The Origins & Evolution of the Field of Industrial Relations in the United States

Download or read book The Origins & Evolution of the Field of Industrial Relations in the United States written by Bruce E. Kaufman and published by Cornell University Press. This book was released on 1993 with total page 308 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Bruce Kaufman provides a detailed exploration of the historical development of the field of industrial relations. He identifies two distinct schools of thought evident since the field's origins in the 1920s, one centered in the study of personnel management and the other in the study of institutional labor economics. The two schools advocate contrasting approaches to the resolution of labor problems. Kaufman traces their development from a golden age in the 1950s through a period of gradual decline that accelerated in the 1980s. He contends that, in the process, the field narrowed from a broad-based consideration of the employment relationship to a more limited focus on collective bargaining.