Table Of ContentHRM in Africa
Understanding New
Scenarios and Challenges
in an Emerging Economy
HRM in Africa
John E. Opute
HRM in Africa
Understanding New Scenarios and
Challenges in an Emerging Economy
John E. Opute
London South Bank Business School
London South Bank University
London, UK
ISBN 978-3-030-47127-9 ISBN 978-3-030-47128-6 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-47128-6
©The Editor(s) (if applicable) andThe Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature
Switzerland AG 2020
This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the Publisher,
whetherthewholeorpartofthematerialisconcerned,specificallytherightsoftranslation,reprinting,
reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical
way,andtransmissionorinformationstorageandretrieval,electronicadaptation,computersoftware,
or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed.
The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this
publicationdoesnot imply,evenintheabsenceof aspecific statement,thatsuch namesareexempt
from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use.
Thepublisher,theauthorsandtheeditorsaresafetoassumethattheadviceandinformationinthis
book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the
authors or the editors give a warranty, expressed or implied, with respect to the material contained
herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made.The publisher remains neutral with
regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Cover illustration: © Melisa Hasan
ThisPalgraveMacmillanimprintispublishedbytheregisteredcompanySpringerNatureSwitzerland
AG
The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland
In memory of my parents—Chief John Agidigbo Opute and Mrs. Janet
Odinde Opute (Nee Oyita), who suffered and laboured that I might not
suffer.
Foreword
Africahasinthelastdecadebecomeanincreasinglysignificantcontinent
in terms of its global economic and political significance, but this has
not been reflected in the literature evaluating and explaining this devel-
opment. Therefore, this book is a welcome addition towards providing
a particular, and under-researched, focus on ‘Human Resource Manage-
ment’ (HRM) issues pertinent to a selected number of African coun-
tries. In particular, the book comes at a time where Africa is becoming
a significant contributor towards global wealth which is increasingly, in
terms of global output, shifting towards emerging economies. This is
reflected by the number of countries, China being an excellent example,
and economic pertinent areas, such as the European Union, establishing
partnerships with African countries. Africa itself continues to be marked
bychangesimpactingonthepopulation—thecontinuingboominpopu-
lation growth coupled to the steady increase of urbanisation having a
profound effect.
However, as the author clearly demonstrates, Africa is not homoge-
nous; it is a complex and diverse continent composed of dramatic
differences in the socio-economic and political structures, its multiple
vii
viii Foreword
individual countries manifest. The book boldly selects a number of
these countries, illustrating not only vast geographical differences but
also, and importantly, clear societal and cultural differentiations: Ghana,
Nigeria, Morocco, Sudan, Zambia and Sierra Leone; in effect the coun-
tries selected span West, East, North and South Africa. These countries
share the overall global economic influence on their countries, as well
as the major difficulties arising from the new production revolution, the
creation of new markets and, of course, the search for ‘green growth’
models as a response to climate change.
It is in this context, that the internalisation of management and
the related HRM procedures and issues in the selected African context
are analysed and explained by the author, an essential understanding
required for managers from outside Africa focused on human resource
(HR) functions. The book, in this respect, makes a unique contribu-
tion which should inspire further research and publications on these
HR (and related) functions. Given the enormous diversity and convo-
lutions of African countries, the book’s selected country examples illus-
trate the intricate tasks international managers are confronted with
when engaged in business and management. The book has rationally
focused on a number of key HRM topics—recruitment and selection,
training and development, appraisal/rewards and promotion, succes-
sion planning, management of disputes/exists and retirement.These key
aspects of HRM are highlighted and discussed in the framework of the
selected countries’ cultural prerogatives and differences—a crucial factor
in understanding and managing the immense diversity of organisations.
In addition, the author succeeds in linking the infrastructure of the
HRM process, that is, for example, the specific pertinent legislation and
regulations, to the wider national context of the African states employed
in his analysis, thus the impact of culture on shaping political ideolo-
gies is clearly demonstrated. There is, of course, an extensive corpus of
literature which has examined culture in relation to business systems,
employee relations and HRM as a consequence of the globalisation
phenomenon. However, the author’s focus on specific African coun-
tries, as related to a designated set of significant HRM issues, provides a
new cultural perspective. It emphasises the fundamental realisation that
Western managers, for example, operating in an African context need to
Foreword ix
include an understanding of cultural differences between the diversity
of African nations. Concepts of culture in the context of international
management are diverse but a predominant consideration is that it is
holistic.The book clearly recognises this in the detail it provides on the
deeperimpactsfromhistoricalevolution,politicalandeconomicsystems
and social values and configurations shaping behavioural attitudes. It is
this complex matrix that management confronts when engaging with
employees and in Africa, the political spectrum ranges from political
democratic structures, such as in Ghana, to the constraints imposed by
internal conflicts, such as the civil war in Sudan.
With the multiple and varied influences, and the dynamic nature of
these components, the impact on management dealing with HRM is
immense. One of the deficiencies in cross-cultural HRM literature has
been a systematic approach to contextualisation and the value of this in
understanding organisational behaviour. The various managerial strate-
gies, placed in a contextual framework, in the selected African coun-
tries in this book provide an exceptional guide. The efficacy of the
advancement of democratic structures in African societies is distinctly
related to the procedures and processes instituted at, for example, the
company level. As an example, Nigeria provides an illustration of a
country where individual companies have evolved participatory struc-
tures, allowing employees to exercise a modest influence. At the same
time the trade unions continue to drive towards a formal impact by
employees through labour laws and regulations. The right for collec-
tiverepresentationofemployees,throughtradeunions,isafundamental
democratic feature and is by no means universal in African nations.
By examining some of the crucial HRM topics, the book makes
transparent how far the gap between the Western manager’s compre-
hension of democracy and the reality of African practice and percep-
tion of democracy is. The examples given are numerous: the practice
of nepotism and paternalism in recruitment, the benefits of patronage
and support from important people for allocating rewards and promo-
tions. Above all, this is the powerful influence of the individual African
country’s political structures and its ramifications—the extent to which
thesecontrol,ornot,corruptionsandnegativeinfluencesonpoliciesand
strategies employed in the economy. It is precisely these aspects which
x Foreword
give the book a valuable pragmatic dimension and the insights neces-
sitated by HR managers active in multinational companies and those
studyingorinneedofunderstandingAfrica’sfast-developingeconomies.
It is enhanced by each chapter providing a series of questions allowing
the reader to reflect and debate the concrete consequences of analysing
the complexities of HR in an African context.
Professor Emeritus Karl Koch
Business School
London South Bank University
London, UK
Preface
This book has been made possible as a result of my continuing desire
to share my over 25 years of working experience in the HR function in
local and multinational organisations, with a significant working period
inAfrican-basedbusinesses.ApartfromhavingledseveralHRinitiatives,
mydirectinvolvementinrunningamedium-sizedmanufacturingorgan-
isation with responsibility for profit and loss (with all related functional
heads—with different national backgrounds reporting to me) provided
yet a holistic perspective of people management with all the intricacies.
Building on this, I took full advantage of my academic and industry
network to interview and hold discussions with a couple of colleagues
andtheirviewshavealsoenrichedeverychapterofthebook.Ampleased
to provide their details as follows:
Zineb El Abbassi—Morocco: Worked for 3 years as Business
Analyst/Communities Lead in Morocco and holds a master’s degree
in Entrepreneurship and International Development. Currently a
researchstudentatUniversidaddeCastilla-LaMancha,Toledo,Spain.
xi
