African Management Research Articles

Human Resource Development in Sub-Saharan Africa

The need for skills development and training in Sub-Saharan Africa is increasing in an area where unstable economies and high unemployment create challenges on many levels. Sub-Saharan Africa is faced with great poverty, skills migration, and HIV/AIDS, which are depleting the region of skilled workers in their prime working years. The region is facing numerous challenges in the development of skills and the ability to make use of the available human resources. It can be argued that the Sub-Saharan African region needs to increase the skilled labour pool and to develop communities. Perhaps most importantly, there is an urgent need for the region to face the impact of globalization on its own terms. This involves the fusion of African philosophy and management styles with the traditional Western theories with human resource development (HRD) strategies and policies that will be suitable for the developing economies in the region.

Managing a professional library and information science journal in Africa

PurposeThe main objective of this paper is to highlight and discuss issues, innovations and imperatives related to the management of professional library and information science (LIS) journals in Africa.Design/methodology/approachThe strategy adopted was to preface the concerns about the quality of journals from Africa and then synthesize managerial issues that must be resolved to enhance quality. The next approach was to draw up a ten‐step plan of innovative ways to enhance the quality of (LIS) journals in Africa. Finally, the paper discusses eight critical imperatives related to effective management of African LIS journals.FindingsThe major concerns are that the continent's LIS journals are substandard, suffer high mortality and hardly appear regularly. Issues to be addressed to stem this tide of affairs include increased subscription spread, revenue base and the development of scholarly content. The paper argues that African LIS journals will continue to die young if innovative strategies are not injected to rejuvenate them.Practical implicationsThe developments in the foreground indicate a better and brighter future for African professional LIS journals. African LIS journal managers must work towards financial independence, introduce or continue the review process, design scholarly content and strive for international competitiveness.Originality/valueProbably the most comprehensive articulation of the challenges and opportunities facing LIS journal publishing in Africa.

Assessing the management status of South Africa

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to assess the status of management in South Africa.Design/methodology/approachThis is achieved by firstly, providing a concise summary of the classical management theory. This is followed by a presentation of selected dimensions of South Africa's economic, social and political profile (cultural profile), as reflected in secondary sources. A discussion of South Africa's profile vis‐à‐vis management theory is presented.FindingsThe findings show that South Africa is faced with unique competitive challenges, which fall within the realm of management. Unfortunately, the unavailability of competent senior managers forms part of South Africa's problem, aggravating the situation.Practical implicationsThe practical implications are that South African managers need to face their reality, by acquainting themselves with the sound theory underpinning management, available from reputable sources and applying these principles with insight. In so doing they will not only improve the competitive positions of their enterprises but also that of South Africa, as a whole. Moreover, they will impact the economy positively, be it domestically, regionally or globally and reap the benefits of success just like other firms and countries.Originality/valueThis paper is original in the sense that it seeks to give a comprehensive, however, brief overview of a complex topic, classical management, while linking it to South Africa's unique challenges. The value of this script lies in the concise presentation of classical management thought and the consequent implication that its consistent application could play a vital role in overcoming the competitive challenges facing South Africa.

A Cross Cultural Study of Communication Strategies for Building Business Relationships

This study aims to explore communication strategies for relationship building across cultures from a linguistic as well as a culture-specific perspective. Specifically, it sees business relationships as part of social capital and compares communication strategies used to build relationships in sales firms. The research method is based on a discourse analysis of interviews with business managers, which also incorporates their success stories. In the analysis, relationship building is divided into two stages: the initiating stage and the maintaining stage. It has been found that more interpersonal strategies have been employed by Chinese and Indian business managers when initiating a business relationship. In contrast, the New Zealand and South African managers tend to use more impersonal communication strategies to promote public relations. Similar interpersonal communication strategies are employed in all the target cultures for maintaining relationships. However, a stronger orientation for long-term relationships in the Chinese and Indian cultures has been identified. Furthermore, the communication strategies are dynamic in all the countries investigated since they are becoming more and more multicultural and increasingly globalized in international business and management.

