What do you consider to be the main differences between a unitarist Essay

What do you consider to be the main differences between a unitarist and pluralist approach to the management of the collective employment relationship - Essay Example Unitarist and Pluralist in the management of collective employment relationships. The unitary approach to management is where there is an integrated and harmonious entity that subsists for common purposes (William & Smith, 2006). This theory portrays the employer and employee relationship to be one where there is harmony and understanding. The main assumption of this theory is that there are a common set of values and these bind the two parties, i.e. the employer and the employee together. Also these ensure that there are no conflicts among the two parties. This is one of the oldest theories that have been developed to describe employment relationship however it is one which clearly and very smoothly connects to the contemporary methods as well. These include the ideas related to the corporate culture and human resources management. However there are a number of drawbacks of this theory as well. Firstly, it fails to recognise the difference between the interests of the managements and those of the employees. The theory only assumes that all decisions made by mana gers is in the interest of the employees. There is a lack of good communication in this theory and including bettered communication is the only mode of explaining the countervailing force in all cases including, individuals, groups and even trade unions. Also as explained by Palmer (1983), where conflicts arise, the conflicts should be resolved by dismissing the employee or with the interference of law. Although the Unitarian theory was available, with the growing amount of complexity and the increased scales of business units, there was a strong need for a theory to be developed to be stronger in nature than that of the Unitarian theory. This theory required being able to accept that there are always a limited amount of conflicts that are present in an organisation and this needed to be a mode of achieving a consensus among the two parties, i.e. the