Browsing by Author "Jain, Harish"

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    An assessment of Employment Equity and Broad Based Black Economic Empowerment in South Africa
    (2011-06-02) Horwitz, Frank Martin; Jain, Harish
    This general review article provides an assessment of employment equity, Broad Based Black Economic Empowerment (BBBEE) and associated human resource management policies in South Africa. Polices and practices, and progress in representation of formerly disadvantaged groups are evaluated.
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    Employment equity in Canada and South Africa: a comparative review
    (Taylor and Francis, 2011-09-09) Jain, Harish; Horwitz, Frank Martin; Wilkin, Christa L.
    The South African Government has sought to redress the historical legacy of workplace discrimination by introducing the Employment Equity Act (1998), which was largely modeled on the Canadian Employment Equity Act. Although there is very little comparative information between South Africa and Canada, we fill this gap by reviewing the literature in both countries, highlighting common features of the legislation, discussing the effectiveness of legislation in both countries as well as the progress made by the designated groups covered by the legislation. This paper provides a background on the rationale for employment equity and associated human resource management policies in both Canada and South Africa. The analysis is largely based on institutional theories of organizations. Our evaluation provides overall conclusions for policy makers and organizational leaders, taking into consideration socio-historical, political, and demographic differences between the jurisdictions. Issues include top management commitment, organizational culture, Black economic empowerment, and diversity policies and practice.
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    Managing human resources in South Africa: A multinational firm focus
    (Elsevier, 2008-12-31T00:00:00Z) Horwitz, Frank Martin; Jain, Harish
    Two key developments exert an important influence on the nature of human resource management (HRM) in South Africa (SA). The first is two seemingly conflicting imperatives, sometimes and arguably wrongly juxtaposed: that of developing a high-growth, globally competitive economy with fuller employment and the sociopolitical imperative of redressing past structural inequalities of access to skilled, professional, and managerial positions, as well as ownership opportunities. The first development is the related influences of globalization and multinational corporations (MNCs), information technology, and increased competition, which have become very prominent in postapartheid SA. South Africa has a dual labor market, with a well-developed formal sector employing some 8.5 million workers in standard or typical work and a growing informal labor market. In the case of the formal, knowledge-based economy, the World Wide Web, and increasing communication that the Internet has made possible, has influenced changes at the organizational level. A second development is that these changes and changing patterns of employment are having a dramatic impact on HR policies within organizations. In a knowledge-based economy, organizations rely on knowledge that is embedded deeply in the individual and in the collective subconscious. It is the property of an individual and cannot be taken away from that person (Harrison & Kessels, 2004). He or she would agree to put it in the service of the collective whole, which is known as organizational citizenship behavior (OCB). In technology-driven advanced firms in SA, there are several themes among the various models of citizenship behavior: helping behavior, sportsmanship, organizational loyalty, organizational compliance, initiative, civic virtue, and self-development (Podsakoff, MacKenzie, Paine, & Bachrach, 2000). Many of these themes overlap with the common competencies demanded by advanced MNCs. Thus OCBs rest upon a recognition of mutuality of interest and of responsibility between the organization and the individuals. Increasing globalization and worldwide competition and the knowledge-based economy have their greatest impact on business strategies, process, and practice involving, among others, management of human resources. In this chapter we examine factors influencing the management of human resources in SA and their impact on human resource practices in organizations.