Rhetorics and Realities of Management

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Rhetorics and realities of management

practices in Pakistan: Colonial, postcolonial and post-9/11 influences
a
Ashique Ali Jhatial , Nelarine Cornelius & James Wallace

a
Sindh University, Institute of Commerce, Jamshoro, Pakistan
School of Management, University of Bradford, Emm Lane,

Bradford, UK
Published online: 12 Sep 2013.
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To cite this article: Ashique Ali Jhatial, Nelarine Cornelius & James Wallace (2014) Rhetorics and
realities of management practices in Pakistan: Colonial, post-colonial and post-9/11 influences,
Business History, 56:3, 456-484, DOI: 10.1080/00076791.2013.800970
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Business History, 2014

Vol. 56, No. 3, 456484, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00076791.2013.800970
Rhetorics and realities of management practices in Pakistan: Colonial,

post-colonial and post-9/11 influences
Ashique Ali Jhatiala, Nelarine Corneliusb* and James Wallaceb
Sindh University, Institute of Commerce, Jamshoro, Pakistan; bSchool of Management, University
of Bradford, Emm Lane, Bradford, UK
This study explores how colonial laws and administrative practices shaped the
evolution of employment management in Pakistan. It identifies important mechanisms
used by the British Raj (the period of British rule of the subcontinent) to institutionalise
legal and administrative frameworks: the legacies of these structures continue to
influence contemporary management practices in government sector organisations.
This article investigates the legacy of the Rajs quota system in the civil services and
the doctrine of the martial race in military services, both of which offered enduring
structural advantages in the labour market to designated groups. It further considers the
implications of the studys findings for international HRM in particular, but also
management theory, comparative HRM and comparative management in post-colonial
societies.
Keywords: employment policies and practices; colonialism; post-colonialism;
discriminatory practices, governance; Pakistan, international HRM, socio-business
elites, praetorianism
Introduction
There is a wide range of definitions of human resource management (HRM), reflecting its
evolutionary phases and mirroring its strengths and limitations by opening up new
academic and research debates. HRM aligns the formal structure of organisation with HR
systems such as recruitment, selection, appraisal and rewards, within a strategic
perspective.1 There is also some consensus regarding the core definition of HRM which is
differentiated from more traditional personnel management practices that are primarily
administratively, not strategically, oriented.2 However, much of what has been written
about the development of HRM has its roots in Anglo-American historical developments
in organisations, law, politics and national culture and values. Therefore there are many
challenges when researching HRM policies and practices in non-Western nations,
especially developing economies, as there will be a different historical path underpinning
them and cultural context in which they are enacted.
It has been suggested that it is important to understand contextual factors in order to
deepen our understanding of HRM, especially in an international context.3 This belief
continues to grow, fuelled by the view that differences in socio-economic factors, history,
education, culture, religion, national orientation and technological development are of
central importance in international HRM theory and practice development.4 Indeed,
*Email: n.cornelius@bradford.ac.uk
q 2013 Taylor & Francis
Business History
457
HRMs evolution in many of the developing economies such as those in Asia and Africa,
several of which are former colonies, is a mixture of colonial elements intermingled with
distinctive local socio-cultural factors.5 Furthermore, some scholars suggest that colonial
legal and administrative frameworks continue to guide HRM by introducing elements of
subjectivity and discrimination, raising concerns about the integrity and efficiency of
HRM systems in developing countries.6
The growing interest of academia in Asian perspectives of HRM has created fresh
debates in the field.7 There is evidence that British colonial rule in the Indian subcontinent
involved the deliberate institutionalisation of legal and administrative frameworks which
gave socio-economic and employment advantages to specific ethnic groups.8 Some claim
that these historic employment policies and practices continue to inform employment
management across government sector organisations in the subcontinent.9
The focus of this study is on HRM practices in Pakistan, a former British colony. The
literature on HRM, its evolution, and the current state of employment management in
Pakistan specifically, is limited.10 Additionally, in the post-colonial era, internal and
external factors of national, regional and geographical importance have led to a political
alliance, albeit an uneasy one, between Pakistan and the United States of America. US
influence has grown over time and plays a central role in post-colonial Pakistan, but not
necessarily in ways that were anticipated. US support for Pakistans military regimes,
especially during the Soviet Afghan war and in the post-9/11 period has facilitated the
emergence of Pakistani military staff as the heads of many business conglomerates.
Government organisations and leadership have been militarised, with the appointment of
large numbers of serving and retired military officers at the top levels of management.11
In this paper, we investigate the distinctive development of employment management
in Pakistan from a historical perspective. The impact of colonial and post-colonial
employment policies and post-9/11 US influences are explored through examination of
secondary data and archival sources and colonial and post-colonial employment laws in
Pakistan. Further, we consider the implications of the findings for our understanding of the
evolution of management practices generally, and HRM practices in particular, in nonWestern, developing economies.
Literature review
There is a strong belief that cultural factors play an important role in the full or partial
adoption of HRM in developing countries.12 Research on these developing countries
supports the view that local traditions, religion, political, constitutional and legal
frameworks influence the functioning of HRM systems.13 For example, national cultural
factors and organisational strategies influence the way HRM is developing in Iran.14
Another study examined evidence from key national initiatives that are said to be
influential on HRM practices in Oman.15 Their findings are consistent with the view that
national culture, including religion and tribal allegiance, has a significant influence on
HRM practices. Similar evidence has been found in the context of Saudi Arabia where the
political environment and legal frameworks affect the labour market and HRM systems.16
Likewise, it has been suggested that countries with a predominantly Muslim population
typically incorporate Islamic principles into their HRM functions.17 Other Islamic
countries in Asia, particularly the Middle East, and West Africa have also embraced
religious principles in HRM practices. Developing countries in Asia, such as India, Sri
Lanka, Nepal, Thailand and China that have influences from Hinduism, Buddhism and
458
A.A. Jhatial et al.
Confucianism well blended with their colonial inheritance also reflect this in their HRM
policies and practices.18
It has been suggested that comparative and cross-national human resource management
practice research would benefit from a greater understanding of culture bound and
culture free elements, articulated through national factors, contingent variables and
organisational and HRM strategies and policies.19 Moreover, in the context of HRM in
Asia, the importance of understanding traditional and international best practice
management customs has been asserted, as these are strongly dictated by social-cultural
aspects of a given society and changing, individualistic emphasis on HRM functions.20
Further, it has also been argued that future research should explore the dynamics of
diversity management in the Asian context especially to highlight the different
mechanisms adopted by firms to manage diversity and also to indicate the challenges
and barriers faced by firms and decision makers in this regard.21 The latter is especially
important as it engages with a range of identity characteristics that may historically, or
currently, influence labour market opportunities and job, career choice, or barriers to these.
Of particular interest is Budhwar and Sparrows idea of a meta-logic that guides HRM
choices: a series of factors that operate at the national level, setting the overall climate.22
However, many of the schema models and constructs that inform international and
comparative HRM are inherently Anglo-Saxon at a number of levels. First, many HRM
theories originate in the USA, the UK, and their spheres of influence; secondly, many of these
theories are rooted in the history, culture and evolution of HRM in the USA and UK; and
thirdly, these theories mirror the democratic, legal and industrial relations and developments
that characterise the US and the UK from the industrial revolution to the present. Many of the
countries for which their HRM practices are being assessed have very different historical
labour market and employment management and legal trajectories. Importantly, evaluation
of comparative practices in the extant literature often reflects an implicitly ahistorical
evaluation of practice rather than an understanding of the evolution of practices, grounded in
a historical perspective, that influence HRM meta-logic, policies and practices.
Indeed, some researchers have also considered the influences that arise from the
legacies of colonialism. It has been observed that the cases of post-colonial societies such
as Nigeria, Ghana and Kenya have religious and traditional beliefs intermingled with
colonial administrative practices in organisational settings.23 Moreover, a large body of
post-colonial literature draws attention to the fact that colonial systems created elites in the
former colonial societies of Africa and Asia and that these persist to this day.24 This
literature highlights important factors that may influence HRM practices in some
post-colonial nations. In general, these studies have focused on current practice, with the
implication that the past will inevitably speak to the present, that historical factors are
embedded within current practices. However, there has been little, if any, systematic
investigation of how specifically historical factors have shaped current practices, and the
consequences of enduring elements of these factors on practice and, indeed, policy
development in relation to these practices.
HRM and cultural factors in Pakistan
Current management in Pakistan has been characterised as a mixture of modern-day practices
interwoven with more traditional ones. However, there has been very limited assessment of
