Chapter 2
THE STUDY OF
EMPLOYMENT RELATIONS:
ANALYTICAL TOOLS
Copyright © 2017 McGraw-Hill Education (Australia) Pty Ltd
Bray, Waring, Cooper, Macneil, Employment Relations 4e
2-1
Learning objectives
1. Define theory and discuss its value to students
of employment relations
2. Understand the distinction between description
and explanation in social science analysis
3. Provide examples of taxonomies in the study
of employment relations
4. Distinguish between commonsense description
and theoretically informed description
Copyright © 2017 McGraw-Hill Education (Australia) Pty Ltd
Bray, Waring, Cooper, Macneil, Employment Relations 4e
2-2
Learning objectives
5. Understand the necessity of both agency and
context in the explanation of employment
relations
6. Provide examples of agency and context in
employment relations explanations
Copyright © 2017 McGraw-Hill Education (Australia) Pty Ltd
Bray, Waring, Cooper, Macneil, Employment Relations 4e
2-3
Chapter overview
1. What is theory?
2. Describing patterns of employment relations
3. Explaining patterns of employment relations
Copyright © 2017 McGraw-Hill Education (Australia) Pty Ltd
Bray, Waring, Cooper, Macneil, Employment Relations 4e
2-4
Introduction
• Employment relations is highly practical—it
examines issues and events central to
everyday lives of everyone who works
• Study of employment relations requires
systematic theoretical concepts
• Students need to:
– explore the analytical tools that characterise
employment relations
– understand ideas and concepts in employment
relations
Copyright © 2017 McGraw-Hill Education (Australia) Pty Ltd
Bray, Waring, Cooper, Macneil, Employment Relations 4e
2-5
What is theory?
‘an attempt to account for a given phenomenon, that is, to
show what, how and/or why it is.’ (Lewins 1992, p. 104)
• It helps understand the world of employment
relations
• Aims to explain all situations, not just some
• There are different types of theory and
explanation (e.g. Lewins’ five levels of
explanation)
Copyright © 2017 McGraw-Hill Education (Australia) Pty Ltd
Bray, Waring, Cooper, Macneil, Employment Relations 4e
2-6
Lewins’ five levels of explanation
1. Description—An account of an event or
phenomenon from a particular standpoint, whether
it is adopted consciously or unconsciously
2. Taxonomy—A classification scheme designed for a
particular purpose that groups together events or
phenomena on the basis of similar characteristics
3. Model—A simplification or representation of
relationships between events or phenomena that is
designed to provide a clearer picture of the world
Copyright © 2017 McGraw-Hill Education (Australia) Pty Ltd
Bray, Waring, Cooper, Macneil, Employment Relations 4e
2-7
Lewins’ five levels of explanation
4. Law—A statement of a relationship between two or
more variables that inevitably produces the same
outcome, in terms of events or phenomena
5. Causal theory—A complete answer to the ‘why’
question, which not only identifies the inevitable
relationships between variables but also provides
an account of the process by which one
determines the other (Lewins 1992, pp.19–27)
Copyright © 2017 McGraw-Hill Education (Australia) Pty Ltd
Bray, Waring, Cooper, Macneil, Employment Relations 4e
2-8
What is description?
• ‘To describe’ is to ‘give an account of’ or ‘state
the characteristics of’ a specific event or
instance—but we are all different
• It is all about what facts we accept, and
therefore interpret
• Description can be very subjective
Copyright © 2017 McGraw-Hill Education (Australia) Pty Ltd
Bray, Waring, Cooper, Macneil, Employment Relations 4e
2-9
What is description?
• Theoretically informed description begins the
task of explanation
• It narrows the facts that are considered relevant
• It provides the observer with guidelines about
how to select some ‘facts’ as important, while
discarding others
• This advances understanding of the situation
• Description reveals the standpoint from which
the event is observed
Copyright © 2017 McGraw-Hill Education (Australia) Pty Ltd
Bray, Waring, Cooper, Macneil, Employment Relations 4e
2-10
What is taxonomy?
