Crisis Management and Corporate Strategy in African Firms: Towards a Contingency Approach

Abstract

Crisis management logic suggests that preparing for a crisis should be a critical part of organizational strategy. This article aims to explore the difficulties in translating this logic into business practices in the African context. By comparing the application of the three most popular theoretical perspectives used in the field of strategy with the context of African firms, we come to the conclusion that another approach, the contingency perspective, must be integrated in order for African companies to manage small business crises successfully. This study is based on four case studies. It ends with two proposals for future research and practice in crisis management in African firms: (1) introducing a logic of solidarity; and (2) introducing the idea of the ‘palabre’.1