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This chapter examines contemporary labor-management relations in autocratic regimes, drawing on two sets of countries, namely transitional peripheral economies in Central Asia (Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan) and hierarchical market economies in Latin America (Colombia and Honduras), for analysis. We discuss the political economy, work, and labor relations of these countries, highlighting the role of the state, business, and international non-government organizations. We also take into account the impact of large-scale (often in millions) migration of workers both internally within the country and cross-border. It is important to note that, just as there are different types of democratic systems, there are also different types of autocratic regimes with distinct political, economic, and social policy orientations, and this directly impacts the nature of labor relations. Under Latin American right-wing authoritarianism, a primary focus is on supporting a relatively small property-owning elite, and any countervailing worker power is seen as a direct attack on the latter. Even if workers have employment rights under the law, this zero-sum game view frequently results in extra-legal attacks on worker activists and their representatives, making union organization an extremely dangerous business. In contrast, the Central Asian autocracies, business elites are tied up within extended clan networks. Especially within Uzbekistan, a much closer emphasis has been placed on the provision of a critical mass of jobs as a means of buying political stability. Unions have been afforded a place in the system both for historical reasons and as proof of an ability to create a critical mass of decent work; at the same time, there is little room for union autonomy.

Adopting a largely institutional theoretical perspective, this chapter focuses on emerging and developing economies in Africa and Asia, including labor-management relations in South Africa and other jurisdictions in both Africa and Asia. The aim is to assess the effects of changes in the labor markets and regulatory institutions pertaining to employment relations. Whilst other theoretical lenses such as socio-cultural and cross-cultural management and postcolonial approaches are important, this chapter critically evaluates the institutional effects relating to changes in the nature of work and the effects of external factors on market and employment relations institutions. Providing a definitional overview, this chapter discusses empirical evidence on determinants and outcomes of institutions. Though referring to other regions such as Latin America, in order to narrow the scope of analysis, the analysis focuses on two major emerging and developing economic regions, namely Asia and Africa. It includes a discussion of the Africa-Asia nexus or Sino-Africa interface in labor-management relations. Labor market institutions, their relative strengths and weaknesses, trade unions and collective bargaining, inequality and informalization of employment practices, are discussed.

The outsourcing of HR activities is a management strategy that may be adopted in response to a number of pressures that an organization is faced with. It is one aspect of business process outsourcing that is increasingly deployed by firms in order to enhance their organizational competitiveness. HR outsourcing can be defined as ‘placing responsibility for various elements of the HR function with a third-party provider’ (Turnbull, 2002, p.11). In spite of the perceived benefits of HR outsourcing and its growth predicted by consultancy firms and HR outsourcing market leaders, the growth of outsourcing remains cautious and the benefits of doing so prove limited. This paper provides an overview of reasons why firms outsource their HR activities, its growth trends, organizational change that may be triggered by the outsourcing decision, and the challenges that are presented to the HR function and professionals as a result. The paper argues that a number of conceptual ambiguities and operational pitfalls may dampen the effectiveness of HR outsourcing for user organizations.