Human Resources Practices and Employees Quality of Life in Tanzania Mining Industry: A Qualitative Study
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.53819/81018102t2083Abstract
The purpose of this study was to determine the effect Human Resource Practices on mineworkers Quality of Life in the mining industry. A multiple-case study research design in a single industry was adopted. Qualitative data from multiple sources were collected through interview, focus group discussion and observation. The study found that in Mererani mines workers are not properly trained, adequately compensated, given employment contracts, and there is no appraisal of performance conducted on employee. The outcome is that mineworkers lack job skills, better pay, and many have succumbed to death and injuries. This has affected their quality of life as majority are unable to meet the costs of medical care, education of their children, housing, water supply, and other social amenities. The study presents new data that contributes to theoretical development of economic variant of social exchange theory, an area that has been largely underdeveloped. It is recommended that Human resource practitioners and policy makers in organizations should design HR practices that enhances workers needs and organizational requirements in order to achieve performance. The collection of data from Tanzanite mines only limits the generalization of findings to other settings.
Keywords - Human Resource Management, Human Resource Practices, Quality of Life, Mineworkers, Tanzanite
References
Abdul-Hakim, R., Ismail, R. and Abdul-Razak, N. (2010). The relationship between social capital and quality of life among rural households in Terengganu, Malaysia. OIDA International Journal of Sustainable Development, Vol. 01 No. 5, pp. 1923-6662
Abrahamsson, L. and Johansson, J. (2005). From Grounded Skills to Sky Qualifications: A Study of Workers Creating and Recreating Qualifications, Identity and Gender at an Underground Iron Ore Mine in Sweden. Journal of Industrial Relations, Vol. 48 No.5, pp. 657–676. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022185606070110
Amnesty International (2016). Smoke and Mirrors: Lonmin’s failure to address housing conditions at Marikana. A Report
Aryee, S.; Budhwar, P. and Chen, Z. (2002). Trust as a mediator of the relationship between organizational justice and work outcomes: test of a social exchange model. Journal of Organizational Behavior. Vol. 23, pp. 267–285
Becker, B. and Gerhart, B. (1996). The Impact of Human Resource Management on Organizational Performance: Progress and Prospects. The Academy of Management Journal, Vol. 39, No.4, pp.779-801
Celmaa, R., Martinez-Garciab,E., and Rayaaa, J.M. (2018).Socially responsible practices and their effects on employees ’wellbeing: Empirical evidence from Catalonia, Spain European Research on Management and Business Economics, Vol. 24, pp.82–89
Coens, T and Jenkins, M. (2000). Abolishing performance appraisals: Why they backfire and what to do instead. San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler.
Creswell, J. W. (2014). Research design: qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches- 4th ed. SAGE Publications, Inc.
Cronje,F., Kane-Berman, B. and Moloi, L. (Eds) (2014). Digging for Development: The mining industry in South Africa and its role in socio-economic development. A report prepared by South African Institute of Race Relations, Johannesburg, 2092 South Africa
Daniels, K. (2000): Measures of five aspects of affective well-being at work. In: Human Relations. https://doi.org/10.1177/a010564
Dawson, S., Manderson, L., and Tallo, V. (1993). A Manual for the Use of Focus Groups. Boston: International Nutrition Foundation for Developing Countries (INFDC).
Gerhart, B. (2004). Research on human resources and effectiveness: Selected methodological challenges, HRM: What's next? Rotterdam, The Netherlands: Erasmus University.
Guest, D. (2002) Human Resource management, Corporate performance and employee wellbeing: Building the worker into HRM. The Journal of Industrial Relations, Vol. 44 No. 3, pp. 335-358. https://doi.org/10.1177/1111/1748-8583.12139
Guest, D. (2017). Human resource management and employee well-being: Towards a new analytic framework. Human Resource Management Journal, Vol. 27, pp. 22-3. https://doi.org/10.1177/1111/1748-8583.12139
Helliesen, M. S. (2012). Tangled up in Blue: Tanzanite Mining and Conflict in Merelani, Tanzania Critical African Studies, Vol. 4 No.7, pp. 58-93. https://doi.org/10.1080/21681392.2012.10597799
Holliday, C., Schmidheiny, S. and Watts, P. (2002), Walking the Talk - The Business Case for Sustainable Development. London: Greenleaf Publishing.
