Babarinde, Ibukunolu (2022) Impacts of socio-cultural dynamics on employment relations : a case study of labour dialogue and conflict resolution in selected universities from southwest Nigeria. (PhD thesis), Kingston University, .
Abstract
Industrial Relations (IR) as a management discipline cannot be studied in isolation from its socio-environments (Dunlop, 1958; Hyman, 1994). While the importance of culture as a factor of influence on the behaviour of humans in the society has been emphasised by sociologists like Durkheim (1952) and Jung (1964), management researchers have also established that culture has notable impacts on organisation behaviours and management practices. The dominant approach to the study of culture in management literature has been the comparative approach which often explains the differences in organisations behaviours and management practices across national boundaries as being caused by cultural differences (Adler 2002; Lewis, 1996; Schwartz, 1999; Trompenaars, 1998; Hofstede 1980). This comparative approach often yields limited insights into the understanding of each of the compared cultures. This thesis addresses this gap, first by identifying relevant cultural anthropological features of the Yorùbá society of Southwest Nigeria, and secondly by outlining the peculiarities which these socio-cultural features bring to the behaviour of people as actors within IR, and to the nationally established processes and institutions of IR within Nigeria, most of which are patterned after the Western IR traditions as a former British Colony. Empirical evidence outlined in this thesis were collected using a semi-structured interview, analysis of related IR documents, and non-participant observation. The findings of this thesis interrogate the appropriateness of western-styled IR practices as the only approach for managing employment relations within Yoruba society. The thesis finds evidence of exchange between the society and Employment Relations (ER) of organisations in the region, thus explaining the presence of socio-cultural actors and extra-tripartite institutions, and co-existence (in terms of conflict and cooperation) of workplace interests and societal interests in Labour Dialogue and Conflict Resolution (LDCR) of 12 selected universities from southwest Nigeria, as impacts of the elements of the Socio-Cultural Dynamics of Yorùbá Society (SCDYS) of southwest Nigeria. This thesis offers a renewed argument for the recognition of Ackers’ (2002; 2014; 2019) neo-pluralism as useful ‘frame of reference’. The empirical evidence produced by this research has informed the development of Society- Employment Relations (SERE) Model which is the substantive contribution of this thesis to the analysis of the intersections of Employment Relations and society.
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