• Taxonomies are classification systems
designed to identify similar properties or
characteristics in diverse events, situations or
objects, e.g.
– clothes: ‘whites’ and ‘colours’
– rules: ‘formal’ and ‘informal’, ‘substantive’ and
‘procedural’
• Taxonomies attempt to move analysis from the
specific to the general
• They also attempt to identify commonalities
Copyright © 2017 McGraw-Hill Education (Australia) Pty Ltd
Bray, Waring, Cooper, Macneil, Employment Relations 4e
2-11
What is taxonomy?
• While taxonomies help bring order from chaos,
they are still largely descriptive—they do not
explain much about why events or situations
occur
Copyright © 2017 McGraw-Hill Education (Australia) Pty Ltd
Bray, Waring, Cooper, Macneil, Employment Relations 4e
2-12
What is causal explanation?
• Explanation is to ‘make clear the cause or
reason of’ an event or phenomenon
(Dictionary.com, 2017a)
• Lewins’ three ‘higher levels’ of explanations
(models, laws and causal explanation)
progressively move closer to complete causal
explanation
• Complete causal explanation is rarely reached
Copyright © 2017 McGraw-Hill Education (Australia) Pty Ltd
Bray, Waring, Cooper, Macneil, Employment Relations 4e
2-13
Why is causal explanation rare?
• According to Abercombie, Hill and Turner
(2006, p. 47):
– Most social phenomena are complex and devising
procedures to clearly identify which elements are
causally important is difficult
– One cannot generally set up an experimental
procedure with proper control groups
– Such explanations assume human beings are like
natural objects
Copyright © 2017 McGraw-Hill Education (Australia) Pty Ltd
Bray, Waring, Cooper, Macneil, Employment Relations 4e
2-14
Descriptive analysis
• While description can be regarded as the first
step towards explanation, it must be
accompanied by theory
• Description does not lead to explanation
• Theory means set of assumptions that can be
tested
• Describing patterns of employment relations
leads to an ability to generalise—to understand
other events
Copyright © 2017 McGraw-Hill Education (Australia) Pty Ltd
Bray, Waring, Cooper, Macneil, Employment Relations 4e
2-15
Describing patterns of
employment relations
• Employment relations can be defined as the
‘formal rules and informal rules which regulate
the employment relationship’
• This definition provides a consistent ‘language’
for reporting observations
• It also assists in ‘selecting’ relevant ‘facts’ to be
reported
• In this way descriptive analysis is informed by
theory even if it does not allow us to explain
why things occur
Copyright © 2017 McGraw-Hill Education (Australia) Pty Ltd
Bray, Waring, Cooper, Macneil, Employment Relations 4e
2-16
Rules and the employment
relationship
• The rules that regulate the employment
relationship are a central tenet of our approach
to employment relations
• A rule is ‘a principle or condition governing
conduct, action’
• By studying rules we can understand the
behaviour of individuals, groups and societies
Copyright © 2017 McGraw-Hill Education (Australia) Pty Ltd
Bray, Waring, Cooper, Macneil, Employment Relations 4e
2-17
Rules and the employment
relationship
• ‘Every industrial relations system creates a
complex of rules to govern the workplace and
work community.’
• ‘Rules define the status of the actors and to
govern the conduct of the actors at the
workplace and work community.’
(Dunlop 1958, p. vii)
Copyright © 2017 McGraw-Hill Education (Australia) Pty Ltd
Bray, Waring, Cooper, Macneil, Employment Relations 4e
2-18
Formal rules
• Official, consciously determined and enforced
through deliberate social processes
• Usually written down
– E.g. collective agreements approved under the Fair
Work Act 2009
• Written individual employment contracts
Copyright © 2017 McGraw-Hill Education (Australia) Pty Ltd
Bray, Waring, Cooper, Macneil, Employment Relations 4e
2-19
Informal rules
• Frequently more unofficial, sometimes
consciously negotiated but often accepted
unconsciously
• Less recognisable and enforceable because
they are not written down
– e.g. unwritten agreements between union job
delegates and supervisors
• Shared understandings between employees
and managers over appropriate behaviours or
‘custom and practice’
Copyright © 2017 McGraw-Hill Education (Australia) Pty Ltd
Bray, Waring, Cooper, Macneil, Employment Relations 4e
2-20
Substantive and procedural rules
• Emphasises the content of the rules
• Substantive rules govern the essential or
material terms under which employees sell (e.g.
