Management Development Institute

Mehrauli Road, Gurgaon-122007

PGDM Programme 2015-17 Sections A and B Term II
Course: Human Resource Management (Pre-mid-term)
Course Faculty: Professor Debi S. Saini
Note: In case of any query you may contact me on the following numbers or e-mail ID.
MDI Phones: Extension: 5305
Mobile : 9810341064
Faculty Room : C-7
E-mails: debisaini@mdi.ac.in debissaini@gmail.com
Total No of Sessions: 10 (Duration of each session: 90 minutes)

Course Objectives:
In the last few years, Indian business environment has witnessed some chaotic incidents of
employee violence, including the one in Maruti-Suzuki Ltd, on 18 July 2012 in which its GMHR got killed. This was one of the five such gravest possible incidents in the last five years
involving breakdown of employee relations (ER) in different establishments in India. The course
aims at enabling the participants to grasp basic principles and concepts in management of
employee relations as an essential aspect of managing the human resource. We may use the
words industrial relations and employee relations inter-changeably. This skill is relevant and
necessary for all managers irrespective of the functional role that they are expected to perform in
a company. So as to serve the demands of the globalizing business scenario there is a need to
effectively understand and manage labour-management conflict in industry. The paradigm is
moving away from legalistic management of such conflict to using what is now called the human
resource management (HRM) philosophy. The latter is now being used extensively at the global
level in designing, shaping and implementing people-management strategy. This has also
immensely influenced the nature and agenda of employee relations (ER). Taking cognizance of
this development, the course focuses on articulating and analyzing some of the major traditional
as well modern themes in management of human resources in general and ER in particular. The
course underscores global changes but is more specific to the Indian context.
At the end of the course, the participants are expected to have understood the following:
the dynamics of business environment leading to need for efficaciously managing individualist
and collectivist issues in employee relations for competitive performance;
the key principles of traditional industrial relations (IR) and the changed IR realities;
an overview of the legal framework of conflict espousal and resolution in India;
the structure and working of trade unions and the art of negotiating with them;
legal & managerial issues in redressal of employee grievances and maintenance of discipline;
1

managing legal issues in employment of contract labour;

shifts from workers participation in management (WPM) to employee involvement (EI);
the significance of managing IR as part of people-management strategy by line and functional
managers;
the shifts in management of industrial relations from traditional to strategic; and
the strategy of cooperative employee relations followed by leading companies through
promoting an involving and engaging workplace.

LEARNING METHODOLOGY:
Learning of the course contents will be imparted through lectures, discussions, video
presentations, case analyses, role plays, and quizzes. For the purpose of case discussions, the
class will be divided into ten groups of six students each. All groups are expected to have read
the material and the case to be discussed on a given day. Any group may be asked to present
the case analysis and/or answer questions related to the relevant material for the day; they
will be assessed for their group performance while doing so. The MDI PGPM administration
will divide the class into ten groups and the class representative will help the faculty in
coordinating the presentation by the different groups.
The questions given at the end of the cases are merely indicative. The students are expected to
generate more questions on the basis of their understanding of the issues from the prescribed and
other reading material from books and business magazines. The case discussions do not presuppose any right or wrong answers to the issues posed and problems raised. But in conceptsfocused cases (as opposed to decision-focused cases) some answers may be closer to the
meaning of the concept concerned. The case group concerned is expected to elect its own case
coordinator while preparing and presenting a case. The case coordinator is responsible for
conducting the case discussion and organizing the response to the queries raised. S/he is also
expected to summarize the discussion in the end.
The sessions are intended to be kept interactive. Thus, each student must be prepared to engage
actively and contribute to each class session. Students are expected to make quality contribution
to the collective learning process of the class as a whole through case discussion and/or
otherwise making comments/observations on the issue/s being discussed. This would require
prior reading by the student concerned of the cases and the study material. They are also advised
to keep themselves abreast with the latest developments in the employee relations scenario so as
to critically gauge the suitability of the contemporary IR system to the developmental needs of
India, which will help in a better understanding of the nuances of the changing ER. The
following are some of the criteria that will be considered as quality contribution:

Is the comment a mere repetition of facts from the case, or does it hint at some relevant
angularities and provide an analysis of some of the issues and their broader implications?

