Pedagogical implications of pragmatic HRM research

This chapter examines the interplay between human resource management theory and human resource management practice. It advocates that effective human resource management practice and theory are intrinsically intertwined, and this indispensable link ought to be central to the pedagogy of management research methods. Through greater embeddedness of the institutional and societal context in research method teaching, students can develop as scholars who understand their roles as facilitators of dialogue between researchers and a significant part of their audience (practitioners). The chapter conceptualizes this perspective as a collaborative model in human resource management research, which then must hold centrality in the teaching of research methods in our university and college classrooms

Global South expatriates, homesickness and adjustment approaches

Purpose The research examines homesickness in organisationally assigned expatriates from developing countries or Global South serving in Western contexts. It investigates the extent to which homesickness has personal and organisational consequences and explores the coping mechanisms used by expatriates. Design/methodology/approach This is a qualitative research built on unstructured interviews with organisationally assigned expatriates from the Global South. Findings The research found that homesickness has consequences for both expatriates and organisations. These consequences include psycho-social disorder, deterioration of physical health which damagingly affects individual well-being, work outcomes and organisational commitment. Practical implications The practical implications centre on the opportunity for policy and strategy formulation by international human resource management (HRM) within organisations to improve the mental health of Global South expatriates, thus seeding the ingredients for better performance and job satisfaction. Originality This research makes significant additions to the expatriate literature in exposing the homesickness experiences of expatriates from the Global South in advanced economies. Two main coping frameworks used by expatriates are proposed. These copying frameworks centre on positive practices and negative practices which, in turn, encapsulate five adjustment approaches. The research explains how Global South expatriates use these models in practice

When home isn’t home: a study of homesickness and coping strategies among migrant workers and expatriates

This paper addresses, homesickness, an important issue in the area of international human resource management. It uses psychological and sociological literature to highlight the negative effects of homesickness on migrant workers and expatriates. These effects range from psychological disruptions to physical manifestations that affect the health and welfare of individuals and impact on work performance. The paper presents a model of coping strategies used by expatriates to deal with homesickness. This model is built on the empirical evidence collected. It concludes that there is significant amount of evidence found to substantiate that homesickness is an illness and detrimental to psychological and social well-being. It is crucial that further research is undertaken in this area as affecting expatriates because the size of the investment in expatriates commands that risks of failure are minimized

Migrant integration: case for a necessary shift of paradigm

This article deals with the antagonism between the need for migrant communities to maintain their native culture and the necessity to integrate in the dominant community in order to achieve social harmony and socio-economic promotion. The article found that cultural isolation could alienate some migrants who may see in the establishment of the community organisation a way of leading a migrant life that requires neither increased contacts with indigenous groups nor specific training. The migrants find themselves locked in menial jobs and do not experience upward social mobility. The situation points to a need to rethink the management of community organisations and support systems

Learning from failure: a study of failed enterprises of self-employed African migrants in the UK

Purpose This paper investigates the high failure among African entrepreneurs post 2008 financial crisis. It evaluates the evidence of actual and perceived disadvantage and endogenous and exogenous factors affecting BME businesses. Methodology/Approach The research is based on an interpretivist frame which uses a dialogic methodology. It uses in-depth interviews. The researchers framed discussion questions so as to invite the participants to articulate directly their experiences for the benefit of the readership, other existing African businesses and aspiring entrepreneurs. Findings The findings from the interviews with 20 leaders of ‘dead’ businesses indicate the impact that place, people and poverty have on business failure and identify reasons for African business failure rates compared to other minorities. This study reveals that culture, an often understated variable, is critical in understanding the deeper reasons for the underperformance of African small entrepreneurs and its impacts on individual and collective lives. Practical implications Recovery solutions ought to be formulated from participants’ call for diversification, inter-cultural learning and integration as potential remedies. The research addresses the socio-economic problems encountered by owners of ‘dead’ businesses. Policymakers and financial organisations ought to pay heed to the skills and resources that minorities offer as part of remedies for future enterprises. Originality: Studies on failed African businesses are under-represented in the literature. This study identifies the important role of culture on the failure of small businesses owned by African migrants in the UK. It highlights the significant socio-economic and situational barriers that they navigate in quest for recognition and cultural integration through business endeavours

The use of interactive dialogue to study failed and recovering business enterprises among self-employed African migrants in the UK