wage rates)
• Procedural rules govern the processes or
actions to be taken in response to different
circumstances at work (e.g. grievance
procedures)
Copyright © 2017 McGraw-Hill Education (Australia) Pty Ltd
Bray, Waring, Cooper, Macneil, Employment Relations 4e
2-21
Parties to the employment
relationship
• The social actors who create and enforce the
rules that regulate the employment relationship
– Employees often do not participate directly in the
rule-making process, but engage a range of other
agents to act on their behalf, to represent their
interests
– The way that employers are represented and thereby
contribute to the making of the rules of the
employment relationship varies
Copyright © 2017 McGraw-Hill Education (Australia) Pty Ltd
Bray, Waring, Cooper, Macneil, Employment Relations 4e
2-22
‘Parties’ to the employment
relationship
– Beyond employees and employers, state agencies
are major parties
– Many other social agents sometimes become
involved in making and enforcing rules that regulate
the employment relationship
• We usually refer to employers, employees and
the state as the main parties to the employment
relationship
Copyright © 2017 McGraw-Hill Education (Australia) Pty Ltd
Bray, Waring, Cooper, Macneil, Employment Relations 4e
2-23
Who makes the rules?
1. Unilateral rule-making
–
Creation and enforcement of rules by one single
party (e.g. managerial prerogative)
2. Bilateral rule-making
–
Joint creation and enforcement of rules by two
parties (e.g. collective bargaining)
3. Multilateral rule-making
–
When three or more parties jointly make and
enforce rules (e.g. the FWC with employers and
unions)
Copyright © 2017 McGraw-Hill Education (Australia) Pty Ltd
Bray, Waring, Cooper, Macneil, Employment Relations 4e
2-24
Who makes the rules?
• Authorship of rule-making is vital
– Indicates where power lies in the employment
relationship (e.g. high employer power = low
employee power)
– Can have important consequences for the
effectiveness of rules in influencing the behaviour of
the parties to the employment relationship (e.g. more
input = greater chance of acceptance)
Copyright © 2017 McGraw-Hill Education (Australia) Pty Ltd
Bray, Waring, Cooper, Macneil, Employment Relations 4e
2-25
Explaining patterns of
employment relations
• Why do patterns of employment relations vary
in different empirical situations?
– E.g. across countries, industries, enterprises
• Why do they change over time?
Copyright © 2017 McGraw-Hill Education (Australia) Pty Ltd
Bray, Waring, Cooper, Macneil, Employment Relations 4e
2-26
Beyond description:
explanatory factors and models
• Description leads to taxonomies
• Taxonomies, in turn, lead to the
development of:
– models
– laws
– causal explanations
Copyright © 2017 McGraw-Hill Education (Australia) Pty Ltd
Bray, Waring, Cooper, Macneil, Employment Relations 4e
2-27
Development of explanatory
models
• Identify the reasons why events occur or the
factors that are thought to explain particular
empirical situations
• This produces a long list of potential factors
• Link potential factors to form a model
[Models are] representations of something that exists in
the world. They do not exist by themselves but, by their
simplified nature, provide a clear picture of the world.
