Kaufman on Human Resource Management vs. Industrial Relations

Kaufman and Pfeffer Human Resource
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Kaufman and Pfeffer Human Resource
Kaufman on Human Resource Management vs. Industrial Relations
The success of any business depends on its ability to establish and maintain good relationships among its stakeholders and managing its human resources. The relationship between stakeholders within the industry is referred to as industrial relations. On the contrary, the utilization of human resources to achieve organizational goals and objectives is called human resource management. Philosophers have argued that in the past, businesses were more successful compared to the current situation. One of these analysts is Bruce E. Kaufman, an economist, who claimed that HR’s optimistic position resonated well with American society at the time when the economy was strong. He reasons that most of the current businesses lean towards the IR perspective rather than the HR perspective. Kaufman is right in his assertions in the sense that most of the existing firms are more concerned about their stakeholders rather than their employees.
Profits have become the main driving force for most companies. The direct way of making profits is to reduce the cost of operations and maximize the output. Labor is one of the costs of production that escalate the price of products. Therefore, most companies target to reduce their cost of production by reducing the amount of wages paid to their workers. The purpose of reducing the salary of the employees is to maintain high profits that will sustain its stakeholders and ensure good industrial relations. The company is always devising ways they can exploit their employees maximally while paying as little as possible. For example, McDonald's has recently been accused of exploiting their staff using the “learn and burn” practice (Brook, 2018). In this exercise, the company employs young staff, trains them, and as they get older, their shifts keep reducing until the employee decides to quit. Most companies are applying the same technique where they fire older employees who are more expensive and employ young workers who are ready to take low pay.
The above incidence explains the many workers’ unions in existence in the current working environment. Unlike in the past, where businesses strived to attain a state of balance in human resource management and industrial relations, the tendency of modern enterprises to safeguard industrial relations at the expense of human resource relations has prompted alternative bodies to rise and protect workers. According to Hagedorn, Paras, Greenwich, & Hagopian (2016), labor unions help to improve the conditions for workers in a manner that boosts their individual, family, and societal well-being. Most organizations are opting for contracts with their employees to prevent commitments. In such a case, when an employee falls si...