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Human Resource Management in Developing Countries Edited by Pawan S Budhwar and Yaw A. Debrah Routledge London 2001 246pp.
Keywords HRM, Asia, Africa
On first inspection one has the impression that this is yet another "Cook's tour" of some countries with a structured view of the context of their employment relation systems under the guise of HRM. Yet on closer examination this book has more than first meets the eye. First, it is to be welcomed that there is, at last, a book that approaches HRM from the less well charted parts of the world, i.e. in Asia but in particular in Africa. Second, the book tries, and on the whole, succeeds in attempting to place HRM and related areas into a business systems context. This enables a greater understanding of the singularities of HRM practices in various countries. In Saudi Arabia, for example, oil extraction and processing has an enormous effect on its economic structure and labour markets and it would be difficult to understand HRM in this national context without having some knowledge of this important industry.
The book is divided into two parts with part one covering Asian states and part two African states. Part one disappointingly includes the by now well trodden ground of the People's Republic of China, South Korea and Taiwan, but refreshingly includes interesting chapters on India, Nepal, Pakistan, Iran and Saudi Arabia. The African section is completely novel (to me at least) and covers Algeria, Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya and South Africa. This provides coverage over a wide area of this enormous continent. There are also contributions from well known writers in the field including Malcolm Warner on China, Monir Tayeb on her native Iran and Ken Kamoche on his native Kenya. The book is topped and tailed by an introduction and conclusion from the editors that provide some interesting insights into HRM in developing countries.
One of the first questions that occurs on an initial reading is: can the term and concept of FIRM be applied to these less developed economies? Many of the authors comment on the sparsity of HRM in the Western sense. The editors and some authors do try to address this concern. This means defining HRM as a substitute for the term employment...