Institutional legacies and HRM: similarities and differences in HRM practices in Portugal and Mozambique (original) (raw)

2016, The International Journal of Human Resource Management

a sheffield university management school, university of sheffield, sheffield, uK; b henley Business school, university of reading, reading, uK; c newcastle university Business school, newcastle university, newcastle, uK; d nova school of Business and economics, universidade nova de lisboa, lisboa, Portugal; e university of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, south africa; f essex Business school, university of essex, colchester, uK This paper examines key dimensions of human resource management (HRM) in Mozambique, and similarities with HRM practice in its former colonial power, Portugal. In particular, we consider institutional path dependence, and how far the post-colonial nation has followed a different trajectory from its previous colonial master (Horwitz, Kamoche, & Chew, 2002). These issues assume particular theoretical salience, given the process of institutional change in many developed ABSTRACT This is a study of institutional change and continuity, comparing the trajectories followed by Mozambique and its formal colonial power Portugal in HRM, based on two surveys of firm level practices. The colonial power sought to extend the institutions of the metropole in the closing years of its rule, and despite all the adjustments and shocks that have accompanied Mozambique's post-independence years, the country continues to retain institutional features and associated practices from the past. This suggests that there is a post-colonial impact on human resource management. The implications for HRM theory are that ambitious attempts at institutional substitution may have less dramatic effects than is commonly assumed. Indeed, we encountered remarkable similarities between the two countries in HRM practices, implying that features of supposedly fluid or less mature institutional frameworks (whether in Africa or the Mediterranean world) may be sustained for protracted periods of time, pressures to reform notwithstanding. This highlights the complexities of continuities which transcend formal rules; as post-colonial theories alert us, informal conventions and embedded discourse may result in the persistence of informal power and subordination, despite political and legal changes.