Land Reform, Range Ecology, and Carrying Capacities in Namaqualand, South Africa

In South African rangeland management, there is a long history of using the notion of carrying capacity as a central planning tool for environmental conservation and agricultural modernization. Today, in the new South Africa, the “need” for livestock keepers to adhere to a defined carrying capacity in order to conserve rangeland resources and to achieve economic development remains an institutionalized “fact.” In this article, we use interviews, livestock and rainfall data, policy documents, and aerial photos to discuss the idea of carrying capacity as it is currently used in the implementation of land reform in Namaqualand in the Northern Cape Province. This article is a contribution at the interface of human ecology and political ecology, linking environmental issues to economic constraints, land rights, social justice, and values. Policymakers and extension services usually see carrying capacity as a purely technical issue. We argue that this is problematic because it gives privilege to environmental sustainability and to one particular perception of the ideal landscape at the expense of livelihood security and poverty alleviation. It also perpetuates the colonial myth that the private ranch system is an ideal one, independent of disparate production goals and unequal economic opportunities and constraints, and it ignores evidence going back more than half a century that the Namaqualand range is capable of sustaining livestock densities far greater than those recommended. The winners that emerge from the current policy focus on carrying capacity are the few emergent black commercial farmers as well as conservationist interests; the losers are the majority of poor stockowners in the communal areas.

How can science contribute to an ecosystem approach to pelagic, demersal and rock lobster fisheries in South Africa?

South Africa is committed to moving towards an Ecosystem Approach to Fisheries (EAF) and has laid the foundations for this using a three-pronged approach: through a project (EAF Feasibility Study) under the Benguela Current Large Marine Ecosystem Programme; through a dedicated scientific working group established by the Marine and Coastal Management branch of South Africa's Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism; and through collaborative scientific and modelling studies within the joint French-South African 'Upwelling Ecosystems' Programme. This contribution provides an overview of the progress made towards developing an EAF in South Africa, both on the scientific front in terms of improved understanding of the functioning of the Benguela ecosystem and the ways in which its ecosystem components interact, and regarding the practical ways being explored to enable scientific advice to feed in to South African fisheries management while taking into account broad stakeholder concerns. The paper focusses particularly on the role played by scientific contributions (research and monitoring) to address these ecosystem issues in three important South African fisheries — pelagic, demersal and rock lobster — so that the appropriate management measures can be put into place. Socio-economic concerns are included for the rock lobster fishery.

African rue (Peganum harmala) seedling response to herbicides applied under water-deficit stress

African rue is an exotic, herbaceous perennial established in several western states that tolerates harsh, water-stressed conditions. The influence of water-deficit stress on herbicide response and subsequent herbicide fate within the plant were compared. African rue seedlings were deprived of water for 0 to 7 d to establish a gradient of water-deficit levels before treatment with hexazinone, imazapyr, or metsulfuron. At herbicide application, water-deficit treatments reduced plant water potential values from −1.0 MPa to −4.7 MPa, causing concomitant reductions in photosynthesis. Thirty-five days after treatment, dry weight of imazapyr- and metsulfuron-treated plants was reduced in plants exposed to more than 4 d water-deficit stress before herbicide application. In contrast, hexazinone-treated plants had less dry weight than water-stressed, nonsprayed control plants regardless of water-deficit stress. Seventy-two hours after herbicide application, African rue leaves absorbed from 5 to 42% of herbicide applied; however, herbicide absorption did not correlate to efficacy. Less than 12% of absorbed herbicide translocated out of the treated leaf, regardless of herbicide. Radiolabel translocated from the treated leaf to acropetal or root tissue did not differ among herbicide treatments, regardless of water deficit before herbicide application. However, compared to other herbicides, translocation to basipetal shoot tissue was greatest in imazapyr-treated seedlings with the largest water deficit at herbicide application. Increased translocation occurred at higher levels of water stress than were necessary to increase herbicide efficacy, suggesting differential translocation was not involved in enhanced efficacy. In summary, African rue seedlings absorbed and mobilized three different herbicides at all levels of water-deficit stress. In addition, the efficacy of metsulfuron and imazapyr increased as water-deficit stress increased, but efficacy of hexazinone was not influenced by plant water status. This unusual relationship between water-deficit stress and herbicide performance may enable improved African rue management under stressful environments.

Human resource management practices in Eritrea: challenges and prospects

PurposeThis article seeks to examine the challenges and prospects of human resource management (HRM) in a developing‐country context. It focuses on contextual factors and employee involvement in analysing HRM to provide theoretical insights.Design/methodology/approachTo explore the above theme, on‐site interviews were carried out with general managers, human resource professionals, line managers and union leaders in eight firms. Furthermore, a sample of 252 employees was included, thereby contributing to the generalisability of the findings.FindingsThis article provides substantial and current information on HRM knowledge and practices in Eritrea. The paper argues that some contextual variables impose certain challenges to HRM practices. However, evidence also reveals that the concept and knowledge of HRM practices, such as training, recruitment, compensation, employee participation, performance appraisal and reward systems, are in place with some indicators of local influence.Research limitations/implicationsIn light of the above findings, the article informs multinational companies that transferring managerial expertise to Africa may not necessarily be required, as the knowledge already exists there. A major limitation may derive from the use of convenience sampling in selecting the firms, but extreme caution is taken to get a faithful representation.Originality/valueContrary to the dominant view that African management is characterised by authoritarianism, this study shows the participative style of managers. Moreover, it incorporates the attitudes and perceptions of employees, a generally neglected part of HRM studies.

