Employment Relations
Introduction
This essay aims at explaining the state of industrial conflict in Singapore presently. An employment relation is the relationship between managers and employees in an organisation which is usually informal – for example, between supervisors and subordinates. At the industrial level, the relationship between the management of an organisation and its union is more formal and referred as industrial relation which is a subset of employment relations (Tan, 2007).
Industrial conflict is the total range of behaviour and attitudes that express opposition and divergent orientations between industrial owners on the one hand and working people and their organisations on the other (Kornhauser, Dubin & Ross, cited in Bray, Waring & Cooper 2011, p. 377). There are two forms of conflicts that will be discussed in the next paragraph. In the context of Singapore, the pluralist perspective best describes the state of industrial conflicts in Singapore. On top of this perspective, with reference to Petzall’s six theories of a pluralist nature developed, the theories that best describe the current state of industrial conflicts in Singapore are industrialization and social factors.
Types of Conflicts
There are two forms of conflict – organised and unorganised. Organised conflicts are collective industrial actions carried out by two or more individuals that are open and obvious (overt). For example, strikes. Unorganised conflicts are behaviours and attitudes displayed by individual that are not obvious (covert). For example, low morale and absenteeism. A summary of these conflicts is shown in Table 1 below. Table 1: Types of Conflict Organised Conflict | Unorganised Conflict | Is collective in nature that involves groups of employees or trade unions | Is individual in nature that involves only single employees | Is open (or overt) and is obvious to all that it is occurring | Is hidden (or covert) and is not obvious to all that it is occurring |
This essay aims at explaining the state of industrial conflict in Singapore presently. An employment relation is the relationship between managers and employees in an organisation which is usually informal – for example, between supervisors and subordinates. At the industrial level, the relationship between the management of an organisation and its union is more formal and referred as industrial relation which is a subset of employment relations (Tan, 2007).
Industrial conflict is the total range of behaviour and attitudes that express opposition and divergent orientations between industrial owners on the one hand and working people and their organisations on the other (Kornhauser, Dubin & Ross, cited in Bray, Waring & Cooper 2011, p. 377). There are two forms of conflicts that will be discussed in the next paragraph. In the context of Singapore, the pluralist perspective best describes the state of industrial conflicts in Singapore. On top of this perspective, with reference to Petzall’s six theories of a pluralist nature developed, the theories that best describe the current state of industrial conflicts in Singapore are industrialization and social factors.
Types of Conflicts
There are two forms of conflict – organised and unorganised. Organised conflicts are collective industrial actions carried out by two or more individuals that are open and obvious (overt). For example, strikes. Unorganised conflicts are behaviours and attitudes displayed by individual that are not obvious (covert). For example, low morale and absenteeism. A summary of these conflicts is shown in Table 1 below. Table 1: Types of Conflict Organised Conflict | Unorganised Conflict | Is collective in nature that involves groups of employees or trade unions | Is individual in nature that involves only single employees | Is open (or overt) and is obvious to all that it is occurring | Is hidden (or covert) and is not obvious to all that it is occurring |