Industrial Relations and Ideology—An Alternative Approach

Abstract

A general lack of agreement on the meaning of the term “industrial relations” has been acknowledged for some time. Moreover, although ideology is seen as a powerful influence on the behaviour of industrial relations practitioners, that is, those working or studying in the field, a general imprecision surrounds the current terminology. This article examines briefly the more well‐known understandings of what is meant by “industrial relations” and compares these with the views of some managers expressed in a recent research study. It proceeds to analyse ideologies normally referred to in the field of industrial relations. From this analysis, an alternative approach and framework is proposed for considering industrial relations ideology.

Citation

Oram, S.A.J. (1984), "Industrial Relations and Ideology—An Alternative Approach", Employee Relations, Vol. 6 No. 2, pp. 22-26. https://doi.org/10.1108/eb055030