Labour standards application among Chinese and Indian firms in Ghana: typical or atypical?

Akorsu, Angela Dziedzom; Cooke, Fang Lee

doi:10.1080/09585192.2011.599941

Cited by 73 publications

(41 citation statements)

References 19 publications

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“…This tends to be the case with European firms because of various institutional structures and systems (Sahadev and Demirbag 2011), and European firms tend to be embedded in higher performanceoriented cultures which require systematic training and development activities (Ngo et al 1998). Indeed, through an examination of Indian firms operating in Ghana, Akorsu and Cooke (2011) suggest that labour standards (including HR policies) tend to be left to the discretion of the investing firm. These scholars argue that African host countries have not implemented strategies to shape MNC investment and that MNCs from emerging economies "are most unlikely to receive pressure in their home country to observe labour standards in their operations overseas" (Akorsu, et al 2011(Akorsu, et al , p. 2746.…”

Section: Examined the Ihrm Practices Betweenmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Indeed, through an examination of Indian firms operating in Ghana, Akorsu and Cooke (2011) suggest that labour standards (including HR policies) tend to be left to the discretion of the investing firm. These scholars argue that African host countries have not implemented strategies to shape MNC investment and that MNCs from emerging economies "are most unlikely to receive pressure in their home country to observe labour standards in their operations overseas" (Akorsu, et al 2011(Akorsu, et al , p. 2746. Thus, the institutional pressures and systems within the home country will influence the nature and extent of training policy in the host country, leading to the following hypothesis:…”

Section: Examined the Ihrm Practices Betweenmentioning

confidence: 99%

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A comparison of international HRM practices by Indian and European MNEs: evidence from Africa

Gomes

Sahadev

Glaister

et al. 2014

The International Journal of Human Resource Management

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By comparing the HRM practices in Indian and European MNE subsidiaries located in four of the Southern African Development Community countries, this paper tests the relevance of the country of origin effect and analyses the strength of institutional and firm level influences. Examining data from 865 MNE subsidiaries obtained from the World Bank enterprise survey data, the paper finds that Indian MNEs have higher labour costs in relation to total sales than their European counterparts, that Indian MNEs make more use of temporary labour than their European counterparts, that Indian MNEs invest in less training than their European counterparts. No support is found for the hypothesis that Indian MNEs have a lower ratio of skilled workers in comparison to European-owned subsidiaries. The study shows that country of origin effects are weakened if they are not consistent with host country ideology and that as economies evolve so too do their expectations of HR policy and practices.3

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Section: Examined the Ihrm Practices Betweenmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Examined the Ihrm Practices Betweenmentioning

confidence: 99%

A comparison of international HRM practices by Indian and European MNEs: evidence from Africa

Gomes

Sahadev

Glaister

et al. 2014

The International Journal of Human Resource Management

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“…Moving closer to the organisational context, Opondo (2009) found extensive evidence of employment law violations including sexual abuse in Chinese textile firms in Kenya, which underscores the need for social responsibility (Cheng and Liang, 2011). Akorsu and Cooke (2011) investigated Chinese and Indian firms investing in Ghana in relation to the national labour laws and international labour standards. Very little of this emergent literature has offered the voices of Chinese investors and the Africans who work for them.…”

Section: Management Research In Africamentioning

confidence: 99%

Chinese management practices in Kenya: toward a post-colonial critique

Kamoche

Siebers

2014

The International Journal of Human Resource Management

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While transforming the investment, trading and infrastructural landscape in Africa, Chinese firms are also generating much-publicised controversy about their real motives. Many of the large Chinese firms operating in Africa focus mostly but not exclusively on engineering, infrastructural projects and mining. This Africa-China engagement has only recently begun to receive critical attention in the area of management and organisation studies. With reference to Kenya, we found that this phenomenon is characterised by four key themes: the unique yet diverse motivations of investors, the challenge of reconciling cross-cultural differences, the impact of low-cost strategies, and the boundary-spanning role of managers. This paper also considers the extent to which post-colonial theory might serve as an analytical lens for examining the perceptions and attitudes of Chinese managers as well as the experiences of the Africans who work for them.

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“…Whilst a number of studies on MNCs in Africa have emerged, studies on MNCs from emerging economies such as China and India, in African countries remain limited. This is despite the fact that these countries are two of the top FDI countries in Africa (Akorsu and Cooke 2011). The presence of Chinese multinationals is of particular significance on the continent owing to the increasing extent to which such firms import their own labour, even for the most unskilled jobs, which, particularly in smaller countries, has significant political, economic, and even, in some instances, demographic implications (Negi 2008).…”

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confidence: 97%