Industrial Relations Pressures/Issues Evident for ‘Women Workers in the Garment Industry in Sri Lanka’
1. INTRODUCTION This report will focus on industrial relations pressures/issues evident for „Women workers in the Garment Industry in Sri Lanka’, a strategic plan for addressing these issues utilizing relevant theory. The industrial relations issues faced by women are very much similar to all workers in the industry irrespective of gender. However, there are some issues that are unique to women which will also be highlighted in this report.
The Harvard Map of HRM will be used as a base to analyse these issues and form a strategic plan. This conceptual map was developed by Beer et al. (1985) at Harvard which the authors describe as a broad causal mapping of the determinants and consequences of HRM policies (Guest 1987) as shown in the illustration below:
The major stake holders in this instance would be the Management, Garment Industry, Employees, Unions, Government and the Community. Situational factors inside and outside the organization would affect the stakeholders. Therefore, unless the strategic plans/policies drawn up would need to be influenced by all stakeholders it will not be successful in meeting the needs of these stakeholders in the long-term. Through these policies the 4 C‟s of commitment,
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competence, congruence and cost-effectiveness can be achieved which in turn lead to longterm consequences of individual well-being, organizational effectiveness and societal wellbeing.
2. GARMENT INDUSTRY IN SRI LANKA The garment industry plays a important role in Sri Lanka‟s economy and contributes substantially in terms of foreign exchange earnings, production and the generation of employment. With the liberalization of the Sri Lankan economy in the 1970‟s the garment industry has replaced more traditional export industries like tea and rubber as the highest foreign exchange earner. The industry accounts for about 40% of the industrial production and is the largest contributor to the economy, accounting for 8% of the GDP (Wijayasiri &
The Harvard Map of HRM will be used as a base to analyse these issues and form a strategic plan. This conceptual map was developed by Beer et al. (1985) at Harvard which the authors describe as a broad causal mapping of the determinants and consequences of HRM policies (Guest 1987) as shown in the illustration below:
The major stake holders in this instance would be the Management, Garment Industry, Employees, Unions, Government and the Community. Situational factors inside and outside the organization would affect the stakeholders. Therefore, unless the strategic plans/policies drawn up would need to be influenced by all stakeholders it will not be successful in meeting the needs of these stakeholders in the long-term. Through these policies the 4 C‟s of commitment,
Page 1 of 12
competence, congruence and cost-effectiveness can be achieved which in turn lead to longterm consequences of individual well-being, organizational effectiveness and societal wellbeing.
2. GARMENT INDUSTRY IN SRI LANKA The garment industry plays a important role in Sri Lanka‟s economy and contributes substantially in terms of foreign exchange earnings, production and the generation of employment. With the liberalization of the Sri Lankan economy in the 1970‟s the garment industry has replaced more traditional export industries like tea and rubber as the highest foreign exchange earner. The industry accounts for about 40% of the industrial production and is the largest contributor to the economy, accounting for 8% of the GDP (Wijayasiri &
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