This paper considers what interactive dialogue, or dialogic methodology, can offer in the quest to understand the high failure in African entrepreneurship in the post 2008 financial crisis period. The impact of the method is that it enhances the evaluation of the evidence of actual or perceived disadvantage in BME’s business efforts and categorises these as endogenous and exogenous factors. The findings based on interviews with 20 leaders of ‘dead’ businesses indicate the impact that place, people and poverty (Garner and Bhattacharyya, 2011) has on business success or failure and identify reasons explaining why small African businesses have failed at a higher rate compared to other minorities. Although Altinay and Wang (2011) may be credited with shining light on the impacts of religion on personal values, this study points out an often understated variable, culture, which is critical in understanding the deeper reasons why African small entrepreneurs continue to underperform and its impacts on individual and collective lives. Recovery solutions are formulated from participants’ call for diversification, inter-cultural learning and integration as possible remedies

The evolution of psychological contract research and the missing linking of the developing world

Whilst many studies of the psychological contract and its breaches are set in a Western context, this paper focuses on the evolution of psychological contract research and the missing link of the developing world. In an era of globalization which is seeing the emergence of developing economies such as China and India that have overtaken many western countries economically, it is worth looking at how the psychological contract is exemplified in those economies about which little such research has been conducted. The article also found that the context of high unemployment, unsatisfactory working conditions, absence of trade unions and the cultural context in which loyalty are significant, could well be parameters that shape the notion of psychological contract differently in the developing world

“Bridging the gap between home and away: expatriates, migrant workers and homesickness

The paper argues the importance of addressing homesickness as an illness. It uses psychological and sociological literature to highlight the negative effects of homesickness on migrant workers and possibly on expatriates. These effects range from psychological disruptions to physical manifestations which affect the health and welfare of the individuals, and could ultimately impact on their performance in the expatriate assignment. The paper concludes that given the significant amount of evidence found to substantiate the argument that homesickness is an illness and detrimental to psychological and social well-being of displaced people, it is crucial that further research is undertaken in this area as affecting expatriates because the size of the investment in expatriate assignment commands that the risks of failure are minimised

When Home Isn't Home -A Study of Homesickness and Coping Strategies among Migrant Workers and Expatriates

Abstract This paper addresses, homesickness, an important issue in the area of international human resource management. It uses psychological and sociological literature to highlight the negative effects of homesickness on migrant workers and expatriates. These effects range from psychological disruptions to physical manifestations that affect the health and welfare of individuals and impact on work performance. The paper presents a model of coping strategies used by expatriates to deal with homesickness. This model is built on the empirical evidence collected. It concludes that there is significant amount of evidence found to substantiate that homesickness is an illness and detrimental to psychological and social well-being. It is crucial that further research is undertaken in this area as affecting expatriates because the size of the investment in expatriates commands that risks of failure are minimized

’Migrant Enclaves: Disempowering Economic Ghettos or Sanctuaries of Opportunities for Migrants ? – A Double Lens Dialectic Analysis

This article examines the migrant dilemma about operating extensively in migrant enclaves versus integration in host communities. The article is a critical literature review contrasting views and perspectives of the role of migrant enclaves in migrant integration and contribution in new societies. Research in the area of ethnic enclaves has been polarised: on the one hand the optimists argue the critical benefits of migrant and ethnic community networks, thus downplaying potential drawbacks of such networks and the disadvantage externally imposed on migrants; on the other hand, the pessimists overemphasise the disadvantages of ethnic enclaves, portraying them as ghettos of alienation. Based on the Social Solidarity Integration model and Immigrant-host and social interaction theory, the article posits that migrant community networks could intentionally or unintentionally engender cultural alienation, worsening an already precarious educational, cultural and economic exclusion. Thus, migrants could remain in lower societal roles and experience limited upward social mobility if they operate exclusively within migrant and ethnic networks. However ethnic enclaves, at the same time, offer the initial psychological nurturing on which future successful socialisation work with migrant communities can be build. From a research angle, the theorisation of migrant enclave requires a new approach, which identifies dynamism and contextualisation as central to the debate. From a policy perspective, the research suggests the rethinking of the role of community support systems (and the wider enclave debate). The organisational implications the research suggests a shift of the organisational paradigm in the way migrant organisations manage themselves and support members in the enclave. This article’s contribution is to take a duality approach to studying the ethnic enclave and posits that this will engender effective social policy that helps reduce economic inequality