Review issue: Management research in Africa

Purpose We discuss how experimental analysis can be integrated into strategic human resources management (SHRM) research in Africa so as to develop theory and value principles to guide executives. Design/methodology/approach The model we propose – experiment-based SHRM – is predicated on the use of experimental approaches to demonstrate the value of SHRM and to derive principles that guide research and practice in Africa. Findings We illustrate how scholars can conduct experiments from an SHRM perspective. Research limitations/implications We discuss the strengths and limitations of the model and suggest ways of maximizing its potential. Practical implications The technique is a resource for scholars of SHRM in Africa. They can use it to supplement other approaches for studying SHRM. Originality/value This chapter discusses a typology of experimental analysis. The lack of such a typology in the context of Africa makes it a valuable contribution. Thus, it fills a contextual gap in the SHRM research methodology literature. It can therefore help graduate students and junior faculty improve their research.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to systematically review talent management research in Africa with the aim of developing a multilevel talent management model and defining future research agenda. Design/methodology/approach A systematic literature review is performed utilising studies published on the topic from 2008 to 2019 in various research databases. Findings The findings highlighted various talent management contributions and challenges in the African context. They further revealed major issues with the nature of research method adopted in talent management research in Africa. Moreover, contextually, apart from Southern Africa sub-region, talent management research is highly under-researched in the North African, West African and Eastern African sub-regions of the continent. Therefore, talent management research in Africa can be described as being at an embryonic stage. Practical implications Effective talent management has significant transformative and growth power through its varied positive contributions. Talent management in Africa is faced with numerous organisational and macro-level challenges and requires attention from relevant stakeholders, if African talents are to be harnessed to facilitate the development of the continent. Originality/value This systematic review on talent management is the first of its kind focusing solely on Africa. Also, this study contributes further evidence by proposing a multilevel talent management model based on the synthesised evidence since multilevel research in the field of talent management is very limited.

The present paper discusses the application of organizational neuroscience in management research in Africa. In so doing, the paper draws from the field of neuroscience, organizational neuroscience, and cultural neuroscience to explore the extent to which topics, such as corruption, tribal identity, and nepotism could be analyzed through the lens of organizational neuroscience. The paper’s implications for further research and management practice are discussed.

Purpose To expose strategic management scholars in Africa, particularly graduate students and new faculty members, to bibliometrics, a fast-growing approach for examining the impact of individual and collective scholarly. Design/methodology/approach We review the bibliographic analysis approach by discussing its origin, development, and process. We then advance to a dynamic multilevel model that can be used to examine strategic management contributions at the individual and collective levels. Bibliometric analysis is being used extensively in such fields as library science, agriculture, economics, medicine, psychology, and more recently in management areas such as entrepreneurship, strategy, and international business. In addition to its wide application, bibliometric analysis has relevance for strategic management research in Africa which is characterized by major research constrains. Findings Illustrations are provided with procedures for conducting bibliometric analysis. We conclude by making recommendations on what to consider in using the approach for the study of strategic management in Africa. Research limitations/implications We discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the approach as well as suggestions on maximizing its potential. Practical implications The approach is an invaluable source particularly for graduate students of strategy. They can be used to supplement other approaches in the study of strategic management impact. Originality/value To our knowledge, this chapter seems to be the first to propose bibliometric analysis for the study of strategic management in the African context. In that regard, it fills a gap in the research methodology literature. It can therefore help graduate students and junior faculty improve their careers.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to review the literature on logistics and supply chain management (SCM) in Africa over the last few decades. It provides a comprehensive assessment of theory application regarding the research articles published between 1994 and 2016.Design/methodology/approachIn this structured systematic literature review, a set of 110 articles on SCM research in Africa is assessed.FindingsThe authors present the state-of-the-art review on logistics and SCM research in Africa. Extant literature shows that most research works focused on operational aspects of logistics and SCM and that papers drew heavily on theories inspired by strategic management, marketing, micro/macroeconomics and organizational behavior theories. Also, most of the papers with theoretical background can be categorized into theory matching and theory dressing and only a minority of theoretical papers belongs to theory suggestion category. Furthermore, based on the findings, the authors present a framework to characterize the peculiar aspects of Africa-based SCM and logistics practices and provide research propositions related to underexplored aspects of logistics and SCM in Africa.Research limitations/implicationsThis study has a number of implications. Practitioners and researchers will gain a greater understanding of how logistics and SCM are carried out in Africa and the type of issues that have been addressed. Furthermore, researchers will be able to identify areas that need greater research attention in Africa.Originality/valueThis study is one of the first literature reviews of publications on logistics and SCM in Africa. It presents an overarching map of the research to date and a series of propositions to inform future research.

