Management Styles

Overview

External variables affecting management style Internal variables Managerial perspectives revisited Strategic choice Management styles The Irish context

Management Style
the distinctive approaches, policies & practices which organisations may adopt in the management of I.R. issues.
What seems reactive is often guided by implicit management philosophy.

External Variables

Internal Variables

Managerial Perspective Strategic choice Management style

Internal Variables
Managerial ideology Business strategy Size/structure Current workforce

External Variables
Economic climate Government/EU policy Cultural/societal values (U.S.A. Vs Japan) Labour market (nature & size) Product market (monopoly Vs competition)

Frames of Reference
- Unitarist

- Pluralist - Marxist

Strategic Decisions
Nature of Business Location of plant Recruitment Training & development Management techniques

management styles
1.

Traditionalist
- oppose unions - little attention to employee needs

2.

Sophisticated Paternalist
- emphasises employee needs - discourages unionism - demands loyalty & commitment

(Purcell & Sisson 1983)

3.

Sophisticated Modern
- accepts T.U. role within limits - encourages direct dealing

4.

Standard Modern
- accepts T.U. role - no overall strategy - fire fighting

Key Dimensions
1. Collectivism 2. Individualism 3. Strategic Integration

Collectivism
.extent to which management acknowledges the right of employees to collective representations.
------------------------------------------------------LOW HIGH (unitarist) (pluralist) no co-operation co-operation

Individualism
.extent to which the company seeks to develop & encourage each employees capacity & role.
-------------------------------------------------------LOW HIGH Employee = commodity Employee = resource
Individualism/collectivism are not necessarily in opposition.

Strategic Integration
degree to which I.R. issues are part of strategic decision making and the degree to which decisions on I.R. are linked to business strategy.
LOW HIGH ----------------------------------------------------------Traditional Business-led Strategic
reactive dependent integral

Historically Philosophy very pluralist Practice - high collectivism - low individualism - low strategic integration
Style - Traditionalist

Today Philosophy still pluralist Practice - collectivism not so high - individualism on the up - strategic integ. on the up Style towards Sophisticated Modern

Historically
HRM issues rarely concerned strategic decision makers
Reliance on adversarial collective bargaining Personnel policies short-term & reactive with little link to business policy

 I.R. primary personnel role

High levels union density

Highly developed collective bargaining locally

Modern Approaches
Move towards employee-relations styles which incorporate HRM:
- Traditional HRM (soft) - I.R. plus HRM (dualism) - Strategic HRM (business-led)

Degree of change depends on type of HRM adopted

So what is the connection between IR & HRM??

IR = nature & regulation of employment relationship MACRO View HRM = the management of the relationship at workplace level MICRO view Link between the two = Management Styles