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In recognising the weakness of trade unions and the lack of an institutional framework designed to enforce employee rights in an African context, the purpose of this paper is to examine the extent to which human resource (HR) practitioners are perceived to play the role of employee advocate.

The quantitative data set is derived from a sample of 305 respondents (95 HR practitioners, 121 line managers and 89 employees) from Malawi.

Despite the challenges of the context, HR practitioners are perceived by key stakeholders (including line managers and employees) to be playing the role of employee advocate. Standard multiple regression results indicate that the main factor contributing to the perception that HR practitioners are playing this role is their contribution to “motivating employees”.

The study was conducted in Malawi. Further research is necessary to explore the generalisability of the findings to other contexts.

The findings provide an empirical base for future studies which explore perceptions of the employee advocacy role undertaken by HR practitioners in Africa.

Based on a study of internationally oriented Greek small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), and using the lens of institutional theory, this paper extends the understanding of the extent to which Greece's institutional context influences talent management (TM). In so doing, the authors focussed on the key TM practices employed by SMEs to enhance and sustain TM: talent acquisition, development and retention. The authors also explore how these practices are shaped by the Greek institutional context.

Employing a multiple case-study approach, the authors conducted 18 interviews in six distinctive SMEs operating in north, central and southern Greece. The data were thematically analysed to identify patterns across all SMEs.

This study found that unlike multinational corporations, internationally oriented Greek SMEs adopt a more inclusive approach to TM practices as well as that the country's institutional context presented important yet not deterministic hurdles. The authors also found that SMEs adopt an opportunistic approach to talent acquisition by utilising appropriate available sources to reach out for available talent. The authors provided evidence that SMEs adopt a hybrid approach to talent development in addressing talent scarcity. Finally, this study reported that talent retention is significantly appreciated by SMEs, who offer a range of intrinsic and extrinsic incentives to retain their talented workforce.

This study provides stakeholders with insights into how effective TM practices can be considered a lifeline to organisational sustainability – particularly for SMEs in the contemporary challenging and fiercely competitive business environment. It also highlights the potential of inclusive TM practices to be part of an effective workforce management strategy: Relative to the prevailing institutional dynamic, stakeholders (policymakers and human resource practitioners) must engage in the multiple areas of individual talent acquisition, development and retention.

In a context of reforms, this study reports on TM practice in internationally oriented Greek SMEs. The authors also add to the literature on TM in SMEs by providing evidence on the conceptualisation and management of global talent in this context.

This article has been withdrawn as it was published elsewhere and accidentally duplicated. The original article can be seen here: 10.1108/09513549910294487. When citing the article, please cite: Kojo Saffu, Aminu Mamman, (1999), “Mechanics, problems and contributions of tertiary strategic alliances: the case of 22 Australian universities”, International Journal of Educational Management, Vol. 13 Iss: 6, pp. 281 - 286.

The review is based on "Employee advocacy in Africa: the role of HR practitioners in Malawi" by Aminu Mamman, Christopher J. Rees, Rhoda Bakuwa, Mohamed Branine, Ken Kamoche, (2019) published in Employee Relations. This paper aims to concentrate on the degree that HR practitioners are considered as employee advocates within an African context.

Data were gathered from a questionnaire survey given to 305 respondents (95 HR practitioners, 121 line managers and 89 employees) working in private sector companies Malawi.

The results suggest that HR practitioners in Malawi are viewed as carrying out an employee advocate role by line managers, HR managers, and employees. HR managers perceived themselves to be carrying out the role of employee advocate more than line managers and employees. In addition, the strongest perceived element was their contribution to motivating employees.

Therefore, analysis of the importance of the elements that make up the employee advocate role could inform decisions on which elements to include in in an HR model. This paper has contributed to the literature on HR roles in developing countries and supports the use of Ulrich’s model beyond the developed countries where it originated

This paper has contributed to the literature on HR roles in developing countries and supports the use of Ulrich’s model beyond the developed countries where it originated.

The purpose of this paper is to introduce the special issue which considers some of the contemporary debates in managing people in Africa.

The papers that constitute this special issue were selected from submissions to various events hosted by the Africa Research Group, a community of scholars committed to researching Africa, and from a more general call for submissions.

The papers highlight the changing picture of the African organisational landscape and provide both theoretical and empirical insights about the opportunities and challenges of managing people in a culturally complex continent.

Taken together, the papers make an important contribution by engaging current debates and demonstrating potential new areas for further research.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the perceived impact of globalization amongst Nigerian bank managers and professionals. Managerial and organizational cognition (MOC) literature is used to evaluated perceptions of impact.

The paper adopts a survey methodology to gather the information needed to achieve the objectives of the paper. Descriptive statistics and statistical analyses are used to evaluate various relationships.

Respondents view the outcome of globalization as unfair. They also view globalization as endangering the economy and cultural values of Nigeria. However, they see the benefits of globalization in terms of transfer of good management and business practices as well as flow of foreign direct investment. They also seem to believe that globalization is open enough to accommodate other economic and political systems. However, they also believe that globalization hinders nation states to formulate polices favourable to the economy. Similarly, the majority do not believe that the world will be a better and fairer place if all countries adopt the philosophy and principles underpinning globalization.

Managers' interpretation of the impact of globalization can influence their decisions and ultimately organizational strategy. Depending on the perceived benefits of globalization, managers who can influence government policy would try to lobby against excessive liberalization that might affect their local market position.

There is an attempt to link macro‐ and micro‐dimensions of globalization research. A multidisciplinary approach opens up the possibility for researchers from management discipline and other disciplines (e.g. economics, sociology and politics) to team up and study globalization. Future research should adopt both a quantitative and qualitative methodology. For example, the use of in‐depth interviews should reveal more information on how respondents perceive the impact of globalization on values and beliefs. Future studies should also target policy makers and senior executives across industries and the non‐governmental organization sector.

Reports the dilemma faced by Australian universities in their international strategic alliance effort. While the 22 respondent universities espouse such motives as altruism, scholarship, and expansion into new markets as the reasons for entering into international strategic alliances, the true motives appear to be at variance with the former. Arguably, until the contradictions between the espoused and true positions are resolved, Australian universities may not realise the full potential of their international collaborative activities. Suggestions for resolving the discrepancy are offered.

This study reports the mechanics, problems and contributions of international strategic alliances involving 22 Australian universities. The findings suggest that the majority of Australian universities have a framework for internationalisation initiatives, with top university management being instrumental in initiating joint ventures with overseas institutions even though inadequate resources are provided especially at the pre‐negotiation and implementation phases of the partnership. Our study shows that Australian universities believe they bring to the partnership high quality higher education and reputable credentials while their overseas partners’ major contributions include financial resources and market opportunities.