Building Competitive Advantage from Ubuntu: Management Lessons from South Africa

Mangaliso, Mzamo P.

doi:10.2139/ssrn.1762783

Cited by 71 publications

(133 citation statements)

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“…Thus, this section aims to provide a flavour of the research context within which we are locating the Africa-China question. Researchers querying the scope to develop contextually valid management practices have begun to look at traditional cultural values and African philosophy, such as Ubuntu, the basic humaneness, spirit of community, and oneness that defines African social relations (Mangaliso, 2001). The emergent corpus of knowledge includes some notable books, such as Kamoche, Debrah, Horwitz, and Muuka (2004a) which offers detailed analyses of the theory and practice of human resources at the national level;…”

Section: Management Research In Africamentioning

confidence: 99%

Chinese management practices in Kenya: toward a post-colonial critique

Kamoche

Siebers

2014

The International Journal of Human Resource Management

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While transforming the investment, trading and infrastructural landscape in Africa, Chinese firms are also generating much-publicised controversy about their real motives. Many of the large Chinese firms operating in Africa focus mostly but not exclusively on engineering, infrastructural projects and mining. This Africa-China engagement has only recently begun to receive critical attention in the area of management and organisation studies. With reference to Kenya, we found that this phenomenon is characterised by four key themes: the unique yet diverse motivations of investors, the challenge of reconciling cross-cultural differences, the impact of low-cost strategies, and the boundary-spanning role of managers. This paper also considers the extent to which post-colonial theory might serve as an analytical lens for examining the perceptions and attitudes of Chinese managers as well as the experiences of the Africans who work for them.

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Section: Management Research In Africamentioning

confidence: 99%

Chinese management practices in Kenya: toward a post-colonial critique

Kamoche

Siebers

2014

The International Journal of Human Resource Management

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“…This should be done in conjunction with the principles of spirituality and modern management. In fact, many writers advocate the use of Ubuntu in managing modern organizations and institutions (see Karsten and Illa 2005;Lutz 2009;Mangaliso 2001;Mbigi 1997;Nkondo 2007;Nussbaum 2003;Swanson 2007). The following statements by Nkondo (2007) about the potential applications of Ubuntu is instructive: "What has to be learned in Ubuntu is not a doctrine such as "the wages of sin are death", nor is it a rule such as "the truth will free you"; but how to live humanely with others in a given space and time.…”

Section: Ubuntu Principles and Applicationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…It is not a device for instrumental formulation of judgement, but a social practice in terms of which to think, to choose, to act and to speak" (Nkondo 2007, 93). Mangaliso (2001) argued that Ubuntu principles can be used to build competitive advantage for business organizations, especially in building relationships, communication, decision-making, productivity and leadership. The author provided the following guidelines for the implementation of Ubuntu philosophy in organizations: Treating others with dignity and respect; Negotiating in good faith at all times; providing opportunities for selfexpression; Understanding the beliefs and practices of others; Honoring seniority in leadership choices; Promotion of equality in the workplace; Flexibility and accommodation between Western principles and Ubuntu principles (Mangaliso 2001, 32).…”

Section: Ubuntu Principles and Applicationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Spirituality and Ubuntu as the foundation for building African institutions, organizations and leaders

Mamman

Zakaria

2016

Journal of Management, Spirituality & Religion

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It is widely argued that institutions and organizations are the building blocks of modern societies. However, African nations are characterized by an institutional void and ineffective organizations. In fact, even the effectiveness of informal institutions such as customs and traditions is now debatable. Therefore, this paper sets out to provide a novel approach for building effective organizations, leaders and people based on the foundation of spirituality and the African philosophy of Ubuntu. We coupled the concepts of spirituality and Ubuntu and advanced a framework and techniques to guide the development of African organizations and its people. We have provided theoretical and practical rationale for the use of spirituality and Ubuntu to augment the Western-based modern approach to managing organizations and their people.

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“…He engages in practices with others that go beyond the school and draws on relations where there is a sense of belonging and connectedness (Mangaliso 2001):…”

Section: First Dilemmatic Space: From Poor and Inferior Learner To Tomentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Balfour (Balfour and Moletsane 2008) has however suggested that rural areas should rather be understood as dynamic areas with resources and relationships which are potentially transformative and have a profound impact on an individual's ability to succeed in life. Mangaliso (2001) identified the sense of belonging to and connectedness to others in the community as a strength of rural communities, and Marshall and Case (2010) have suggested that coping strategies learnt in rural communities provide tools to succeed at IHL. We use the perspectives of Balfour and Moletsane (2008) and Marshall and Case (2010) to respond to the research question that drives our argument for a broadening of selection criteria when choosing students to train as HCPs: 'What can we learn from the stories of experiences of practising rural-origin HCPs which can inform and broaden selection criteria?…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Towards a broader understanding of selection of students to train as health care professionals

Pillay

Ross

2016

SAJHE

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Institutes of Higher Learning (IHL) must train healthcare professionals (HCPs) able to meet priority needs of the population and address health system deficiencies. Concerns about the mismatch between outcome and policy have led many IHL to review their curriculum content and training context. In this article we argue for a broadening of selection criteria when choosing students to train as HCPs. A narrative inquiry drawing on life-history interviews and art-based methods was used to generate data on lived lives as told and experienced by six rural-origin HCPs. Analysis of two narrative vignettes framed as dilemmatic spaces show how personal beliefs and practices inform perspectives that HCPs adopted in their learning and development at IHL, and the transformational practices they enacted. How competing forces were negotiated and positions were taken in committing to become HCPs with the capacity to lead transformation is described.Introducing and using dilemmatic spaces analytically enabled deeper understanding of personal beliefs and priorities that informed the choices made, among the many options available, in everyday situations that are important to consider alongside academic potential in the selection of students to train as HCPs who will lead transformation in health care.

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Building Competitive Advantage from Ubuntu: Management Lessons from South Africa

Cited by 71 publications

References 0 publications

Chinese management practices in Kenya: toward a post-colonial critique

Chinese management practices in Kenya: toward a post-colonial critique

Spirituality and Ubuntu as the foundation for building African institutions, organizations and leaders

Towards a broader understanding of selection of students to train as health care professionals

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