South African Managers' Perceptions of Prospective South African-US Joint Ventures

This study explores South African managers' expectations of prospective South African-United States international joint ventures. One hundred and three middle level South African managers responded to a theory-based original survey questionnaire that included questions about various aspects of prospective US-South African joint ventures. US companies invest in South Africa to gain access to its market and South African companies get into joint ventures with US companies to tap into their financial resources. US government's imposed tariffs and South African government's administrative barriers seem to be the most crucial problems for the prospective joint ventures. Implications for international managers are offered.

Ubuntuas a key African management concept: contextual background and practical insights for knowledge application

PurposeTo explore how an increasing attention which is being paid to language and culture in organisations can help people to understand the impact of particular management concepts in business practices.Design/methodology/approachA range of publications has been selected to indicate how important language in organisations is and how particular cultural backgrounds influence the applicabilty of management concepts. This has been illustrated with the conceptUbuntu, which gains popularity in South Africa.FindingsThe applicabilty ofUbuntuin companies will rely on the habitus of the manager to be a good conversationalist.Originality/valueSo far the Western literature about management knowledge has neglected the development of particular management concepts originating in other parts of the world.

Decolonising Barclays Bank DCO? corporate Africanisation in Nigeria, 1945–69

The reaction of British business to the decolonisation of the Empire has been the focus of much recent research, but few studies have shed light on the continued presence of commercial activities after independence. Barclays Bank DCO in Nigeria began indigenising its staff during decolonisation, but this process was far from complete at independence. African managers at Barclays were supposed to continue British banking traditions, while the post-colonial state hoped to gain more influence on foreign investment through the Nigerianisation of management. By the time the Nigerian civil war effectively ended in 1969 Barclays was only just beginning to come to terms with the ability and ‘character’ of its Nigerian managers, while the Nigerian state was moving towards more radical policies to control foreign business. This article aims to highlight the importance of Africanisation programmes for the structure and control of a major British bank trying to adapt first to the end of Empire and then to the post-colonial world.

Corporate South Africa's response to HIV/AIDS: Why so slow?

This article addresses the slow response of corporate South Africa to HIV/AIDS. After outlining the impact of HIV/AIDS on the workplace and the corporate reaction, the apparent contradiction between threat and response is explored. Two explanations for the slow response of business are conventionally offered - that government failure to lead a national response to the epidemic confronted business with an insurmountable collective-action problem; and that managers misunderstood the vulnerability of their companies. It is argued that these explanations have validity, but do not fully satisfy. Rather, account must be taken of inescapable tensions that tangibly link internal and external environments in ways that pre-date and exist independently of any strategy seeking to respond to HIV/AIDS. Four such tensions are identified: political, moral, industrial relations, and socio-economic. Socio-economic tensions are illustrated and examined through the contemporary views of managers from a large South African firm. While progress has been made by business in responding to HIV/AIDS, these conflicts remain significant. A critical question is whether companies can resolve wider socio-economic tensions - a necessity if they are to protect workers and their skills. In contrast to unitarist calls for a 'war' on AIDS, offering an appropriate corporate response presents a complex and formidable challenge, but also an opportunity for South African management to establish a new role within the post-apartheid order.

A brief introduction to some approaches to multispecies/ecosystem modelling in the context of their possible application in the management of South African fisheries

Aspects of the potential application of multispecies/ecosystem modelling to advise the management of South African fisheries are discussed. In general, reliable predictive ability from such models is likely to be achieved sooner for top predators, because relatively fewer links need to be modelled. Accordingly, discussion concentrates on the deliberations of scientific workshops on modelling marine mammal – fisheries interactions held by two international marine mammal commissions during 2002. Five questions are posed, and some responses suggested, relating to the development of a framework for multispecies/ecosystem modelling to contribute to South African fisheries management: (1) should such models be used for testing or making decisions; (2) do they appreciably reduce uncertainties associated with single-species models; (3) are whole ecosystem or minimum realistic models more appropriate; (4) what computer software is best suited to implement such approaches; (5) what are the overall cost implications? Caution is expressed that general scientific acceptance of predictive reliability for such models (as required for their use for management) is unlikely in the short term, and will probably require considerable data collection and complex analysis at not insubstantial cost.