Honig, B. and Zeng, Z (2016). A study of living wage effects on employees’ performance-related attitudes and behavior. Canadian Journal of Administrative Sciences Revue. Wiley Online Library DOI: 10.1002/CJAS.1375
Huselid, M.A. (1995). The impact of human resource management practices on turnover, productivity, and corporate financial performance. Academy of Management Journal, Vol. 38, pp. 635–672
ILO (1999). Small-scale mining on the increase in developing countries. Press release. Available at:http://www.ilo.org/global/about-the-ilo/media-centre/press-eleases/WCMS_007929/lang-en/index.htm
Karabasevic, D., Stanujkic, D., Urosevic, S. and Maksimovic, M. (2015). Selection of Candidates in the Mining Industry based on the application of the SWARA and the MULTIMOORA Methods, Acta Montanistica Slovaca , Vol. 20 No. 2, pp. 116-124
Kerce, E. W. (1992). Quality of Life: Meaning, Measurement, and Models. Navy Personnel Research arid Development Center San Diego, California 92152-6800. https://doi.org/10.21236/ADA250813
Khatri, N. and Budhwar, P.S. (2001). A Study of Strategic HR issues in an Asian context. Personnel review, Vol.3, No. 2, pp 166-188
Kowalski, T.H and Loretto, W. (2017). Well-being and HRM in the changing workplace. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, Vol. 28 No. 16, pp. 2229-2255
Koyi, G. (2016). Working and Living Conditions of Workers in the Mining Sector in Zambia Wage Indicator 2019 - ALREI.org
Lange, S. (2006). Benefit Streams from Mining in Tanzania: Case Studies from Geira and Mererani. CMI Report 2006, 11.
Lawler, E.E III, Benson, G.S. and McDermott, M. (2012). Performance Management and Reward Systems. CEO Publication, G 12-10 (617)
Lentz, C and Erlmann, V. (1989). A Working Class in Formation? Economic Crisis and Strategies of Survival among Dagara Mine Workers in Ghana. Cahiers d'Études Africaines, Vol. 29 No.113, pp. 69-111
Lu,Y. and Marco, K.G. (2010). Gold Mining Investment Incentives in Tanzania: Current Issues and the Possible Remedies. International Journal of Business and Management, Vol. 5, No. 2. https://doi.org/10.5539/ijbm.v5n2p99
Magai, P.S. and Márquez-Velázquez, A. (2011). Tanzania’s mining sector and its implications for the country’s development. Working Paper No. 04/2011
Malisa, E. P. and Kinabo, C. P. (2005), Environmental risks for gemstone miners with reference to Merelani Tanzanite mining area, Northeastern Tanzania. Tanz. J. Sci., Vol 31 No.1, pp. 1-12
Massam, B.H (2002). Quality of life: Public planning and Private living. Progression planning, Vol. 58, pp. 141-227. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0305-9006(02)00023-5
Massey, D. (1980). Black Workers' Struggles in the Mines of South Africa, and the Response of Management. Ufahamu: A Journal of African Studies, Vol. 9, No. 3
Mbowe, W; Yabu, N, and Lugobi, M. (2016).Tanzanite Processing in Tanzania: Challenges and Opportunities, WP No 9: January 2016, Bank of Tanzania
Miles, M. B., and Huberman, A.M. (1994). Qualitative data analysis: An expanded sourcebook (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage
Nishii, L. H., Lepak, D. P., and Schneider, B. (2008). Employee attributions of the “why” of HR practices: Their effects on employee attitudes and behaviors, and customer satisfaction. Personnel Psychology, Vol. 61 No. 3, 503–545
Osterman, P (2000). Work Reorganization in an Era of Restructuring: Trends in Diffusion and Effects on Employee Welfare. Industrial and Labor Relations Review, Vol 53, No. 2, pp.179-196. https://doi.org/10.2307/2696072
Pfeffer, J. (1994). Competitive advantage through people. Boston: Harvard Business School Press.
