Abstract
In view of the importance of the human asset to the South African economy, the major crises facing South African managers in the human resources area are discussed, together with possible solutions to these problems. The six major components of the human resources crisis, as perceived by the author, are related in a matrix to 11 major challenges or opportunities for management, in the handling of these problems. The crisis components discussed are: actual and potential large-scale black unemployment; a shortage of skilled and semi-skilled labour; a shortage of supervisory and middle management; socio-political wage pressure; strikes; and problems relating to cultural differences. The challenges facing business include: the promotion of entrepreneurship; developing greater understanding of cultural differences; development and retraining; skills training; selling the free enterprise system; the creation of jobs; effective delegation, communication, control and feedback; improved union negotiation; improved industrial relations; increased productivity; and the development of strategies and plans to prevent a greater crisis.
Highlights
In view of the importance of the human asset to the South African economy, the major crises facing South African managers in the human resources area are discussed, together with possible solutions to these problems
One must obviously look to the broader political structure of South African society in order to understand these problems and to seek their ultimate remedy in the long term, I shall concentrate on the challenges and opportunities they present to business in the short term
In the wake of the recommendations put forward by the Wiehahn Commission, and with increasing pressure from international companies for the abolition of job reservation and for the institutionalization of equal job opportunities for all, much has been said and written about the problems confronted by the non-white manager, and in particular the black manager, within the South African context
Summary
'One hears a great deal about South Africa's mineral wealth and the importance this has both for this country and for the West. Capital and material resources as the three major variables of production, one can understand the crisis in terms of a breakdown in the relationship between these three The reasons for such a breakdown lie, in the structure of South African society (that is, in a racially-divided system which through historical legislation has given rise to problems such as unequal education, wage discrimination and unemployment in the human-resources area), and with management, the regulators or co-ordinators of the variables of production. One must obviously look to the broader political structure of South African society in order to understand these problems and to seek their ultimate remedy in the long term, I shall concentrate on the challenges and opportunities they present to business in the short term. The six main components of the crisis are listed along the horizontal axis and the 11 major challenges and opportunities for business along the vertical axis; and the matrix highlights the relationship between the two
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