**3. Line manager role in HRM implementation in Nigeria**

As HRM continued to evolve in the Nigerian context, HR practices are increasingly devolved to the line managers across different types of organisations. In small enterprises, the owner-manager is responsible for HR implementation. This informal HR system the approach is most evident in the Igbo (a tribe in Nigeria) apprenticeship the system, "a communal enterprising framework where successful businesses develop

#### *Perceptions of and Reactions to the HR Implementation Process in Nigeria DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.110321*

others and overtime provides capital and gives away their customers to the new business" ([39] p. 1). Typically, a business owner recruits an apprentice, mainly through family and social connections, and provides vocational training through peer mentoring, rewarding the apprentice based on traditional values of communitarianism. This system is considered to ensure the stability and longevity of family business networks and performance. On the other hands, large corporations such as energy, banking, and the telecommunication sector, etc., have a formal approach to HR implementation, with HR departments and line managers playing key roles in HR enactment. For example, Jimoh, and Danlami [40] reported that, in Nigeria's manufacturing sectors, HR practices such as employee training, recruitment, and selection of new employees, performance appraisal, and design job roles are increasingly devolved to the line managers (with the coordination of the HR department) because they consider HR devolution as part of their HR strategy. In the banking sector, however, line managers' role in the HR implementation is limited to on-the-job training, employee relation, performance appraisal, and individualised pay awards while the HR department is responsible for administrative functions such as recruitment, payroll, and external training [41]. HR departments also provide clear direction and adequate training the line managers to execute their 'newly' devolved HR practices, as a lack of HR-related competencies and skills is likely the affect their effectiveness in the HR implementation process [42].

However, the high level of unemployment in Nigeria and the pressure to meet competing business (e.g. quality and productivity) demands alongside HR activities may affect the way line managers implement HR practices [42] For example, line managers may enact HR practices with a focus on short-term goals over the long-term strategic vision of their organisation. They also may behave inconsistently and thus, deviates from the strategic goals of their organisation. Under this circumstance, scholars have suggested HR department HR specialists/HR departments and line managers should form a partnership in developing and managing HR practices to achieve a unitarist approach to people management [42].

The next session draws from attribution theory to evaluate employees' perceptions and reactions to the context and line manager in the HR implementation process in Nigeria. Before that, it is important to present an overview of attribution theories in HRM literature. This will help organise our thoughts about key factors that are involved in attribution processes.