Phillips, L.C., Shukla, G.P., Swinga, R., Mutagwaba, W. and Mchwampaka, B, Wanga, G. I, Kahyamra, G. and Keller, P. C. (2001). Tanzania's Precious Minerals Boom: Issues In Mining and Marketing. Research paper
Salim, A. (2001). Mine Workers: Working and Living Conditions. Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI). Working Paper Series No. 62
Schuler, R. S. and Jackson, S. E. (1987). Linking Competitive Strategies with Human Resource Management Practices. The Academy of Management Executive, Vol.1 No. 3, pp. 207-219. https://doi.org/10.5465/ame.1987.4275740
Shaw, J. D., Dineen, B. R., Fang, R., & Vellella, R. F. (2009). Employee-organization exchange relationships, HRM practices, and quit rates of good and poor performers. Academy of Management Journal, Vol. 52 No. 5, pp. 1016–1033.
Shivji, I. G., Law, State and the Working Class in Tanzania, James Currey Ltd, London, 1986
Sosy, J.J. (2013). Socio-economic constraints among local artisanal miners in Simanjiro District, Tanzania, Sokoine University of Agriculture. Unpublished Master’s Thesis
Spector, P.E. (1986). Perceived control by employees: A meta-analysis of studies concerning autonomy and participation at work. In: Human Relations, Vol. 39, pp. 1005-1018
Stewart, P. (2013). Kings of the Mine: Rock Drill Operators and the 2012 Strike Wave on South African Mines, South African Review of Sociology, Vol. 44 No.3, pp. 42-63. https://doi.org/10.1080/21528586.2013.817049
United Republic of Tanzania. (2016). Tanzania Minerals Audit Agency (TMAA) Annual report, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
United Republic of Tanzania. (2020). Madini News, 2020
World Health Organization (1998). Development of the World Health Organization WHOQOL-BREF quality of life assessment. Psychol. Med. Vol. 28, pp. 551–558.
World health Organization (2014). Mental health: a state of well-being (online). Available at: http://www.who.int/features/factfiles/mental.health/en/n
Yin, R.K. (2011). Qualitative Research from Start to Finish. The Guilford Press, New York
Abrahamsson, L. and Johansson, J. (2005). From Grounded Skills to Sky Qualifications: A Study of Workers Creating and Recreating Qualifications, Identity and Gender at an Underground Iron Ore Mine in Sweden. Journal of Industrial Relations, Vol. 48 No.5, pp. 657–676. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022185606070110
Amnesty International (2016). Smoke and Mirrors: Lonmin’s failure to address housing conditions at Marikana. A Report
Aryee, S.; Budhwar, P. and Chen, Z. (2002). Trust as a mediator of the relationship between organizational justice and work outcomes: test of a social exchange model. Journal of Organizational Behavior. Vol. 23, pp. 267–285
Becker, B. and Gerhart, B. (1996). The Impact of Human Resource Management on Organizational Performance: Progress and Prospects. The Academy of Management Journal, Vol. 39, No.4, pp.779-801
Celmaa, R., Martinez-Garciab,E., and Rayaaa, J.M. (2018).Socially responsible practices and their effects on employees ’wellbeing: Empirical evidence from Catalonia, Spain European Research on Management and Business Economics, Vol. 24, pp.82–89
Coens, T and Jenkins, M. (2000). Abolishing performance appraisals: Why they backfire and what to do instead. San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler.
Creswell, J. W. (2014). Research design: qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches- 4th ed. SAGE Publications, Inc.
