Indigenisation of Corporate Strategies in Africa: Lessons From the African Ubuntu Philosophy

Khomba, James Kamwachale; Kangaude-Ulaya, Ella C

doi:10.17265/1537-1514/2013.07.005

Cited by 8 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 38 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…The value of generosity and sharing seem to contribute towards socio-economic development in African communities. It is only through such community solidarity that hunger, isolation, deprivation, poverty and any emerging challenges can be survived, because of the community's brotherly and sisterly concern, cooperation, care, and sharing (Khomba & Kangaude-Ulaya 2013).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The practice of fosterage is widespread in societies on the African continent (Beck et al 2014). It is based on the social philosophy of Ubuntu which is centred around the capacity of individuals to express compassion, reciprocity, dignity, harmony and humanity in the interests of building and maintaining community with justice and mutual caring (Khomba & Kangaude-Ulaya, 2013;Nussbaum, 2003). The value of Ubuntu is illustrated in Nelson Mandela's autobiography 'Long Walk to Freedom' (Makiwane & Kaunda 2018: 2) in which he states: My mother presided over three huts at Qunu, which as I remember, were always filled with babies and children of my relations.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

It takes a village to raise a child: everyday experiences of living with extended family in Namibia

Leonard,

Ananias,

Sharley

2022

JBA

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The family is the fundamental group of society and the natural environment for the growth and well-being of children. The Namibian Constitution protects the family, without specifying what �family� means�which allows for legal concepts of family to evolve to fit social realities. The caring for children, most commonly by extended family or kinship carers is widespread and a practice acceptable in most Namibian cultures in the spirit of Ubuntu. This article foregrounds the importance of carer-child relationships in the care provided by extended family for children who do not live with their birth parents. It further investigates children�s everyday understandings of what family means to offer a multiplicity of experiences of child fosterage practice. These are presented from a range of carers and children within the fosterage context and considered within children�s unique and positive relationships within their families.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

It takes a village to raise a child: everyday experiences of living with extended family in Namibia

Leonard,

Ananias,

Sharley

2022

JBA

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Further investigations have probed Ubuntu as a philosophical framework for guiding life and social ethics, as well as a political philosophy [22]. Ubuntu has also been studied in the context of its applicability in the indigenization of corporate strategies in Africa [23].…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ubuntu in Post-Apartheid South Africa: Educational, Cultural and Philosophical Considerations

Patel,

Mohammed,

Koen

2024

Philosophies

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Ubuntu has been defined as a moral quality of human beings, as a philosophy or an ethic, as African humanism, and as a worldview. This paper explores these definitions as conceptual tools for understanding the cultural, educational, and philosophical landscape of post-apartheid South Africa. Key to this understanding is the Althusserian concept of state apparatus. Louis Althusser divides the state apparatus into two forces: the repressive state apparatus (RSA); and the ideological state apparatus (ISA). RSAs curtail the working classes, predominately through direct violence or the threat of violence, whereas ISAs function primarily by ideology, including forms of organised religion, the education system, family units, legal systems, trade unions, political parties, and media. This paper discusses the link between increasing inequality in post-apartheid South Africa and education, with specific reference to Althusser’s ISAs and the abuse of Ubuntu as a subterfuge for socio-economic inequality.

show abstract

“…With respect to ubuntu, no lasting organization change can take place without its sanction. It needs to be integrated into the design of corporate strategy in the continental business experience (Khomba & Kangaude-Ulaya, 2013).…”

Section: Ubuntumentioning

confidence: 99%

How to Integrate Strategy and Culture for Transformative Change

Bukusi

2024

IJBS

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Purpose: This paper demonstrates that strategy and culture are important collaborators in the successful design and implementation of transformative change for sustainable corporate transformation and ethical institutional development. Materials and Methods: The researcher explores select, classic, contemporary and current scholarly literature on the theory of change. The research reviews theory articulated by Kurt Lewin on change management, systems theory, theory U and complexity in relation to their efficacy in facilitating organization change in global and local contexts. The study draws from ubuntu philosophy and the African business experience to propose a conceptual framework for the integration of strategy and culture to establish transformative change. Findings: The study finds a distinction in the context in which the theory of change is applied at the global and local levels. Business leaders need to use different approaches to change initiatives in the two contexts. The study also shows why culture has the power to frustrate transformative change and the implementation of new strategy. Subsequently, the paper proposes that sensitivities to culture should be built into strategy design in order to mitigate its inertial power during strategy implementation. The study submits that global change theory presumes the stability of the macro-operating environments in which strategy is developed. It also assumes the existence of supportive institutional culture, predictable environmental forces and the availability of well-developed macroeconomic infrastructure to underwrite desirable change initiatives. Conventional models suggest that the only intervening agency to establish change is the design and implementation of a new strategy. However, continental business microenvironments are made up of unstable, diverse, complex and volatile microeconomic disparities and cultural undercurrents that resist the implementation of change. In other words, the outcomes of strategy implementation in microenvironments, do not always mirror the predictive designs of global change theory. The study suggests that while global contexts may also benefit from the proposed model, culture should be integrated into the design and implementation of corporate strategy, in local contexts, to facilitate sustainable change. Implications to Theory, Practice and Policy: This paper recommends that; 1) Business and institutional leaders should carefully evaluate the strategic initiatives and development models they adopt and establish whether they indeed have the capacity to create and sustain transformative change within their operating environment, 2) Because proposed change always invites a response from culture, businesses must put in place mitigating measures to ensure that undue cultural inertia does not hinder ethical institutional advance, 3) Business leaders must remain alive to the fact that strategists, however brilliant, are not in control of the environmental forces in the ecosystem they seek to navigate. Hence the need to take pre-emptive measures, design strategic alternatives and employ dynamic approaches to successfully implement strategic plans, 4) Successful strategy implementation depends on the supportive confluence of multiple, complex and dynamic environmental factors beyond the designers of a good strategic plan. Thus, business leaders need to protect good strategy from being disoriented by fluctuating environmental change, 5) The perceived conflict of culture and strategy can be resolved by incorporating the ends of both in the design of crafting transformative change, 6) Ubuntu provides a powerful ethical lens to evaluate the acceptability, suitability and sustainability of strategic business initiatives in the continental business experience.

show abstract

Indigenisation of Corporate Strategies in Africa: Lessons From the African Ubuntu Philosophy

Cited by 8 publications

References 38 publications

It takes a village to raise a child: everyday experiences of living with extended family in Namibia

It takes a village to raise a child: everyday experiences of living with extended family in Namibia

Ubuntu in Post-Apartheid South Africa: Educational, Cultural and Philosophical Considerations

How to Integrate Strategy and Culture for Transformative Change

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About