Pluralistic Approach to Industrial Relations: McDonald's Case Study

This essay explores the application of the pluralistic theory of industrial relations within McDonald's, examining the interplay between employers, employees, and trade unions. It contrasts classical and neo-liberal approaches to pluralism, highlighting the importance of balancing organizational objectives with employee interests. The analysis considers McDonald's operations in different national contexts, such as the UK, Germany, and France, to illustrate how varying legislative frameworks and the influence of trade unions impact the company's decision-making processes and workplace changes. The essay also discusses the significance of collective bargaining and co-determination rights, emphasizing the need for organizations to adapt to local business environments and respect employee rights to maintain business sustainability. This document is available on Desklib, a platform offering a wide range of study resources for students.

Running Head: PLURALISM IN INDUSTRIAL RELATION
PLURALISM IN INDUSTRIAL RELATION
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1PLURALISM IN INDUSTRIAL RELATION
The term industrial relation has a great deal of relevance in the business orientation in
21st century. According to Ackers (2014) the term industrial relation defines the connection
between the individual or group of employees and the employers in order to maximise the
productivity or service quality. As a matter of fact, the notion of industrial relation is also
associated with the perception of conflicting objectives and values or between profit motives of
the organisation and the social gain for the employees. In this regard, the trade unions play
significant role in order to make an amicable and hospitable situation between the employees and
the employers and moves their collaborative interests towards positive outcome (Tapia, Ibsen
and Kochan 2015). In order words, it can be opined that the importance of industrial relation is
followed by the interests of the workers as well as the organisation to render perfect working
condition and trade unions contributes neutrally to satisfy the interests of both the elements.
However, there are series of theories that shape the mechanism of the industrial relation
predominantly and influence the decision making extensively. Based on this understanding, this
essay aims to conduct a research on the industrial relation in McDonald’s and tries to figure out
the resemblance between Pluralistic theory of industrial relation and the organisational change
and decision making practice.
Before looking into the in-depth analysis of the industrial relation it is important to
understand the salient features of the pluralistic industrial relation and its difference from the
other theories of industrial relation. As far as the classical paradigm of pluralist theory of
industrial relation is concerned, it can be stated that there are contradictory factors leading
towards the clash of interest between the entrepreneurs and the workers. In other words, Molina
(2014) advocated that the classical theory of pluralist industrial relation puts emphasis on the
employment relationship which is considered to be a bargaining problem for the employers. It is

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associated with the question of redistribution of resources and the governing interactions
between employers and employees. Therefore, the individual employees, managers, owners and
the trade unions are subjected to the driving factors of pluralist industrial relation. It is further
resembled with the behavioural perspective where decision making is supposed to be of main
attraction (Cradden 2011). As a result of that cognitive limitation, socio-cultural norms, emotion
and values are considered to be major elements of the pluralist industrial relation.
Tracing the roots of this theory Kaufman and Gall (2015) revealed that the theory was
cemented during the Great Depression of 1930s and the traditional notion of industrial notion
had come under academic scrutiny. As an obvious outcome pluralist industrial relation had been
propounded delivering more focus on the effective relationship between the employers and the
workers. As Heery (2016) rightly stated that the equilibrium of capital and labour, pluralist
industrial relation was seemed more balanced and advanced for facilitating better and healthy
workplace situation. Henceforth, the classical pluralistic theory had come up with some key
characteristic in terms of conglomeration of different interests of the stakeholders. In course of
the discussion, it can be argued that there are some evident and obvious clash of interests
between different groups but those issues can be resolved through the intervention of the trade
unions. From that point of view, Siebert et al. (2015) mentioned that pluralist industrial relation
primarily emphasises on persuasion and coordinated between different interest groups or
stakeholders that pave the way for success in business. In a more clear and accurate sense, it can
be argued that the pluralist industrial relation signifies a dual authority practice where the
employees are loyal to both the organisation as well as the labour leaders.
However, the neo-liberal approach tries to identify the features of pluralist industrial
relation in a more intensive manner. The fundamental propositions are same but the neo-liberal

3PLURALISM IN INDUSTRIAL RELATION
or contemporary researchers are tried to discover different interests of the workers as well as the
employers. According to Larsson (2014) the workers intend to fix their focus on not only the
social values but also their interests linger with equity and voice at work. The workplace
dynamics lead to further exploration on the relationship between the workers and the employers.
For an instance, the workers are no longer wish to get better wages only. The social reputation
and their personal and professional preferences are also contributed a lot to the industrial
relationship. The contemporary business set up provides the employees more liberties and
flexibilities to register their interests alongside the objectives of the organisation. As a result of
that it became so much complex for the organisational to cope with the specific self-interest of
the workers. As Poole (2017) opined that in a big organisation it is nearly impossible for the
company to highlight specific interest of an individual worker. In response to this, there are
several rights and regulations have been made in order to resolve the issue. For an example, fair
work rights and facilitating better workplace environment is considered to be the most important
aspect that the organisations must follow.
In addition to this, the neo-liberal approach of pluralist industrial relation also transcends
its field of discussion more extensively into cooperation and negotiation between the employees
and employers. Through the research of Kaufman and Gall (2015) it can be seen that the
confront or clash of interests between the employers and the workers has been eroded through
the proposition of making the business environment more admirable where both the elements of
an organisation will share their interests and help each other to get that. In other words, Tapia,
Ibsen and Kochan (2015) illuminates the readers by stating that in the 21st century the whole
gamut of organisational behaviour diversified the responsibility of the workers as well. It
becomes a pertinent aspect for the workers to comply with the interest of the organisation as

