Management and Change in Africa: A Cross-Cultural Perspective

While there is a thirst for management knowledge and education throughout Africa, there are few truly relevant texts coming out of the West. Additionally, the unhelpful dichotomy of the developing and developed world has hampered understanding of the cultural, historical and economic influences on management. This book is a welcome antidote to this, providing an invaluable empirical base for extending knowledge of management and change in Africa. Arising from a research project funded by Danish International Development Assistance, Management and Change in Africa includes results of management surveys across 15 sub-Saharan countries and of organizational surveys taken across a range of sectors in South Africa, Kenya, Nigeria and Cameroon. It combines methodology, theory and case examples to explore thoroughly the influences on management in Africa and attempts to push the boundaries of cross-cultural theory. In doing so, it explores how much can be learned from studying both the successes and failures of African management towards realizing the potential of an African Renaissance and what the global community may learn from Africa. A website accompanies this book (www african management. org) where additional materials and updates of this ongoing project may be obtained. Management and Change in Africa is a much-needed study of the cross-cultural dynamics of an emerging area that will be welcomed by managers working in Africa as well as researchers and policy makers in both the international development and management communities.