the development of HRM practices in Pakistan. HRM in Pakistan has been passing through an
evolutionary phase under the permanent influences of the colonial, post-colonial and
post-9/11 climate.25 Though the core practices of recruitment, selection, training, etc. would
Business History
459
be familiar in any country where HRM is practised, there are strong national characteristics
present, for which networks, connections and deference to seniors are central.26 These
characteristics widely affect the operationalisation of HRM policies and practices in
Pakistan.27 Organisational justice, affirmative action policies, merit-based recruitment and
selection, promotion, appraisal and training in Pakistani organisations are often
compromised, leading to disillusionment among some ethnic and religious minorities.28
Consequently, this study examines the development of HRM practices in
contemporary Pakistan by focusing on the historical colonial and post-colonial national
employment policies as central concerns. In turn, we consider the likely impact of these
national policies on HRM organisational practices. In order to understand national
employment policies, it is imperative to explore the way the subcontinent was eventually
partitioned in 1947 under the British Raj. Additionally, it is also of great importance to
examine growing US influence in Pakistan from the end of the twentieth century,
facilitated through support for successive military regimes which has potentially
far-reaching implications for institutional development and management practices. This
has been undertaken through examination of secondary data sources, including
contemporary and archival documents, and by scrutiny of Pakistans colonial and postcolonial employment laws. For the latter, we create a timeline of British colonial laws and
Pakistans post-colonial government employment laws and administrative practices,
discuss the rationale for their evolution and identify their implications for the development
of HRM policy and practice in the country.
Research methods
The major objective for undertaking qualitative document analysis the approach
adopted in this study is to comprehend the historical connection of documents and to
highlight their implications. Document analysis methods help in the understanding of the
pattern of behaviour of document creators or authors.29 Previous research emphasised
the importance of authentication of the research method.30 A number of scholars propose
data triangulation in order to seek convergence and corroboration of the results, through
different data sources, to establish authentication, representativeness and credibility of
findings.31 In our qualitative study we triangulated the data to substantiate and supplement
findings from documentary evidence with current employment data from Pakistani
government organisations and contemporary media reports. Media analysis was
undertaken using a content analysis approach that focuses on the construction of cultural
meaning within media sources.32 Other documents were analysed using content analysis
employed for secondary data analysis.33 Specifically, the datasets comprised colonial
legislation (1858 1947); post-colonial legislation and key governmental documents
(1956 2010); and contemporary accounts in the media (1972 2010). The main themes
emerging from these analyses are discussed with reference to the extant literature.
Data collection and analysis
To address the central aim of the research, this study is based on findings from three sets of
data. The first dataset covers British colonial laws from 1858 to 1947 and post-colonial
Pakistani laws from 1947 to 2010 (see Appendix 1). This dataset was collected from
several sources, including the British Library (London), State Bank of Pakistan Library
(Karachi), Liaquat National Memorial Library (Karachi), National Library of Pakistan
(Islamabad) and the Government of Pakistans websites (Appendix 1).
460
A.A. Jhatial et al.
For the second dataset, current employment data was collected from sources including
the Government of Pakistan, World Bank, Transparency International and an extensive
literature review. For the third dataset, media reports were analysed.
In order to understand the historical, colonial and cultural influences on Pakistani
employment management, we followed the protocol suggested by Altheide by preparing a
list of documents to be investigated.34 For analysis of the legal framework, we adopted the
document analysis worksheet method, designed and developed by the US Education
Staff of the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA). The key advantage
of using this method is that it identifies the fundamental characteristics such as type, date,
author or creator, title and purpose of the document with the freedom to develop the codes
to be investigated. According to Mason, it is important to investigate the characteristics of
documents as they are constructed in particular contexts, by particular people, with
particular purposes and with intended and unintended consequences.35 For each case, we
coded case characteristics such as document type, year of creation, author or creator,
location, purpose and consequences. The main characteristics that were coded included:
colonialism, post-colonialism, quota system, regionalism, provincialism, employment, the
civil service, elites, federal government, military services, trade unionism, nationalisation
and privatisation.
Documents were analysed using the constant comparative method whereby line,
sentence and paragraph segments of the document were reviewed to decide what codes fit
the concepts suggested by the data.36 Since the data contained many legal and government
documents, we reviewed each document clause by clause. Each emergent code was
compared to all other codes to identify similarities, differences and general patterns. Thus,
data were analysed in a three-level process. Themes gradually emerged as a result of the
combined process of becoming familiar with the data, making logical associations with the
main objectives of the research and considering what was learned during the initial review
of the literature. At successive stages, themes moved from a low level of abstraction to
become major, overarching themes rooted in the concrete evidence provided by the data.
The emerging themes together with a substantive, formal theory of development-focused
collaboration became the major findings. This method has been widely advocated in
business history research.37
Findings
British colonial influences: ethnic tensions and employment pressures
The British Raj (also known as the period of Crown Rule) ruled the undivided Indian
subcontinent (comprising what are now India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Kashmir and Sri
Lanka) for over 200 years until independence in 1947. During this period, the British
administration required competent Indian civilian and army staff to control what was
essentially a loose state.38 By the time of the Charter Act of 1853, Crown Rule introduced
open competitive examination and recruitment on the basis of merit to the Indian Civil
Service.39 The first such examination was held in London in 1855.40 From the outset, the
merit principles of the ICS were criticised by both the British Raj and the ethnic and
religious minorities of India and termed discriminatory employment policies.41 The
British Raj was criticised for largely confining the benefits of the ICS to Anglo-Saxon
candidates and high status Indians. Minority ethnic and religious groups in colonial India,
especially Muslims, Sikhs and Christians, protested on the grounds that the ICS would
result in the domination of upper caste Hindus. The Raj honoured these minority voices
and subsequently, introduced the system of nomination to the ICS in 1879.42 However,
Business History
461
according to Potter, the system of nomination was arbitrary and minorities were more
aggrieved at the decision. This forced the Raj to set up the Muddiman Council. Sir
Alexander Muddiman, in the Council of State in 1925, pledged to reserve some places
for Muslims in the ICS, which is known historically as the Muddiman pledge out of
which emerged a more transparent quota system for religious and ethnic minorities.43
It has been observed that Muslim civilians in British India, including some who later
administered Pakistan in the initial years after the countrys independence from
post-colonial independent India, were nominated into the civil service.44 Of the 87
Muslims who entered the ICS during the period 1922 43, 11 were successful in the
London examinations, 18 were successful in the examination in India and the remaining
58 (68% of the total) were not successful but were nominated to the ICS in order to redress
communal inequalities.45 The British rulers introduced ethnic quotas, first in legislative
bodies and then in the ICS through the Indian Council Act of 1909, the Government of
India Act, 1919 and the Government of India Act, 1935. The employment quota for
minorities was formally introduced on 14 July 1934 on the basis of origin of religion and
caste, and not region.46
Pakistans civil bureaucracy, which was described as the steel frame enabling the Raj
to rule the large and unwieldy Indian empire, has its roots in the ICS.47 Although the
current structure of the civil service in Pakistan was established under Article 240 of the
Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan (1973), the current policy of a quota
system in Pakistans civil service was inherited from the Government of India Act, 1935.48
Since then, the quota system has been a fundamental guiding principle for employment
and HRM practice in federal government organisations, public corporations and the civil
service. The first Constitution of Pakistan was enacted in 1956 which guaranteed the
principle of non-discrimination in public service. However, Article 17 of the same
constitution made an exception to the merit principle by asserting that the quota system
would remain effective for 15 years. A similar constitutional provision was made in
another Constitution of Pakistan, promulgated in 1962. Article 14 provided a 10-year time
limit for the quota system.49 Long before the first Constitution of Pakistan, the statistics in
Tables 1 and 2 suggest that a thread of employment discrimination had already been
inherited from the colonial quota policy by the decision to introduce the regional quota
system in September 1948.
Close examination of the statistics in Table 1 suggests three important features of the
early quota system: (a) no quota for merit all appointments were made against the
regional quota; (b) there were regional biases within the quota system for example, what
was East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) found the regional quota policy to be inequitable and
Table 1.
Regional quota system in central government in Pakistan (September 1948).
Region/Province
East Pakistan (Bengal)
Punjab
Karachi
All other provinces and princely states of West Pakistan
Potential migrants from India
Total
Source: Waseem, Affirmative Action.
Quota (%)
Percentage of regional
population in
total population
42
24
2
17
15
100
56.75
28
1.5
13.75
0
100
462
A.A. Jhatial et al.
Table 2. Regional quota system in central government in Pakistan (November 1949).

