similarities between unitarist and pluralist

Besides, the writer will decide on the best approach based on the findings. The unitarist is likened to utopic or authoritarian regimes. It compares these two perspectives in a broader sense, and from the analysis, the most useful view of employee management shall be singled out. Besides, the social classes lead to regular conflicts due to contradicting interests (Bacon & Blyton 2007). 407-428. Some conflicts are said to be of value to firms and, therefore, are necessary for organisations (Wilton and Wilton, 2011). Unitarism further is not a participative style of management and ignores the idea of employees which could be used to alter the course of events in organisations positively. February 20, 2023. https://studycorgi.com/unitarist-and-pluralist-perspectives-in-management/. of South Carolina Press. In whichever way, the ultimate goal of this managerial approach is to curb internal conflicts by promoting self-satisfaction through involving the employees in running the organisation. Outsiders are seen as immaterial as representatives and businesses have a common participation. Disclaimer: Services provided by StudyCorgi are to be used for research purposes only. Therefore, it is easier to find similar interests. Therefore, it is crucial to handle the concerns of workers with a lot of care to ensure the organisations success. Hills, SM, 1995, Employment relations and the social sciences. This is because it values labour unions and their roles in managing conflicts between employers and employees (Balnave, 2007). Unitarianism referred to a paternalistic approach and expected employee loyalty in return. To achieve business objectives, an organization manager must use effective management and leadership approaches. Unitarists maintain that for an organisation to succeed, it has to have a management system that discourages establishment of social classes, establishes open communication, and champions for the interests of all parties to the organisation. Also, firms are seen as composing teams which work together to reach mutual goals. similarities between unitarist and pluralist. Employee relations emerged from industrial relations in Europe in the early 1900s. Organisations need to handle their employees with great care since they are the most critical resource in production. This has been done through different means. This diversity makes it hard for employees to share common interests. Such employees would stop being productive subjecting the organisation to retarded growth (Ackers 2002). According to the unitarist perspective, the conflict is dysfunctional since it decreases loyalty and may pose threats to the relationships within the organisation. It acknowledges the use of collective bargaining in the negotiation process to resolve conflicts. Hence, trade unions would facilitate to gather the opinion of the employees and bring them on the table for the organisation to make decisive decisions. The philosophy underlying this framework is that enterprises or organisations have people with unique interests, objectives and aspirations. Actually, conflict is endemic within the workplaces. In this paper, see the writer will explore the advantages and disadvantages of both concepts, explaining their meaning, similarities and differences. Wilkinson, A, 2008, The SAGE handbook of human resource management. This means that pluralist approaches of management which form a big part of contemporary human resource management are being embraced in management today (Wilton and Wilton, 2011). London: Institute of Personnel and Development. Therefore, whenever workers are deprived the opportunity to make decisions in the organisation, the unitarists believe that they will definitely look for ways to resist the management system that enforces these conditions. Kaufman, BE, 2008, Managing the human factor: The early years of human resource management in American industry. Organisations do not have time to get the opinion of every employee. Danny Danforth. Unitarian has referred to individual members interested in the organization. Therefore, many organisations are shifting from this kind of management and lean towards adopting the pluralistic form of managing employee relations in organisations (Wilkinson, 2008). February 20, 2023. https://studycorgi.com/unitarist-and-pluralist-perspectives-in-management/. In the pluralist perspective, firms are perceived to have been made up of powerful sub-groups that are divergent in roles and goals. Schmidt, S 2009, Employee demographics and job training satisfaction: The relationship between dimensions of diversity and satisfaction with job training, Human Resource Development International, vol. You can update your choices at any time in your settings. Employees and the management form part of these groups (Giles 1998). Unitarist holds that workplace conflict is avoidable. In other words, it believes that management and workforce are all working for the welfare of the company. From a "unitarist" perspective (set forth, for example, in mission . Therefore, to harness this diversity and use it productively, managers need to embrace conflicting opinions. Singh, P & Loncar, N 2010, Pay satisfaction, job satisfaction, and turnover intent, Industrial Relations, vol. Select Accept to consent or Reject to decline non-essential cookies for this use. Rather than imposing policies on employees, managers are supposed to help in reconciling the competing parties within an organisation. Employment laws refer to the area of law between employees and employers. Third parties are viewed as irrelevant as employees Malden, Mass. Therefore, pluralists offer the best solution to workplace conflicts, which is to share control of organisation between several leaders who would work on the various interests to reach at a common agreement with all the stakeholders. The management has the duty to conduct a free and fair promotion and recruitment exercise, come up with quality communication systems that are capable of showing the employees where their interests fall, and deal with people susceptible to personality disorders (Bacon & Blyton 2007). Therefore, managers are made to go out of their way and show their management and leadership prowess. Numerous well-known firms have been brought out as having applied the unitarist perspective in human resource management. However, there is no single company which operates in Germany that has fully modelled itself as a valid user of unitarism in its human resource management. These perspectives are different in their explanation, understanding and analysis of relations at places of work. Although firms in Germany can choose to use practices aligned with human resource management, they are limited when adopting unitarist human resource management values. Therefore, the organisational management team needs to look for the opportunities that might help it to use the emerging conflicts to boost organisational growth. Despite the high levels of unemployment, firms in Germany have remained relatively competitive. What is a unitarist and pluralist approach? In this case, workers are forced to accept management decisions. Unitarists believe that this second source of authority, which is the trade union, is to blame for tension that arises between employees and managers. Andover: Cengage Learning. If you are the copyright owner of this paper and no longer wish to have your work published on IvyPanda. Therefore, this approach has expected employees' loyalty. Unitarism comprise of the executives and staff individuals sharing . 