Although we are aware of some positive cases of leadership and management emerging on the African continent, very little empirical or theoretical work has addressed leadership and management in Africa. This raises a challenge for African nations in that ultimately a country's economic performance is contingent on the effectiveness of its leadership and management practices that serve to unlock the potential of its workforce to effectively implement the strategic goals of organizations. Against the backdrop of an increasingly knowledge‐dependent global marketplace, the centrality of leadership and effective management systems as drivers of individual and organization performance has never been more critical. This special section brings together a compendium of papers that advances the science of leadership and management within the African context. Our principle goal was to examine what is unique, what generalizes, and what does not generalize from the West and East to Africa, as well as within different regions of Africa and then offer ideas to guide future research and practice. The papers in this section provide a broad and indeed innovative approach to studying leadership and management in Africa by including historical, philosophical, economic, and socio‐political perspectives, as part of the analyses of leadership and management in the African context. Our editorial provides an integration of this work and a launching point for some audacious goals for future leadership and management science and practice in Africa and beyond.

Management Research in Africa: Past, Present and Future

African management theories and practices have received scant scholarly attention in organization and management literature. The recognition for vast opportunities for developing, adapting and extending management concepts, theories and practices in situ has become topical. Scholars have responded thus far, as a bourgeoning body of Africa-centric management and organization knowledge is gradually building as never before. The modest strides made to date covering research approaches are currently limited. By reference to an empirical study this paper explicates a more qualitative, nuanced, relational, and socialized strategy-as-practice research approach that is better attuned to examining strategy as a social practice in context. Extant studies have advanced arguments for the need and value in African-focused management research (the why), the current paper brings the salience of research approaches to the African-focused management scholarship agenda (the how) into sharper focus. The paper specifically, articulates a social practice-inspired research approach for theorizing strategic management in Africa.

Purpose The purpose of this study is to review the literature on strategic management in Africa with special emphasis on how strategy constructs have been measured and present a roadmap to help improve strategy research in Africa. Design/methodology/approach A content analysis of empirical research on strategic management published in journals using data from Africa from 2000 to 2013 is conducted to examine construct measurement practices. Findings The findings indicate that the average sample sizes in strategy research in Africa is not large as strategy research in general, and have low statistical power. While the studies rely heavily on single-indicator measures, there were also several studies using scale or multiple measures that report reliabilities. Research limitations Limitations of the research include small number of studies used, inability to examine journal effects’ of the findings due to few numbers of papers from many of the journals, and lack of examination of the influence of the context and topical areas of the articles on the use of the construct measurement techniques. Practical implications The study provides information about the use of construct measurement techniques and power analysis in strategy research in Africa. It further encourages the use of larger sample sizes, the examination of power, and more focus on variables which allow the assessment of reliabilities and validity. Originality and value Little is known about construct measurement practices of the empirical research in and about Africa in the discipline of strategic management. This chapter builds on extant research on construct measurement issues in strategic management research, but with the unique value-added contribution of focusing on the African environment where the discipline is beginning to take hold.

This study examines the impact of risk governance on firm value of 50 listed firms in the Nigerian financial institutions for the period of five years (2013-2017). The study provides empirical evidence which shows that risk governance variables (enterprise risk management index, chief risk officer presence, board risk committee size, board risk committee activism, and board risk committee independence) have a positive and significant impact on firm value. Similarly, firm attribute variables (firm size and firm age) have a significant positive impact on firm value while on the contrary corporate governance variables (board size and board of directors independence) show a negative but a significant impact on firm value. The empirical evidence observed in this study reveals that the institutionalisation of risk culture, strong risk oversight functions and increase in risk accountability by the board have greater tendency to enhance the value of a firm. This study contributes to the growing literature in the area of corporate reporting, risk governance and risk management research in Africa.

This study examines the impact of risk governance on firm value of 50 listed firms in the Nigerian financial institutions for the period of five years (2013-2017). The study provides empirical evidence which shows that risk governance variables (enterprise risk management index, chief risk officer presence, board risk committee size, board risk committee activism, and board risk committee independence) have a positive and significant impact on firm value. Similarly, firm attribute variables (firm size and firm age) have a significant positive impact on firm value while on the contrary corporate governance variables (board size and board of directors independence) show a negative but a significant impact on firm value. The empirical evidence observed in this study reveals that the institutionalisation of risk culture, strong risk oversight functions and increase in risk accountability by the board have greater tendency to enhance the value of a firm. This study contributes to the growing literature in the area of corporate reporting, risk governance and risk management research in Africa.

