Although industrial relations in Australia are undergoing a significant transition towards an enterprise-based System, there has been little research into the man agement-union negotiation process. This paper describes how an employer and two unions reached an enterprise agreement, and examines the choice and inter action aspects of negotiation to explore why and how this was done. The case study demonstrates the characteristics of genuine negotiation and suggests that strong motivation to reach agreement and inherently competitive interaction can have results that meet the needs of the parties.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Ancona, D.G., Friedman, R.A. and Kolb, D.M. (1991), 'The Group and What Happens on the Way to Yes' , Negotiation Journal7, 155-73.
2.
Bazerman, M.N. and Neale, M.A. (1992), Negotiating Rationally, Free Press, New York.
3.
Carnevale, P.J.D. and Lawler, E.J. (1986), 'Time Pressure and the Development of Integrative Agreements in Bilateral Negotiation', OrganisationalBehavior and Human Performance30, 636-59.
4.
Clarke, R. (1984), The Picket, Pathfinder Press , Chippendale.
5.
Department of Industrial Relations (DIR) ( 1993), Workplace Bargaining: The First 1000 Agreements, Department of Industrial Relations, AGPS, Canberra .
6.
Deutsch, M.E. (1990), 'Sixty Years of Conflict', International Journal of Conflict Management1, 237-63.
7.
Douglas, A. (1962), Industrial Peacemaking, ColumbiaUniversity Press, New York.
8.
Dufty, N.F. (1979), 'The Operation of Western Australian Unions and the Prospects for Collective Bargaining', Journal of Industrial Relations21, 63-77.
9.
Fells, R.E. (1986), Movement, Phases and Deadlocks, Industrial Relations Research Monograph no. 12, University of New South Wales, Kensington.
10.
Fells, R.E. (1987), 'Industrial Relations at the Plant Level: A Case Study', Journal of Industrial Relations29, 350-64
11.
Fells, R.E. and Savery, L.K. (1984), 'Leadership as a Productive Strategy in Negotiation' , Leadership and Organizational Development Journal5(1), 21-4.
12.
Fisher, R. and Ury, W. (1983), Getting To Yes, Hutchinson , London.
13.
Fox, C. ( 1990), 'Antecedents of the 1986 Victorian Nurses' Strike', Journal of Industrial Relations32, 465-87.
14.
Frenkel, S.J. and Coolican, A. (1984), Unions Against Capitalism?, Allen & Unwin, Sydney.
15.
Friedman, R.A. (1994), Front Stage Back Stage, MIT Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts.
16.
Gordon, M.G., Schmitt, N. and Schneider, W.G. (1984), 'Laboratory Research on Bargaining and Negotiation ', Industrial Relations23, 218-33.
17.
Hamner, W.C. and Yukl, G.A. (1977), 'The Effectiveness of Different Offer Strategies in Bargaining', D. in Druckman (ed.), Negotiations, Sage Publications, Beverley Hills, 137-60.
18.
Holmes, M.E. (1992), 'Phase Structures in Negotiation', in L. L. Putnam and M. E. Roloff , (eds), Communication and Negotiation, Sage Annual Reviews of Communication Research 20, Sage Publications, Beverly Hills, 83-105.
19.
Howard, W.A. (1985), Making Industrial Relations Work, Industrial Relations Research Monograph no. 11, University of New South Wales, Kensington.
20.
Klimoski, R.J. (1972), The Effects of Intragroup Forces on Intergroup Conflict', OrganisationalBehavior and Human Performance8, 363-83.
21.
Lax, D.A. and Sebenius, J.K. (1985), 'The Power of Alternatives or the Limits to Negotiation ' Negotiation Journal1, 163-79.
22.
Lax, D.A. and Sebenius, J.K. (1991), 'Negotiating through an Agent', Journal of Conflict Resolution35, 474-93.
23.
Lewicki, R.J., Litterer, J.A., Minton, J.W. and Saunders, D.M. (1994), Negotiation, second edition, Richard D. Irwin, Burr Ridge, Illinois.
24.
