Fundamentals of human
resource management
African Studies Centre / University of Groningen / Mzumbe University
African Public Administration and Management series, vol. 2
Fundamentals of human
resource management
Emerging experiences from Africa
Josephat Stephen Itika
Published by:
African Studies Centre
P.O. Box 9555
2300 RB Leiden
asc@ascleiden.nl
www.ascleiden.nl
Cover design: Heike Slingerland
Photos: Evans Mathias Kautipe
Printed by Ipskamp Drukkers, Enschede
ISSN 2211-8284
ISBN 978-90-5448-108-9
© University of Groningen / Mzumbe University, 2011
To all those who believe that African countries,
organisations and people have a contribution to make
in the meaningful adaptation and application of
Eurocentric concepts, theories, assumptions, principles,
techniques and practices and in anticipation that such
contributions will liberate African managers from
mismanagement and inefficiencies.
Preface
This book is not just one of the many introductions to Human Resource Management
that are published, year after year, for use in HRM classes. Authors of those introductions face many challenges, such as the need to produce something that is both theoretically sound and practically valuable, or to find a way to integrate discussions on a variety of topics into one comprehensible teaching tool. The author of this book took up
those challenges by, on the one hand, closely following the conventions that HRM
scholars all over the world adhere to with regards to the demarcation of subfields within
the HRM discipline, and on the other hand, including a multitude of Tanzanian and other African cases that put each of these subfields in a vivid context.
The result is a book that serves to initiate African students in the world-wide HRM
community, while simultaneously enabling them to create their own HRM policies in
accordance with circumstances in their countries. As such, it is definitely a unique book.
It brings the...