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  • IB Business Management
    • 01 Business Organization and the Environment >
      • 1.1 Introduction to Business Management
      • 1.2 Types of business organizations
      • 1.3 Organizational objectives
      • 1.4 Stakeholders
      • 1.5 External Environment
      • 1.6 Growth and Evolution
      • 1.7 Organizational planning tools
    • 02 Human Resources >
      • 2.1 Human Resource Planning
      • 2.2 Organizational Structure
      • 2.3 Leadership and Management
      • 2.4 Motivation
      • 2.5 Organizational and corporate cultures
      • 2.6 Employer and employee relations
    • 03 Finance and Accounting >
      • 3.1 Sources of finance
      • 3.2 Costs and revenues
      • 3.3 Break-even analysis
      • 3.4 Financial Accounts
      • 3.5 & 3.6 Ratio Analysis
      • 3.7 Cash flow
      • 3.8 Investment appraisal
      • 3.9 Budgets
    • 04 Marketing >
      • 4.1 The Role Marketing
      • 4.2 Marketing Planning
      • 4.3 Sales Forcasting
      • 4.4 Market Research
      • 4.5 Product >
        • 4.5 Price
        • 4.5 Promotion
        • 4.5 Place
      • 4.7 International Marketing and Globalization
    • The Exam
  • IB Economics
    • 01 Microeconomics >
      • 1. The Foundations of Economics
      • 1.1 Demand and Supply
      • 1.2 Elasticities
      • 1.3 Government Intervention
      • 1.4 Market Failure
    • 02 Macroeconomics >
      • 01 Level of Economic Activity
      • 2.2 Aggregate Demand
      • 2.3 Aggregate Supply
      • 2.4 Macroeconomic Equlibruim
      • 2.5 Unemployment
      • 2.6 Inflation
      • 2.7 Economic Growth
      • 2.8 Equity in the distribution of income
    • 03 International Economics >
      • 3.1 Free Trade
      • 3.2 Protectionism
      • 3.3 Exchange Rates
      • 3.4 Balance of Payments
      • 3.5 Economic Integration
    • 04 Development Economics >
      • 4.1 Economic Development
      • 4.2 Measuring Development
    • 05 Exam Preparation
  • Individuals & Societies 8
    • 01 Belief systems and their influence on culture
    • 02 How are societies governed?
    • 03 Japan 1603 - 1945: Isolation and then expansion
    • 04 What are natural hazards and how do societies respond to them? Case Study: Japan
  • Individuals & Societies 7
    • 01 Economic Growth and Development
    • 02 Where are all the people?
    • 03 What can we learn from Classical Civilizations (Greece) >
      • 03 What can we learn from Classical Civilizations?
    • 04 How has globalization shaped the world?
  • AP World History
    • Free Response Questions
    • 10,000 BCE - 600CE
    • 600 - 1450
    • 1450 - 1750
  • AP Human Geo
    • 01 Geography its nature and perspectives
    • 02 Population and Migration
    • 03 Cultural Geography
    • 04 Political Geography
    • 05 Urban Geography
    • 06 Economic Geography
    • 07 Agricultural Geography
    • Exam Review
  • Previously Taught Courses
    • G12 Economics >
      • Basic Economic Ideas
      • Producing and Consuming
      • Financial Capability
      • Managing the Economy
    • G10 World History >
      • 01 Exploration, Scientific Revolution and the Enlightenment
      • 02 The American Revolution
      • 03 France: Absolute Monarchy & Revolution
      • 04 The Industrial Revolution
      • 05 Imperialism and Nationalism
      • 06 WW1
      • 07 Inter-War Period
      • 08 WW2
    • G9 World History >
      • 01 Human beginnings and early civilizations
      • 03 Classical China
      • 04 The Muslim World
      • 05 Interregional Networks and Contacts 500 - 1450
      • 01 The Individuals and Societies Toolbox
      • 06 The Renaissance and Reformation >
        • Oral Presentations
    • G9 Social Studies >
      • History >
        • Analyzing Sources
      • Geography
    • G7 Social Studies >
      • Introduction to Empowerment
      • Economic Empowerment
      • Political Empowerment
      • Cultural Empowerment
      • National Empowerment
      • 04 Resources and the environment
      • Finance and Accounting >
        • 3.1 Sources of finance
        • 3.2 Investment appraisal
        • 3.3 Working capital
        • 3.4 Budgeting
        • 3.5 Financial Accounts
        • 3.6 Ratio Analysis
  • Extended Essay
    • 01 Getting Started
    • 02 Structuring the EE
  • Writing Skills
  • Critical Reading

2.6 Employer and employee relations

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  • Analyse the dynamic relationships between employees, employers and their representatives 
  • Examine the methods used by employees and their representatives in pursuit of their objectives
  • Examine the methods used by employers to put pressure on employees and evaluate their impact
  • Identify the sources of conflict in the workplace and evaluate alternative approaches to conflict resolution
  • Examine strategies for reducing the impact of change and resistance to change
  • Discuss how innovation, ethics and culture can influence employer-employee relationships

Conflict resulting from different objectives may be inevitable between labour and management within business. How can these conflicts be resolved or at least reduced so that the disagreement is not so great that it prevents all forms of coordination and working together? How can positive cooperation be achieved between these two groups for the benefits of business and all stakeholders?

The methods used by employees and employers to achieve their objectives will depend on the relative 'strength' of each side. Much also depends on the culture and legal structures of the country in which the organization operates, as well as the culture of the business itself. In some countries, trade unions are still illegal or their operations are strictly controlled. At the other extreme, in the European Union, workers' rights over minimum pay levels, security of employment and working conditions are protected by laws that restrict quite substantially the independence of management in deciding on such issues.

KEY TERMS 

Collective bargaining: The negotiations between employees' representatives (trade unions) and employers and their representatives on issues of common interest such as pay and conditions of work

Trade unions: An organization of working people with the objective of improving pay and working conditions of the members by providing them with support and legal services

Industrial action: Any of the measures taken by the workforce or trade union to put pressure on management to settle an industrial dispute in favour of employees.

Trade union recognition: When an employer formally agrees to conduct negotiations on pay and working conditions with a trade union rather than bargaining individually with each worker

Single union agreement: An employer recognizes just one single union for the purposes of collective bargaining

No-strike agreement: Unions agree to sign an agreement with employers not to strike in exchange for greater involvement in decisions that affect the workforce

Conciliation: The use of a third party in industrial disputes to encourage both employer and union to discuss an acceptable compromise solution (mediation)

Arbitration: Resolving an industrial dispute by using an independent third party to judge and recommend an appropriate solution

Strike action: The organized withdrawal of labour from a firm by a union

Employers’ Associations: Represent the views and interests of businesses within a specific industry

Industrial relations: The negotiations and relationship between trade union members and their employees 

Collective bargaining and the NBA

"Go slow" teachers

Conflict resolution