The crunch in manufacturing: The need for innovation in methods: The case of the Export Processing Zone of Mauritius

This paper draws on the first empirical study of manufacturing methods in the Mauritius Export Processing Zone (MEPZ). The objective of the research was to explore the necessity for and applicability of innovative production methods in MEPZ enterprises. Results from the study show that most firms operate an  assembly-line method of production, with only a marginal few having an appreciation of the appropriateness of their current methods or of other methods. However, it emerged that most responding Chief Executives are willing to consider a transition from traditional methods to higherproductivity improvement systems, such as group-based manufacturing. This degree of readiness was not echoed in the extent of Structural and Cultural Capability of firms to implement alternative methods of production. Only an average score was noted on such factors as the Dependability, Selfmotivation, and Leadership qualities of the Mauritian workforce, and relatively tepid responses were given regarding firms ability to manage labour turnover, corporate culture, worker involvement and continuous improvement programmes. In conclusion, a possible gap in management was identified, between the high level of readiness for change in top managers, and the poor degree of cultural capability for change in the Mauritian workforce.Keywords : Mauritius; manufacturing methods; management; human resources

The antecedents of direct management communication to employees in Mauritius

We measure whether, in a developing country, existence of a ‘hard’ strategic human resource management (SHRM) strategy 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 a historic sense in this and possibly other developing country contexts

MNEs and flexible working practices in Mauritius

We compare how far companies based in Africa, India and the 'global North' operating in Mauritius adopt high-trust flexible working practices, and how these are linked to different clusters of wider labour management practice. Using comprehensive firm-level data collected in late 2011, we find that African/Indian company practices are closer to those of indigenous firms than to those of Northern companies. The different company groups operate in quite different ways but regional MNEs operate in a similar way to indigenous companies. We therefore conclude that Rugman and Verbeke’s ‘regionalization’ theory also applies to the HR field. We further find that both a relatively strategic approach to HRM and measures to develop employer-employee interdependence are, respectively, linked directly and indirectly to flexible working incidence

The dynamics of language and ethnicity in Mauritius

The link between ethnicity and language has been well established in research but its contextual, perspectual and variable nature demands that this connection be re-examined in each attempt to understand a nation. This paper is about Mauritius, a postcolonial context where French and British colonisation has left salient features which continue to influence the dynamics around language and ethnicity in the country. By describing its demographic characteristics and its linguistic and political situation, I retrieve some of the key facets of this multi-ethnic and multi-lingual nation which evidence resistance by both the state and the populace against the established colonial languages. To compensate for the lack of appropriate theoretical framework in existing research on Mauritius, I use Homi Bhabha’s postcolonial theoretical framework to uncover the realities faced by both the state and the people of this country and the impacts these may have in the workplace

Coping With Change And Globalisation: A Study Of Managerial Perceptions In Mauritius

This paper draws in part on the findings from a study of managerial perceptions of Globalisation-related business issues in the island of Mauritius. The objectives of the research were to determine the degree of awareness of Mauritian senior executives regarding the Globalisation issue, and to investigate the difficulties and constraints faced by these managers as they seek to deal with the changes brought about by the reality of Globalisation. Results of the study include a mismatch between the level of awareness as claimed by responding managers and the level of awareness as tested by the survey instrument. It also emerged that managers appeared to be effectively coping with the changes brought about by Globalisation, even in the face of numerous constraints. Internal and external coping difficulties were identified, and it was found that the major obstacles to the effective management of Globalisation-related change were in fact internal to organisations.Keywords : globalisation; change; managers; Mauritiu

Limits to strategic HRM The case of Mauritius

SIGLEAvailable from British Library Document Supply Centre-DSC:9350.83743(no 11) / BLDSC - British Library Document Supply CentreGBUnited Kingdo

How focused are the world's top-rated business schools on educating women for global management?

Persuaded by the observed positive link between the flow of appropriately skilled and trained female talent and female presence at the upper echelons of management (Plitch, Dow Jones Newswire February 9, 2005), this study has examined current trends on women's uptake of graduate and executive education programs in the world's top 100 business schools and explored the extent to which these business schools promote female studentship and career advancement. It contributes by providing pioneering research insight, albeit at an exploratory level, into the emerging best practice on this important aspect of business school behavior, an area which is bound to become increasingly appreciated as more global economic actors wise up to the significant diseconomies inherent in the under-utilization of female talent, particularly in the developing world. Among the study's main findings are that female graduate students averaged 30% in the sample business schools, a figure not achieved by a majority of the elite schools, including some of the highest ranked. Only 10% of these business schools have a specialist center for developing women business leaders, and only a third offered womenfocused programs or executive education courses, including flextime options. A higher, and increasing, percentage of business schools, however, reported offering fellowships, scholarships or bursaries to prospective female students, and having affiliations with pro-women external organizations and networks that typically facilitate career-promoting on-campus events and activities. The implications of the foregoing are discussed, replete with a call on key stakeholder groups to more actively embrace the challenge of improving the supply of appropriately trained female talent, or top management prospects. Future research ideas are also suggested