ILRLR 3300 Final Exam Questions and Answers Verified
100% Correct
Collective bargaining w/ capital "C"
It is the set of processes and structures that facilitate for workers to organize collectively,
bargain with employers over workplace issues, and attain institutionalized input regarding
certain organizational decisions
5 Mechanisms through which workplace rules that can be determined
1) competitive labor markets
2) HR
3) Worker Control
4) Independent Ee workplace
5) Government Regulation
Collective bargaining w/ a small "c"
The actual process of negotiations between the union and Er over specific employment issues
Neoclassical Economist Theory on Labor
No Need for Unions
Unions are Bad
Free markets will solve all issues
HRM/Managerialist Theory on Labor
Believe that unions undermine Er's ability to manage
Unions aren't necessary because there is not clear difference between management's
objectives and the objectives of the workers
Industrial Relations (Pluralist) Theory on Labor
fundamental differences of interest between labor and management -- unions are necessary
,Marxist (critical) Theory on Labor
Unions are necessary but not enough because the system itself is flawed
John Dunlop's classification of the IR environment into 3 main influences
1) Economic Context
2) Technological context
3) Locus of Power
3 aspects of bargaining power
total, relative, and political
John Budd
3 objectives of labor and management (balance of the 3)
efficiency (mostly goal of management)
equity (mostly of union)
voice (shared goal)
3 levels of IR activity
strategic, functional, and workplace
relative power
leverage attained by each party separately
total power
the power encompassed in the relationship between labor and management
strike leverage
ability of each side to withstand a strike
elasticity of demand for labor
, 1) if the demand for the product is inelastic, then the increased cost of labor can be put on the
consumer, and the union has more power. The reverse is also true
2) the easier it is to substitute workers or replace workers with technology, the more elastic the
demand for labor ad the less power the union has
3) if the labor is big share of management costs, then labor has less power. Would be too
detrimental to management -- "the importance of being unimportant"
4) elasticity of supply of non-labor factors of production -- if the supply of the technology is
inelastic, then the union has more power
Political Power
o The political power held by labor and management influence their ability to shape public
policy and gov't regulation
o Can be used to enhance b/ total power and relative power
o Weakening political power of unions in the US is likely to have dramatic implications for the
regulation of labor relations and the advancement of policies that might be aligned with labor
Labor Law
Rules of the game
Paternalistic Pattern
♣ personal policies tend to be informally administered
♣ administration involves substantial discretion by operating managers
• managers gain discretion
♣ generally involves union avoidance
Bureaucratic Pattern
♣ variation in policies can spur unionization if some Ees believe other Ees elsewhere in the
firm are benefiting from more favorable policies
• advantageous to standardize policies
HRM Pattern
100% Correct
Collective bargaining w/ capital "C"
It is the set of processes and structures that facilitate for workers to organize collectively,
bargain with employers over workplace issues, and attain institutionalized input regarding
certain organizational decisions
5 Mechanisms through which workplace rules that can be determined
1) competitive labor markets
2) HR
3) Worker Control
4) Independent Ee workplace
5) Government Regulation
Collective bargaining w/ a small "c"
The actual process of negotiations between the union and Er over specific employment issues
Neoclassical Economist Theory on Labor
No Need for Unions
Unions are Bad
Free markets will solve all issues
HRM/Managerialist Theory on Labor
Believe that unions undermine Er's ability to manage
Unions aren't necessary because there is not clear difference between management's
objectives and the objectives of the workers
Industrial Relations (Pluralist) Theory on Labor
fundamental differences of interest between labor and management -- unions are necessary
,Marxist (critical) Theory on Labor
Unions are necessary but not enough because the system itself is flawed
John Dunlop's classification of the IR environment into 3 main influences
1) Economic Context
2) Technological context
3) Locus of Power
3 aspects of bargaining power
total, relative, and political
John Budd
3 objectives of labor and management (balance of the 3)
efficiency (mostly goal of management)
equity (mostly of union)
voice (shared goal)
3 levels of IR activity
strategic, functional, and workplace
relative power
leverage attained by each party separately
total power
the power encompassed in the relationship between labor and management
strike leverage
ability of each side to withstand a strike
elasticity of demand for labor
, 1) if the demand for the product is inelastic, then the increased cost of labor can be put on the
consumer, and the union has more power. The reverse is also true
2) the easier it is to substitute workers or replace workers with technology, the more elastic the
demand for labor ad the less power the union has
3) if the labor is big share of management costs, then labor has less power. Would be too
detrimental to management -- "the importance of being unimportant"
4) elasticity of supply of non-labor factors of production -- if the supply of the technology is
inelastic, then the union has more power
Political Power
o The political power held by labor and management influence their ability to shape public
policy and gov't regulation
o Can be used to enhance b/ total power and relative power
o Weakening political power of unions in the US is likely to have dramatic implications for the
regulation of labor relations and the advancement of policies that might be aligned with labor
Labor Law
Rules of the game
Paternalistic Pattern
♣ personal policies tend to be informally administered
♣ administration involves substantial discretion by operating managers
• managers gain discretion
♣ generally involves union avoidance
Bureaucratic Pattern
♣ variation in policies can spur unionization if some Ees believe other Ees elsewhere in the
firm are benefiting from more favorable policies
• advantageous to standardize policies
HRM Pattern
