Towards a strategic model of employment reform in developing countries: Explaining and remedying experience to date

International Journal of Human Resource Management

Volumn 12, Issue 1, 2001, Pages 56-75

  McCourt, Willy ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF MANCHESTER   (United Kingdom)

Author keywords

Developing countries; Downsizing; Employment reform; International HRM; World Bank

Indexed keywords

EID: 0141899997     PISSN: 09585192     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1080/09585190122558     Document Type: Article

References (91)

1. Abed, G. et al. 1998. Fiscal Reforms in Low Income Countries: Experience Under IMF-Supported Programs. Washington D.C: International Monetary Fund, Occasional Paper #160.
2. Alderman, H., Canagarajah, S. and Younger, S. (1994) 'Consequences of Permanent Layoff from the Civil Service: Results from a Survey of Retrenched Workers in Ghana'. In Lindauer, D. and Nunberg, B. (eds) Rehabilitating Government: Pay and Employment Reform in Africa. Washington, DC: World Bank, pp. 211-37.
3. Argyle, M. (1989) The Psychology of Work. Harmondsworth: Penguin.
4. Arogyaswamy, K., Barker, V. and Yasai-Ardekani, M. (1995) 'Firm Turnarounds: An Integrative Two-stage Model', Journal of Management Studies, 32: 493-525.
5. Bennett, A. (1991) 'Downsizing Doesn't Necessarily Bring an Upswing in Corporate Profitability', Wall Street Journal, 6 June: B1, B4.
6. Boston, J., Martin, J., Pallot, J. and Walsh, P. (1996) Public Management: The New Zealand Model. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
7. Brockner, J., Grover, S., Reed, R., DeWitt, R. and O'Malley, M. (1987) 'Survivors' Reactions to Layoffs: We Get By with a Little Help from Our Friends', Administrative Science Quarterly, 32: 526-41.
8. Brown, G. (1998) 'Debt and Development: Time to Act, Again', The Economist, 21 February: 77-8 (UK 107-8).
9. Brytting, T. (1994) 'The Ethics of Giving Notice', Business Ethics: A European Review, 3(2): 93-100.
10. Burton, J., Joubert, C., Harrison, J. and Athayde, C. (1993) Evaluation of ODA Project in Support of Ghana's Civil Service Reform Programme: Volumes I and II. London: ODA Evaluation Department.
11. Cabinet Office (1996) Civil Service Statistics. London: HMSO.
12. Cameron, K. (1994) 'Strategies for Successful Organizational Downsizing', Human Resource Management, 33: 189-211.
13. Caufield, (1997) Masters of Illusion: The World Bank and the Poverty of Nations. London: Macmillan.
14. Chaudhry, S. (1994) 'Selected Discussion Points'. In Chaudhry, S., Reid, G. and Malik, W. (eds) Civil Service Reform in Latin America and the Caribbean. Washington, DC: World Bank, pp. 199-202.
15. Chew, D. (1990) 'Internal Adjustments to Falling Civil Service Salaries: Insights from Uganda', World Development, 18: 1003-14.
16. Corkery, J. and Land, A. (1996) Civil Service Reform in the Context of Structural Adjustment. Maastricht: European Centre for Development Policy Management.
17. Delaney, J. and Huselid, M. (1996) 'The Impact of Human Resource Management Practices on Organizational Performance', Academy of Management Journal, 39: 949-69.
18. De Meuse, K., Vanderheiden, P. and Bergmann, T. (1994) 'Announced Layoffs: Their Effect on Corporate Financial Performance', Human Resource Management, 33: 509-30.
19. Devanna, M., Fombrun, C. and Tichy, C. (1984) 'A Framework for Strategic Human Resource Management'. In Fombrun, C., Tichy, C. and Devanna, M. (eds) Strategic Human Resource Management. New York: Wiley, pp. 33-51.