Does the comment reflect mere symptom/s of the problems involved or is an attempt to
take the analysis towards seeing the big picture and understanding the concepts related to
the causal root/s of the issues?

Is the comment presented in a clear, compelling manner or is it repetitive or

contradictory?

Does the comment reflect creativity and out-of-box thinking in understanding the
dimensions of the issues?

Does the behaviour of the student as a class participant reflect good listening skills?

How significantly does the students overall participation contribute to the learning of the
class as a whole?

Is the students observation/comment linked to the comments of others on the issues

being examined so as to be in the flow?

Does the comment reflect verbosity and long narration of a simple/obvious point?

Basic Text:
1. PN Singh and Neeraj Kumar, (2011) Employee Relations Management, Pearson, New
Delhi
( Relevant chapters) (chapters 1, 5, 6, 7, 8, 12, 14.4, 17, 18)

Recommended Readings:
2. B. D. Singh (2009), Industrial Relations: Emerging Paradigms, Excel Books, New Delhi.
3. Debi S. Saini and Sami A. Khan (eds.) (2000) Human Resource Management:
Perspectives for the New Era, Response Books (Sage), New Delhi. (Chs.1-3).
4. P.L. Malik (2013) Handbook of Labour and Industrial Law, Eastern Book Co., Lucknow.
[Chapters on IDA, TU Act, IE (Standing Orders) Act, and Contract Labour Act].
5. Graham Hollinshead, Peter Nicholls, Stephanie Tailby (2003) Employee Relations,
Second Edition, Financial Times Pitman Publishing, London (Chs. 1, 2, 3-5, 9, 15).
6. Debi S. Saini and Pawan Budhwar (2013) In A. Verma and P. Budhwar (2013) Human
Resource Management in Asia-Pacific Countries, Routledge, London.
7. Roger J. Volkema (2009) Why Dick and Jane don't ask: Getting past Initiation Barriers in
Negotiations, Business Horizons, November 15.
8. Guest, D. (1987), Human Resource Management and Industrial Relations, Journal of
Management Studies, 24 (50), pp. 503-21.
3

SESSIONS PLAN
Session 1:

Readings:
1. Reading 1, ch. 2

Conceptual Framework of Industrial

Case 1: People management Fiasco in HMSI
relations (IR)-I
Qs.:

Session 2:

1.

Who all are actors in IR in this case formally

or indirectly?

2.

In view of this case, state the usual issues in

industrial relations in the Indian context?

3.

What were the gains of HMSI workers? What

source of workers strength led to these gains?

4.

It is said that IR is a game of power. How

much power was enjoyed by the 3 main IR
actors in the caseemployer, union, & state?

5.

Do you think that workers have an unqualified

right to form union in India; if so what is the
logic of such a law?

Readings:
Reading 1, Chapter 3 by CSV

Conceptual Framework of Industrial

Case 1: People management Fiasco in HMSI
relations (IR)-II
contd
1.

What is the difference between the rights enjoyed

by a registered union and a non-registered union?

2.

What role was played by the AITUC leader,

Gurudas Dasgupta in this case?

3.

What precisely, in your opinion,

played by the media in the case?

4.

What role do you think was played by the Deputy

Labour Commissioner in processing the dispute;
and why you think he did not succeed?

5.

What do you think were the major concerns of the

central as well as the state governments?

was the role

Session 3:

Readings:

Trade unions: Structure and functions in

1. Reading 3, Chapter 3 by CSV
Indian context & Their handling by
2. Reading 3, Saini & Khan, chapters 1-5,
employers through policies of proactive
11
industrial relations--I
Case 1: People management Fiasco in HMSI
contd
Unions in Crisis and changes in the traditional
frame of IREmergence of new issues in IR:
Qs.:
6.

What do you think were the principal causes of the

trouble that HSMI faced?

7.

What are the key challenges before HMSI in the

post-July 25 scenario?

8.

What lessons in people management and industrial

relations do you learn from this case?

9.

What HRM strategy was followed by HMSI

consciously or subconsciously; Why, if at all, are
there differences in the pursuit of the global and
the local IR strategy of HMSI?