(Lewins 1992)
Copyright © 2017 McGraw-Hill Education (Australia) Pty Ltd
Bray, Waring, Cooper, Macneil, Employment Relations 4e
2-28
Models and taxonomies
• Models go beyond taxonomies because they
attempt to link social phenomena together,
thereby indicating relationships and potential
lines of causality
• Models attempt to show, at a highly simplified
level, how various factors affect each other
Copyright © 2017 McGraw-Hill Education (Australia) Pty Ltd
Bray, Waring, Cooper, Macneil, Employment Relations 4e
2-29
Models in employment relations
Dunlop’s model (1958):
• All industrial relations systems comprise three
main ‘actors’, who interact with each other and
produce rules to regulate behaviour:
– The state
– Employees
– Employers
• The model suggests that industrial relations
systems operate within a larger ‘environment’ or
context, which influences the rule-making
behaviour of the actors within the system
Copyright © 2017 McGraw-Hill Education (Australia) Pty Ltd
Bray, Waring, Cooper, Macneil, Employment Relations 4e
2-30
Context
• Context is external to, or beyond the control of,
individuals and organisations, but influences
behaviour of those individuals and organisations
• The nature and dynamics of product markets
help explain prevailing patterns of employment
relations
• According to Dunlop, one aspect of product
markets is the nature of competition.
Competition affects the types of employment
relations rules and their content
Copyright © 2017 McGraw-Hill Education (Australia) Pty Ltd
Bray, Waring, Cooper, Macneil, Employment Relations 4e
2-31
Context
• The nature of technology, and the production
process more generally, impacts on
employment relations
• The impact of the locus and distribution of
power in wider society mostly relates to the role
of the state, as channelled through a country’s
political system
Copyright © 2017 McGraw-Hill Education (Australia) Pty Ltd
Bray, Waring, Cooper, Macneil, Employment Relations 4e
2-32
Context
• Dunlop’s model promotes contextual factors as
key explanations for employment relations
• It locates employment relations within the
broader environment
• Look to environmental factors when trying to
understand why parties behave in particular
ways or why different types of rules are produced
in different situations and at different times
Copyright © 2017 McGraw-Hill Education (Australia) Pty Ltd
Bray, Waring, Cooper, Macneil, Employment Relations 4e
2-33
Agency
• Agency is the capacity of social actors
(individuals and organisations) to take action as
a result of the choices they make
• Humans are conscious beings and do not react
automatically to stimuli—we exercise choice
• Different individuals/organisations perceive
external factors differently and respond differently
• Effective causal explanation can only come
about through a combination of context and
agency
Copyright © 2017 McGraw-Hill Education (Australia) Pty Ltd
Bray, Waring, Cooper, Macneil, Employment Relations 4e
2-34
Agency
• We must pay attention to the parties in rulemaking in employment relations
– People
 All have different values, motives and past experiences
 Because they are all different, would probably make
different choices in the same situation
– Organisations
 Are also all different from each other
 Different purpose, history, governance, goals
 All these factors impact on what response to a given
situation will be chosen
Copyright © 2017 McGraw-Hill Education (Australia) Pty Ltd
Bray, Waring, Cooper, Macneil, Employment Relations 4e
2-35
Agency
• To explain patterns of employment relations, we
must therefore understand people and their
organisations
Copyright © 2017 McGraw-Hill Education (Australia) Pty Ltd
Bray, Waring, Cooper, Macneil, Employment Relations 4e
2-36
Summary
• This chapter is all about theory
– Theory is about explanation: ‘an attempt to account
for a given phenomenon—to show what, how and/or
why it is’
– Many types of theory and levels of explanation
• Description is the first step towards explanation
• Description uses taxonomies that help to
understand the parties to the employment
relationship, the rules they make and enforce,
and the processes by which those rules are
made and enforced
Copyright © 2017 McGraw-Hill Education (Australia) Pty Ltd
Bray, Waring, Cooper, Macneil, Employment Relations 4e
2-37
Summary
• Explanation in employment relations mostly
comes in the form of ‘models’
• Explanations of employment relations must
combine ‘context’ and ‘agency’
– Contexts are the ‘external’ circumstances in which the
parties find themselves—largely beyond their control
– Agency emphasises the choices that the parties make
on the basis of their ambitions, values, perceptions of
the situation they are in, the options they have
available to them and the course of action that is most
likely to achieve their goals
Copyright © 2017 McGraw-Hill Education (Australia) Pty Ltd
Bray, Waring, Cooper, Macneil, Employment Relations 4e
2-38