20. Dia, M. (1996) Africa's Management in the 1990s and Beyond: Reconciling Indigenous and Transplanted Institutions. Washington, DC: World Bank.
21. Downs, A. (1995) Corporate Executions: The Ugly Truth about Layoffs - How Corporate Greed is Shattering Lives, Companies, and Communities. New York: AMACOM.
22. Dunsire, A. and Hood, C. (1989) Cutback Management in Public Bureaucracies. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
23. The Economist (1996) 'The Year Downsizing Grew Up', The Economist, 21 December: 115-17.
24. The Economist (1998) 'Zhu Takes on the Red-Tape Army', The Economist, 14 March: 45 (UK 83).
25. Fosh, P. (1978) 'Attitudes of East African White-Collar Workers to Income Inequalities', International Labour Review, 117: 1.
26. Government of Ghana (1987) Programme of Actions to Mitigate the Social Costs of Adjustment. Accra: Government of Ghana.
27. Government of Ghana (1990) Labour Redeployment Programme: Achievements, Problems and Prospects. Accra: Government of Ghana.
28. Government of Ghana (1992) Redeployment Management Committee: Status Programme for 1992 and Work Programme for 1993. Accra: Government of Ghana.
29. Government of Malaysia (1991) Report of the Special Committee of the Cabinet on Salaries for the Public Sector. Kuala Lumpur: National Printing Department.
30. Government of South Africa (1995) White Paper on the Transformation of the Public Service. Government Gazette, No. 16838, November.
31. Government of South Africa (1997) White Paper on Transforming Service Delivery. Government Gazette, No. 18340, October.
32. Government of Sri Lanka (1987) Report of the Administrative Reforms Committee, Vols 1-10. Colombo: Government of Sri Lanka.
33. Government of Sri Lanka ( 1998) Administrative Reforms Circular No. 2: Improvement of Systems and Procedures in Ministries and Departments. Colombo: Presidential Secretariat.
34. Government of Uganda (1990) Report of the Public Service Review and Reorganisation Commission. Kampala: Government of Uganda.
35. Government of Uganda (1994) Management of Change: Context, Vision, Objectives, Strategy and Plan. Kampala: Ministry of Public Service.
36. Government of Uganda (1996) Uganda Civil Service Reform Programme: Status Report 11. Kampala: Ministry of Public Service.
37. Graham, C. (1994) Safety Nets, Politics and the Poor: Transitions to Market Economies. Washington, DC: Brookings Institute.
38. Greenhalgh, L. and McKersie, R. (1980) 'Cost-Effectiveness of Alternative Strategies of Cut-Back Management', Public Administration Review, 40: 575-84.
39. Guest, D. (1989) 'Personnel and HRM: Can You Tell the Difference?', Personnel Management, January: 48-51.
40. Henkoff, R. (1990) 'Cost Cutting: How to Do It Right', Fortune, 9 April: 26-33.
41. Johnson, G. and Scholes, K. (1997) Exploring Corporate Strategy. London: Prentice Hall.
42. Klein, P. (1997) 'Downsizing Government: Size and Institutionalist Principles', Journal of Economic Issues, 31: 595-604.
43. Klitgaard, R. (1997) '"Unanticipated Consequences" in Anti-Poverty Programs', World Development, 25: 1963-72.
44. Kozlowski, S., Chao, G., Smith, E. and Hedlund, J. (1993) 'Organizational Downsizing: Strategies, Interventions and Research Implications'. In Cooper, C. and Robertson, I. (eds) International Review of Industrial and Organizational Psychology, Vol. 8. Chichester: Wiley, pp. 263-332.
45. Lienert, I. and Modi, J. (1997) A Decade of Civil Service Reform in Sub-Saharan Africa. Washington, DC: International Monetary Fund, Working Paper.
46. Lindauer, D. and Nunberg, B. (eds) (1994) Rehabilitating Government: Pay and Employment Reform in Africa. Washington, DC: World Bank.