Cronje,F., Kane-Berman, B. and Moloi, L. (Eds) (2014). Digging for Development: The mining industry in South Africa and its role in socio-economic development. A report prepared by South African Institute of Race Relations, Johannesburg, 2092 South Africa
Daniels, K. (2000): Measures of five aspects of affective well-being at work. In: Human Relations. https://doi.org/10.1177/a010564
Dawson, S., Manderson, L., and Tallo, V. (1993). A Manual for the Use of Focus Groups. Boston: International Nutrition Foundation for Developing Countries (INFDC).
Gerhart, B. (2004). Research on human resources and effectiveness: Selected methodological challenges, HRM: What's next? Rotterdam, The Netherlands: Erasmus University.
Guest, D. (2002) Human Resource management, Corporate performance and employee wellbeing: Building the worker into HRM. The Journal of Industrial Relations, Vol. 44 No. 3, pp. 335-358. https://doi.org/10.1177/1111/1748-8583.12139
Guest, D. (2017). Human resource management and employee well-being: Towards a new analytic framework. Human Resource Management Journal, Vol. 27, pp. 22-3. https://doi.org/10.1177/1111/1748-8583.12139
Helliesen, M. S. (2012). Tangled up in Blue: Tanzanite Mining and Conflict in Merelani, Tanzania Critical African Studies, Vol. 4 No.7, pp. 58-93. https://doi.org/10.1080/21681392.2012.10597799
Holliday, C., Schmidheiny, S. and Watts, P. (2002), Walking the Talk - The Business Case for Sustainable Development. London: Greenleaf Publishing.
Honig, B. and Zeng, Z (2016). A study of living wage effects on employees’ performance-related attitudes and behavior. Canadian Journal of Administrative Sciences Revue. Wiley Online Library DOI: 10.1002/CJAS.1375
Huselid, M.A. (1995). The impact of human resource management practices on turnover, productivity, and corporate financial performance. Academy of Management Journal, Vol. 38, pp. 635–672
ILO (1999). Small-scale mining on the increase in developing countries. Press release. Available at:http://www.ilo.org/global/about-the-ilo/media-centre/press-eleases/WCMS_007929/lang-en/index.htm
Karabasevic, D., Stanujkic, D., Urosevic, S. and Maksimovic, M. (2015). Selection of Candidates in the Mining Industry based on the application of the SWARA and the MULTIMOORA Methods, Acta Montanistica Slovaca , Vol. 20 No. 2, pp. 116-124
Kerce, E. W. (1992). Quality of Life: Meaning, Measurement, and Models. Navy Personnel Research arid Development Center San Diego, California 92152-6800. https://doi.org/10.21236/ADA250813
Khatri, N. and Budhwar, P.S. (2001). A Study of Strategic HR issues in an Asian context. Personnel review, Vol.3, No. 2, pp 166-188
Kowalski, T.H and Loretto, W. (2017). Well-being and HRM in the changing workplace. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, Vol. 28 No. 16, pp. 2229-2255
Koyi, G. (2016). Working and Living Conditions of Workers in the Mining Sector in Zambia Wage Indicator 2019 - ALREI.org
Lange, S. (2006). Benefit Streams from Mining in Tanzania: Case Studies from Geira and Mererani. CMI Report 2006, 11.
