Aloysius Newenham-Kahindi

New directions in the management of human resources in Africa

The last decade has witnessed a notable increase in the volume of publications on human resource management (HRM) in Africa, particularly in reputable management journals. Yet, within the broader context of the mainstream HRM debate, advances in research and theoretical sophistication have not quite kept pace with the actual practice of management. This is particularly notable when it comes to the progress that organizations in Africa have made in product innovation and service delivery, the creation and application of advanced technology, as well as in the adoption of progressive/innovative HRM practices. The six papers in this forum were drawn from an international conference on HRM in Africa held at Nottingham Business School in 2010. Taken together, they identify important new developments in theory and practice, and also open up avenues for further debate particularly in the areas of career development, knowledge appropriation, mergers and acquisitions, the role of HR professionals, the informal sector and the most effective ways to engage foreign investors.

Managing sustainable development through people

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to attempt to answer specific research questions by investigating two case studies which involve large global mining multinational enterprises (MNEs) and how they implement sustainable development programs across rural communities in Tanzania. The author specifically examines how MNEs use internal stakeholders that is employees, as intermediaries, to influence external stakeholders, the local communities, to address social problems. Design/methodology/approach – The author uses an exploratory research method which involves MNEs and 18 communities in western Tanzania as the cases. Semi-structured interviews, observation and the use of relevant archival documents was used to collect data. Findings – This study suggests that, if MNEs are to leverage sustainability initiatives in rural communities, they must consider implementing a locally oriented strategy in their overall business activities that incorporates meaningful engagement initiatives with their employees and w...

Knowledge appropriation and HRM: the MNC experience in Tanzania

The extant literature on knowledge appropriation, corporate control and transfer within multinational companies (MNCs) tend to focus on the role of the firm, unit and subsidiary levels, often emphasizing on firms’ capabilities, knowledge assets and knowledge processes with little emphasis on how these are related to the capability of individual behaviours, social contexts and team cultures across different societal contexts (Hedlund, 1994; Snape et al., 1998; Mudambi et al., 2007; Abrahamson and Eisenman, 2008). In these circumstances, appropriation is normally understood as ‘the allocation of rents where property rights are not fully defined’ (Grant, 1991, p. 128). In the case of managing human resources (HR), there exists an ambiguity over what constitutes a resource and the ownership of control over resources. We argue in this chapter that the management of corporate culture and HR can be understood in terms of an ‘appropriation regime’ that functions through mechanisms of control to strengthen the organization’s capacity to secure the benefits from the utilization of resources. We also argue that the perspective of appropriation raises valuable questions about whose interests are served, and how power is implicated in the process of diffusing and appropriating knowledge (e.g. Kamoche, 2006; Frenkel, 2008; Pinnington et al., 2009).

Introduction: New Directions in the Management of Human Resources in Africa

The first named author edited a special issue on human resource management (HRM) in Africa in the International Journal of Human Resource Management a decade ago (Kamoche, 2002). At that time, it was fairly common to begin journal articles and doctoral literature reviews affirming that the literature on HRM and management in general in Africa was ‘scarce/scanty/sketchy’, and for authors to proceed as if they were in typically uncharted domain. We believe this affirmation to be largely untenable today. In proportion, of course, the amount of knowledge on the African management and organizational context, in high-impact publications, pales when compared with the West and Asia. The situation has changed considerably in the last decade or so, and the number of publications focused on African management, organizational and entrepreneurial issues grows every year. The relevant literature includes several books as well as articles in high-impact journals that characterize the diversity of HRM theory and practice, and how culture might be understood in highly complex societies (e.g. Jackson, 2004; Kamoche et al., 2004).

The dynamics of managing people in the diverse cultural and institutional context of Africa

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to introduce the special issue which considers some of the contemporary debates in managing people in Africa. Design/methodology/approach – The papers that constitute this special issue were selected from submissions to various events hosted by the Africa Research Group, a community of scholars committed to researching Africa, and from a more general call for submissions. Findings – The papers highlight the changing picture of the African organisational landscape and provide both theoretical and empirical insights about the opportunities and challenges of managing people in a culturally complex continent. Originality/value – Taken together, the papers make an important contribution by engaging current debates and demonstrating potential new areas for further research.

Managing Sustainable Development through Cross-Cultural Management: Implications for Multinational Enterprises in Developing Countries

This chapter discusses how multinational enterprises (MNEs) use their existing employees in the workplace as intermediaries, to influence local community stakeholder attitudes and behaviours during the implementation of sustainable development initiatives in communities, with the aim of shedding some light on the complexities of managing sustainable development challenges in developing countries. We illustrate how employees who are part of the community can influence local communities in corporate social responsibility issues (CSR). The majority of employees in our case studies come from the local communities where MNEs operate. We present a case of MNEs from an emerging market, South Africa, and an MNE from a developed nation that engages in extractive mining activities in East Africa, and illustrate how mining MNEs use sustainable development initiatives (e.g. CSR) to influence the attention, attitudes and behaviours of employees, both at work and within their communities where MNEs operate. Our unit of analysis in this study is the organization (e.g. the MNEs) and how it prioritizes relations with various stakeholders during CSR implementation (Husted and Allen, 2006). We use the resource dependency and institutional theories to explain the relevance application of stakeholder orientation utilized by MNEs towards local communities.

Decolonizing Development: Perspectives from Indigenous Communities

In this symposium we will explore possibilities for Indigenous organizations to become a force for decolonization. Business enterprises owned and operated by Indigenous communities are one way for ...