The Impact of Globalization on Industrial Relations in Kenya

Abstract

Within the era of globalization, countries and organisations mirror dominant international behaviours and translate them into local environments and workplaces. This state of affairs has tendencies to affect relationships among people in the workplace, including those of Kenya. The current study relied on a mixed method approach, which is a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods. 500 closed ended questionnaires were distributed to the employees of the sampled organisations, out of which 483 respondents satisfactorily completed their questionnaires, which represent 97% response rate. In addition, 10 key industrial relations stakeholders were interviewed. The research findings revealed that employees were indeed allowed by their supervisors to make suggestions concerning decisions that affect them, in addition to the fact that employees are consulted and their opinions are highly appreciated by management. The research further pointed out that trade unions in Kenya have indeed helped to improve the working conditions of workers, as they have been granted additional freedom to exercise their fundamental right of association, as well as opportunities to attend unions meetings to deliberate on issues that affect them. This has made more workers to join trade unions. Furthermore, the research has established that employees have been granted more freedom to take independent decisions related to their routine work activities in recent times. On the contrary, the research revealed that unilateral management decisions are commonly used to determine rewards, in additional to the fact that strike actions have increase due to poor communication between managements and unions/workers. The findings also revealed that wage disputes seem to be the greatest contributor to strikes actions in Kenya, since the dawn of globalisation.