Lawler, E.E III, Benson, G.S. and McDermott, M. (2012). Performance Management and Reward Systems. CEO Publication, G 12-10 (617)
Lentz, C and Erlmann, V. (1989). A Working Class in Formation? Economic Crisis and Strategies of Survival among Dagara Mine Workers in Ghana. Cahiers d'Études Africaines, Vol. 29 No.113, pp. 69-111
Lu,Y. and Marco, K.G. (2010). Gold Mining Investment Incentives in Tanzania: Current Issues and the Possible Remedies. International Journal of Business and Management, Vol. 5, No. 2. https://doi.org/10.5539/ijbm.v5n2p99
Magai, P.S. and Márquez-Velázquez, A. (2011). Tanzania’s mining sector and its implications for the country’s development. Working Paper No. 04/2011
Malisa, E. P. and Kinabo, C. P. (2005), Environmental risks for gemstone miners with reference to Merelani Tanzanite mining area, Northeastern Tanzania. Tanz. J. Sci., Vol 31 No.1, pp. 1-12
Massam, B.H (2002). Quality of life: Public planning and Private living. Progression planning, Vol. 58, pp. 141-227. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0305-9006(02)00023-5
Massey, D. (1980). Black Workers' Struggles in the Mines of South Africa, and the Response of Management. Ufahamu: A Journal of African Studies, Vol. 9, No. 3
Mbowe, W; Yabu, N, and Lugobi, M. (2016).Tanzanite Processing in Tanzania: Challenges and Opportunities, WP No 9: January 2016, Bank of Tanzania
Miles, M. B., and Huberman, A.M. (1994). Qualitative data analysis: An expanded sourcebook (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage
Nishii, L. H., Lepak, D. P., and Schneider, B. (2008). Employee attributions of the “why” of HR practices: Their effects on employee attitudes and behaviors, and customer satisfaction. Personnel Psychology, Vol. 61 No. 3, 503–545
Osterman, P (2000). Work Reorganization in an Era of Restructuring: Trends in Diffusion and Effects on Employee Welfare. Industrial and Labor Relations Review, Vol 53, No. 2, pp.179-196. https://doi.org/10.2307/2696072
Pfeffer, J. (1994). Competitive advantage through people. Boston: Harvard Business School Press.
Phillips, L.C., Shukla, G.P., Swinga, R., Mutagwaba, W. and Mchwampaka, B, Wanga, G. I, Kahyamra, G. and Keller, P. C. (2001). Tanzania's Precious Minerals Boom: Issues In Mining and Marketing. Research paper
Salim, A. (2001). Mine Workers: Working and Living Conditions. Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI). Working Paper Series No. 62
Schuler, R. S. and Jackson, S. E. (1987). Linking Competitive Strategies with Human Resource Management Practices. The Academy of Management Executive, Vol.1 No. 3, pp. 207-219. https://doi.org/10.5465/ame.1987.4275740
Shaw, J. D., Dineen, B. R., Fang, R., & Vellella, R. F. (2009). Employee-organization exchange relationships, HRM practices, and quit rates of good and poor performers. Academy of Management Journal, Vol. 52 No. 5, pp. 1016–1033.
Shivji, I. G., Law, State and the Working Class in Tanzania, James Currey Ltd, London, 1986
Sosy, J.J. (2013). Socio-economic constraints among local artisanal miners in Simanjiro District, Tanzania, Sokoine University of Agriculture. Unpublished Master’s Thesis
Spector, P.E. (1986). Perceived control by employees: A meta-analysis of studies concerning autonomy and participation at work. In: Human Relations, Vol. 39, pp. 1005-1018
Stewart, P. (2013). Kings of the Mine: Rock Drill Operators and the 2012 Strike Wave on South African Mines, South African Review of Sociology, Vol. 44 No.3, pp. 42-63. https://doi.org/10.1080/21528586.2013.817049
United Republic of Tanzania. (2016). Tanzania Minerals Audit Agency (TMAA) Annual report, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
United Republic of Tanzania. (2020). Madini News, 2020
World Health Organization (1998). Development of the World Health Organization WHOQOL-BREF quality of life assessment. Psychol. Med. Vol. 28, pp. 551–558.
World health Organization (2014). Mental health: a state of well-being (online). Available at: http://www.who.int/features/factfiles/mental.health/en/n
Yin, R.K. (2011). Qualitative Research from Start to Finish. The Guilford Press, New York
Downloads
Published
2022-08-04
How to Cite
Kiowi, L. O. (2022). Human Resources Practices and Employees Quality of Life in Tanzania Mining Industry: A Qualitative Study . Journal of Human Resource & Leadership, 6(2), 89–105. https://doi.org/10.53819/81018102t2083
Issue
Section
Articles
