Managing human resources in Africa: Strategic, organizational and epistemological issues

Ken Kamoche

International Business Review, 1997, vol. 6, issue 5, 537-558

Abstract: In an attempt to re-evaluate human resource management in Africa, this paper takes a critical look at the problematic status of organization theory and strategic management. The antecedents of organization theory and the shortcomings of extant strategy analysis are examined within the historical context of organization science in Africa. We identify the effects of the epistemological problem that exists in the conception of organizational context and the adoption of "foreign" practices. While acknowledging the value of the predominant "external environment" paradigm, this paper advocates a more appropriate "evolutionary" paradigm which draws from resource-capability approaches and the concept of internal resource heterogeneity. This facilitates closer attention to the potential strategic value of internally held human resources and related sources of organizational diversity in the African context. Two case studies are offered to illustrate the arguments.

Keywords: Human; Resource; Management; Africa; Strategy; Resource-capability; Environment (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 1997
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (8)

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