Industrial relations module

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  Explores on the nature of the employment relationship,
  
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  Examines the different perspectives in analyzing Industrial Relations,
  
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  Examines the different perspectives in analyzing the worker problem,
  
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  Examines the roles of various parties in Industrial Relations,
  
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  Explores on Industrial Relations dynamics in the 21^st Century and key issues driving change in Industrial Relations.
  

1. 
   Academic Study of I.R
   

3. 
   Industrial Relations Perspectives
   

4 Management

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  Globalisation
  
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  Technology
  
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  Flexibility
  
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  The new H.R Agenda
  
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  Social Dialogue
  
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  The future of Industrial Relations and the study of HRM in Zimbabwe
  

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  It refers to the expectations of the employer and the employee that operate in addition to the formal contract of employment
  
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  It has been defined by Rousseau (1994) cited by Hiltrop (1995:287) as “the understanding people have regarding the commitments made between themselves and their organisation.”
  
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  It therefore, is concerned with each party’s perception of what the other party to the employment relationship owes them over and above that which may be specified in the contract of employment.
  
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  The contract is not clear as to the content and because it is based on perceptions, it is not written down
  
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  Mullins (1996) points out that there is a continuous process of balancing and explicit and implicit bargaining over the contract content and more over that the individual and the organisation may not be aware consciously of the contract “terms”. However, these terms affect their behavior and relationship.
  
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  One of the aspects of the psychological contract that has gained prominence over the years is the traditional employee perception that the organisation promises a “job for life” (examples) in return for employee loyalty and commitment. This is still practiced if we take the case of local government, civil service and parastatals.
  
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  Some jobs are fast changing in terms of nature and content hence driving a twist of the psychological contract for example, the changes in the banking sector. The coming in of IT to replace people has shifted people’s expectations and hence the psychological contract.
  
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  Organisations now need managers that are less experienced, more commercially aware, more energetic, and they could be easily obtained, and retained, more cheaply than their predecessors.
  
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  Research reviewed by Sparrow (2000) highlights the changing nature of the organisation of work and its implications on the psychological contract, e.g., experiences of redundancy, for example, are often viewed by the older workers as a violation of the psychological contract, and are significantly related to their adoption of personal responsibility for their career development (Sparrow 2000) also issues of termination or grows of incapacitation, etc.
  
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  Herriot and Pemberton (1995) argued that the psychological contract has moved from one that is relational- based on mutual trust and commitment- to one that is transactional- based upon mutual instrumentality of the work- effort- reward bargain.
  
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  It demonstrates a shift from focus on job security on the part of employees towards employability security.
  
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  According to Hiltrop (1995:289) in the new type of psychological contract “there is no job security. The employee will be employed as long as s (he) adds value to the organisation and is personally responsible for finding new ways to add value. In return the employee has the right to demand interesting and important work has the freedom and resources to perform it well, receives extra pay that reflect his/her contribution and gets the experience and training needed to be employable here or elsewhere.”
  

So the contract is based on the theory of reciprocation/ exchange theory by Cox and Parkinson (1999), where individuals make an investment with expectations that an appropriate reward will be forthcoming.