Indigenous Family Business Management Practices in Africa

Abstract

Over a long period of time, the evolution and development of indigenous management theories and practices in Africa have been seriously distracted and hindered by European colonialism and Western education. The colonial administration introduced Western management theories and practices, considered as the drivers and the remedy for the continent’s socio-politico-economic development. Western scholarship and literature generally undervalued and condemned the management proficiency and practices of early African civilisations, as evidenced, for instance, in the building of the great Egyptian pyramids. Foreign management systems generally botched the development of indigenous African business practices as they failed to achieve the expected goals. We argue that the development of indigenous African management practices and philosophy ought to be rooted in the African culture, value system and beliefs to provide the practical way for the efficient and effective running of organisations in Africa. Nevertheless, there are still indigenous family business management practices that can be co-opted into today’s business practices. The Ubuntu management system and the ‘new management techniques’, which emphasise humanness, communalism and African patriotism, provide the veritable starting point for the development of indigenous African management philosophy. The chapter starts with a brief description of family business in Africa. Highlighting the relevant indigenous management practices, to mention, strategic process, governance, human resource and succession planning then follow in this order. The next section is on the origins of the indigenous management practices and then we conclude with a section on unique differences from Western models and provide advice to educators and practitioners. As an approach, the cases that have been used are for illustration purposes and do not claim to be representative of African indigenous business practices since Africa is too diverse.