200719 IR & WC Essay Advice
Heery et al (2008) identify four (4) main industrial relations orientations or perspectives: pluralism; Marxism (or radicalism); feminism; neo-liberalism (or unitarism).
Bray et al (2018, Chapter 3) likewise discuss the key characteristics of unitarism, pluralism and radicalism. At Table 3.1 (p. 53), Table 3.2 (p. 54), Table 3.3 (p. 60), and Table 3.4 (p. 66) each of these perspectives is summarised including the respective understandings of the role of management, employees and/or trade unions, and the state are highlighted.
Your essay topic is to apply this “theory” to practice, with an evaluation of an actual workplace change example. Therefore, the essay does not require you to analyse or examine the merits or otherwise of one or more of these orientations or perspectives.
Rather, you are to identify which one (if any) of the orientations or perspectives “best fits” your workplace change example, and provide some explanation of the actual workplace change attempted, the processes followed, the reaction of employees, and its outcome (was it a success or failure). Therefore, your example should be a workplace change attempt that has an identifiable start and end.
In arguing one orientation or perspective is the most relevant to your example you need to discuss reasons: what features of the orientation or perspective can be observed; what features of the orientation or perspective cannot be readily observed; and perhaps even why and/or why not they are observable.
To make your argument more persuasive, it would be helpful if you mentioned the features of other orientations or perspectives that cannot be observed with your workplace change example. Put another way, your “best fit” could be a process of deduction: if not A, and not B or C, then it must be D. So, the orientation or perspective does not have to be a complete or perfect fit, but merely a better fit than the alternative orientations or perspectives.
In certain circumstances, more than one orientation or perspective is highly relevant. If so, a sound case would need to be made for such a conclusion.
As different understandings of the role of management, employees and/or trade unions, and the state apply to each orientation or perspective, you need to explore the roles or influence these industrial relations ‘actors’ had for your example.
The essay is linked to the unit’s learning objectives 2, 3 and 5:
- Evaluate the importance of consultative processes and the effectiveness of particular mechanisms in the workplace change context;
- Contrast traditional approaches to the industrial relations of workplace change with key elements of an employee engagement focus to be able to analyse the implications of workplace change proposals; and
- Identify global and international issues that affect the industrial relations of the workplace change processes.
As a result, the existence or absence of consultative processes and their effectiveness, the existence or absence of employee engagement efforts, and any international trends or issues that influenced your workplace change example should be discussed.
Finally, it would be useful if you compared your draft essay to the essay marking criteria in the Learning Guide to see which of the descriptors best fits your draft, and then make changes so that a revised version of your essay better fits the higher mark descriptors.
