Effective management and change in Africa
Sudanese academic and research institutions have long suffered from varying degrees of mismanagement, poor management and inappropriate management. This paper will attempt to explore a number of issues about Human Resource Management (HRM) within the Sudanese academic and research institutions, namely the University of Gezira (GU) and the Agricultural Research Corporation (ARC). Before that happens, it is necessary to engage in a little background study, as an understanding of HRM in these institutions can be possible only in the context of understanding HRM and Sudan. Therefore the early parts of this paper will deal with the context and activities of HRM that are applicable to both Sudan and Africa. In particular there will be a focus on the practice and challenges of HRM within ARC and GU as well as a reconceptualisation of our understanding of HRM in Sudan.
Human resource management and cultural diversity: a case study in Mozambique
A limited number of studies in Africa have reconciled human resource management (HRM) programs with cultural diversity as represented by Hofstede's cultural dimensions. The objective of this study is to examine how Western-based HRM can be modified to embrace cultural diversity in an African context. A mixed methodology employed a survey, as well as a case study in Mozambique. The results indicate high levels of power distance, collectivism, uncertainty avoidance, and feminism that are very similar to Kenya. These dimensions differed across a spectrum of employee levels illustrating cultural hybridization at firm level in a multinational operating in Africa. The results also illustrate the importance of a range of health, family, and societal beliefs in the workplace. Finally, a series of HRM recommendations were developed in an African context with respect to the selection, training, performance measurement, and management programs of the company.
Evaluating the Gezira Scheme: Black Box or Pandora’s Box?
The Gezira scheme has frequently been cited as an example of ‘successful’ agricultural development. It was inaugurated more than fifty years ago and remains an important model for agricultural planning in the Sudan, and elsewhere. In evaluating the Gezira, it is necessary to say something about evaluation techniques. The discussion in this chapter begins with some general comments about evaluation. Questions are posed in connection with social cost benefit analysis which is by far the most common approach to evaluation, and a contrasting view is sketched. This is done from a perspective which assumes that there is a difference between planning once and for all transformation and planning for change. From this position, the project is seen as a series of socio-economic relationships existing through time, whose internal movement and development should be the prime objects of evaluation.