Determining technology strategy in developing countries

Technology has added a new dimension to strategic thinking in an international context. Developing countries are subject to the same global pressures as their developed counterparts, but have the additional burden of dealing with domestic conditions which place them at a significant, and perhaps, insurmountable disadvantage. This does not absolve managers from formulating technology policies that can best make their firms competitive. The research described in this paper studies issues in technology strategy confronting managers in developing countries, with specific reference to South Africa. The country has a developing economy, while exhibiting characteristics found in developed countries. South Africa's history presents its managers with challenges not encountered elsewhere, but the country provides a model for other developing countries. The paper examines the perceptions of a sample of South African managers regarding technology strategy in a manufacturing environment. The importance of different factors in formulating technology policy is studied in relation to the extent to which managers are able to control these variables. An importance-control grid framework is used to identify critical parameters and to assess how these can be managed in a complex environment.

Gérer dans la tourmente: le management des entreprises formelles au Congo-Brazzaville

The characteristics of African management are often given as an example to highlight the cultural relativism of management practices and the need to adapt these to the specificities of local context. However, these practices do not depend solely on culture. They are also embedded in a sociopolitical context that may be unstable and sometimes violent. Few studies have attempted to show the role of armed conflicts plaguing many countries - particularly in sub-Saharan Africa - on the management of organizations established in these at-risk zones. An empirical study made with about thirty managers in Congolese firms during the time of the civil war that ravaged Congo-Brazaville shows that consequences of this hostile environment on management practices. It appears that African management, as a whole, tends to be well adapted to situations of crisis and chaos. In particular, the community solidarity that characterizes African firms acts as a social buffer to absorb shocks related to conflicts, and it helps compensate in part for the decline of public institutions. The results of this study also show that despite reinforcement of certain traditional characteristics, in particular autocratic paternalism, Congolese management is rather open to more modern and participative management practices. [PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]

The evaluation of the management of companies by stockmarket analysts and fund managers

The management of a company plays a critical role in determining whether a business will be able to produce superior returns to investors. Little research has however been undertaken to establish how fund managers and financial analysts assess management when making investment decisions. This exploratory study aimed to identify the main constructs underlying the assessment of management by investment analysts and fund managers.Following a literature review a survey was conducted using a judgement sample of 15 South African and London-based analysts and fund managers. In depth interviews were conducted with this sample using a pre-piloted set of questions and the results analysed using data mapping techniques and content analysis.The survey showed that an assessment of the management of a company plays an important part in investors’ decisions. The weighting given to an assessment of management over other factors was seen to vary according to the size of the company, the stage in its life cycle and the sector in which it operated. This study identified the main criteria against which management is judged. It also showed that the most common approach to incorporating a judgement on management into the assessment of a company was to adjust the results of financial models, resulting in a down-rating of the stock of companies perceived to be poorly managed in comparison to their peer group.

Software piracy – Some aspects for South African managers to keep in mind

Software piracy is a significant issue for managers of organisations, especially in developing countries. There are several factors which contribute to software piracy, and which are investigated in this study. This study consists of a literature review, and reports on empirical research, which was conducted using a survey instrument to determine if software piracy is prevalent in South Africa. The findings confirm the results of previous studies. The conclusion is made that software piracy will always exist and that stricter measures are needed to prevent its occurrence.

Book review: “Into the people effectiveness arena: Navigating between chaos and order”

Veldsman, T.H. (2002) "Into the people effectiveness arena: Navigating between chaos and order", Randburg, South Africa: Knowledge Resources, 364 pages. In a noteworthy new South African management text, Theo Veldsman, consultant in the strategic human resource management (SHRM) field, brings together the fruit of many years of experience and thought on people management issues in an exciting new way.

African culture and managerial behaviour: Clarifying the connections

There is an increasing recognition that Management is a critical factor in the running of African organizations and in pulling African countries out of their economic crisis. Although efforts have been made to provide management and administrative training, the role of culture in management remains poorly understood. This paper evaluates studies that look at the role played by African culture in managerial behaviour. It examines how values and approaches derived from African culture may or may not be affecting managers and the functioning of organizations. It examines how African managers diverge from managers in other countries. It concludes by emphasizing that there are many shortcomings in research on the African culture-managerial behavior dynamic. It points to various suggestions that may help clarify the inconclusive results in this area of research.

Developing African technical management in Southern Africa's mining industry

Competent, confident black management is essential to South Africa's future. But how is it best developed? A successful training model for indigenous technical managers exists ‐ and points the way forward.