Enablers of the Collective Bargaining in Industrial Relations: A Study of India’s Industrial Policies Through ISM and MICMAC Analysis

Abstract

Industrial disputes result in a loss of work days, resources and also put a lot of pressure on employers, employees and the Government. Collective bargaining as a bipartite process is an effective mechanism to resolve disputes through the negotiation between employee and employer representatives. The study aims to identify the ‘enablers’, i.e. factors that permit and encourage collective bargaining in an industry. Through this study, the researchers have attempted to identify the nature of the relation and linkages between the factors identified. The research was undertaken in three major parts. In the initial part of the study, the enablers were identified through extant literature review. These factors were then validated with basic statistics in the second part of the research. In the final part, Interpretative Structural Modelling and MICMAC analysis was performed to arrive at a model highlighting the nature of relationship between the identified factors. Case studies on collective bargaining practices were studied to further validate the enablers. The ISM model for the enablers of collective bargaining had four levels, from the model awareness about law emerged as the most important enabler. MICMAC analysis further classified the enablers and disablers as driving, dependent, linkage and autonomous factors. The research is unique as it attempts to propose a model through the expert opinion on industrial relations manager, trade union representatives, employees’ representatives, management and experts from academia. To the researcher’s knowledge, there has been no significant contribution in the area of proposing a model for the enablers of collective bargaining through ISM and MICMAC. The researchers have also studied case studies related to the practices of collective bargaining in industries. The identified and validated factors would be useful to stakeholders in collective bargaining to design policies to ensure the effectiveness of the process.