TY - JOUR
T1 - Legitimisation strategies and managerial capture: a critical discourse analysis of employment relations in Nigeria
AU - Oruh, Emeka
AU - Nwagbara, Uzoechi
AU - Mordi, Chima
AU - Mushfiqur, Rahman
PY - 2018/7/9
Y1 - 2018/7/9
N2 - Irrespective of the fundamental role of legitimacy in industrial relations as well as social and organisational life, little is known of the subtle meaning-making strategies through which organisational concepts, such as employment relations and engagement, are legitimised in modern world of work, particularly in developing countries such as Nigeria, which results in managerial capture. As a result, this paper explores the discursive legitimisation strategies used when making sense of employment relations in Nigeria’s conflictual, non-participatory employment relations terrain. Relying on Leeuwen’s legitimisation strategies, critical discourse analysis (CDA) and call by Bailey, Luck & Townsend and Legge to widen employment relations discourse, we explore interview, focus group and shadow report data, and distinguish and analyse five legitimisation strategies. The strategies include authorisation, moralisation, mythopoesis, rationalisation, and management. Therefore, we contend that while these specific legitimisation strategies appear in separate data source, their recurrent manifestation and application underscores legitimising discourse of managerial capture in Nigeria’s employment relations.
AB - Irrespective of the fundamental role of legitimacy in industrial relations as well as social and organisational life, little is known of the subtle meaning-making strategies through which organisational concepts, such as employment relations and engagement, are legitimised in modern world of work, particularly in developing countries such as Nigeria, which results in managerial capture. As a result, this paper explores the discursive legitimisation strategies used when making sense of employment relations in Nigeria’s conflictual, non-participatory employment relations terrain. Relying on Leeuwen’s legitimisation strategies, critical discourse analysis (CDA) and call by Bailey, Luck & Townsend and Legge to widen employment relations discourse, we explore interview, focus group and shadow report data, and distinguish and analyse five legitimisation strategies. The strategies include authorisation, moralisation, mythopoesis, rationalisation, and management. Therefore, we contend that while these specific legitimisation strategies appear in separate data source, their recurrent manifestation and application underscores legitimising discourse of managerial capture in Nigeria’s employment relations.
KW - employment relations
KW - CDA
KW - legitimacy theory
KW - legitimisation
KW - managerialism
KW - managerial capture/control
KW - employers
KW - employees
KW - Nigeria
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85049614026&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - https://bura.brunel.ac.uk/handle/2438/16244
U2 - 10.1080/09585192.2018.1474940
DO - 10.1080/09585192.2018.1474940
M3 - Article
SN - 0958-5192
JO - International Journal of Human Resource Management
JF - International Journal of Human Resource Management
ER -