012, Organisational Behaviour, Abingdon, Hodder Education, Read More