CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
This chapter gives a brief discussion
of the general description of the study, problem statement, purpose of study,
research questions and hypotheses, definitions of terms, scope and limitation
of the study, as well as the significance of it.
1.1
GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF THE STUDY
Most earn their living as
employees, employers or self-employed workers. The employees in the proper
meaning of the term are people who work for compensation in cash and/or kind
under the direction of employers.
The employers, whether acting
collectively or individually, are interested in production and distribution,
trade practice, efficiency, cost, prices, buying, selling and maximization of
profit while the employee’s scope and character of collectivism centre on the
quest, not only for economic benefits of increasing salaries and wages and
other fringe benefits but also for psychological and social motives so as to be
able to participate actively in making decisions that vitally affect them in
their work and community life and hence, seek to advance the cultural and
social status along with occupation and economic status of their members and
the interest of the labour group.
At this point, it is
imperative to know that for there to be a labour group, there must have been a
Trade Union. A Trade Union is a combination of employees who share common
statutory objective in relation to regulations between employers and employees
as to the benefits and welfare of their members (Ola, 1987). The activities of
employers and employees in an organization centre on not only how to produce goods
and services but also how to form Unions to protect and promote collectively
their respective interests and to regulate, in particular, management-labour
relations.
In an attempt to achieve this
common objective by both the employees (workers) and the employers (the
management), Unions respectively base on the identified differences in their
interest thus necessitate the need for both parties to reach an agreement
through a collective bargaining process.
A modern view of collective
bargaining is that it must be recognized as an institution for regulating
labour-management as well as the labour market. Dunlop identified one of the
major activities of collective bargaining as involving the determination of
priorities with each side in the bargaining process, it involves the process of
compromise and assessment of priorities with each side, the rejection of some
claims and the assessment of priorities to others within the Union and the bargaining
across the table, it involves the processes of administration and application
of the agreement.
The success of any
organization depends not only on the ability to effectively and efficiently
coordinate and control the available resources or profitability but largely on
its ability to enhance good relation within or among individuals and groups in
the work environment. As a result, the inability of the management to ensure
peace and harmony in the working environment may lead to misunderstanding which
if unresolved will eventually lead to industrial conflict.
Conflict is defined as the
disagreement of organization members of groups over means or ends and an
attempt to establish their views in preference to others. In other words, it
means dissatisfaction arising from the interaction between labour and
management in the work place as against the cordial industrial relations of the
organization.
Three major factors have been
identified in Nigerian organization as the cause of industrial conflict in the
working environment. Among others are the inadequacy of agreement, that is,
where certain issues are left unresolved during the cause of agreement,
relation of agreement which may be deliberate and interpretation problem i.e. a
situation where agreement has been signed but the two parties give different
interpretation to it which eventually led to industrial actions.
Strike is one form of
industrial action commonly used by Nigerian Workers and their Unions as
pressure method in the employers to win their demands. Trade Dispute Act (1976)
defines strike as the cessation of work by a body of persons employed acting in
combination or a concerted refusal or a refusal under a common understanding
compelling employers to accept or body of persons employed to accept terms of
employment and physical condition or work. Strike in any organization will
either disrupt or reduce the productivity which will eventually affect the
overall performance of the organization.
1.2
STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
The problem of persistent
strike actions in organisations, apart from causing organizational
ineffectiveness results in loss of recognition (goodwill), decrease in
productivity, high labour turnover and lack of credible image towards members
of the society. This in effect ushers in other problems such as inflation, mass
unemployment, increase in crime rate and corruption.
Proper management of these
problems will in turn ensure the achievement of the organization’s objectives
as well as increasing employees’ working condition, morale, growth on the job,
high level of motivation, job security and improvement in the living standard
of members of the society.
Most organisations fail to
realize all these and as a result face a lot of problems in organizational
management. This becomes an issue of great concern with backfiring effect on
the whole organizational environment and economic development of the entire
nation.
1.3
PURPOSE OF STUDY
The purpose of this study is
to determine the effect of strike, the causes and to evolve means of avoiding,
minimizing or managing strike in organisations and to make useful
recommendations and conclusion for better and viable means of ensuring
industrial peace.
1.4
RELEVANT RESEARCH QUESTIONS AND HYPOTHESIS
The relevant research
questions of this study are as follows:
(a) To what extent will strike affect the net profit of an
organisation?
(b) Can strike correct organizational mismanagement?
(c) Does strike bring about high labour turnover?
The following are the
relevant hypothesis to be tested:
1) There is no significant relationship between maximum resources
utilization and strike frequency in an organization.
2) There is no significant relationship between labour turnover as a
result of strike and returns on investment.
1.5
SCOPE AND LIMITATION OF STUDY
This study aims at looking
into strike and its effect on organizational effectiveness as a result of good
working condition, job security, fringe benefits and productivity. This study
will use Health Care Product Nigeria Ltd. as a case study. All the data for
this study is obtainable from the organization.
The study is prone to some
limitations by cost, time and the participants or management bias in
administering the questionnaire. Therefore, the generalization of the findings
is limited. It could only be applicable to any organization with similar case.
1.6
SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
This study will reveal the
negative and positive effects of strike and how the negative aspect can be
managed, avoided or minimized while mazimizing the positive effect in the
organization.
The findings are to help
organization in dealing with strike in order to enhance employees’ performance
as well as the organizational effectiveness. In other words, the findings of
the study will be used as a secondary data for other researchers conducting work
on similar or related topic.
1.7
DEFINITION OF TERMS
Employees – These are persons who work
for another person in return for wages/compensation in cash and in kind.
Employers – These are persons who
engage others by using their services in an organization to achieve an
objective and pay them in return for their service.
Work – This is a creative
assignment for our corporate existence necessary for our economic independence.
Trade Union – This is an organization of
workers whose main purpose is to maintain and improve the conditions of their
members’ working life.
Collective Agreement – This
is an agreement in writing for the settlement of dispute and relating to terms
of employment and physical condition of work.
Collective Bargaining – This
is defined as negotiation of working conditions and terms of employment between
an employer or group of employers and one or more representatives of workers in
an organization.
Industrial Conflict – This
is the dissatisfaction that arises from the interaction between labour and the
management in the work place.
Strike – This is the temporary
refusal by workers to work in accordance to the prevailing employment contract
or other conditions that may not have been specified or implied in the
contract.
Management – This can be defined as
those people occupying the position of authorities and responsibility in an
organization.
Morale – This is the state of a
person’s or group’s spirits and confidence.
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