Does Africa Need an "African" Management Education Model?

• Main Authors: THOMAS, Howard, LEE, Michelle P., THOMAS, Lynne, WILSON, Alexander
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University 2016
• Subjects: Business education; Africa; school models; Business; Higher Education
• Online Access: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/lkcsb_research/5082; https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/context/lkcsb_research/article/6081/viewcontent/Issue_2_2016_africanmanagement.pdf
• Institution: Singapore Management University

The African approach to management education has been shaped by a range of environmental, cultural, contextual and regional characteristics. Africa is by any measure a massive, multi-cultural, multi-lingual continent offering the promise of significant economic growth in the longer term. The environment is characterised by volatility, uncertainty, complexity, ambiguity and, often, disruptive change. Despite this, some African states have tried to adapt and formulate a range of strategies for economic growth management and the development of international and inter-regional trading opportunities arising from globalisation. Existing evidence suggests that African management educators have tried to adopt a pragmatic perspective that emphasises management practices and somewhat de-emphasises strong analytical rigour and the pursuit of scientific management research, which offers little immediate practical relevance for a managerial audience.