Category
Quota (%)
Merit
East Pakistan (Bengal)
Punjab (including Bhawalpur)
Karachi
All other provinces and princely states
20
40
23
2
15
Source: Waseem, Affirmative Action.
biased; and (c) 15% of the quota was for potential migrants from India to Pakistan.50
Moreover, the migration of millions of people from India to Pakistan, especially to the
Karachi-Sindh region, structurally changed the ethnic and demographic balance of the
indigenous people, the Sindhis.51 The 1948 quota policy was consequently subjected to
harsh criticism which forced the central government to review the decision and in
November 1949 a new quota policy was introduced by the Government of Pakistan
(Table 2).
The figures in Table 2 show that the new quota system had 20% reserved for merit
recruitment and abolished the quota favouring potential migrants. However, East
Pakistanis still claimed that there were regional biases as they secured only 40% of the
quota but were more than 50% of the population; later, in 1967, East Pakistans quota
share was increased to 50%. Importantly, though, the region-based quota system in
Pakistan still failed to protect minority ethnic and religious groups and underprivileged
local candidates.52 Furthermore, from Tables 1 and 2, statistics show no quota reservation
for Hindus, Sikhs and the Christian minorities in Pakistan, which is contrary to the spirit of
the Muddiman pledge of 1925 which granted a corresponding separate quota for the
Muslim populace in the ICS.
The post-colonial framework of the civil service
Under Article 240 of the Constitution of 1973, civil service appointments, and their terms
and conditions, are regulated by an Act of Parliament, i.e. the Civil Servants Act of 1973.
The Civil Establishment Code (ESTACODE), a vast compendium of laws, provides the
operating procedures and rules and regulations which shape HRM policies and practices
from the macro to the micro level in government organisations.
Table 3 reveals current regional quotas calculated on the basis of the population of the
provinces and regions, with 7.5% reserved for merit.53 For the remainder, about 50% is
allocated to the Punjab, 19% to Sindh Province (of which Sindh Urban gets 40% and
Table 3.
Population, quota and employment in the federal government.
Province
Punjab
Sindh
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
Balochistan
Others
Population as
Provincial/regional
Share of total Percentage of total
a percentage quota as a percentage employment
employment
53.06
21.67
15.42
3.57
6.28
50
19
11.5
6
6
129,078
44,415
26,060
10,588
24,792
54.94
18.91
11.09
4.51
10.55
Source: CIA The World Factbook; ICG report, 2010; Government of Pakistan, The Thirteenth Census.
Business History
463
Sindh-Rural 60% respectively), 11.5% to Khyber Pakhtunkhawa, 6% to Balochistan, 4%

