Explanation:

The Industrial Sociology Approach

G. Margerison, an industrial sociologist, holds the view that the core of industrial relations is the nature and development of the conflict itself. Margerison argued that conflict is the basic concept that should form the basis of the study of industrial relations. The author criticised the prevalent approach to industrial relations, which was more concerned with studying the resolution of industrial conflict than its generation; with the consequences of industrial disputes than on their causes.

According to this school of thought, there are two major conceptual levels of industrial relations. One is the intra plant level where situational factors, such as job content, work task and technology, and interaction factors produce three types of conflict – distributive, structural, and human relations. These conflicts are being resolved through collective bargaining, structural analysis of the socio-technical systems and man-management analysis respectively.

The second level is outside the firm and, in the main, concerns with the conflict not resolved at the intra-organisational level. However, this approach rejects the special emphasis given to rule determination by the “Systems and Oxford models”. In its place, it suggests a method of inquiry, which attempts to develop sociological models of conflicts.