“African management”: concept, content and usability

Abstract

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Institutional Antecedents of the Corporate Social Responsibility Narrative in the Developing World Context: Implications for Sustainable Development

“…However, in western societies, such reciprocity is considered as offering corruption to the contract‐awarding individuals (Tanzi, ; Baughn, ). For Malawian society, just like the rest of Africa, such reciprocity and relationship building are central to the Umunthu principles that are often fundamental to African management of organizations (Seny‐Kan et al ., ). In Malawi, as in many developing countries, where institutional voids promote unethical practices, it may equally be fundamental to acknowledge that cultural traditions and the virtues of value systems such as Umunthu may be serving to shield unethical practices and prevent their exposure.…”

“…Similarly, against a backdrop of the view that western production and imposition of knowledge on other cultures is rarely scrutinized (Banerjee and Linstead, ), some African management scholars consider rejection of western managerial values such as CSR as emancipatory to neo‐colonial domination, and a move towards reclaiming the lost glory of African‐based management (Kiggundu, ; Seny Kan et al ., ). Scepticism around western motives also paves the way for rejuvenating interest in entrenching local cultural values in business and management, as a buffer to the rising influence of those western values which CSR agendas are thought to espouse (Banerjee and Linstead, ; Khan and Lund‐Thomsen, ).…”

“…Scepticism around western motives also paves the way for rejuvenating interest in entrenching local cultural values in business and management, as a buffer to the rising influence of those western values which CSR agendas are thought to espouse (Banerjee and Linstead, ; Khan and Lund‐Thomsen, ). Thus, it is generally viewed by some African scholars that the contemporary discourse needs to encourage and reinvigorate strong humanistic relations and communitarian values in all areas of management (Nkomo, ; Seny Kan et al ., ).…”

“…(), for example, state that colonial masters regarded indigenous environmental management practices predicated on strong relationships between humankind and nature as inferior. Equally, on the social front, African management grounded in strong relationships between humankind was considered outdated (Seny‐Kan et al ., ). Colonial governments were exploitative with little regard to the preservation of environmental integrity and provision of better working conditions for unskilled workers (Mulwafu, ; Glasson et al ., ).…”

The management discourse: collective or strategic performance drive?

“…In the 1990s, Kiggundu (1991) called for management development in Africa to facilitate the development needs of the continent. In the subsequent disciplinary discourse of management, it remained unclear, however, as to what constituted "African management" (George, 2015;Jackson, 2004Jackson, , 2013Kan et al, 2015). To fill the "knowledge gap" on what constitutes the epistemology of management research (Hatchuel, 2005), Jackson called for the reconstruction of indigenous management systems (Jackson, 2013), while Kiggundu's (2013) reflection on "African management" delivered an overview of how Africans managed Africa, rather than a conceptualisation of what "African management" entailed.…”