Human resource management, trade unions and empowerment: two cases from India

This paper discusses the introduction of schemes aimed at employee empowerment within a context of strong industrial relations in India. The pressure put on profit margins by a competitive business environment is forcing an increasing number of Indian enterprises to take responsibility for shop floor decisions over quality, safety, productivity and material use. This appears, at first sight, to be an alluring prospect, as men and women at the bottom of the pyramid would be expected to be warmly appreciative of power sharing arrangements from which they have something to gain. However, there are forces at work which can actively obstruct or quietly subvert attempts at redistributing power. In this paper, the focus is on some of the motives a trade union might have to do so.

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This paper discusses the introduction of schemes aimed at employee empowerment within a context of strong industrial relations in India. The pressure put on profit margins by a competitive business environment is forcing an increasing number of Indian enterprises to take responsibility for shop floor decisions over quality, safety, productivity and material use. This appears, at first sight, to be an alluring prospect, as men and women at the bottom of the pyramid would be expected to be warmly appreciative of power sharing arrangements from which they have something to gain. However, ...  [+] Show more