Abstract
HIV/AIDS has become a critical issue in the workplace. An early African contribution on the subject was made by Baruch and Clancy (2000), who acknowledge that ‘although a sensitive issue, the subject of HIV/AIDS is relevant to many aspects and facets of management, such as Equal Employment Opportunity, effectiveness, industrial relations, family studies and career systems in organizations’ (p. 789). The authors also acknowledge the dearth of literature on how organizations are managing AIDS in the African workplace. With the help of a national and international campaign, a lot has been done in setting up structures, systems and programmes for managing HIV/AIDS in the workplace and the wider society (ILO, 2001, 2006; Piot et al., 2001; Mahajan et al., 2007). There is also increasing research and knowledge of HIV/AIDS in the workplace, ranging from the academic to public policy (Dickinson and Innes, 2004; Arndt, 2006; Mahajan et al., 2007). In spite of the growing incidence of HIV/AIDS in the workplace, many organizations do not have an HIV/AIDS workplace policy. The primary aim of the chapter is to examine managerial perspective on the reasons why private sector companies in Malawi do not adopt formal HIV/AIDS workplace policy. Other related aims of the chapter are to analyse the relative significance of the factors hindering the adoption of the workplace policy, and, finally, to explore the implications of the findings for research in organizational innovation in general and African managers and HR practitioners in particular.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Abrahamson, E. (1996). Management Fashion. Academy of Management Review, 21(1), 254–285.
Mahajan, A. P., Colvin, M., Rudatsikira, J.-B., and Etti, D. (2007). An Overview of HIV/AIDS Workplace Policies and Programmes in Southern Africa. AIDS, 21(Suppl. 3), S31–S39.
Arndt, C. (2006). HIV/AIDS, Human Capital, and Economic Growth Prospects for Mozambique. Journal of Policy Modeling, 28, 477–489.
Backer, T. E. and Rogers, E. M. (1998). Final Report — Diffusion of Innovations and the Business Responds to AIDS Program. Los Angeles: Human Interaction Research Institute (H-92).
Barnett, T. and Whiteside, A. (2002). AIDS in the Twenty-First Century: Disease and Globalization. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
Barney, J. B. (1991). Firms Resources and Sustained Competitive Advantage. Journal of Management, 17, 99–120.
Baruch, Y. and Clancy, P. (2000). Managing AIDS in Africa: HRM Challenges in Tanzania. International Journal of Human Resource Management, 11(4), 789–806.
Bloom, D., Bloom, L., Steven, D., and Weston, M. (2006). Business and HIV/AIDS: A Healthier Partnership? A Global Review of the Business Response to HIV/AIDS 2005–2006. Davos, Switzerland: World Economic Forum.
Child, J. (1997). Strategic Choice in the Analysis of Action, Structure, Organizations and Environment: Retrospect and Prospect. Organization Studies, 18, 43–76.
Daft, R. (2004). Organization Theory and Design. Mason, Ohio: Thomson SouthWestern.
Damanpour, F. (1991). Organizational Innovation: A Meta-Analysis of Effects of Determinants and Moderators. Academy of Management Journal, 34(3), 555–590.
Deephouse, D. L. (1996). Does Isomorphism Legitimate? Academy of Management Journal, 39(4), 1024–1039.
DiMaggio, P. J. (1988). Interest and Agency in Institutional Theory. In L. G. Zucker (ed.) Institutional Patterns and Organizations: Culture and Environment, 3–22. Cambridge, MA: Ballinger.
Dewar, R. D. and Dutton, J. E. (1986). The Adoption of Radical and Incremental Innovations: An Empirical Analysis. Management Science, 32, 1422–1433.
Dickinson, D. and Innes, D. (2004). Fronts or Front-Lines? HIV/AIDS and Big Business in South Africa. Transformation, 55, 28–54.
Dickinson, D. and Stevens, M. (2005). Understanding the Response of Large South African Companies to HIV/AIDS. Journal of Social Aspects of HIV/AIDS, 2(2), 286–295.
DiMaggio, P. and Powell, W. W. (1983). The Iron Cage Revisited: Institutional Isomorphism and Collective Rationality in Organizational Fields. American Sociological Review, 48(2), 147–160.
Franklin, G. M., Gresham, A. B., and Fontenot, G. F. (1992). AIDS in the Workplace: Current Practice and Critical Issues. Journal of Small Business Management, 30(2), 61–73.
Fraser, F. K., Grant, W. J., Mwanza, P., and Naidoo, V. (2002). The Impact of HIV/AIDS on Small and Medium Enterprises in South Africa. The South African Journal of Economics, 70(7), 1216–1234.
GoM/UNDP (2005). Malawi Human Development Report 2005: Reversing HIV/AIDS in Malawi. Lilongwe: UNDP, accessed on 26 February 2007 from: http://www.systemdynamics.org/conferences/2008/proceed/papers/HEADL449 .pdf, accessed October 16th, 2013.
Goodstein, J. D. (1994). Institutional Pressures and Strategic Responsiveness: Employer Involvement in Work-Family Issues. Academy of Management Journal, 37(2), 350–382.
