Benevolent authoritarianism, paternalism and religious humanitarianism in Sri Lanka: a dependent or autonomous HR?

Article


Hettiarachchi, C., Parsa, S. and Roper, I. 2024. Benevolent authoritarianism, paternalism and religious humanitarianism in Sri Lanka: a dependent or autonomous HR? The International Journal of Human Resource Management. 35 (20), pp. 3475-3495. https://doi.org/10.1080/09585192.2024.2421343
TypeArticle
TitleBenevolent authoritarianism, paternalism and religious humanitarianism in Sri Lanka: a dependent or autonomous HR?
AuthorsHettiarachchi, C., Parsa, S. and Roper, I.
Abstract

This article examines the cases of five Sri Lankan export-oriented companies, each situated within global production networks (GPN) with British companies at the apex. In examining their managerial practices, a strong similarity to the practices associated with Anglo-Saxon paternalism is identified. However, these observed parallels are a product of local circumstances and the particular location within the GPN rather than a consequence of any emulation of British practices. The resulting system reflects a high power-dependency relationship that employers hold over ­employees. In this sense, the emergent HR system is partly dependent on the position in the GPN and partly autonomous. The system is characterised by a gendered division of labour and by the proximity of managerial oversight over the issue of worker autonomy. The factory setting has lower levels of worker autonomy and dependency compared to tea harvesting. One outlying exception to the general paternalistic approach, in one of the companies studied, is where the religious and ethnic makeup of the workforce is not shared with management, leading to increased conflict with the unionised workforce. The nature of Sri Lankan paternalism is specific and endogenous, but the conditions creating this paternalism are likely to be replicated elsewhere.

KeywordsPaternalism; Sri Lanka; Global Production Networks; Benevolent Authoritarianism; Global South
Sustainable Development Goals8 Decent work and economic growth
Middlesex University ThemeSustainability
PublisherTaylor & Francis (Routledge)
JournalThe International Journal of Human Resource Management
ISSN0958-5192
Electronic1466-4399
Publication dates
Online29 Oct 2024
Print12 Nov 2024
Publication process dates
Submitted23 Aug 2023
Accepted19 Oct 2024
Deposited04 Nov 2024
Output statusPublished
Publisher's version
License
File Access Level
Open
Copyright Statement

© 2024 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, and is not altered, transformed, or built upon in any way. The terms on which this article has been published allow the posting of the Accepted Manuscript in a repository by the author(s) or with their consent.

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)https://doi.org/10.1080/09585192.2024.2421343
LanguageEnglish
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