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Sifarish: Understanding the Ethical Versus Unethical Use of Network-Based Hiring in Pakistan

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Abstract

The role of affective ties and informal social networks in management practices is recognised across many parts of the world; guanxi in China, yongo in Korea, blat in Russia and wasta in the Arab World are some manifestations. This paper explores the role of such informal networks in Pakistan by studying the role of sifarish—the act of achieving ends on the basis of network connections—in hiring in Pakistan using thematic analysis of inductively collected qualitative data from 104 individuals from four large organisations. Using social network and social capital theory, the paper highlights the key characteristics of affective networks in Pakistan, comparing them to social networks in other cultural settings. Further, the concept of ethical relativism is used to create a distinction between ethical and unethical sifarish. Thus, the paper enhances understanding of HRM in Pakistan, and contributes towards the literature on cross-cultural HRM, social networks and ethical relativism.

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Notes

  1. Interviews were also carried out with specialists of other HR areas for the larger study.

  2. In the data collected for the complete project, friendships built within the organisation were found to have a strong impact on other HR practices, such as performance management and allocation of trainings. However, friendships were not highlighted for recruitment and selection.

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Acknowledgements

This research is funded by HEC TRGP-III/954 Grant.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. FAST School of Management, National University of Computer and Emerging Sciences, A.K. Brohi Road, H-11/4, Islamabad, Pakistan

    Sadia Nadeem & Neelab Kayani

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  1. Sadia Nadeem
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  2. Neelab Kayani
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Correspondence to Sadia Nadeem.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical approval

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Declaration of Helsinki and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

Informed Consent

Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

Appendix

Appendix

See Table 5.

Table 5 Details of Interview and Focus Group Participants
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Nadeem, S., Kayani, N. Sifarish: Understanding the Ethical Versus Unethical Use of Network-Based Hiring in Pakistan. J Bus Ethics 158, 969–982 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-017-3709-x

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