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well. It is obvious that the trade unions and the regulations played significant part in this regard
but it the aim of the neo-liberal pluralist industrial relation theory is to harness effective
coordination between the organisation and the workers.
In this regards, the collective bargain approach seemed highly relevant for McDonalds.
According to Hogan (2016) collective bargain is the process where both party will mutually
agreed to a decision making process. It is followed by some set of rules and official guidelines in
order to respect both the interests of the organisation and the employees. As a matter of fact, the
employee relation is coupled with the industrial relation so that it will formulate great deal of
influence on the existing uniform set of institutional infrastructure. In response to this,
McDonalds has to consider some factors and abide the regulatory framework of both
international and of the nation in which it enjoys business facilities. As far as the national
legislation is concerned, there are series of measures that McDonalds has enjoyed in order to
facilitate a better and friendly business environment in the respective country. It is also
associated with the collective bargain approach where McDonalds tries to make a mutual
agreement with the employees. For an instance, in the UK legislation there is no specific
preference about the mode of the employees. Therefore, interference of the trade unions is not
appreciable for McDonalds (Royle 2014). However, it does not mean that the organisation does
not take the interests of the employees into consideration. There are various channels and
efficient HRM policies that allow the employees to ventilate their interests and grievances
without any hesitation.
On the other hand, in Germany McDonalds witnesses a strong existence of both the
bargaining rights between employees and the organisation and the co-determination rights under
the observation of the trade unions. Freiberg (2015) ascribed that the role of trade unions in

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Germany had significant influence over the decision making of the business organisations.
Henceforth, it is always identified as a considering spot for the corporate houses to appreciate the
interference of the trade unions. As a result of that a true sense of dual system can be seen in case
of McDonald’s business activities in Germany which is firmly resembled with the pluralistic
industrial relation. Furthermore, the collective bargaining and the co-determination rights are
significantly went through workers council and the organisational supervisory board. As
Kuriyama (2017) opined that the rights of the German workers are highly secured through the
continuous intervention of both legislation and the trade unions. It can be compared with the
scenario of UK where no such influence of the trade unions can be tolerated because of
legislative framework itself never specifies the mode of employment. Based on this
understanding, it can be stated that in Germany the employees get enormous power through the
legally enforceable and constituted rights. As a result of that change in the workplace is
considered to be highly strenuous and time consuming in Germany in compare to UK.
The same provisions can be seen in France as well where the trade union has a deep
influence over business practices. It is also implacable for the decision making process. In this
regard, the union membership is highly important for McDonalds to sustain in the French
market. For an instance, in 2001, McDonalds faced a major setback when 40 workers of the
Boulevard St. Denis outlet started protest against the dismissal of 5 of their colleagues (Wang
and Chang 2016). It was cleared that a non-negotiable agreement was placed between the
organisation and the workers that violated the norms and regulation of the trade union. The
change did not appreciated by the General Confederation of Labour (CGT) and led to further
investigation into this matter. From the point of view of Loftsdóttir (2014) abiding the legislative
framework was not the only measure that the business organisations should follow.

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Understanding the role of existing business practices in the presence of the trade unions is also
considered to be an important aspect for the corporate houses in order to create a friendly
business environment. In case of the French crisis, the anti-union approach of McDonalds turned
into a fatal consequence that damaged the image of the company predominantly.
From that point of view, Chemers (2014) advocated that the change in process is a
collaborative process that encompasses all the stakeholders both internal and external. In course
of the discussion, it can be found that McDonalds is generally resembled an anti-union stand in
decision making or procuring a change in the organisational framework. It is obvious that such a
giant fast food restaurant does not want any kind of external intervention in the course of
decision making process. Nonetheless, the legislative framework and business environment of
respective countries may differ and it must be followed in order to retain the business
sustainability (Lynch 2018). The existence of the pluralist industrial relation is seemed to act as a
prerogative for the employees to ventilate their grievances on a solid ground. In this context, the
role of trade union is considered to be played a major part in McDonald’s industrial relationship
and management decision making process globally.
It can be argued that the relationship between employers and employees is very important
in order to establish the business both effective and productive as well. in respect to this,
McDonalds tries to establish its business based on the national legislation and regulatory
framework. The discussion tries to enumerate a comparison between the scenario of UK and
Germany where the fat food giant operates according to the legal framework. However, the essay
also highlights the importance of the trade unions in business activities that created serious
problem for McDonalds to continue its business in France. The theoretical understanding of the
essay circles around the Pluralist theory of industrial relation and intends to portray the

7PLURALISM IN INDUSTRIAL RELATION
importance of the pluralist theory in current business establishment. As a matter of that the
transition in the theoretical perception is also encapsulated into the discussion with the purpose
to carry out an in-depth analysis of the industrial relation of McDonalds and the need of
establishing a pluralist industrial relation. Henceforth, it can be concluded that the essay rightly
justifies the importance of pluralist theory of industrial relationship in the contemporary business
organisations in reference to McDonalds.

8PLURALISM IN INDUSTRIAL RELATION
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