ABSTRACT
In the all-inclusive sense industrial relations are defined as 'all the relationships between management and employees in the community'. It would seem more correct to view the relations as a wide range of different mixtures of the formal and informal. To understand industrial relations, therefore, it is not enough to study merely formal relations. National income statistics show that the national income of Great Britain has risen steadily since the industrial revolution. Knowledge of the institutional and economic framework within which industrial co-operation and conflict take place is therefore essential for understanding the problems of industrial relations. It has been shown that the field of industrial relations covers a wide range of human behaviour. Industrial conflict may affect persons not directly involved in the disputes; it may affect other workers, bystanders and consumers. Concurrently, the achievement of industrial peace and harmony is often held out as a goal, the ideal state of affairs which we must strive to reach.