47. Lindblom, C. (1959) 'The Science of Muddling Through', Public Administration Review, 19: 78-88.
48. McCourt, W. (1998a) 'Civil Service Reform Equals Retrenchment? The Experience of Staff Retrenchment in Ghana, Uganda and the United Kingdom'. In Minogue, M., Polidano, C. and Hulme, D. (eds) Governance in the 21st Century. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar, pp. 172-87.
49. McCourt, W. (1998b) Employment and Pay Reform: A Guide to Assistance. London: Department for International Development.
50. McCourt, W. (1998c) 'The Bloody Horse': Indigenous and Donor Prescriptions for Civil Service Reform in Sri Lanka. Manchester: Institute for Development Policy and Management, Discussion Paper No. 54.
51. McCourt, W. and Sola, N. (1999) 'Using Training to Promote Civil Service Reform: A Tanzanian Local Government Case Study', Public Administration and Development, 19: 63-75.
52. McKinley, W., Sanchez, C. and Schick, A. (1995) 'Organizational Downsizing: Constraining, Cloning, Learning', Academy of Management Executive, 9(3): 32-44.
53. Mintzberg, H. (1989) 'Crafting Strategy'. In Mintzberg on Management. New York: The Free Press, pp. 25-42.
54. Museveni, Y. (1997) Sowing the Mustard Seed: The Struggle for Freedom and Democracy in Uganda. London: Macmillan.
55. Ncholo, P. (1997) Presentation to the Presidential Review Commission on the Transformation of the Public Service. Pretoria: Department of Public Service and Administration.
56. Nelson, J. (ed.) (1990) Economic Crisis and Policy Choice. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
57. Nunberg, B. (1994) 'Experience with Civil Service Pay and Employment Reform: An Overview.' In Lindauer, D. and Nunberg, B. (eds) Rehabilitating Government: Pay and Employment Reform in Africa. Washington, DC: World Bank, pp. 119-59.
58. Nunberg, B. (1997) Rethinking Civil Service Reform: An Agenda for Smart Government. Washington, DC: World Bank, Poverty and Social Policy Department.
59. OECD (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development) (1994) Public Management Developments. Paris: Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development.
60. Office of Public Service (1995) The Strategic Management of Agencies: Full Report and Case Studies. London: HMSO.
61. Pandit, N. (1996) A Meta-Analysis of the Corporate Turnaround Literature. Manchester: Manchester Business School, Working Paper No. 326.
62. Patterson, M., West, M., Lawthom, R. and Nickell, S. (1998) The Impact of People Management Practices on Business Performance. London: IPD: Issues in People Management No.22.
63. Peak, M. (1996) 'An Era of Wrenching Corporate Change', Management Review, 85(7): 45-9.
64. Perkins, D. (1987) 'What Can CEOs Do for Displaced Workers?', Harvard Business Review, November: 90-3.
65. Peters, T. and Waterman, R. (1982) In Search of Excellence: Lessons from America's Best-Run Companies. London: Harper & Row.
66. Pfeffer, J. (1994) Competitive Advantage through People: Unleashing the Power of the Workforce. Boston, MA: Harvard University Press.
67. Polidano, C. and Hulme, D. (1999) 'Public Management Reform in Developing Countries: Issues and Outcomes', Public Management, 1: 121-32.
68. Polidano, C., Minogue, M. and Hulme, D. (1998) 'Conclusions: Looking Beyond the New Public Management'. In Minogue, M., Polidano, C. and Hulme, D. (eds) Beyond the New Public Management: Changing Ideas and Practices in Governance. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar, pp. 278-93.
69. Pronk, J. (1996) 'Preface'. In De Haan, P. and van Hees, Y. (eds) Civil Service Reform in Sub-Saharan Africa. The Hague: Ministry of Foreign Affairs, p. 7.
