context that operates at different levels, and within the framework of developing
effective hybrid forms of management, it may be possible to appreciate the
contributions that can be made to management from a more humanistic view
of people in organizations. It is also possible to assess the (lack of) appropri-
ateness of Western HRM systems in emerging countries. In order to develop
appropriate hybrid forms of people management, it is necessary to expand the
concept of participative management to include a wider stakeholder base that
has access to strategic levels of decision making. It is necessary to incorporate
within this framework a reconciling of the conflicts between community/
home life and work/organizational life in order to obtain commitment from
staff. This requires a high level of awareness of multicultural dynamics that
incorporates not only an appreciation of one’s own and others’ cultural values
and aspirations, but also an understanding of the power relations that exist
often as a result of a colonial legacy.
Often Western expatriate managers believe that they have nothing to learn
from their colleagues in developing countries. The same is true of managers
from developing countries who believe they have everything to learn from
their Western colleagues and nothing to teach them. Yet managers working
within the multicultural contexts of emerging countries, who have had to rec-
oncile humanistic values with instrumental ones, community values with work
values, and have had to develop multi-ethnic workforces, and now have to
work with colleagues in neighbouring countries, have a lot to teach. Not all
have been successful managers. Yet this lack of success may well have resulted
from a disparaging of non-Western approaches, and from a blind adherence to
principles learned in Western MBA programmes or in Western textbooks.
Success in developing effective people management processes relies on
developing a body of knowledge from success stories within emerging coun-
tries, and in sharing this information with colleagues in emerging countries
across the globe. It is hoped that this chapter has at least pointed the way to
thinking about how this task may be undertaken.
This chapter concludes the second part of this book, which has focused on
a comparative perspective. In Part 3, we will return to the international
perspective and look at the management of international staff.
8 DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1 Why is the developing–developed world paradigm problematic in
conceptualizing the issues involved in managing people in emerging countries?
2 How appropriate are Western-style HRM practices to emerging countries?
3 What are the shortcomings of current cross-cultural management theory in
addressing the issues of people management in emerging countries?
244 International Human Resource Management