to FATA and Gilgit-Baltistan and 2% to Azad Jammu and Kashmir. Since 2007, a 10%
quota has been allocated to women from the share of each of the provinces and regions.54
Moreover, a 10% quota for military officers in the civil service has been legalised since the
military government of the 1980s.
Prime Minister Zulfiqar Ali (Z.A.) Bhuttos nationalisation programmes of the 1970s
served as a catalyst for the continued expansion of the quota system. Between 1972 and
1975, Bhutto nationalised numerous industries (banking, insurance, heavy machinery,
natural resource extraction, rice, cotton, textiles, cement, automobiles, etc.). As a
consequence, such industries, formerly in the private sector, instantly became subject to
the terms and conditions of federal employment laws.55 Table 4 presents further support
for the view of the dominance of specific ethnic groups in civil and military services, a
historical phenomenon that continues today.56
A sense of internal colonialism was intensified for communities such as the Sindhi,
Baloch and Bengalis (i.e. before the 1971 break-away of East Pakistan, now Bangladesh)
who had limited access to a Punjabi-dominated army.57 Pashtun ethnic nationalism, on the
other hand, has been co-opted by a growing presence in the military-run establishment.58
Arguably, the military are the group that remain most dominated by a single ethnic group,
with over 70% originating from the Punjab region.59 As a result, ethnic Punjabis hold
almost 60% of civil service positions along with 70% in the military: this group continues
to hold sway.60 Similar evidence can be drawn from the compositions of board of directors
across multinationals, private and military-owned enterprises.
The continuity of discriminatory colonial traditions of employment aggrieved East
Pakistan (now Bangladesh) in 1971.61 This is when separation from West Pakistan was
achieved just 20 years after independence. Other research contributions report that the
colonial legacy of civilmilitary and landed elites, dominated by particular ethnic groups,
have bred frustration in other constituent parts of Pakistan, e.g. Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa,
Baluchistan and tribal areas. This sense of injustice has caused intra-provincial and
inter-provincial grievances and thus damaged national cohesion.62
Senior appointments and socio-business elitism
A large body of literature suggests that in post-colonial societies of Asia (and Africa), a
social and business elite class i.e. the indigenous bourgeoisie emerged and became
embedded in politics, government, civil military and businesses.63 Social elites in
civil military administrative systems and major businesses in East Africa, especially
Tanzania, that emerged during British colonial rule also prevail in the post-colonial era.64
Table 4.
Ethnic origins of the top civil bureaucrats in 1973.
Ethnic origin
Punjabis
Pashtoons
Muhajirs
Sindhi
Balouch
Others
Total
Number
Percentage
1727
287
1070
90
9
349
3532
48.89
8.12
30.29
2.50
0.25
9.95
100.00
Source: 4th Triennial Census of Central Government Employees, Islamabad, GOP, 1973.
464
A.A. Jhatial et al.
Some studies observe that former colonies of Britain, France, Germany, Spain and
Portugal still continue colonial traditions in employment, governance and
entrepreneurship.65 The British administrative legacy remains prominent in countries
such as India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Kenya, Tanzania, Zambia,
Uganda and Botswana; the French traditions are dominant in former French colonies such
as Chad, Cote dIvoire, Gabon, Upper Volta and Senegal and the Spanish systems are
prevalent in former Latin American colonies.
In fact, the theory of the social elite proposed by Pierre Bourdieu explains the
phenomenon of colonial systems that produced and reproduced socio-business elites in
France and Germany, and also Britain. According to social elite theory, colonial systems
of education, training and orientation helped native colonial beneficiaries and such
mechanisms reproduce the dominant or ruling class.66 Other European scholars have
also indicated the prevalence of socio-business elites in several countries, such as France,
Germany and the UK. Studies trace the educational and business ties of powerful elites
which benefited in the French privatisation process.67 More evidence of European elites,
their roots and influences in socio-business life, have been reported in several studies.68
Similarly, several investigations identify colonial elites in specific historical stages:
firstly, pre-independence preparation for self-government based on colonial education
and orientation; secondly, orientation to post-colonial administrative training to govern
the masses; and lastly, efficient use of legal administrative frameworks.69 Likewise, it has
been identified that the post-colonial ruling elites were by-products of colonial education
and orientation which were perpetuated under the strong colonial administrative
frameworks.70
Over almost two centuries there have been strong influences from colonial and postcolonial civil military and landed elites that extensively impacted on HRM practices in
Pakistan.71 Indeed, the dominance of 22 families in government and business has been the
centre of attention in post-colonial Pakistan. A landmark speech by Mehbub ul Haq in
1968 in Karachi highlighted the power and wealth of 22 industrial family groups.
He observed that these families had come to dominate the economic and financial life of
Pakistan and that they controlled about two-thirds of industrial assets, 80% of banking and
79% of insurance.72 In order to limit the influence of these families in business and
government, Prime Minister Z.A. Bhutto nationalised a number of private sector
businesses.
The impact of nationalisation and privatisation on employment management
In the early 1970s, populist Prime Minister Z.A. Bhutto initiated nationalisation of private
sector industries, which led to unprecedented expansion in the public sector and instantly
brought them under the federal government employment laws and quota system. In January
1972, the government nationalised the emerald mines in Swat, along with other basic
industries including iron and steel, basic metals, heavy manufacturing, engineering motor
vehicles, chemicals, petrochemicals, cement, gas and oil. The life insurance industry was
also nationalised in March 1972, and the vegetable industry was brought under state control
in August 1973. In 1974, the Banks (Nationalisation) Act was passed enabling government
to take control of all private banks. Subsequently, in July 1976, over 2000 rice-husking and
wheat flour mills and cotton ginning factories were also nationalised.
This nationalisation process greatly impacted on the education sector of the country by
nationalising all private schools and colleges. The University Ordinance (1973) partly
democratised the management of academic and administrative affairs of universities
Business History
465
through elected syndicate and senate bodies. The University Grants Commission (UGC)
was subsequently set up to regulate higher education and university affairs across the
country.73
Though popular with voters, many critics of nationalisation argue that the decision was
inherently flawed and that it virtually crippled economic progress in the 1960s.74 Among
the concerns raised was that nationalisation provided bureaucrats with new wide-ranging
powers as they suddenly became heads of banks, industries and public corporations.75
Critics also argue that it eroded the spirit of private entrepreneurs and the competitive
labour market, thus failing to achieve its stated objectives of making the government of the
time more dependent on civil bureaucracy in order to manage the expansion of the public
sector.76 Some studies suggest that the nationalisation reform effort was used to punish
opponents and to benefit supporters.77 Consequently, the military regime of General Zia in
1977 introduced denationalisation, disinvestments and decentralisation, which later
became the cornerstone of the privatisation process in Pakistan. Critics of privatisation
contend that the process resulted in over 500,000 people becoming unemployed in the two
decades up to 2008.78 They specifically cite the privatisation of the Muslim Commercial
Bank (MCB), Pakistan Telecommunication Limited (PTCL) and the Karachi Electric
Supply Corporation (KESC) as evidence of corruption, cronyism and business elites
benefiting. Recently, the Supreme Court of Pakistan (SCP) nullified the privatisation
of Pakistan Steel Mills on suspicion of such corruption and cronyism. The restructuring of
Habib Bank and United Bank resulted in the loss of 10,000 jobs. Similarly, 2225 out
of 3495 employees in the heavy engineering sector have taken a golden handshake or
voluntary retirement and 2195 employees in the vegetable ghee mills, not yet privatised,
have elected to take voluntary retirement. Table 5 suggests that total employment in the
manufacturing units was around 35,000, of which 63.3% opted for a golden handshake in
these privatised organisations.
Nonetheless, despite frequent changes in government since 1985, with five regularly
elected and six caretaker administrations, there has been a consensus on the continuation
of the privatisation policy.
Distortion of practice: corruption and political party influences
Another source of profound and perpetual influence on HRM development in Pakistan
comes from rampant corruption, especially in mainstream political parties.79 Corruption
Table 5.
The incidence of golden handshakes.
Industries
Automobiles
Cement
Chemicals
Fertiliser
Engineering
Ghee Mills
Rice
Roti Plant
Newspapers
Miscellaneous
Total
Total employment
Percentage opting for golden handshake
4604
8289
6342
688
2661
5057
810
676
1142
5056
34649
38.0
36.1
70.8
10.5
77.5
74.3
93.3
99.1
100.0
97.3
63.3
Source: Privatisation Commission of Pakistan.
466
A.A. Jhatial et al.
remains a substantial obstacle for Pakistan; even the most popular and democratically
elected five governments of Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif were overthrown on
corruption charges in the 1990s.80 Bribery is claimed to be widespread in law
enforcement, procurement, employment and the provision of public services.81 The
judiciary is not seen as independent and is considered to be shielding corrupt political
practices from prosecution.82 In its corruption perception survey, Transparency
International (see Table 6) consistently reports Pakistan as one of the most corrupt
countries in the world in terms of petty bribery, and further revealed that its government
and political parties rank as the most corrupt institutions in the country.
Examples of corruption, cronyism and favouritism include the protection of loan
defaulters, the protection of tax evaders, the allocation of public resources such as
infrastructure construction budgets to clients of politicians and bureaucrats, and
employing unqualified, incompetent political supporters.83 Anecdotal evidence and
newspaper reports suggest that the interlocking of bureaucratic and political interests
results in the misallocation, waste or misappropriation of billions of rupees of public
resources every year.84 In recent years a number of measures have been put in place for
institutional mechanisms to bring corruption to a manageable level. For example, the
National Anti-Corruption Strategy was developed in 2002, along with its executing
agency, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), which was endowed with
comprehensive powers to investigate and prosecute corruption cases.
However, anti-corruption proceedings have long been suspected of being partial. They
are mainly directed against members of the political opposition and minor civil servants,
while the conduct of military officials has not been adequately scrutinised. Consequently,
the impartiality and transparency of the NAB were questioned and the government at the
time made it virtually ineffective. Moreover, the National Reconciliation Ordinance of
October 2007 granted blanket immunity for past corrupt actions, shielding many public
officials and members of the government from prosecution.85
On several occasions, political parties have bypassed constitutional and legal
requirements when appointing and promoting senior executives. There are numerous
examples of recruitment, selection, transfer and promotion cases where civil, military and
political influences prevail. More recently, former Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani
appointed the chief of the National Insurance Company Limited (NICL) and several other
close associates without following regulated due process. Appointments were challenged in
Table 6.
Pakistans CPI rating.
Year
Number of countries
Pakistans rank
Pakistans score out of 10
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
41
54
52
85
99
NA
91
NA
133
145
158
163
39
53
48
71
88
NA
79
NA
92
129
144
142
2.25
1.0
2.53
2.7
2.2
NA
2.3
2.6
2.5
2.1
2.1
2.2
Source: Transparency International.
Business History
467
the Supreme Court of Pakistan, where the orders were nullified. In another case, the SCP
declared the promotion of 54 senior civil servants by Prime Minister Gilani null and void,
ordering him to make the appointments and promotions based on merit. Earlier, he served
four and a half years in prison on charges of appointing hundreds of his constituents and close
associates when he was speaker of the National Assembly in the last Pakistan Peoples Party
(PPP) government.86
In 2010, the government passed into law the Sacked Employees (Reinstatement) Bill
(2010) to reinstate over 7700 government employees 15 years after their dismissal. These
were originally appointed in former Prime Minister Benazir Bhuttos tenure from 1993 to
1996 and were removed from service from 1996 to 1998 by the Pakistan Muslim League
(PML) government led by the then Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on the basis of allegations
of corruption, political favouritism and cronyism. The decisions to remove staff were based
on claims of high levels of overstaffing. In particular, the PML governments (1990 93 and
1997 99) identified excessive employment in the public sector and introduced an
employment ban.87 As the 2010 Bill was passed by the National Assembly and Senate, so
reinstatement of employees could not be nullified.88 The reinstatement of employees cost
the government Rs8 billion in salaries and Rs2 billion of recurring annual expenses.89
Trade unionism
In the 1960s, governments introduced labour laws that brought substantial changes in
workers participation in management and changed the structures of salaries, bonuses,
compensation, leave, gratuities and retirement. Employers were made responsible for the
educational expenses of one child per worker, and the settlement of industrial disputes was
revised to prevent the victimisation of the workforce by management.90
Trade unions in Pakistan have been considered important players in the development of
employment management. The Government of Pakistan inherited British colonial labour
laws, such as the Trade Union Act 1926, the Factories Act 1934, the Industrial Employment
(Standing Orders) Act 1946 and the Industrial Disputes Act 1947 and interventionist
policies of managing labour relations.91 These four laws paved the way for the right to
demonstrate, strike, for union activism and formed the basis of labour laws in the country.92
Civil military leaders of the country have long believed trade unions to be pressure
groups and considered them a powerful challenge.93 In order to curtail this power, the
Industrial Disputes Act 1947 was replaced with the Industrial Disputes Ordinance 1959 by
the then military regime of General Ayub Khan. Here, employees right to strike or go
slow was withdrawn.94 The second martial law regime of General Yahya Khan also
continued the anti-union stance of his predecessor.95 In an attempt to resolve disputes
through statutory bodies, the military regime of Yahya Khan merged new legislation and
trade union ordinances into a new law called the Industrial Relations Ordinance (IRO)
1969.96 This left few options for strikes and activism.
The IRO 1969 was later amended by the Bhutto government, making it
labour-friendly, and subsequently trade union activism grew as a result of his
nationalisation programme. However, this law was again amended by General Musharaf
in 2002 to ban union activism across the country. More recently, the PPP government
repealed the IRO 2002 Act and enacted interim legislation: the Industrial Relations Act
(IRA) 2008. This act guarantees freedom of association and the right to strike, alongside a
three-pronged strategy of employee participation in management decision making in the
organisation.97 Nevertheless, the IRA 2008 does deny unions a voice in retention,
suspension, dismissal or laying off employees.
468
A.A. Jhatial et al.
Table 7. Population and labour force.

National population
Population growth rate, annual
Labour force estimated
Age of labour force
Women in labour force
Agriculture
Services
Industry & manufacturing
187,342,721 (July 2011 est.)