10. What led to failure of that strategy, and what are

the causal roots of the breakdown of industrial
relations in HMSI?
11. What people-management strategies should HMSI
adopt so as to promote a harmonious working with
the union or subtly promote dilution of the unions
strength?

Session 4
Trade unions: Structure and functions in
Indian context & their handling by
employers through policies of proactive
industrial relations--II
Union-substitution strategies of firms: Managing
The shifts in Managing employee relations
through Strategic HR Interventions, including
employee engagement

Readings: Reading 1, Chapter 23

Case 2: TESCO
1. What factors contributed to the breakdown
of IR in TESCO?
2. What were the expectations of each party
the owner, trade union, workersfrom
the other parties?]
3. What power in IR did different actors in
the case have, how did they derive it, and
how did they use it?
4. What issues must Gera consider and
address before planning ahead?
5

5. What lessons in IR do you learn from this

case?

Sessions 5

Readings:
1. Reading 1, chs 3 & 7

Trade unions: Structure & functions in

Indian context & their handling by Case 3: Hindustan Lever Ltd.
employers through policies of proactive
1. What are the employee relations issues in
industrial relations--III
this case?
Emergence of trade unions, their role, outsiders
in their functioning, and managements
approach towards handling them:

What is the nature and scope of trade unions

in Indian economic & social environment?
What role do they play in industrial
working?
How have trade unions emerged in India?
Outsiders in Unions and issues in
multiplicity of unions

Sessions 6

2. Should Prasad work for integration of

cultures? If yes, how to break the mental
barriers of union members against it?
3. How should Prasad go about promoting a
more transparency & trust in IR?
4. What HR interventions should the HUL
use for a unified culture at the new unit?
5. What lessons in employee relations
management do you learn from this case?

Readings:

1. Reading 1, chs 11.

Legal framework of industrial relations in India:
Overview & Key features of the Principal IR Case 4: RD International
Laws

Key IR laws in India: Industrial Disputes

Act 1947 (IDA)Trade Unions Act, 1926
The Industrial Employment (Standing
Orders) Act 1946 (IESOA)The Contract
Labour (Regulation and Abolition) Act 1970
(CLA).

1.

Do you think that RDI is an industry under the

Industrial Disputes Act, 1947?

2.

If yes, out of many categories of persons working

in RDI who are workmen under the IDA and why?

3.

What is the legal position of these different

categories of employees in view of the structure
and contents of the IDA?

4.

Is the espousal of the industrial dispute by the

union which had just 20 members (as 5 had
withdrawn) justified, and can it be said to be an
industrial dispute?

5.

Can the union raise a dispute for reinstatement of

the research investigators and managers?

6.

Did the works committee have the jurisdiction to

discuss the dispute in question? What role is
expected of a works committee under the IDA?
6

Session 7:
Management of discipline: Issue of charge sheet,
and procedure for conducting Domestic Inquiry

7.

Was the registrar of trade union right in registering

the trade union of the employees of RDI?

8.

What action should the management take on the

gherao of a manager by the employees?

9.

Can the management sue the union activists for the

loss of rupees 50 million that RDI suffered due to
the supposedly unjustified strike led by them?

Readings:
1. Handout.
Case 5: He Asked Me to Pay Up
Readings: Handout
Guest session

Session 8
Collective Bargaining & Negotiation): Nature
and Contents

Sessions 9
Employee Involvement: Nature and Contents:

Readings:
1. Reading 1. Ch. 8

Readings:
1. Reading 1, chs 18
2. Handout
Case 7: National Pharma:
1. What are the strengths and limitations of
of the analyses of each of the three
Discussants of this case?
2. Which of the three analyses you like the
most and why?
3. If you come to know that discussant III is
HR chief of a large automobile company,
what do you think is lacking in his
analysis that he should have been aware
while making his analysis so as to become
a still better HR professional?
4. What do you learn from this case and the
new methodology of learning through
analyzing the case analysis by different
7

discussants?

Session 10
Readings:
Grievance management: Nature of grievances
and their handling

3. Reading 1, chs 19.

COURSE EVALUATION:
Total marks

50

Class Participation/Presentation (Groups)

Quizzes
Mid-term Examination

20
10
20