Hjerneflukt fra utviklingsland kan stoppes med arbeidsmiljøtiltak

Ndikumana David Emmanuel har forsket på hvordan ledelse av menneskelige ressurser (HRM) påvirker flyttemønstrene til leger i Tanzania.

Hjerneflukt fra utviklingsland er en kjent global problemstilling som også rammer Tanzania. Emmanuels forskning tyder på at den rådende antakelsen om at migrasjon blant høyere utdannede i stor grad er forårsaket av sterke økonomiske motiver ikke stemmer.

Emmanuel viser i avhandlingen at sterk pliktfølelse er en bremse for utflytting – og at god HRM-ledelse blant annet ved at den enkelte blir sett og verdsatt i arbeidet kan reversere hjerneflukten - til tross for dårlige økonomiske vilkår og små ressurser.

Ndikumana David Emmanuel disputerer for ph.d.-graden med avhandlingen “The Role of Human Resource Management Practices in the Migration of Medical Doctors in Developing Countries: The Case of Tanzania” fredag 13. april 2018. Han har fulgt doktorgradsprogrammet ved Handelshøyskolen ved UiA.

Doktorgradsstudiene er finansiert av NORAD og Mzumbe University, Tanzania. Emmanuel arbeider nå som foreleser ved Mzumbe University, som er en langvarig samarbeidspartner for UiA.

Slik beskriver kandidaten selv essensen i avhandlingen:

The Role of HRM Practices on Migration of Doctors in Tanzania

International migration of skilled human resources is a key component of the globalization process. It is a key constraint to achieving health service delivery goals in both developed and less developed countries. It is indeed considered to constitute an important part of the global talent pool.

Knowledge Gap

Despite the importance of the mobility of talent to the host countries and organizations, there is still limited understanding of the forces driving human resource migration. The multidimensional nature of migration across social sciences: Economics, Geography, Sociology, and Psychology bring different theoretical premises of international migration of human resources with still limited understanding of the forces driving migration decisions. Migration studies and HRM literature tend to run along parallel tracks without informing each other.

This PhD Dissertation attempts to fill this gap by integrating organizational and HRM theories to explain the factors that influence the decision and choices of medical doctors to stay or leave Tanzania to work abroad. The migration of talent across countries represents a new and emerging area of research in international business with strong policy implications in different work settings.

Tanzania: The Research context

Data were collected in two hospitals in Tanzania (a small hospital in a distant rural area and a bigger hospital in a city setting.). The study employs an inductive approach to explain lived experiences of the participants in a developing country context.

Findings

The early literature in international HRM attributed migration to be largely driven by economic rewards. However, the findings reveal that the tendency to migrate is modified by doctors having a strong sense of duty and it may be reversed with good leadership practices such as employee recognition even in the wake of limited wages and scarce resources.

While cross cultural management literature have invariably reported expatriate failure in foreign markets due to the liability of foreignness, the present study found a greater influence of expatriate doctors in terms of capacity building of medical doctors in Tanzania through professional mentoring.

Conclusion

Collegial recognition, supportive team work and respect and fulfillment of career expectations, cultural values in terms of duty to extended family and nuclear family and a sense of duty stemming from moral satisfaction appear to have considerable influence on doctor retention.

Practical implications

Employing an explanatory study brings to light how human capital, social capital, moral satisfaction and a variety of HRM practices (e.g. leadership style, mentoring and periodic career development) offers better insights of talent management practices and enhances employee retention rate in limited resource settings.

Disputasfakta:

Kandidaten: Ndikumana David Emmanuel, født i Kibingo, Rwanda 1961, tanzaniansk statsborger. Akademisk bakgrunn: Dar es Salaam College of Education, Tanzania (Diploma in Education), Institute of Development Management Mzumbe, Tanzania (Advanced Diploma in Public Administration), Manchester University, UK, (Diploma in Advanced Study in Human Resource Studies), Manchester University, UK, (Msc. Human Resource Management). Arbeider i dag som foreleser ved Mzumbe University i Tanzania.

Prøveforelesning og disputas finner sted i Auditorium B2-006 fredag 13. april 2018

Disputasen blir ledet av instituttleder Bjørn-Tore Flåten, Institutt for strategi og ledelse.

Prøveforelesning kl 11:30

Disputas kl 13:00

Oppgitt emne for prøveforelesning: “Policy and Managerial implications of brain drain from Africa?”

Tittel på avhandling: “The Role of Human Resource Management Practices in the Migration of Medical Doctors in Developing Countries: The Case of Tanzania”

Søk etter avhandlingen i AURA - Agder University Research Archive, som er et digitalt arkiv for vitenskapelige artikler, avhandlinger og masteroppgaver fra ansatte og studenter ved Universitetet i Agder. AURA blir jevnlig oppdatert. Avhandlingen vil være tilgjengelig til utlån ved Universitetsbiblioteket. Det vil bli også lagt ut noen eksemplarer av avhandlingen til utlån i lokalet hvor disputasen finner sted.

Opponenter:

Førsteopponent: Associate professor Neema Mori, University of Dar es Salaam Business School, (UDBS), Tanzania

Annenopponent: Professor Rebecca Piekkari, Aalto University, Finland 

Bedømmelseskomitéen er ledet av professor Lars Christer Oxelheim, Institutt for strategi og ledelse, UiA

Veileder i doktorgradsarbeidet var professor Harald Knudsen, UiA