Limits to strategic HRM: the case of the Mauritian civil service

McCourt, Willy; Ramgutty-Wong, Anita

doi:10.1080/0958519032000057790

Cited by 35 publications

(41 citation statements)

References 25 publications

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“…By contrast, Laville (2000) argues that such institutions have little impact on the disadvantage experienced by the substantial Creole minority. The latter argument is consistent with another: that they exert most influence in the public sector where the Indian ethnic grouping is most in evidence, and that their bargaining has been focused on improving this group's pay and conditions (McCourt and Ramgutty-Wong, 2003;Ramgutty-Wong, 2004). …”

Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 73%

“…The effects are unexpectedly marked, particularly when the stress by some authors both on union weakness in the private sector and their supposed concentration on narrow bargaining agendas is taken into account (McCourt and Ramgutty-Wong, 2003;Ramgutty-Wong, 2004). This lends more support for the argument that unions act as an integrating force in society than for the contrary view since they have communication effects and not only in the Hindu-dominated public service (Meisenhelder, 1997).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…It has also been shown to be one of a bundle of practices associated with relatively strong performance in European companies (Rizov and Croucher, 2009). Mauritian unions have been characterized as neither strong nor weak in the African context, but in common with many other labor unions in Africa, they have been portrayed as especially weak in the private sector (McCourt and Ramgutty-Wong, 2003;Ramgutty-Wong, 2004). They have been held to be focused on pay and conditions issues and judged not to be influential on management behavior (RamguttyWong, 2004).…”

Section: Direct Communication and Unionizationmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Management communication, unionization, FDI and company performance in a developing country

Croucher

Rizov

Goolaup

2014

Evidence-Based HRM: A Global Forum for Empirical Scholarship

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Copyright and moral rights to this thesis/research project are retained by the author and/or other copyright owners. The work is supplied on the understanding that any use for commercial gain is strictly forbidden. A copy may be downloaded for personal, non-commercial, research or study without prior permission and without charge. Any use of the thesis/research project for private study or research must be properly acknowledged with reference to the work's full bibliographic details.This thesis/research project may not be reproduced in any format or medium, or extensive quotations taken from it, or its content changed in any way, without first obtaining permission in writing from the copyright holder(s).If you believe that any material held in the repository infringes copyright law, please contact the Repository Team at Middlesex University via the following email address:eprints@mdx.ac.ukThe item will be removed from the repository while any claim is being investigated. 1 MANAGEMENT COMMUNICATION, UNIONIZATION, FDI AND COMPANY PERFORMANCE IN A DEVELOPING COUNTRY Richard Croucher Middlesex University Business School Marian Rizov Middlesex University Business School Ram Goolaup University of Mauritius AbstractWe examine the associations between management direct communication to employees, unionization, foreign direct investment (FDI) and company performance in Mauritius, Africa's most successful economy, using a survey conducted in late 2011. Mauritian labor unions, in common with their continental counterparts, are strongest in the public sector. They have been characterized as weak and lacking in influence on management. Yet we find a strong association between unionization and management communication in the private sector. We also find a positive association between direct communication and company performance which we argue is likely to be an indirect consequence of unionization. FDI shows no particular effects.

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Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 73%

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Direct Communication and Unionizationmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Management communication, unionization, FDI and company performance in a developing country

Croucher

Rizov

Goolaup

2014

Evidence-Based HRM: A Global Forum for Empirical Scholarship

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“…Currently, defined policy for the strategic management of human resources in the public sector is demonstrated through a commitment to the Performance Management System, supported by an agenda for training and development of staff, and an expected spillover effect from the Program Based Budgeting system. McCourt & Ramgutty-Wong noted that severe limits to strategic HRM were present in the Civil Service of Mauritius [14]. Successive Governments have attempted some change in the work culture of the Civil Service, through various Steering and reform programs mentioned earlier in this paper.…”

