Industrial Relations System Transformation

Abstract

The authors use two models from biological science—the evolutionary model of gradual adaptation, and the contrasting punctuated equilibrium theory that posits occasional periods of rapid, fundamental change punctuating longer periods of stability—to define industrial relations system “transformation” and explore its implications. An industrial relations system can be said to have undergone transformation, they argue, when the network of basic assumptions and principles underlying that system, or its “deep structure,” is changed, and such change can occur either through gradual adaptation or through abrupt revolution. They apply this conceptual framework to industrial relations system changes in Sweden, South Africa, New Zealand, and the United States.