Magenau, J.M. and Pruitt, D.G. (1979), 'The Social Psychology of Bargaining, A Theoretical Synthesis', in G. M. Stephenson and C. J. Brotherton (eds), Industrial Relations: A Social Psychological Approach, John Wiley & Sons, Chichester, 181-210.
25.
Margerison, C.J. (1969), 'What Do We Mean by Industrial Relations?'. British Journal of Industrial Relations8, 273-86.
26.
Morley, I.E. (1981), 'Bargaining and Negotiation', in C. L. Cooper (ed.). Psychology and Management , Macmillan, London, 95-130.
27.
Morley, I.E. (1992), 'Intra-organisational Bargaining', in J. F. Hartley and G. M. Stephenson (eds), Employment Relations, Basil Blackwell , Oxford, 203-24.
28.
Neale, M.A. and Bazerman, M.H. (1985a), 'Persectives for Understanding Negotiation', Journal of Conflict Resolution29, 33-55.
29.
Neale, M.A. and Bazerman, M.H. (1985b), 'The Effect of Externally Set Goals on Reaching Integrative Agreements in Competitive Markets', Jounral of Occupational Behaviour6, 19-32.
30.
Pruitt, D.G. (1981), Negotiation Behavior, Academic Press, New York.
31.
Pruitt, D.G. (1983a), 'Strategic Choice in Negotiation', American Behavioral Scientist27(2), 167-94.
32.
Pruitt, D.G. (1983b), 'Achieving Integrative Agreements', in M. H. Bazerman and R. J. Lewicki (eds), Negotiation in Organizations, Sage Publications, Beverly Hills, 35-50.
33.
Pruitt, D.G. and Camevale, P.J.D. (1993), Negotiation in Social Conflict , Open University Press, Buckingham .
34.
Pruitt, D.G. and Lewis, S.A. (1977), 'The Psychology of Integrative Bargaining', in D. Druckman (ed.), Negotiations , Sage Publications, Beverly Hills , 161-92.
35.
Pruitt, D.G. and Rubin, J.Z. (1986), Social Conflict: Escalation, Stalement and Settlement , Random House, New York.
36.
Putnam, L.L. (1990), 'Reframing Integrative and Distributive Bargaining: A Process Perspective', in B. L. Sheppard , M. H. Bazerman and R. J. Lewicki (eds), Research on Negotiations in Organizations, JAI Press, Greenwich, Connecticut, 3-30.
37.
Raiffa, H. (1982), The Art and Science of Negotiation, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts .
38.
Rapoport, A. (1960), Fights, Games and Debates, University of Michigan Press, Ann Arbor.
39.
Rubin, J.Z. and Brown, B.R. (1975), The Social Psychology of Bargaining and NegotiationAcademic Press, New York.
40.
Sparks, D.B. (1982), The Dynamics of Effective Negotiation, Gulf Publishing Co., Houston.
41.
Strauss, G. (1979), 'Can Social Psychology Contribute to Industrial Relations?', in G. M. Stephenson and C. J. Brotherton, (eds), Industrial Relations: A Social Psychological Approach, John Wiley , Chichester, 365-97.
42.
Susskind, L.E. and Landry, E.M. (1991), 'Implementing a Mutual Gains Approach to Collective Bargaining', Negotiation Journal7, 5-10.
43.
Sutcliffe, P. and Gardner, M. (1978), 'Over Awards: Bargaining at Plant Level in Australia ', Journal of Industrial Relations20, 41-55.
44.
Teicher, J. (1984), 'Industrial Militancy among Elite Workers in High Technology Industries: Victorian Power Station Operations', Journal of Industrial Relations26, 315-34.
45.
Ury, W.L., Brett, J.M. and Goldberg, S.B. (1989), Getting Disputes Resolved, Jossey Bass, San Francisco.
46.
WAIG, Western Australian Industrial Gazette.
47.
Walton, R.E. and McKersie, R.B. (1965), A Behavioral Theory of Labor Negotiations, McGraw-Hill, New York.
48.
Warr, P. (1973), Psychology and Collective Bargaining, Hutchinson, London.
49.
Zartman, I.W. (1988), 'Common Elements in the Analysis of the Negotiation Process', Negotiation Journal4, 31-44.
