The perceived fairness of ethnic ties-based hiring and promotion in Chadian PSOs

This thesis examines the use of ethnic ties in hiring and promotion and its perceived fairness within the multi-ethnic Chadian Public Sector Organisations. The role of social ties in hiring and promotion has been a subject of debate. On the one hand, it is characterised as nepotism or favouritism and perceived as unfair and undermining organisational effectiveness. On the other hand, it can also be understood through the lens of social capital, where social ties are conceived as a valued resource, opening the door for jobs and career opportunities. Furthermore, cross-cultural studies on informal ties add to this nuanced view of social ties by highlighting its cultural and institutional embeddedness (e.g., Wasta). Hence, while research points to their constructed nature in different cultural settings, the ambivalence around them also raises a concomitant question regarding their perceived fairness.

Drawing on Holstein & Gubrium’s (2011) interpretive practice and semi-structured interviews with employees in selected Chadian PSOs, the present study examines the interplay between how employees constitute their experience of ethnic ties-based hiring and promotion and the discursive resources they draw on to form and rationalise their perceptions of fairness.

The findings show the existence of multiple logics underpinning the use of ethnic ties in hiring and promotion, drawing our attention to their multifaceted nature and the inadequacy of viewing them through the singular lens of either nepotism or social capital. Their perceived fairness is further found to be constructed at the intersection of three discourses reflecting competing demands. These discourses encompass the instrumental ones of merit and equal opportunities and a normalising one of communal solidarity based on the core values of solidarity, interdependence, and social harmony that reflect Indigenous African cultural values. The study’s findings, therefore, show how individuals’ perceptions of fairness regarding the role of ethnic ties in hiring and promotion are informed by a combination of instrumental and communitarian values that are shaped by the wider cultural setting within which they are located and that a derived etic approach is a fairer way forward in research.