Towards an Indigenous Perspective on HRM: A Study of Textile Industry of Pakistan

The purpose of this study was to identify external and internal forces shaping HRM practices in textile industry of Pakistan. The study aimed at describing the context-specific HRM practices in textile industry. Interviews were used as a source of primary data collection. Taking Faisalabad city as a case, top HRM officials from ten respondent organizations in textile industry were interviewed. An interpretive approach to research design was adopted using ‘human as an instrument’ for data analysis. Findings suggest that due to extensive competition in last few years HR planning has received serious attention in textile industry. Countries like China, India, and Bangladesh are posing huge threats to the industry. The industry is at best dominated by family owned businesses and now the young generation, after education from abroad, is taking charge of their parents. Assumptions about workers are getting transformed. Fresh leaders are thinking different from their predecessors. However, there is a state of inertia in textile industry where young leaders have an uphill task ahead to remove the obstacles in the course of change.