2.2%
51.78 million
10 years and above
10 million
44% of the labour force
35%
20%
Source: CIA World Factbook; World Bank 2010; Labour Force Survey of Pakistan, 200708.
Clearly, trade unionism in Pakistan has experienced and been impacted by episodes of
rise and fall in democratic and military regimes over the past several decades. Tables 7 and
8 show the trends in union membership over this period. The percentage of the total labour
force in the country stood at approximately 0.7% in 2000, with more than 7200 registered
unions. Of these, only 1900 (26%) unions retain collective bargaining status.98 Table 7
shows an estimated labour force of about 51.78 million that includes some 10 million
women. Table 8 also shows the increasing trend in the number of registered unions from
708 in the 1960s to 2522 in the 1970s and 6551 in the 1980s. Similarly, their declared
membership rose from 350,000 in the 1960s to 736,000 in the 1970s and 870,000 in the
1980s. After the privatisation programme during the 1990s and the subsequent ban on
trade unionism by the military regime, there has been a fall in membership.
A feature that emerges from Table 9 is the occupational segregation and social and
religious exclusion of religious minority groups such as Hindus, Sikhs and Christians.
Faltering modernisation and colonial echoes: ethnic composition of the Pakistani military
The Pakistani military is one of the nations largest organisations in terms of the number of
personnel (over 600,000 in active service). The evidence gathered from secondary sources
suggests that the Pakistani military retains a colonial tradition of recruiting from
predominantly three districts of northern Punjab.99 Approximately 70% of the recruits are
taken from here, with another 20%-odd being recruited from four districts in the Khyber
Pakhtunkhwa province and the remaining provinces, i.e. Sindh and Balochistan, providing
only about 5% of the military personnel. Some investigations suggest that the ethnic
composition of the Pakistani armed forces is deliberate and plays an important role in
national politics, the civil service, the government and private business sectors.100
The Pakistani military as landed elite class
In the 1890s, the British Empire opened canal colonies and initiated a process of land
allocation to win the loyalty of the soldiering classes, ultimately aiming to depoliticise
Table 8. Trade unions and membership.
Year
Registered unions
Membership
1960
1970
1980
1990
2000
708
2522
6551
7080
7220
350,000
736,000
870,000
952,488
1,009,897
Sources: Labour Force Survey 200708; Ghayur, Evolution; CADTM 2008.
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469
Table 9. Ethnic make-up of the Pakistani military.

Ethnic group
Province
Percentage
Punjabi
Pakhtun
Muhajirs
Sindhi
Balouchi
Total
Punjab
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
Sindh
Sindh
Baluchistan
100
70
20
5
3 (approx.)
2 (approx.)
Source: Siddiqa, Military Inc.
them.101 The government of Pakistan, in its early years of independence, adopted the
colonial tradition of granting land to military personnel by amending the Colonisation of
Land Act 1912, in 1965, to allocate land to military officers.102 Land allocations, including
agricultural, commercial and residential, against the rank of military officers are shown in
Table 10. The land is usually allocated to military officers on retirement.
Details of the landholdings of military officers since the Act was amended in 1965 are
further shown in Table 11. As a consequence, retired military officers emerged as a feudal
elite in post-colonial Pakistan. Large landholdings, and associated business interests,
compel the military to play a pervasive role in politics.
Pakistani military as business conglomerate
The Pakistani military controls a large network of organisations and charities under the
umbrella of charitable foundations, but there is limited research in this area.103 Much
more research has been undertaken on the militarys involvement in private and public
organisations.
The militarys investments in Pakistans private sector have traditionally focused on
the primary industry, with projects in oil, gas and agriculture, but in recent years it has
undertaken projects in high technology sectors, such as software production.104 The army,
navy and air force foundations have invested strongly in the service sector, such as real
estate, insurance, media, shipping, private security and banking.105 Some of the
foundations businesses have become so powerful that they dominate their industry and
are able to marginalise competitors. The military-owned corporations have successfully
participated in the states privatisation programme, bought up public corporations through
competitive price bidding and established a 10 billion business empire.106 Indeed,
military officers readily acknowledge that armed forces companies are able to gain an
advantage over purely civilian firms in the allocation of government contracts, and in some
Table 10. Land entitlement for military personnel.
Serial No.
Rank
Acreage
1
2
3
4
5
6
Maj. General and above

Brigadiers and Colonels
Lt. Colonels
Lieutenants to Majors
JCOs
NCOs
240 acres
150 acres
124 acres
100 acres
64 acres
32 acres
470
A.A. Jhatial et al.
Table 11. Land allotments to military personnel, 1965 2004.

Serial No.
District
Province
Acreage
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
Sub-total
14
Total
DI Khan
Muzaffargarh
DG Khan
Rajanpur
Vehari
Pakpattan
Multan
Khanewal
Sahiwal
Lahore
Kasur
Sheikhupura
NWFP
Punjab
Punjab
Punjab
Punjab
Punjab
Punjab
Punjab
Punjab
Punjab
Punjab
Punjab
185,000
173,000.7
153,000.5
133,000.3
170,987
193,676
123,793
143,283
173,407
273,413
387,283
193,863
2,303,706.5
400,000
2,703,706.5
Sindh Province
cases this practice has pushed civilian firms into bankruptcy. There are several instances of
socio-business elites taking advantages of privatisation programmes elsewhere as well.
The privatisation was considered as a privileged window of opportunity, mirroring the
rewards reaped by the French business elite from the privatisation process from 1986 to
1998 in terms of access to positions and financial gains.107
Apart from fighting on the battlefields and safeguarding the national borders, the
Pakistani military has emerged as a business elite in the country through performing
multiple roles including building roads, apprehending electricity thieves, running a large
network of commercial enterprises and identifying and tackling corruption.108 Pakistani
militarys involvement in economic ventures is directly proportional to their sense of
judgement regarding the political control of the state.109 Since political power nurtures
greater financial control, the military perpetuates its pervasive existence in political
spheres to safeguard its vested economic interests.
Military influences on Pakistani public sector HRM systems

The continuation of discriminatory colonial employment policies, the traditions of
regional quotas and the martial race in civil military services have far-reaching
implications for the HRM systems of government organisations at the micro level.110
Consistent regional quota policy frameworks guide HRM practices of government
corporations, such as Pakistan Steel, Pakistan International Airlines Corporation (PIAC)
and others. As a result, ethnic group dominance can be found in the employment of PIAC.
Table 12 presents statistics of over 18,000 employees of PIAC where 43% originate from
the Punjab (e.g. central and north) followed by 27% from Urban Sindh (which has been
dominated by Indian migrants from 1947).
The situation is even more extreme as over 50% of those employed by PIAC, the
state-owned airline, are residents of just three cities, namely Karachi, Lahore and
Rawalpindi. This, of course, resonates with the civil military dominance by particular
ethnic groups in other government sectors. Such an environment causes marginalisation
and disengagement in an already fragmented Pakistani society. Moreover, the rhetoric of
Business History
471
Table 12. Ethnic composition of PIAC employees.

Region
Azad Jamu & Kashmir (AJK)
Balochistan
Foreigners
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
Northern Areas
Punjab
Sindh (Rural)
Sindh (Urban)
Total
No. of employees
213
699
388
2076
217
7800
1919
4889
18,201
1
4
2
11
1
43
11
27
100
Source: PIACs unpublished employment statistics.
affirmative action policies and merit fails, leaving the integrity and ethicality of HRM
questionable.111 With the historical discrimination in employment policies and practices
in Pakistan in mind, Article 38 (g) of the 18th Amendment Bill 2010 requires all
stakeholders to respect the shares of provinces in civil, military and federal government
jobs. It would appear that this amendment is having little effect in this regard.
Indeed, it could be argued that the management of HRM has been dominated by the
military regimes who have often ruled since independence.112 For example, the nine-year
military regime of General Musharraf saw the appointment of hundreds of serving
and retired military personnel, ostensibly to reduce corruption, increase accountability and
monitor governance.113 Military officials were also appointed to key civilian posts,
including the chairmanship of the Federal Public Service Commission (FPSC), which is
responsible for recruitment of the federal civil bureaucracy and some organisations which
require technical expertise, such as the chief executive of the Alternative Energy
Development Board, chairman of Pakistan Steel Mill and chairman of the Pakistan
Telecommunication Authority.114
Post-9/11 influences: intensification of militarisation
The military regimes of General Zia during the Soviet Afghan war (1979 89) and, more
recently, General Musharraf in the post-9/11 climate profoundly informed national
values, institutions and management practices. Both generals militarised the government
sector organisations with their military associates and affected the policy and practice
of transparent HRM systems.115 In the recent past, the military regime of General
Musharraf earned support from the US and other Western allies due to the rhetoric
of bringing about enlightened modernisation, good governance and transformation of
state enterprises which provided external support for him to rule the nation and earned over
US$10 billion in aid.116
Lengthy military rule adversely undermined the democratic and political institutions
and national integration, paving the way for ethno-national politics and social unrest which
is reflected in workplace and management practices. Paradoxically, military personnel
continue to claim that it is the failure of civilian institutions and the corruptibility of civil
bureaucrats and political elements that invite them to protect the national interests.117
Another major factor that makes the integrity of Pakistani military questionable is the
single-ethnic dominance of northern Punjab a major cause of frustration to other ethnic
groups. The deployment of military personnel in top management positions in government
sector enterprises brings them on a par with the civil ruling elite.118
472
A.A. Jhatial et al.
Militarisation, the state and enterprises in the post-9/11 period

The 9/11 terrorist attacks in the US are believed to have changed the world dramatically.
They strongly affected geo-politics, economics, international relations and foreign policies
worldwide.119 They brought the Bush administration in Washington very close to
Moscow, the EU, Beijing and Islamabad. The US EU partnership duly recognised the
geo-strategic position of Pakistan in peace-building operations and as a vital partner in the
war on terrorism; by virtue of that, General Musharaf was afforded global support.
The financial assistance and political support of the United States, in the post-9/11 climate,
for the military regime in Pakistan has been purposive and linked with poverty alleviation
and more funds for education and health, and was agreed to by the Musharaf regime.120
Good governance, fair employment practices and public sector reforms were said to be
a high priority in order to keep the civil service on the right path and make it more
responsive to the people.121
In an attempt to fulfil his promises, Musharraf appointed hundreds of military
personnel to top executive positions of government sector organisations. Many consider
that the Musharraf regimes enlightened moderation and transformation of society,
governance and management practices sponsored by the US and international donor
agencies failed. Since 9/11, the US influence on Pakistan has been substantial as the US
supplied aid and support to the military regime to reform education, health, infrastructure
and the public sector. However, indigenous problems such as ethnic homogeneity in the
armed forces, military infiltration in the public sector and, above all, ethno-nationalism
and religious extremism, have flourished and impacted on national integrity, institutional
capacity and management practices.122
Four coups detat, an extensive business empire, a substantial presence in the civil
service, heading government institutions and the promotion of single-ethnic hegemony in
military services suggest a particular form of governmentality, or control of the
population, with particular emphasis on the apparatuses of security through the political
economy or market mechanisms of the neo-colonialists in Pakistan. The military regimes
of General Zia and General Musharraf deployed hundreds of military personnel in top
management positions in government organisations and bypassed principles of fair and
transparent HRM. An absence of sound and effective HRM practices, favouritism,
sycophancy and nepotism are common practices in employment management. The
evidence suggests that the former military regime militarised state, society, enterprises and
management practices in the post-9/11 climate and all promises of bringing about
enlightened moderation and transformation proved to be no more than rhetoric.
What emerges is the role of praetorianism in shaping and maintaining HRM practices:
intervention by the military in the political process, in order to secure and advance military
power and control. Typically, performance failure by civilian regimes is the catalyst for
military action. Although the prompt to military intervention may share common features
in many post-colonial societies,123 the reason why praetorianism is established, and what
sustains it, may differ.
The past speaking to the present: modern-day practices and historical echoes
Specific examples are helpful in encapsulating the colonial and post-colonial legacy that
continues to inform organisations in modern-day Pakistan. The dominance of civil,
military and landed elites is a source of dissatisfaction for many in the society as a whole,
and there are many illustrations of the influence of clan, ethnicity and praetorianism on
recruitment and selection.
Business History
473
The Pakistani media has highlighted the prevalence of Punjabi ex-servicemen in key
government posts, for example, for key appointments in the civil service.124 Moreover,
unease remains that the latest proposals for modernisation are not being implemented.
A recent article on Pakistan International Airlines (PIAC) reveals not only that the new
head will be ex-military, but also the changes necessary to tackle problems facing public
sector organisations such as PIAC have not been made.125 These proposals, aimed at
improving governance, tackling mismanagement and addressing corruption, as part of a
National Governance Plan, argued for the appointment of professional CEOs and heads of
organisations, ratified by parliament. Thus, attempts to modernise management practices
continue to be proposed, including at the level of government, but struggle to take root,
hindered by the institutionalisation of historical privileges.
Conclusion
Pakistan has been passing through an evolutionary phase, with political and administrative
structures deeply rooted in British colonialism.126 Civil military and political institutions
appear to have an undue influence on the countrys policies, affecting socio-economic,
political and employment management structures.127 The legal and administrative
frameworks, e.g. colonial and post-colonial, and data collected from various other sources
reveal civil military and mainstream political parties influence the development of HRM
practices.
The civil, military and landed elites dominated by particular ethnic groups have
emerged as historical by-products in most post-colonial societies in Asia, Africa and Latin
America.128 Pakistan is therefore not an exceptional case.129 Similarly, Pakistan is
characterised by praetorianism: the right of the military to intervene when the civilian
government is deemed by military leaders to have failed. This places militarism not only at
the core of the political process, but also as a powerful influence over employment laws
and HRM decision making and practices.
The rollercoaster decisions of nationalisation in the 1970s and denationalisation
followed by the policy of privatisation affected employment management and
strengthened civil bureaucracy, with serious implications for HRM in the public
sector.130 This study contributes to understanding the historical perspective of
employment management policies inherited from the colonial past that informs the
current functioning of HRM in government-owned enterprises in the country.
Since national independence, civil, military and landed elites have become involved in
state-formation efforts by institutionalising power bases. The elite, dominated by
particular ethnic groups, promote their clans in civil and military services, in other
government sector enterprises and the private sector. Although the presence of specific
groups with an advantage has been noted by researchers of HRM in Asia,131 the
antecedence of such practice (and by implication, the roots of its enduring nature) has been
articulated less well. Modern HRM has developed specific areas of practice to enhance
diversity and fairness in organisations. However, the challenge to post-colonial societies is
the evolution of fairer practices against a backdrop of instability and long-standing
structural inequalities in the labour market. Importantly, although HRM practices may be
used to change cultural values in relation to inequality and fairness, it can also be
configured to reinforce the latter. In this light, quota systems may mask, rather than loosen,
the realpolitik of structural inequalities.
The US patronage of military regimes in Pakistan during the Soviet Afghan war and
the current contextual dynamism of the post-9/11 climate have far-reaching implications
474
A.A. Jhatial et al.
for politics, society, institutions and management practices in Pakistan, and the region in
general. In terms of management practices generally and HRM specifically, there has been
a reinforcement of praetorianism within organisations. The promises of enlightened
moderation and transformation of society and enterprises from the General Musharraf
regime have not materialised. The current fragile civilian government (2011) and societal
structures influence management practices, and set challenges for HRM theory, crosscultural research and international HRM in post-colonial societies like Pakistan.
Structural and institutionalised advantages within the society generally make it
difficult for modern HRM practices to develop, especially with regard to the most
desirable governmental and national-level appointments. As highlighted earlier in this
article, scholars of international HRM have encouraged the exercise of caution when
attempting to understand HRM in non-Western settings. Although most highlight the
importance of socio-cultural factors, it is Budhwar and Sparrows idea of a meta-logic
or factors that operate at the national level, setting the overall climate, and Gardiners
observation of the importance of post-colonialism, religion and traditional beliefs on
organisational practices that resonate most strongly with our studies on Pakistan.132
However, these scholars have largely neglected the significance of power, business
elites and praetorianism: these are likely to be important elements within national metalogics and highlight the need for a clear understanding of meta-logic elements and the
depth of their historical roots. An understanding and engagement with these is
important for multinationals, government policy makers and those wishing to
professionalise and modernise management practices in a manner that is both credible
and achievable. Researchers would benefit from the development of a more
sophisticated understanding of the influence of meta-logics on organisations and
management practice.
More generally, our findings indicate the importance of understanding the nature of the
evolution of national employment policies and, in turn, how these influence practices. As
discussed earlier in this article, there is an established literature on the adoption of Western
management practices in non-Western countries and the pressures of globalisation, in
particular on the adoption of practices, and how similar practices will be enacted
differently. However, there has been limited exploration of these issues from a historical
and, more specifically, a post-colonial perspective. The focus of our study, the evolution of
HRM policies and practices in Pakistan, highlights how the translation of Western
practices into a non-Western context is better understood not only from the more familiar
cross-cultural similarities and differences but, importantly, how historical elements have
embedded themselves culturally and institutionally in a manner that has, and continues, to
shape management practices.
Notes
1.
2.
3.
4.
Fobrum, Tichy, and Devanna, Strategic Human Resource Management.

Torrington and Hall, Personnel Management; Storey, Developments in the Management;
Boxall and Purcell, Strategic Human Resource Management; Storey, New Perspectives;
Legge, Human Resource Management; Redman and Wilkinson, Contemporary Human
Resource Management; Dessler, Human Resource Management.
Budhwar and Debrah, Future Research of HRM.
Adler, Cross-cultural Management; Hofstede, Cultures Consequences; Jaeger, Kanungo,
and Srinivas, A Review of Human Resource Management; Khilji, Modes of Convergence
and Divergence; Maznevski et al., Cultural Dimensions; Styhre, How Process
Philosophy can Help; Stehle and Erwee, Cultural Differences; Budhwar and Debrah,
Future Research of HRM.
Business History
5.
475
Kanugo, Jaeger and Srinivas, A Review of Human Resource Management; Kamoche,

Towards a Model of HRM in Africa; Dowling, Festing, and Engle, International Human
Resource Management; Khilji, To Adapt or Not to Adapt?
6. Kiggundu, Jorgensen, and Hafsi, Administrative Theory and Practice; Kiggundu,
Managing Organisations.
7. Budhwar and Debrah, Future Research of HRM; Sparrow, Integrating People; Zhu,
Warner, and Rowley, Human Resource Management.
8. Alavi, Authoritarianism and Legitimation; Khilji, To Adapt or Not to Adapt?; Kennedy,
Bureaucracy in Pakistan; Mushtaq, Managing Ethnic Diversity; Waseem, Affirmative
Action Policies; Yong, The Garrison State.
9. Khilji, To Adapt or Not to Adapt?; Waseem, Affirmative Action Policies; Yong, The
Garrison State; Aycan et al., Impact of Culture.
10. Khilji, To Adapt or Not to Adapt?, 113.
11. Siddiqa, Military Inc.; Abbasi, The Men in Uniform.
12. Boxall, Placing HR Strategy; Khilji, To Adapt or Not to Adapt?; Schneider and Barsoux,
Managing across Cultures; Tayeb, The Competitive Advantage of Nations; Adler, Crosscultural Management; Budhwar and Debrah, Future Research of HRM; Khilji and Wang,
New Evidence; Hofstede, Cultures Consequences.
13. Thompson and Luthans, Organisational Culture; Newman and Nollen, Culture and
Congruence.
14. Namazie and Tayeb, HRM in Iran.
15. Al Hamadi, Budhwar, and Shipton, Management of Human Resources in Oman.
16. Mellahi, The Effect of Regulations on HRM.
17. Tayeb, The Competitive Advantage of Nations.
18. Budhwar and Debrah, Human Resource Management.
19. Aycan et al., Impact of Culture; Budhwar and Debrah, Human Resource Management;
Budhwar and Sparrow, An Integrative Framework.
20. Budhwar and Debrah, Future Research of HRM, 207.
21. Ibid., 208.
22. Budhwar and Sparrow, An Integrative Framework.
23. Gardiner, Managing in Different Cultures.
24. Alavi, The Post-Colonial Societies; Saul, The State in Postcolonial Societies; Haque,
Incongruity between Bureaucracy; Arora, Corporate Colonialism.
25. Khilji, To Adapt or Not to Adapt?, 116; Jamil, Human Resource Management.
26. Khilji, To Adapt or Not to Adapt?; Islam, Sifarish, Sycophants; Abbasi, The Men in
Uniform; Siddiqa, Military Inc.
27. Gardezi, Making of the Neo-Colonial State in South Asia; Hussain, Institutions of
Restraint.
28. Hussain, The Crisis of State Power in Pakistan; Islam, Sifarish, Sycophants; Ismail,
Impediments to Social Development in Pakistan; Khilji, To Adapt or Not to Adapt?;
Kennedy, Policies of Ethnic Preferences; Waseem, Affirmative Action Policies.
29. Silverman, Doing Qualitative Research, 160.
30. Atkinson and Coffey Analysing Documentary Realities, 73.
31. Bowen, Document Analysis; Thomas, Research Skills, 97; Berger, Media Analysis;
Bryman, Social Research Methods.
32. Altheide, Qualitative Media Analysis.
33. Krippendorf, Content Analysis.
34. Altheide, Qualitative Media Analysis, 29.
35. Mason, Qualitative Researching, 110.
36. Strauss and Corbin, Basics of Qualitative Research.
37. Wiersma, Research Methods.
38. ICG, Building Judicial Independence in Pakistan; Jalal, Democracy and Authoritarianism
in South Asia.
39. Khan and Ahmed, Quota System for Civil Service.
40. Maheswari, Public Administration in India.
41. Moon, The British Conquest.
42. Khan and Ahmed, Quota System for Civil Service.
43. Potter, Manpower Shortage and the End of Colonialism.
476
44.
45.
46.
47.
48.
49.
50.
51.
52.
53.
54.
55.
56.
A.A. Jhatial et al.
Khan and Ahmed, Quota System for Civil Service.

Potter, Indian Political Administration.
Samujh, Reservation Policy.
Jones, Pakistan: A Civil Service in an Obsolescing Imperial Tradition.
Kennedy, Bureaucracy in Pakistan; Waseem, Affirmative Action Policies.
ICG, Reforming Pakistans Civil Service.
Waseem, Affirmative Action Policies.
ICG, Reforming Pakistans Civil Service.
FPSC Rules, 2007.
Kennedy, Bureaucracy in Pakistan.
MacMunn, The Martial Races of India; Khan, Politics of Identity; Kennedy, Bureaucracy in
Pakistan; Jalal, Democracy and authoritarianism in South Asia; Waseem, Affirmative
Action Policies.
57. Alavi, Nationhood; Misra, Intra-State Imperialism: The Case of Pakistan, 30;
Galvani, Introduction to Pakistan, 3; Khan, Economy, Society and the State in Pakistan,
182.
58. Khan, Politics of Identity, 101; Haleem, Ethnic and Sectarian Violence, 468; Rashid, Islam
and Nationalism in Pakistan.
59. Wilke, State-formation and the Military in Pakistan; Siddiqa, Military Inc.; Yong, The
Garrison State.
60. Misra, Intra-State Imperialism: The Case of Pakistan, 30; Talbot, The Punjabisation of
Pakistan; Kennedy, Bureaucracy in Pakistan, 181208; and Waseem, Affirmative Action
Policies.
61. Khan and Ahmad, Quota System for Civil Service.
62. Adeney, The Limitations of Non-consociational Federalism; Alavi, The Post-Colonial
Societies; Haque and Khan, The Economics Profession in Pakistan; Jalal, The State of
Martial Rule; Kennedy, Bureaucracy in Pakistan; Mushtaq, Managing Ethnic Diversity;
63. Alavi, The Post-Colonial Societies; Haque, Incongruity between Bureaucracy; Kennedy,
Bureaucracy in Pakistan, 181 208; Yong, The Garrison State, 57 89.
64. Saul, The State in Postcolonial Societies, 353.
65. Arora, Corporate Colonialism; Saul, The State in Postcolonial Societies.
66. Bourdieu, Distinction: A Social Critique of the Judgment of Taste.
67. Maclean, Privatisation in France 1993 94; Maclean, Economic Management; Maclean,
New Rules Old Games?
68. Kadushin, Friendship among the French Financial Elite; Giddens and Stanworth, Elites
and Privilege; Stanworth and Giddens, Elites and Power in British Society; Hartmann,
Bank Lawyers; Maclean, Harvey, and Press, Business Elites and Corporate Governance;
Maclean, Harvey, and Press, Managerialism and the Post-war, Suleiman, Politics, Power
and Bureaucracy in France; Suleiman, Elites in French Society; Mills, The Power Elite;
Morin, Transformation in the French Model; Oh, Chung, and Labianca, Group Social
Capital.
69. Schaffer, Administrative Legacies; Braibanti, Concluding Observation; Dwevidi and
Neff, Crises and Continuities.
70. Haque, Incongruity between Bureaucracy, 433.
71. Alavi, The Post-Colonial Societies; Haque, Incongruity between Bureaucracy.
72. The Times, The System is to Blame for the 22 Wealthy Families.
73. Rizvi, Military, State and Society in Pakistan, 152.
74. Yoganandan, Globalisation of Pakistan.
75. Jalal, The State of Martial Rule; Siddiqa, Military Inc., 79.
76. Jalal, Democracy and Authoritarianism in South Asia; Yoganandan, Globalisation of
Pakistan, 134.
77. Noman, The Political Economy of Pakistan.
78. Kemal, Retrenchment Policies.
79. Khan, Bureaucratic and Political Corruption in Pakistan, 6; Islam, Sifarish, Sycophants,
322; Hussain, Institutions of Restraint.
Business History
80.
81.
82.
83.
84.
85.
86.
87.
88.
89.
90.
91.
92.
93.
94.
95.
96.
97.
98.
99.
100.
101.
102.
103.
104.
105.
106.
107.
108.
109.
110.
111.
112.
113.
114.
115.
116.
117.
118.
119.
120.
121.
122.
123.
124.
125.
126.
127.
128.
129.
477
ADB Report, Private Sector Assessment.

