La Constitución de Cádiz (1812) y el Informe Quintana (1813)

In conclusion, as can be seen from this review of the available literature the most critically important issue to consider in any investigation of human resource development (HRD) is does national context influence HRD practice. This is because the development of any country’s human resources will depend on the how effective organisations, industries, business, services and professionals in both public and private sectors are. Ultimately however the success of these organisations in achieving their objectives depends largely upon the effectiveness of their managers. Because managers are working in the most dynamic elements in business and industry, the performance level of such organisations depends on the intellectual capacity of these managers. Furthermore Sutherland (2003) believes that the effectiveness of the managerial workforce will also help to solve economic, social and even political problems. A was

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pointed out in the background chapter, the UNDP Report of 1994 showed that Libyan organisations face problems because of a lack of skilled managers, which affects the productivity of these organisations. The conclusion of this report was that Libya like many Arab countries has to adopt three important principles to be modernised, which are, human investment through education and training, viewing workers as intellectual assets, and implanting and nurturing innovative, developmental and cost saving behaviours in companies and government.

A much more recent factor in the development of management in Libya is the pressure being placed on oil producing countries to improve their effectiveness and increase production in order to meet the demands of the global market. Globalisation has also undoubtedly paved the way for greater cross-cultural communication and heightened greater awareness of diverse management and business values as important aspects of competitiveness at a national level, as has been pointed out by (Sklair, 2002; Sparrow et al., 2004; Kiessling & Harvey, 2005). Any attempt by a country to introduce a national human resource development (NHRD) policy must be based on the country’s population. Hence, in looking at HRD it is necessary to understand the structure of the nation, its demographics, and its other geographical and historical characteristics. In Libya the greatest geographical consideration is its oil, in the past Libya like other Arab countries were known as ‘rentier states’ because of their dependence on revenue from oil production under circumstances that did little to stimulate their overall economic development and to the detriment of other forms of production, which made them dependent on other countries for commodities.

In the last ten years there have been astonishing changes in Libya’s relations with the US and the EU these changes have brought the country out of its political and economic isolation, (Economic Research Department, 2005). The recent policy change has Libya’s economy, but also its political reputation, benefiting from this new openness. A better relationship with the EU and the US seems the only way to successfully diversify its economy. With the ending of the sanctions the Libyan government adopted a comprehensive structural reform program aimed at accelerating the transition to a market economy. The first steps on this transitional road were pointed out in a UNDP Report (2003), the report stated that Libya needed to offer an open and reliable business environment. Abbas (1996) believes that a much more significant step is paying more attention to the manager responsible for the achievement of the goals of competitiveness

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and effectiveness in various organisations. For although many developing/transitional countries, including Libya, have paid a great deal of attention to national economic and social problems, less attention has been given to managerial and organisational problems, which have an important impact on the performance of any development plans a country might have as a whole. In order for any development to succeed, a large managerial workforce needs to be developed and prepared effectively. This is because managers are working in the most dynamic elements in business and industry; the performance level of such organisations depends on the quality of their managers, and needs an effective managerial workforce that can solve economic, social and even political problems.

As a result of this literature review it appears that one of the key managerial challenges in Libya today now is to transform organisational culture to promote organisational change in order to survive the turbulent economic environment and implement successful strategies to adapt to the new market environment. In order for this to happen mangers need to acquire appropriate knowledge and skills to enable them to create solutions for their difficulties and problems and to take appropriate decisions (Agnaia,1996). In Libya management training and development has comparatively recently become an issue. The importance of human resource development came about in Libya because of its role in facilitating the social and economic development process by developing human resource it was hoped that employment opportunities for the national manpower would be created which increases every year. However the Libyan economy is emerging into the increasingly competitive international market and like other Arab societies has moved to the industrial stage without establishing the sound foundations necessary for coping with the demands of modern institutions. This situation has created serious managerial and social problems.

Lynham and Cunningham (2006) point out that here can be little doubt that the political, economic, and socio-cultural environments of any country will have an influence on the nature and role of national human resource development, and according to Bontis (2004) any Arab states looking to modernise should aim at adopting the following three principles, increasing human investment through education and training, taking the view that workers are intellectual assets; and implanting and nurturing innovative, developmental and cost saving behaviours in firms and government. The modernisation

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of these Arab states, including Libya is no longer a luxury, but rather an inevitable necessity for those that work hard to achieve prosperity and progress for their peoples.

Additionally in Libya the attempt to increase MD activity by direct government action have failed. However the influence of religion and culture cannot be disregarded. The individual has to obey, respect and preserve the rules and traditions of social units, and kinship and collective solidarity influence the selection of leaders of units and the decision -making in Libyan society (El-Fathaly & Palmer 1980). Libyan society holds local cultural specificities in high esteem, according to Teterov and Wallace (2002). Therefore it is expected that foreign businesses and businessmen, as well as tourists, respect the prevalent cultural-religious values. Arabic culture is the most dominant force on Libyan individuals and groups, people’s social values, beliefs and attitudes, state law, political and economic policies are all governed by Islamic rules.

The role of cultural differences at a national and organisational level as well as national structural differences that might affect Libyan management development are considered further in Chapter Three.

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