Part three
Processes and change
CHAPTER NINE
CONFLICT AND COOPERATION IN
THE WORKPLACE
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9–1
Overview
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Forms of industrial conflict
Explanations for industrial conflict
Strikes
Absenteeism
Labour turnover
Workplace practices and cooperation
Final observations
Summary
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9–2
Forms of industrial conflict
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Overt
covert
collective or individual
pro-active or defensive.
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Forms of industrial conflict (cont.)
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‘Overt’ conflict:
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–
–
–
–
–
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strikes
boycotts
sabotage
pickets
sit-ins
work to rule
bans.
These are ‘collective’ and can be ‘pro-active’ or ‘defensive’.
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Forms of industrial conflict (cont.)
 ‘Covert’ conflict:
– work to rule
– absenteeism
– sabotage
– turnover
– theft/pilfering
– indifference
– slow performance
– failure to share knowledge
– ‘whistle blowing’.
 Can be ‘collective’ or ‘individual’ and can be ‘pro-active’ or
‘defensive’.
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Explanations for industrial
conflict
 Interests of employers and workers may collide:
– ‘contradictory and antagonistic’ (Edwards 2003, p. 16)
– employers exert control and demand productivity
improvement
– employees are likely to expect: increased compensation
for their effort; interesting work; and other opportunities to
develop themselves.
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9–6
Explanations for industrial
conflict (cont.)
 Hyman’s summary of the causes of industrial conflict:
– income distribution
– job security
– managerial control.
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Strikes
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The Australian Bureau of Statistics defines an
‘industrial dispute’ as: ‘a withdrawal from work by a
group of employees, a refusal by an employer or a
number of employers to permit some or all of their
employees to work, each withdrawal or refusal being
made in order to enforce a demand, to resist a demand
or to express a grievance’ (ABS Cat No 6321.00).
– Note: this definition includes both employer and
employee initiated action.
A ‘strike’ is an employee initiated stoppage.
A ‘lockout’ is an employer initiated stoppage.
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Strikes (cont.)
 They are highly visible but infrequent occurrence in most
workplaces in Australia.
 Expansion in the proportion of strikes and working days lost
due to managerial policy and physical working conditions.
 Industrial action more likely in larger than smaller workplaces
and stop-work meetings most prevalent form of industrial
action.
 Disputation, when it does occur, is usually short in duration
and is usually concentrated in a small number of industry
sectors.
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9–9
Absenteeism
 Defined as: ‘the proportion of employees on an average
day, who were away from work or sick leave without being
approved in advance’ (Morehead et al. 1997, p. 72).
 Absenteeism can be as an early stage in the ‘progressive
withdrawal’ leading to voluntary turnover.
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Absenteeism (cont.)

Two types of absenteeism:
1. ‘involuntary’ absenteeism—inability to attend work
because of sickness or accident
2. ‘voluntary’ absenteeism—unwillingness to attend work
because of the employee’s unwillingness to work.
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9–11
Absenteeism (cont.)
 Research has been particularly interested in:
– ‘absence culture’—a normative belief in the legitimacy of
absence taking
– job design—the larger the work group the higher the
absenteeism
• autocratic workplace = higher absenteeism.
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Absenteeism (cont.)
 Factors associated with higher absenteeism:
– routinisation
– under-utilisation of skills
– unchallenging work
– role conflict (conflicting directions)
– role ambiguity (unclear expectations).
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9–13
Figure 9.1 Rhodes and Steers—a
diagnostic model of employee
attendance
Source: Rhodes, S. R. and Steers, R.M. 1990,
Managing Employee Absenteeism, Addison-Wesley,
Reading. Reprinted by permission of Pearson
Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, New Jersey.
Organisational
practices
Attendance
barriers:
illness, accidents,
family, transport
Perceived
ability to attend
Absence
culture
Employee
attitudes,
values, goals
Attendance
motivation
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Attendance
9–14
Absenteeism (cont.)
 Managing absenteeism
– Drago and Wooden (1995, p. 131) have identified several
management activities that can act to reduce voluntary
absenteeism:
 allow for flexibility and discretion in managing
absenteeism
 job enlargement and multiskilling
 participation in decision making, fair treatment, good pay
and job security
 improve communication to clarify expectations of
employees
 ensure employees have career paths
 create cooperative workplace relationships.
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Labour turnover
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Defined as ‘permanent withdrawal from the organisation’.
Voluntary labour turnover is associated with absenteeism:
– ‘work’ withdrawal—absenteeism
– ‘job’ withdrawal—turnover.
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Labour turnover (cont.)
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Voluntary labour turnover:
– the frequency or rate at which employees resign from
their employment
Turnover higher in:
– the private sector (23%) rather than the public sector
(8%)
– smaller rather than larger organisation
– particular industries, such as accommodation, cafes and
restaurants, and in retail.
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9–17
Labour turnover (cont.)

Factors affecting turnover:
– perceived ‘desirability’ of leaving the organisation:
• key variable—individual job satisfaction.
– psychological variables predictive of quitting:
• employee dissatisfaction
• low level of commitment to the organisation
• contextual issues, such as training, supervision and
job content more important than pay levels.
– workplaces with trade unions have a lower quit level.
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9–18
Labour turnover (cont.)
 Factors affecting turnover (cont.)
– perceived ‘ease’ of movement from the organisation:
• state of labour market
• availability of alternative jobs.
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Labour turnover (cont.)
 Managing employee turnover:
– what strategies can assist management in minimising
labour turnover?
– most important strategy:
 promote organisation commitment through employee
participation, and reducing employee work-related
stress.
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9–20
Labour turnover (cont.)
 Managing employee turnover (cont):
– provide realistic job previews in selection processes
– improve job satisfaction, through:
• job design
• communication
• involvement
• security of employment
• career paths
– assist with resolving work–family conflicts
– offer competitive pay and benefit packages.
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9–21
Workplace practices and
cooperation
 Innovative workplace practices can result in increased
workplace cooperation.
 Key practices include:
– increased employee involvement
– removal of the status distinction between employees
and managers
– varied and interesting work responsibilities.
 Clear evidence that adoption of ‘bundles’ of HR practices
are most effective (but rarely implemented):
– SET model demonstrates an approach to developing a
cooperative and integrated set of IR practices.
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Figure 9.2: The SET model of employment
Source: Brown C, Reich, M. and Stern, D. 1993, ‘Key Developments in Human Resource
Management’, International Journal of Human Resources Management, vol. 4, no. 2, p.
250. Reprinted courtesy of Taylor & Francis Ltd, <http: //www.tandf.co.uk/journals>
Security
Training
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E.I.
9–23
Workplace practices and
cooperation (cont.)
 What hinders the implementation of such approaches?
– Management inertia
– union-management distrust
– lack of workplace power held by local management
– presence of multiple unionism.
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9–24
Final observations
 The employment relationship typically involves both conflict
and cooperation. This is reflected in:
– wage–effort bargaining
– the conversion of labour power into actual labour.
 Industrial conflict takes many forms:
– there are more days lost to absenteeism than striking.
 Absenteeism and labour turnover can be significantly
reduced through:
– improved working conditions
– more satisfying jobs
– increased participation.
 Infrequent adoption by management of high-performance
approaches to work organisation.
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9–25
Summary
 Conflict viewed as inevitable:
– manifests in individual and collective forms
– may be overt or covert.
 Absenteeism and labour turnover are connected—different
stages of withdrawal from workplace by individual.
 Workplace characteristics impact on absenteeism decisions:
– ‘high-performance’ work approaches can reduce conflict
and increase workplace cooperation.
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