Culture and leadership in Africa: A conceptual model and research agenda

African Journal of Economic and Management Studies

Volumn 1, Issue 1, 2010, Pages 9-24

  Kuada, John ^a  

^a AALBORG UNIVERSITY   (Denmark)

Author keywords

Africa; Cultural studies; Leadership; National cultures; Organizational performance

Indexed keywords

EID: 84890889042     PISSN: 20400705     EISSN: 20400713     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1108/20400701011028130     Document Type: Article

References (66)

1. Adler, N.J. (1991), International Dimensions of Organizational Behaviour, PWS-Kent, Boston, MA.
2. Akyüz, Y. and Gore, C. (2001), “African economic development in a comparative perspective”, Cambridge Journal of Economics, Vol. 25, pp. 265-88.
3. Ardichvili, A. and Manderscheid, S.V. (2008), “Emerging practices in leadership development – an introduction”, Advances in Developing Human Resources, Vol. 10 No. 5, pp. 619-31, available at: http://adh.sagepub.com (accessed 5 April 2009).
4. Argyris, C. (1990), Overcoming Organizational Defensive Routines, Allyn & Bacon, Needham, MA.
5. Argyris, C. (1993), Knowledge for Action, Jossey-Bass, San Francisco, CA.
6. Ashford, S.J. and Cummings, L.L. (1983), “Feedback as an individual resource: personal strategies of creating information”, Organizational Behavior and Human Performance, Vol. 32, pp. 370-98.
7. Assimeng, M. (1981), Social Structure of Ghana, Ghana Publishing Corporation, Accra.
8. Atkinson, J.W. (1957), “Motivational determinants of risk-taking behaviour”, Psychological Review, Vol. 64, pp. 359-71.
9. Avolio, B.J., Walumbwa, F.O. and Weber, T.J. (2009), “Leadership: current theories, research, and future directions”, Annual Review of Psychology, Vol. 60, pp. 421-9, available at: www.arjournals.annualreviews.org (accessed 4 May 2009).
10. Bass, B.M. (1985), Leadership and Performance beyond Expectations, The Free Press, New York, NY.
11. Blake, R.R. and Mouton, J.S. (1964), The Managerial Grid, Gulf, Houston, TX.
12. Blanchard, K. (2007), Leading at a Higher Level, FT Press, Upper Saddle River, NJ.
13. Blunt, P. and Jones, M. (1997), “Exploring the limits of Western leadership theory in east Asia and Africa”, