La Inspección en la Ley Moyano (1857)

The work of Agnaia (1997) is informative and allows some idea of the culture of training within Libyan organisations in the 1980’s it can be established from Agnaia’s research, that between 1967 and 1980, 1,943 Libyans were trained in management subjects by universities, 4,181 were trained in training centres and 2,839 were trained in secretarial skills and printing. During the period 1981-1985, almost 500 Libyans attended courses lasting from six months to one year in the National Institute for Administration, and this institute also contributed towards developing management staff in different sectors, by implementing an annual policy that aimed to develop at least 15% of Libyan employees at different levels of management. Libya gave special

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importance to investment in Human Resources, prioritising this in order to prepare and train all of its manpower, and to increase the percentage of Libyans, especially women, with the essential skills. However, in spite of increasing the output of education and training, many sectors remained in need of specialised and qualified local manpower, and the country was still dependent on foreign workers in many parts of the economy, since it faced the problem of the small size of its population, which affected the manpower available for the development programme in different fields.

Agnaia’s (1997) study also highlighted the fact that Libyan industrial companies, like those in many other developing countries, are owned, managed and supervised by government institutions, and consequently the management development units within these companies are negatively influenced. He further suggested that certain social, economic and political factors imposed constraints in this respect and hampered the achievement of management development goals. Agnaia’s recommendation that more attention should be given to these environmental factors, as well as to the, cultural and organisational structure of companies and their effects on employees and the people who are needed to train them, is one with which the research is in complete agreement. According to Agnaia (1997 p. 117)

“…There is a great deal of interest in studying and analysing the forces influencing organizations, human attitudes/behaviour and the environment which put constraints on the organization and its members, because they must be taken into consideration if the individuals/organizations want to survive”.

This situation according to Agnaia could be considered as one of the reasons why MD programmes in Arab countries find it hard to achieve their objectives. Finally Agnaia pointed out that management training in Libya, as a system, can only succeed in its purpose, if the managers and leaders it creates can deal with the external environment in the country and respond to it in the appropriate way. The work of Agnaia (1997) is informative and allows some idea of the culture of training within Libyan organisations in the 1980’s. Agnaia’s (1997) study also highlighted the fact that Libyan industrial companies, like those in many other developing countries, are owned, managed and supervised by government institutions, and consequently the management development units within these companies are negatively influenced. Finally (Agnaia 1997) pointed out that management training in Libya, as a system, can only succeed in its purpose, if

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the managers and leaders it creates can deal with the external environment in the country and respond to it in the appropriate way.

Libya as a developing transitional country is modernising business practices to become more competitive in the emerging global economic environment, however it is a confronted with major challenges, such as high rates of illiteracy and unemployment that are related to the development of workplace expertise and therefore the emergence of HRD. The process of human resource development unlocks the door to modernisation and the operational boundaries of HRD are extended beyond the organisation and the development of individuals within the organisation. HRD becomes a major contributor to national development and competitiveness. Although the concepts and principles of HRD may be similar throughout the world, the way in which HRD is practiced may differ greatly due to differences in culture. The liberalisation of Libyan industry is a place to start.

4.5. Conclusions

Previous research studies looked at management in hierarchically structured organisations operating in relatively stable environments however it is apparent that the development of any country 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. Furthermore Sutherland (2003) believes that the effectiveness of the managerial workforce will also help a nation to solve economic, social and even political problems

Globalization and HRD have become growing areas of intellectual inquiry, according to Metcalfe and Rees (2005) and there is now a greater awareness of the critical importance of human resources. Even though political as well as economic freedoms have proven to be essential to the development of any society, human resource development is critical in building upon these opportunities. Companies throughout the world must now recognise that the ability to compete globally will be very dependent on the quality and level of global training in their organisation. According to Ramirez (2004) there is a particular concern whether or not national context plays a significant

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role in determining management training and development practices with the growing influence of multinational corporations and the opening of world markets.

