Factors Hindering the Adoption of HIV/AIDS Workplace Policies: Evidence from Private Sector Companies in Malawi

HIV/AIDS has become a critical issue in the workplace. An early African contribution on the subject was made by Baruch and Clancy (2000), who acknowledge that ‘although a sensitive issue, the subject of HIV/AIDS is relevant to many aspects and facets of management, such as Equal Employment Opportunity, effectiveness, industrial relations, family studies and career systems in organizations’ (p. 789). The authors also acknowledge the dearth of literature on how organizations are managing AIDS in the African workplace. With the help of a national and international campaign, a lot has been done in setting up structures, systems and programmes for managing HIV/AIDS in the workplace and the wider society (ILO, 2001, 2006; Piot et al., 2001; Mahajan et al., 2007). There is also increasing research and knowledge of HIV/AIDS in the workplace, ranging from the academic to public policy (Dickinson and Innes, 2004; Arndt, 2006; Mahajan et al., 2007). In spite of the growing incidence of HIV/AIDS in the workplace, many organizations do not have an HIV/AIDS workplace policy. The primary aim of the chapter is to examine managerial perspective on the reasons why private sector companies in Malawi do not adopt formal HIV/AIDS workplace policy. Other related aims of the chapter are to analyse the relative significance of the factors hindering the adoption of the workplace policy, and, finally, to explore the implications of the findings for research in organizational innovation in general and African managers and HR practitioners in particular.