1. Framing Sustainable Management Development in in Africa Hamid H. Kazeroony Part 1: Capacity Building in Africa 2. Public Policy and Higher Education: The Case of Botswana Dorothy Mpabanga 3. Challenges in Developing African Management Scholars: An Auto-ethnographic Study Emmanuel Mukwevho and Yvonne du Plessis 4. The Role of Accreditation in Overcoming the Challenges of Graduate Management Programs in Africa Enase Okonedo and Timothy Aluko 5. Meeting the Graduate Management Program Challenges in Nigeria Olusegun Matanmi Part 2: African Social, Cultural, and Political Influences 6. Cross-Cultural Studies as a Resource for Management Development in Africa Mariya Bobina and Mikhail Grachev 7. The Role of Cross-Cultural Communication in Management Practices of Multinational Companies (MNCS) in Sub-Saharan Africa James Baba Abugre 8. Surviving in Africa: MNCs Response to Institutional Deficiencies and Moral Implications Adeyinka A. Adewale and Sharif M. Khalid Part 3: Theorizing African Management and Organization 9. Theory Construction to Serve African Management and Organizational Practices Hamid H. Kazeroony 10. Alternative Approaches to Management Research in Africa: Hermeneutics, Graphic Scales and Applied Interventions Bill Buenar Puplampu 11. Management Theories: The Relegated Strengths Based African Practices Shiphrah Mutungi, Emmanuel Mutungi, and Rose Fuentes Part 4: Challenges and Pathways to Building Organizational Capabilities in Africa 12. Human Capital Development in Africa: Some Urgent Considerations Bill Buenar Puplampu 13. Building the Next Generation of African Managers and Entrepreneurs Henrietta Onwuegbuzie 14. Public Private Partnerships for Enhancing Organizational Capabilities in Nigeria Osikhuemhe Okwilagwe and Christos Apostolakis 15. The Role of the Legal Profession in Facilitating a Regulatory Framework for Public Private Partnerships in Ghana Bill Buenar Puplampu 16. A Framework for Building Organizational Capabilities in Africa Hamid H. Kazeroony

The purpose of this paper is to highlight salient patterns of post-graduate research in information and knowledge management (I&KM) in LIS (Library and Information Science/Studies) schools in South Africa. The data was extracted from two SABINET (South African Bibliographic and Information Network)-hosted databases, namely the Current and Completed Research (C&CR) and the Union Catalogue of Theses and Dissertations (UCTD). Data was analyzed in order to find out the coverage of I&KM research in the databases; identify the topics of I&KM research; to examine trends in I&KM post-graduate research in South Africa; to determine the academic level at which I&KM research is mostly conducted; to find out the qualifications under which I&KM research is conducted; and to identify the study leaders (or supervisors) and institutions behind I&KM research in South Africa. The study found that there is an increased interest in I&KM by post-graduate students in South Africa; the main topics of research are related to Library and Information Science (LIS) and Business Science; the majority of the study leaders belong to the discipline of LIS; and that the most productive institutions are universities and more particularly, the universities that not only lead in the national research output but also those which have LIS departments. Recommendations for further research are also offered.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to review and summarizes the articles that were accepted for the special issue focusing on “Advancing Africa through management knowledge and practice”. The paper also provides suggestions for future research focus for researchers on management issues in and about Africa.Design/methodology/approachThe paper presents a conceptual review the distinctiveness of the five articles in the special issue which focus a personal reflection about management research and education in Africa, effective leadership development in Africa and the African diaspora, performance management implementation in the public sector; internationalization process of African businesses with special reference to banks; and strategic factors that could be emphasized by African firms to improve their performance. These papers are synthesized to present a coherent management research framework for Africa.FindingsAfrican management research requires a strategic choice approach, which asks interesting questions focusing on issues relevant to the growth of African businesses and the development of African national economies. African management research needs an identity that is uniquely African such as the intersection of private and public (including governments) interests; and the blurred nature of the formal and informal sectors.Originality/valueThe paper presents some opportunities and value of conducting management research in and about Africa in the areas of leadership and also followership.

In this chapter, we discuss our experience of conducting management research in sub-Sahara Africa while navigating dilemmas that are linked to the legacy of colonisation, and to the wider asymmetries that characterise South/North relations. We share some of our reflections on our identities, power and knowledge production and our understanding of how these impact on management knowledge production in Africa. We suggest two strategies that might help decolonising management knowledge and research. Firstly, a move towards open-ended approaches to minimise imposing rigid ideas on the process; and secondly, a commitment towards liberating the participants’ role in the research process, thus switching from seeing them as mere sources of data to partners in knowledge production and consumption.