Directorate of distance education master of business administration

UNIT -V
Lesson 16 - Industrial Relations 
Meaning and Definition
          Industrial relations are concerned with the relationship between 
management and workers and the role of the regulatory mechanism 
in resolving any industrial dispute. A formal definition is “concerned 
with the systems, rules, procedures used by unions and employers to 
determine the reward for effort and other conditions of employment, to 
protect the interest of the employee and their employers, and to regulate 
the ways in which employers treat their employees”.
The International Labour Organization (ILO) stated that 
“industrial relations deal with either the relationships between the state 
and employers’ and workers’ organizations or the relations between the 
occupational organizations themselves”.
The concept of industrial relations has been extended to denote 
the relations of the state with employers, workers and their organizations. 
The subject, therefore, includes individual relations and joint consultation 
between employers and work people at their work place; collective 
relations between employers and their organizations and trade unions 
and the part played by the state in regulating these relations.
 
From the various definitions given above, we understand that:
 
ӹ Industrial relations is an outcome of employer-employee 
relationship in an organization
 
ӹ Industrial relations facilitates harmonious relationships in an 
organization by setting a framework for the management and 
the employees
 
ӹ Industrial relations is based on mutual compromise and 
adjustment, for the benefit of both the parties involved

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ӹ The state and the legal system also have a role to play in the 
maintenance of a conflict- free industrial environment
 
ӹ The different parties in the system with a well-defined role are 
the management, the employees and the unions.
Concept
 
ӹ Industrial relations are that aspect of management, which 
deals with the manpower of the enterprise – whether machine 
operator, skilled worker or manger.
 
ӹ Cordial and peaceful industrial relations between the employees 
and the employer are highly essential for increasing productivity 
and the economic growth of the country. Through good 
industrial relations only, the enterprise can move towards the 
welfare of the employees and the management of the concern.
 
ӹ Industrial relationships is the compromise result of the attitudes 
and approaches of the employees towards each other with regard 
to the planning, supervision, direction and co-ordination of the 
activities of an organization with a minimum of human effort 
and friction, with an animating spirit of co-operation and with 
proper regard for the genuine well-being of all members of the 
organization.
 
ӹ The term Industrial relations has been looked upon and worded 
differently by different pioneers of the field.
 
 
However, with the industrial developments after World War II, 
the term industrial relations has been widened in its meaning and now 
it implies –employers- employees – unions and government relationship 
in industry.