70. Redman, T. and Keithley, D. (1998) 'Downsizing Goes East? Employment Re-structuring in Post-Socialist Poland', International Journal of Human Resource Management, 9: 274-95.
71. Reid, G. and Scott, G. (1994) Public Sector Human Resource Management: Experience in Latin America and the Caribbean and Strategies for Reform. Washington: World Bank, Report No. 12839.
72. Roach, S. (1996) 'The Hollow Ring of the Productivity Revival', Harvard Business Review, 74(6): 81-9.
73. Robinson, D. (1990) 'Public-Sector Pay: The Case of Sudan.' In Pickett, J. and Singer, H. (eds) Towards Economic Recovery in Sub-Saharan Africa. London: Routledge, pp. 92-105.
74. Rose, R. (1985) Public Employment in Western Nations. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
75. Ruggles, P. and O'Higgins, M. (1987) 'Retrenchment and the New Right: A Comparative Analysis of the Impacts of the Thatcher and Reagan Administrations'. In Rein, M., Esping-Andersen, G. and Rainwater, L. (eds) Stagnation and Renewal in Social Policy: The Rise and Fall of Policy Regimes. London: Sharpe, pp. 160-90.
76. Sarji, A. (1996) The Civil Service of Malaysia: Towards Efficiency and Effectiveness. Kuala Lumpur: Government of Malaysia.
77. Schiavo-Campo, S. (1996) 'Reforming the Civil Service', Finance and Development, September: 10-13.
78. Slatter, S. (1984) Corporate Recovery. Harmondsworth: Penguin.
79. Stevens, A. (1997) 'Persistent Effects of Job Displacement: The Importance of Multiple Job Losses', Journal of Labor Economics, 15: 165-88.
80. Stevens, M. (1994a) 'Preparing for Civil Service Pay and Employment Reform: A Primer'. In Lindauer, D. and Nunberg, B. (eds) Rehabilitating Government: Pay and Employment Reform in Africa. Washington, DC: World Bank, pp. 103-15.
81. Stevens, M. (1994b) 'Public Expenditure and Civil Service Reform in Tanzania'. In Lindauer, D. and Nunberg, B. (eds) Rehabilitating Government: Pay and Employment Reform in Africa. Washington, DC: World Bank, pp. 62-81.
82. Sutton, R. (1987) 'The Process of Organizational Death: Disbanding and Reconnecting', Administrative Science Quarterly, 32: 542-69.
83. Taylor, H. (1992) 'Public Sector Personnel Management in Three African Countries: Current Problems and Possibilities', Public Administration and Development, 12: 193-207.
84. Ting, Y. (1996) 'Workforce Reductions and Termination Benefits in Governments: The Case of Advance Notice', Public Personnel Management, 25(2): 183-98.
85. Tomaney, J. (1990) 'The Reality of Workplace Flexibility', Capital and Class, 40: 29-60.
86. Wass, V. (1996) 'Who Controls Selection under "Voluntary" Redundancy? The Case of the Redundant Mineworkers Payments Scheme', British Journal of Industrial Relations, 34: 249-65.
87. Whetten, D. and Cameron, K. (1994) 'Organizational-Level Productivity Initiatives: The Case of Downsizing'. In Harris, D. (ed.) Organizational Linkages: Understanding the Productivity Paradox. Washington, DC: National Academy Press, pp. 262-90.
88. Wijesinghe, D. (1997) Administrative Reforms: International Perspectives and the Case of Sri Lanka. Colombo: Government of Sri Lanka.
89. World Bank (1996) Sri Lanka: Public Expenditure Review. Washington, DC: World Bank.
90. World Bank (1998) Public Expenditure Management Handbook. Washington, DC: World Bank, Poverty and Social Policy Department.
91. Younger, S. (1996) 'Labour Market Consequences of Retrenchment for Civil Servants in Ghana'. In Sahn, D. (ed.) Economic Reform and the Poor in Africa. Oxford: Clarendon Press, pp. 185-202.