2 : the quality or state of being plural. The experts of unitarism call it as 'a unitary outlook'. In a research that was conducted in organisations in Germany, it was found out that some United States firms utilise a unitarist Human Resource Management Strategy. Unitarism perceives the entire organization as one big family where everyone shares common goals and purposes. Unitarist and Pluralist Perspectives in Management. Pluralists view workplace conflicts in a positive dimension. Hence, the conflict that emerges between the parties is a result of personality muddle, poor communication, poor promotion practices, or inappropriate recruitment. The pluralist perspective understands this aspect and that is why it advocates for collective bargaining as the alternative method to help in bringing the personal and organisational interests together. It does not have descriptions of how individual employee interests and sentiments can be fully integrated into the objectives of the firm. However, it has been identified that conflict has been considered abnormal in this approach. However, it is also important to note that some companies in the United States Companies, such as the United States Branch Bank, the United States Consumer Oil, and the United States Chemical, follow a pluralist strategy of human resource management. Conflict must be accepted as being part of what defines organisations in this modern economy. For instance, Ford Motor Company was well-known in the 1920s for adopting the unitarist philosophy, which held that management and labor had similar interests and were working together to further the company's success. However, it has clearly defined reciprocal rights and obligations created between employees and employers. This is because it allows for a participatory aspect of management. The approach acknowledges the potential benefits of workplace conflicts. Views: 108. For this reason, organisations cannot overcome conflicts. Kessler, I & Purcell, J 2003, Industrial Relations: Theory And Practice, Blackwell Publishing, Oxford. In the other context, pluralism has suggested employees do not have similar interests and goals. However, it has had constraining factors that undermine it. Reina Condos. Starbucks Corporation's Global Marketing in Italy. Unitarian has clearly defined individual employees who share common interests and goals. Along with that, maintaining work efficiency is required to maintain loyalty in the workplace. It needs to give employees the power to make decisions at their workplaces, which would facilitate in avoiding conflicts, as employees would agree with their colleagues on policies to adopt. According to this perspective, the managements role involves the provision of strong leadership and fostering of good communication. Unitarism is a perspective that emphasizes the shared interest of all employees of the organization. The theory cites the states role as being that of guarding public interests; protection of the weak; and restraining power for the strong. 38 no. Conflicting objectives are seen as abnormal in this perspective. Workplace conflict, if managed effectively, would promote innovativeness in an organisation, which underlines the reason why pluralists advocate for the management to manage the conflict but not rebuke and criticise it. They champion for the employees interests and makes sure that leaders address the interests. As observed by Baccaro et al., (2019, p. 19), Pluralism has defined achieving good industrial and employee relationships as acknowledging various groups of employees who have followed up on different requirements and demands. This can be critical in managing stakeholders in which case employees are regarded as essential aspects of the organisation. The unitary and pluralist perspectives of employee relations Since the 1980s, there has been a significant paradigm shift in managing employee relations (ER) to one focused on more strategic and integrated frameworks that are based on employee commitment and shared workplace interests, instead of the traditional managerial control and conflicts The perspective fails to give human resource guidelines that would make it more effective. The pluralistic approach does not view the role of managers as to implement organisational policies. Rather than trying to curb workplace conflict, which is hard to do away with, organisational leaders ought to bring back sanity by sharing the control of the organisation. Pluralism recognises the existence of conflicts in organisations. This is the key difference between unitarism and pluralism. In the unitarism framework, the firm is perceived as being an integrated and harmonious whole. On the other hand, the pluralist perspective employs conflict management strategies to address the challenges a conflict poses. This is IvyPanda's free database of academic paper samples. There is a relationship between two parties, that is underpinned by communication- consultation That each party has an interest at the enterprise level process There is the non organization of workers under the unitary model. This perspective emphasises the management role, which entails attaining a win-win situation for both workers and the firm in general. Figure 2: Differences between Unitarian and Pluralism. Radcliffe, D, 2005, Critique of Human Resources Theory. This paper aims to analyze the unitarist vs. pluralist managerial perspectives. In a bid to achieve this goal, managers ought to understand that employees are not the cause of conflict witnessed in organisations, but they show the diversity in industrial relations. 44 no. Individuals supporting unitarism perspective assume that employees are mature enough to reach conclusive decisions on how to integrate organisational and personal interests. ]: Elgar. 3. 1 : the holding of two or more offices or positions (such as benefices) at the same time. The management has the duty to design workplace relations in ways that promote self-satisfaction within the employees. August 1, 2022. https://ivypanda.com/essays/unitarist-and-pluralist-managerial-perspectives/. They claim that as long as managers continue interacting with employees, they are likely to quarrel. 3, pp. Highland Commons. 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