Building competitive advantage from ubuntu
Management lessons from South Africa
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 23329580 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Mzamo P Mangaliso (0000-0002-4492-5705, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2001 |
| Volume | 15 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 23-33 |
| Publication date | 2001-08-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Academy of Management Perspectives (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1558-9080 • E-ISSN: 1943-4529 |
| Publisher | Academy of Management (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.5465/ame.2001.5229453 |
| OpenAlex | W1977871834 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 82 |
Executive Overview Much of management theory is based on the writings of early 20th-century Western scholars whose disciplinary orientations were heavily grounded in economics and classical sociology. These writings depict homo sapiens as an individualistic, utility-maximizing, transaction-oriented species. In contrast, recent scholarship has revealed the gender and racio-ethnic biases of these theories, and shown them to be invalid models of human nature. Humans are social and communal beings. Along with rationality, we are guided by emotions such as anxiety, hope, disappointment, fear, anger, excitement, pity, and remorse. By acknowledging the importance of emotions, world management discourse can evolve more holistic, inclusive, and emancipatory theories. South Africa offers a unique opportunity for understanding the African concept of ubuntu or humaneness. Ubuntu is rich with consideration for compassion and communality. This article discusses the characteristics of ubuntu, explores situations in which it manifests itself in the workplace, and argues that ubuntu can give competitive advantage to companies that incorporate its principles and practices.
Business ethics · Compassion · Competitive advantage · Disappointment · Economics · Environmental ethics · Epistemology · Ethnocentrism · Evolutionary psychology · Management · Pity · Political science · Positive economics · Rationality · Scholarship · Sociology · African cultural and philosophical studies · Anthropology · Law · Psychology · Social Psychology
Indigenous Financial Management Practices in Africa
Decision-making Practices in Africa
Exploring Batho Pele and Ubuntu Principles in the School Social Work Practice in South Africa
Practical theology case study of transforming lives of the poor in the Amalinda Forest Community, East London
Decolonizing Management and Leading Change through African Philosophy
Tolerance as Civility in Contemporary Workplace Diversity Initiatives
Embracing localization
Chapter 9 Hybridisation in Non-Profit Organisations in Southern Africa
Indigenous African Leadership
Coming of age, seeking legitimacy
The Value of Ubuntu as a Framework for Leadership in Christian Ministry
Ubuntu Tensions in Migrant Remittance Behavior
Chinese aid in Africa
Africapitalism, Ubuntu, and Sustainability
Ubuntu
Leadership Development of Zulu Male Youth in a South African Township
Religion and Health in a Covid-19 Context
Institutional Factors and High-Performance Work Organisations (HPWOs) in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA)
A Cultural Approach to African Management Philosophy
Leadership Style and Qualities in Africa
Women entrepreneurs in sub-Saharan Africa
Ubuntu leadership in conversation with servant leadership in the Anglican Church
Leadership effectiveness and motivation in Africa and the African Diaspora (Lead)
Contextualizing Organizational Change Management in Africa
South African Managers' Perceptions of Prospective South African-US Joint Ventures
Leading organizational change in the ‘new’ South Africa
On the nurturing of strategic foresight
Ubuntu
Institutional voids and entrepreneurship
Christian Kinship in Urban Christianity
An Analysis of Ubuntu Theory of Management
Competencies of strategic leadership towards business sustainability in emerging pharmaceutical business of South Africa
Value Sets of Business-owning Families
Ubuntu Leadership Across Cultures
Green leadership
Servant and authoritarian leadership, and leaders’ third-party conflict behavior in convents
Understanding Ubuntu and its contribution to social work education in Africa and other regions of the world
Leviticus 19
International business and Africa
Global citizenship education in a post-disaster context in Aceh, Indonesia
Identifying harmony between industrial engineering and environmental sustainability in South Africa
Ubuntu
Entrepreneurship among women
I Am’
Postcolonial leadership between the sovereign and the beast
The romance of human leaders? A socio-material analysis of a follower’s account of being inspired
Influence of Organizational Culture on Female and Male Upward Mobility into Middle and Senior Managerial Positions
How can we encourage indigenous research
A phenomenological study of time concept and management and productivity in a sub–Saharan African context
The Transfer of Ubuntu and Indaba Business Models Abroad
Cross-cultural adjustment of expatriates
An emic-etic-emic research cycle for understanding context in under-researched countries
From Particle to Purpose
Deconstructing Social Work in Africa
Invoking Biko in MOS
Leadership in Southern Africa
Managing human resources in Africa
“I Will Be a Hummingbird”
Leadership Development in South Africa
A Cultural Perspective of Africa
Indigenous Knowledge Systems
An exposition of humanistic- existential social work in light of ubuntu philosophy
A postcolonial and anti-colonial reading of 'African' leadership and management in organization studies
Integrating individual consciousness and indigenous culture to predict university students’ STIs preventive health behaviours
Looking from South Africa to the World
Religion, Gender, and the Covid-19 pandemic
African Leadership Wisdom and Experience
School Principals Enacting the Values of Ubuntu in School Leadership
Gender and race differences in leader behaviour preferences in South Africa
The Effectiveness of South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission
Transformation to an Equitable Socioeconomic Dispensation
Ubuntu and the Quest for Conflict Resolution in Africa
African Indigenous Leadership Philosophy and Democratic Governance System
A contrapuntal epistemology for social work
Whipping into Line’
Implications of Ubuntu/Synergy for the Education System of Ethiopia
Sixty years of research on leadership in Africa
Decolonizing management education
Wiki approaches to wicked problems
There is power in the cry of a woman
Curriculum Transformation for the Futuristic Worlds
Understanding Indigenous Innovation in Rural West Africa
| Unique citing works | 82 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 3,42 |
| Citation span | 2002 - 2026 (25) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 67 |