Management and Union Relationships in an Organization
In today’s business environment, the relationship between management and union can play a vital role in the success of an organization. My research of the roles of unions and management will enable me to present concrete information of how these two entities perform in an organization.
The Role of Management in an Organization
“Management is the process of working with people and resources to accomplish organizational goals” (Bateman & Snell, 2007). In an organization, management has the responsibility of performing four major functions. These functions consist of planning, organizing, leading, and controlling.
According to (Carter McNamara, n.d.), “As planners, management
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However, the union may be wary of implementing the proposal before it has been thoroughly discussed at the union meeting(s) and the membership supports the concept. Management's insistence to act immediately may cause the union to back off or implement without support from its membership. Failure to recognize the union's "way of doing business" places unnecessary strain on the relationship and can result in a breakdown of the trust level between the parties, and possibly create political problems for the union leadership (which could spell an end to the entire partnership).”
A labor-management partnership is built upon the philosophy of teamwork, cultural change, trust, free flow of information, removal of organizational barriers, and development of a high-performance workplace. There should be no venture into a work area that does not accept the partnership philosophy or whose agenda is different from those set by the labor-management partnership. This partnership can run into problems if demands exceed resources.
A level of trust must be gained within the partnership. If trust issues are addressed, effective, honest communication will develop alleviating fears of retaliation for speaking out. This also produces a higher level of respect and less conflict.
An effective labor-management
Firstly, it will seem that the management and the labor union of any organization have a stake in the success or failure of that organization. The success of the organization has to be the priority or the number one goal of any member or members of the organization. As such, the entire organization has to work as a team in order to succeed, thrive and survive. In the real world, that is not what is happening. As a matter of fact, the labor unions and the management of some organizations see each other as adversaries.
Labor unions were established as a way for workers’ needs and grievances to be heard by management. According to Fossum (2012), “forming a union creates a collective voice to influence change at work” (p. 7). The collective voice of workers in a union holds much more power than any single employee’s voice. It can loudly draw attention to mistreatment or abuse of workers. The organized collective voice of workers demands to be treated in a fair way by its management in terms of wages, hours, benefits, and working conditions.
The changes brought up labor unions in the United States over recent history has brought about a movement. This specific movement has shaped the way that employees and workers are treated in the workforce,and how they maintain their quality of life through this employment. Many people think that the labor unions’ influence has created a power struggle between management and union leaders. In many cases this can be considered true, as there have been countless feuds between management teams and labor unions, especially in recent history. In today’s times, on the one hand, some people believe the existence of unions are a necessity in order to ensure and promote employee freedom; while on the other hand some people view labor unions as just another problem in the line of employee success.
In any organization, unions act as binding agreements between employees and management. In this case, a group of persons are responsible for conducting negotiations with the management for the purpose of enhancing the welfare of workers. Unions originate from the period of American depression when workers faced various work challenges including low remuneration, and unfavorable working conditions. The purpose of this essay is to explore the pros and cons of unions in America in the current times.
The role of unions and their importance has changed over the years. A mixture of poor wages, high unemployment, non-existent benefits and insignificant professional stability amongst the more youthful era makes a ready demographic for restoration. The younger era is the slightest unionized section of our general public today by a long shot. Unions are important in today’s society because checks and balances are necessary entities in business and government, so if CEOs are just focusing on themselves and profits, unions are a necessary check to all that corporate power. Today and in the future, labor unions will continue to play an important role in our country 's work force and the quality of life for working families.
In any organization, unions act as binding agreements between employees and management. In this case, a group of persons are responsible for conducting negotiations with the management for the purpose of enhancing the welfare of workers. Unions originate from the period of American depression when workers faced various work challenges including low remuneration, and unfavorable working conditions. The purpose of this essay is to explore the pros and cons of unions in America in the current times.
Over the last two centuries the relationship between organizations and their employees have changed as the result of interactions between the two groups and in response to changing governmental legislation. During this period, labor unions arose to advocate for workers and address the inherent power imbalance between individual workers and organizations (Thornton, 2013). In workplaces were unions represent employees, Foss (2008), defines labor relations as the “ongoing interchange between the union and the employer that identifies their common and specific interests and creates mechanism to clarify, mange, reduce and resolve conflicts over their specific interests” (p. 1). The legal framework governing the practice of labor relations is
Union organization is not formed out of hallow space in a society. Trade unionism is not a system of structure which has already been developed. It is the patterns, social issues of elements, factors contributing to changing economic structure, it’s ever changing, twisting and restless experience of human striving toward a collective goals plagued by endless obstacles.
To put it plainly, businesses can express their resistance to the union and examine the advantages and disadvantages of union participation, for example, paying union duty (in non-ideal to work states). Managers can likewise give authentic data about the law, the union (contribution, expenses, runs, authorities' pay rates, and so forth.), and how unionized organizations look at against non-unionized organizations regarding wages and advantages, aggressiveness, and so forth in the business.
The role of management and unions in society today is to protect the employee. The management team needs to make sure she/he is treating the employee fairly, needs to provide a good work environment. If management fails to do a good job and the employee feels discriminated, treated unfairly, feels discontent for different reason, management does not want the union to get involved, they feel respect for unions and will do whatever it takes to make their team happy. This is why so many companies have employee parties, employee recognitions, etc.
Management in my mind and as the book reinforces the definition to be, to plan, to organize, to staff for the process, and to control the process to the end. These are consider the primary functions of the management role (p.8).
There are four functions of management: planning, organizing, leading and controlling. The four basic principles of management found in all businesses and corporations. Management is a process designed to achieve an organization's objectives by using its resources effectively and efficiently in a changing environment.
The relationship between unions and organization is a touchy one. Dating back to the start of unionization in the 19th century, the two bodies have held opposing viewpoints. Unionization was formed from the opinion that organizations took advantage of workers and some form of a negotiating agreement was needed. There were documented events of workers working long taxing hours for insignificant pay; no healthcare coverage; dangerous working conditions; and gender and or racial discrimination. Companies believed that unionization caused less productivity which endangered profits. Companies also believed that unions interfere in daily processes, and limits the employer’s say over compensation and benefits. The
Management in business is the coordination of people to accomplish set goals efficiently and effectively. It comprises of planning, organising, staffing, leading, and controlling an organisation. Management itself is also an academic discipline, a social science whose object of study is social organisation in order to accomplish a mutual goal.
The definition brings into focus the functions of management which are; planning, organizing, leading and controlling.