Management Development (MD) is now being seen much more as the bridge between organisational development which emphasise the needs of an organisation to grow and change, and self-development which focuses on ways in which an individual can help themselves to grow and change in ways which are of benefit to their own career aspirations (Woodall & Winstanley 1998). There is a need for a more pluralist understanding of MD according to Burgoyne and Jackson (1997) in order to appreciate political dynamics and the cultural and symbolic context in which it occurs. In collectivistic cultures MD is used as a tool to motivate employees and reward loyalty and commitment, in fatalistic cultures however managers assume that employees, by nature, have limited capacity that cannot be improved according to Mabey & Finch- Lees (2008). In cultures where there is a heavy emphasis on performance excellence and quality, there is a large budgetary allocation to and widespread application of training and development activities. In performance-oriented cultural contexts, training and development are primarily geared towards improving individual or team performance Aycan et al. (2000). Additionally there is a concern to attribute organisational benefits to effective management or management development; because such activities are expensive, time-consuming and often high-profile Mabey & Finch-Lees (2008).Therefore there is a need to demonstrate that such investments are worthwhile.

According to (Woodall & Winstanley, 1998) the formalised and highly structured approaches currently adopted for MD may not be able to cope with the growing complexity and diversity that is becoming a characteristic of modern organisations. What is required is a more contingent, holistic and systemic approach that links management development more firmly to a wider consideration of contextual influences and the unique context in which organisations are embedded (Doyle, 1995; 2000). In order to do this, what is needed is a MD policy tailored to suit the contextual influences individual organisations face. MD must be viewed by organisations as a long-term investment and a key part of their human resource development, individual organisations must select an approach to MD that is suited to their specific needs, if it is not to be undermined and discredited (Roberts & McDonald, 1995; Currie, 1999). It is therefore vital that organisations have an MD policy, which is a working document that

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can be referred to when an organisation needs guidance on achieving objectives or goals.

Most organisations have now accepted the fact that it is essential to recognise that MD is more than a tactical or knee-jerk response to a skills gap and are increasingly using it as part of a wider strategy to achieve their longer-term aspirations (Mabey & Finch- Lees 2008). There is a strong desire by many developing countries to import Western (mainly Anglo-Saxon) conceptions and models of MD and utilise them as powerful tools in their quest for social and economic transformation and renewal. It must be noted however that although these models are considered to be in a dominant position efforts to import them by different countries have not been entirely successful.

The main force driving the development of managers in transitional countries like Libya is the rapid transition from a centrally planned to a market-based economy. However, in a number of cases of this type, Western models of MD have been found wanting as they have failed to adapt to local economic, political and social conditions (Kwiatkowski & Kozminski, 1992). Western ‘recipes for success’ may therefore be accused of failing because they do not take into account the context confronting them, they lack strategic credibility, and they have not responded to the variations in learning styles of local managers (Lee, 1995; Redman et al., 1995; Hollingshead and Michailova, 2001).

Although there is very little research material on MD management in the Middle-East, ther research that has been carried out tended to concentrate on public sector studies Abu Doleh (1996), and how MD attracted no support by senior management Al-Faleh (1987). This is despite the fact that Ejigu and Sherif (1994) point out, that much attention has been given MD in Arab countries. Management Development in these countries has only recently become a priority as its importance is recognised for the success of economic and social development. Arab countries, including Libya, implemented training for both present and future managers in order to provide them with knowledge and skills, which would increase human abilities, and enable them, to create and maintain their position in a continually changing world.

The external environment in Libya was discussed earlier in the literature review (see section 4.4.8) and amongst the most recent significant changes, is the fact that central command or high government interference to an economic system where market driven

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forces rather than government sponsored and protected initiatives drive the economy. As a result, central governments control over HRM practices has been greatly reduced and further, economic liberalisation has had a strong impact on HRM systems. Of course the HRM policies in Libya have to be established in relation to the socio-cultural context within which organisations operate and take account of the national culture, political, and economic conditions and the legal system, as well as Islam.

In the next chapter research methodology employed for this study is discussed. It also contains a review of research methods, their advantages and disadvantages. It describes the research philosophy, research approach, research design, and data collection methods employed in this study. Additionally, it provides a justification for adopting each of these, and finally details the data collection method and the tools of analysis utilised to carryout the research.

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