Khan, Bureaucratic and Political Corruption in Pakistan.
Khan, Pakistan: A Dream Gone Sour.
Khan, Bureaucratic and Political Corruption in Pakistan, 6.
ADB, Private Sector Assessment, 38.
Anti-corruption Resource Centre, Overview; Samad, Combating Corruption.
New York Times, Pakistani Partys Leader Chooses a Prime Minister.
Khan, Bureaucratic and Political Corruption in Pakistan, 12.
Dawn, Zardari Signs Employees Reinstatement Bill into Law.
Daily Times, Cabinet Approves Rehiring of 7,000 Sacked Employees.
Rizvi, Military, State and Society in Pakistan.
Candland, The Cost of Incorporation. 70; Shaheed, The Labour Movement in Pakistan, 83.
Amjad and Mahmood, Industrial Relations and Political Process in Pakistan, 34.
Candland, The Cost of Incorporation.
Ibid., 71.
Shaheed, The Labour Movement in Pakistan.
Siddique, Ansari, and Qazi, Governing the Labour Market, 992.
Ghayur, Evolution of Industrial Relations Systems in Pakistan.
Ibid.
E.g. Siddiqa, Military Inc.; Cohen, The Idea of Pakistan; and Yong, The Garrison State.
Behuria, How Military Dominates the Political Space in Pakistan.
Talbot, Pakistan: A Modern History; The Punjabisation of Pakistan.
Siddiqa, Military Inc.
Siddiqa-Agha, Pakistans Arms Procurement; Siddiqa, Military Inc.
Jalal, The State of Martial Rule.
Maclean, New Rules Old Games?, 796.
Behuria, How Military Dominates the Political Space in Pakistan; Chengappa, Pakistan:
Military Role in Civil Administration.
Khilji, To Adapt or Not to Adapt?; Waseem, Affirmative Action Policies.
Alavi, Pakistan: Women, 1328; Ahmed, Pakistan: Ethnic Fragmentation or National
Integration?, 632; Behuria, How Military Dominates the Political Space in Pakistan;
Mushtaq, Managing Ethnic Diversity; Siddiqa, Military Inc.; Yong, The Garrison State.
Abbasi, The Men in Uniform; Behuria, How Military Dominates the Political Space in
Pakistan.
Abbasi, The Men in Uniform; Siddiqa, Military Inc.; ICG, Reforming Pakistans Civil
Service.
Abbasi, The Men in Uniform; Siddiqa, Military Inc.
Cohen and Chollet, When $10 Billion Is Not Enough.
Abbasi, The Men in Uniform; Behuria, How Military Dominates the Political Space in
Pakistan; Huntington, Political Order in Changing Societies; Siddiqa, Military Inc;
Nordlinger, Soldiers in Politics.
Abbasi, The Men in Uniform; Siddiqa, Military Inc.
Kakihara, The Post-9/11 Paradigm Shift.
Cohen and Chollet, When $10 Billion Is Not Enough.
Behuria, How Military Dominates the Political Space in Pakistan; Siddiqa, Military Inc.
Haleem, Ethnic and Sectarian Violence, 468; Mushtaq, Managing Ethnic Diversity.
Rashid, Islam and Nationalism in Pakistan.
Abbasi, Punjabi Officers Dominate.
Abbasi, Outgoing PAF Chief.
Alavi, The Post-Colonial Societies; Khilji, To Adapt or Not to Adapt?
Haque, Incongruity between Bureaucracy, 432.
Alavi, The Post-Colonial Societies.
478
130.
131.
132.
A.A. Jhatial et al.

Naqvi and Kemal, Privatisation, Efficiency, and Employment in Pakistan; ICG,
Reforming Pakistans Civil Service.
Budhwar and Debrah, Future Research on Human Resource Management.
Budhwar and Sparrow, An Integrative Framework; Gardiner, Managing in Different
Cultures.
Notes on contributors
Ashique Ali Jhatial is Associate Professor in Institute of Commerce, University of Sindh, Jamshoro
Pakistan. He completed his PhD in Human Resource Management from Bradford University School
of Management, England. Dr. Jhatial was also awarded Postdoc on his extensive research on
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), Role of Social Enterprises in Development and
Sustainability of local communities. His co-authored research has been presented at the British
Academy of Management (BAM) Conferences, UK, The renowned Satter Conference on Social
Entrepreneurship at Stern Business School, New York University, Skoll Colloquium Fuqua Business
School, Duke University and Said Business School, Oxford University.
Dr. Nelarine Cornelius is Professor of Human Resource Management and Organisational Studies and
Associate Dean Research at the School of Management, University of Bradford, UK. Professor
Cornelius current research is in the area of business and society, in particular social justice, social
organisations and the historical development of management practice in emerging and fragile
economies. She has published many book chapters and books and her work has appeared in many
international journals that include Business History, British Journal of Management, Journal of
Business Ethics, Organization and Urban Studies. She is currently Visiting Professor at the
University of Paris (Ouest) and University of Lagos). She is co-editor of Personnel Review and Chair
of the Research, Development and Publications Committee of the British Academy of Management.
Dr. James Wallace is Senior Lecturer in Research Methods, Enterprise and Ethics and a Director of
the PhD Programme at the School of Management, University of Bradford, UK. Dr. Wallaces
current research is in the area of entrepreneurship, business ethics, information and management, and
the use of advanced statistical methods for social science-based business research. His research has
been published in journals including Business History, European Journal of Marketing, Information
and Management and Journal of Business Ethics and he has published a number of book chapters
also. Dr. Wallace is a Visiting Fellow at the University of Paris (Ouest) and Head of Research
Methods for PRIMAL (Paris Research in Norms, Management and Law) a virtual research centre
supported by the University of Paris. He is a Fellow of the Royal Statistical Society.
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Appendix 1
The key colonial laws evaluated as secondary data sources included: the Government of India Act,
1858; the Indian Council Act, 1909; the Colonisation of Land Act, 1912; the Government of India
Act, 1915; the Indian Civil Service (Temporary Provisions) Bill 1915; the Government of India Act,
1919; the Workmens Compensation Act, 1923; the Government of India (Civil Services) Act 1925;
Trade Union Act, 1926; the Factories Act, 1934; the Government of India Act, 1935; Payment of
Wages Act 1936; Industrial Employment (Standing Orders) Act 1946; and Industrial Dispute
Act 1947.
484
A.A. Jhatial et al.
The post-colonial legal frameworks of the government of Pakistan under analysis include: the
Constitution of Pakistan, 1956; Industrial Disputes Ordinance, 1959; the Trade Union (Amendment)
Ordinance, 1960; the Constitution of Pakistan, 1962; the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of
Pakistan, 1973; the 18th Amendment Bill 2010; the Civil Servants Act, 1973; the Service Tribunals
Act of 1973; University Ordinance, 1973; the Banks (Nationalisation) Act, 1974; the Civil
Establishment Code (ESTACODE); the Federal Public Service Commission (Composition and
Condition of Service) Regulations, 1978; the Federal Public Service Commission (Functions) Rules,
1978; the Rules for Competitive Examination, 2009; the Industrial Relations Ordinance (IRO), 1969,
2002, 2008; Industrial Relations (Interim) Act, 2008; Labour Force Surveys, 2007 2008; Sacked
Employees (Reinstatement) Bill, 2010.

Rhetorics and Realities of Management

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Rhetorics and realities of management

Ashique Ali Jhatial , Nelarine Cornelius & James Wallace

Sindh University, Institute of Commerce, Jamshoro, Pakistan

School of Management, University of Bradford, Emm Lane,

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Business History, 2014

Rhetorics and realities of management practices in Pakistan: Colonial,

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A.A. Jhatial et al.

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A.A. Jhatial et al.

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Regional quota system in central government in Pakistan (September 1948).

A.A. Jhatial et al.

Table 2. Regional quota system in central government in Pakistan (November 1949).

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Source: Waseem, Affirmative Action.

Population, quota and employment in the federal government.

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Sindh-Rural 60% respectively), 11.5% to Khyber Pakhtunkhawa, 6% to Balochistan, 4%

Ethnic origins of the top civil bureaucrats in 1973.

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A.A. Jhatial et al.

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The incidence of golden handshakes.

Percentage opting for golden handshake

Source: Privatisation Commission of Pakistan.

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A.A. Jhatial et al.

Pakistans CPI rating.

Pakistans score out of 10

Source: Transparency International.

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A.A. Jhatial et al.

Table 7. Population and labour force.

187,342,721 (July 2011 est.)

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Sources: Labour Force Survey 200708; Ghayur, Evolution; CADTM 2008.

Table 9. Ethnic make-up of the Pakistani military.

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Source: Siddiqa, Military Inc.

Maj. General and above

Source: Siddiqa, Military Inc.

A.A. Jhatial et al.

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Table 11. Land allotments to military personnel, 1965 2004.

Source: Siddiqa, Military Inc.

Military influences on Pakistani public sector HRM systems

Table 12. Ethnic composition of PIAC employees.

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Source: PIACs unpublished employment statistics.

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A.A. Jhatial et al.

Militarisation, the state and enterprises in the post-9/11 period

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