Africa: The management education challenge

• Main Authors: THOMAS, Howard, LEE, Michelle P., THOMAS, Lynne, WILSON, Alexander
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University 2016
• Subjects: Management education; business schools; Africa; Business; Higher Education
• Online Access: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/lkcsb_research/5152; https://search.library.smu.edu.sg/primo-explore/fulldisplay?docid=SMU_ALMA2159239910002601&context=L&vid=SMU_NUI&search_scope=Everything&tab=default_tab&lang=en_US
• Institution: Singapore Management University

With 3,000 distinct ethnic groups speaking 2,000 languages, Africa encompasses 54 countries but has no collective identity; each country has its own political, economic, and socio-cultural structure. The authors eschew the usual focus on negativity-poverty, war, and disease-and posit that the role and challenge of educational development in Africa at every level can only be understood in terms of the varied history, contexts, cultures, and issues that exist in very different countries. The first two chapters of the book outline the historical backdrop of the evolution of Africa and provide an environmental analysis of the differences, features, and capital endowments of the countries forming the continent. This provides the underlying framework for mapping how management education has developed over the past two decades and in identifying the current challenges in the field. They explore the importance of management education in Africa with the final chapter focusing on an examination of what an African style of management education might be and whether education is realistic or achievable.