Greening, D. W. and Gray, B. (1994). Testing a Model of Organizational Response to Social and Political Issue. Academy of Management Journal, 37, 467–498.
Huselid, M. A., Jackson, S. E., and Schuler, R. S. (1997). Technical and Strategic Human Resource Management Effectiveness as Determinants of Firm Performance. Academy of Management Journal, 40, 171–188.
ILO (2001). An ILO Code of Practice on HIV/AIDS and the World of Work. Geneva: International Labour Office.
ILO (2006). HIV/AIDS and Work: Global Estimates, Impact on Children and Youth, and Response. Geneva: International Labour Office.
Jackson, S. E. and Schuler, R. S. (1995). Understanding Human Resource Management in the Context of the Organizations and Their Environments. In M. R. Rosenzweig and L. W. Porter (eds) Annual Review of Psychology, Vol. 46, 237–264. Palo Alto, CA: Annual Reviews.
Mahajan, A. P., Colvin, M., Rudatsikira, J., and Ettl, D. (2007). An Overview of HIV/AIDS Workplace Policies and Programmes in Southern Africa. AIDS, 21(3), 31–39.
Mamman, A., Akuratiyagamage, V., and Rees, C. (2006). Managerial Perceptions of the Role of Human Resource Function in Sri-Lanka: A Comparative Study of Local, Foreign-owned and Joint-Venture Companies. International Journal of Human Resource Management, 17(10), 1–12.
Mamman, A., Baydoun, N., and Liu, K. (2009). Exploring the Meanings of Globalization in Beijing. Global Business Review, 10(1), 67–86.
Mintzberg, H., Ahlstrand, B., and Lampel, J. (1998). Strategy Safari: The Complete Guide through the Wilds of Strategic Management. London: Prentice-Hall.
NAC (2003). National HIV/AIDS Policy: A Call to Renewed Action. Lilongwe: Government of Malawi.
Pfeffer, J. and Salancik, G. (1978). The External Control of Organizations: A Resource Dependence Perspective. New York: Harper and Row.
Piot, P., Bartos, M., Ghys, P. D., Walker, N., and Schwartlander, B. (2001). The Global Impact of HIV/AIDS. Nature, 410, 968–973.
Ramachandran, V., Shah, M. K., and Turner, G. L. (2007). Does the Private Sector Care about AIDS? Evidence from Firm Surveys in East Africa. AIDS, 21(Suppl. 3), S61–72.
Rosen, S., MacLeod, W., Vincent, J., Thea, D., and Simon, J. (2004). Why Do Firms Take Action on HIV/AIDS? Evidence from Nigeria. The Journal of Business in Developing Nations, 8, 1–38.
Simon, J., Rosen, S., Whiteside, A., Vincent, J., and Thea, D. (2000). The Response of African Businesses to HIV/AIDS. In HIV/AIDS in the Commonwealth 2000/01. London: Kensington Publications.
Teo, H. H., Wei, K. K., and Benbasat, I. (2003). Predicting Intention to Adopt Inter- Organizational Linkages: An Institutional Perspective. MIS Quarterly, 27(1), 19–49.
Thomas, J. B., Clark, S. M., and Gioia, D. A. (1993). Strategic Sense Making and Organizational Performance: Linkages among Scanning, Interpretation, Action, and Outcomes. Academy of Management Journal, 36, 239–270.
Parker, R., Riopelle, R., and Steel, W. (1995). Small Enterprises Adjusting to Liberalisation in Five African Countries. World Bank Discussion Paper, No. 271, African Technical Department Series. Washington, DC: The World Bank.
UNAIDS/WHO (2007). Modelling the Expected Distribution of New HIV Infections by Exposure Group, Geneva: UNAIDS/WHO.
USAID Report (2010). Accessed on 12 March 2012 from: http://www.usaid.gov.
Weaver. G. R., Trevino, L. K., and Cochran, P. L. (1999). Corporate Ethics Programs as Control Systems: Managerial and Institutional Influences. Academy of Management Journal, 42, 41–57.
Westphal, J. D. and Zajac, E. J. (2001). Decoupling Policy from Practice: The Case of Stock Repurchase Programs. Administrative Science Quarterly, 46, 202–228.
World Bank (2000). Intensifying Action against HIV/AIDS in Africa: Responding to a Development Crisis. Washington, DC: World Bank publication.
Wright, P. M. and Snell, S. A. (1998). Towards a Unifying Framework for Exploring Fit and Flexibility in Strategic Human Resource Management. Academy of Management Review, 23, 756–772.
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Copyright information
© 2013 Rhoda Bakuwa and Aminu Mamman
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Bakuwa, R., Mamman, A. (2013). Factors Hindering the Adoption of HIV/AIDS Workplace Policies: Evidence from Private Sector Companies in Malawi. In: Newenham-Kahindi, A., Kamoche, K.N., Chizema, A., Mellahi, K. (eds) Effective People Management in Africa. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137337177_3
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137337177_3
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London
Print ISBN: 978-1-349-34671-4
Online ISBN: 978-1-137-33717-7
eBook Packages: Palgrave Business & Management CollectionBusiness and Management (R0)