Rethinking Management in Africa: Beyond Ubuntu

Abstract

The arrival of colonialism in Africa disrupted the people’s cultural beliefs and traditions and led to the transplant of Western organizational practices and standards into the African context. However, with business leaders being confronted with numerous contemporary challenges, it is almost certain that they require not only generic, but also realistic leadership and management know-how, which the Western paradigms seem not to provide. This paper has four main aims: firstly, to propose a new philosophical rejection for the rationale and institution of Western management theory and practice in Africa; secondly, to provide an approach for appreciating management in Africa through evaluating the role of ubuntu; thirdly, to evaluate the dilemma of ubuntu as an alternative to Western paradigms in Africa; and lastly, to suggest the way forward for management in Africa. Besides these aims, I wish that this paper will initiate true philosophical literature on the subject of management practice and leadership styles in Africa, and serve as a general foundation for a more detailed and specialized philosophical and social study of the subject.