Section: Performance Management and Hr Accountability In The Mauritiumentioning

confidence: 99%

The Future of Public Sector HRM in Mauritius from an Accountability Perspective

Ramgutty-Wong¹

2014

JSS

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The collective vision of sustainable human development, as expressed by the international community in the UN Millennium Declaration, is a challenge for countries that are not adequately equipped to face the challenges of globalization. A key step in the right direction is the institutionalization of a transparent and accountable public sector that would be truly responsive to a country's need. As in other parts of the world, Mauritius has embarked on reform programs in response to new opportunities brought about by globalization and the "rise" of Africa. Although public sector reform has appeared on the agenda of successive governments since early 1990s, many critics feel that the progress could have been faster and more substantial. In particular, the traditional omnipresent state has been much criticized for keeping bureaucratic red tape and inefficiency, and generally a poor level of accountability with respect to its obligations. Thus, in order to fully capitalize on the spreading trend of globalization and the immense opportunities offered by the "rise" of Africa, it becomes necessary to look into the reforms to the Public Services as far as human resource management is concerned. This paper lays down the state of affairs in this area and proposes an analysis of the pertinence and efficacy of such reforms from an accountability perspective. Many positive results are noted amongst those ministries that have implemented the Performance Management System, but many other findings are also problematic, such as: 1) Lack of clarity on how PLM is promoting organizational goals; 2) Many staffs unconvince that PMS will help improve their career prospects; 3) Few public sector organizations are able to use the PMS as a basis for staff training plans or for promotion decisions; 4) The appraisal forms are cumbersome and unrealistic; 5) PMS seems to be missing the point of addressing real management challenges; 6) Poor senior management "focus" and commitment to PMS. These findings echo what already exists in many case study reports and literature reviews, wherein we find that performance management systems seem to fall foul of their lofty ideals. Nevertheless, the Mauritian Public Sector has implemented a Performance-Based Budgeting (PBB) system, as a driving force behind the emphasis on identifying goals and measures. This complements the PMS in pushing public sector departments and ministries in the direction of aligning their activities, including HRM, toward achieving strategic goals and measuring progress toward those goals. This can help clarify future direction, establish priorities, initiate program performance improvement, increase effectiveness and accountability, and help managers improve service delivery, decision-making and internal management. But from good intentions to real implementation, the gap is yet to be addressed. Po-A. Ramgutty-Wong 56 litical interference, budgetary constraints, top-down management and centralized recruitment and selection are definite barriers to an HRM Accountability ...

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“…However, managements are likely to take elements from different HRM models to create varied sets of what are 'hybrid' practices from a theoretical viewpoint (Goodall and Warner, 1998 How far HRM in any form and however broadly conceived exists in Africa has been widely debated (Harvey, 2002;Kamoche et al, 2004;McCourt and Ramgutty-Wong, 2003;Ramgutty-Wong, 2009). As we suggested above, company HRM practices may in fact be less theoretically planned and more pragmatically reactive than often assumed (Goodall and Warner, 1998).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

The antecedents of direct management communication to employees in Mauritius

Croucher

Rizov

Goolaup

2014

The International Journal of Human Resource Management

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We measure whether, in a developing country, existence of a 'hard' strategic HR strategy (SHRM) developed at high organizational levels or one designed to enhance employee knowledge inputs and thereby promote employer-employee interdependence (EEIN) is a stronger antecedent of direct communication to employees. We use data from a comprehensive survey of HR practices in Mauritius, one of Africa's most open and successful economies. We find that both SHRM and EEIN are antecedents, but that the latter is stronger in public organizations and in smaller and older companies. We conclude that EEIN is a significant analytic category for explaining management practices especially in an historic sense in this and possibly other developing country contexts.

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Limits to strategic HRM: the case of the Mauritian civil service

Cited by 35 publications

References 25 publications

Management communication, unionization, FDI and company performance in a developing country

Management communication, unionization, FDI and company performance in a developing country

The Future of Public Sector HRM in Mauritius from an Accountability Perspective

The antecedents of direct management communication to employees in Mauritius

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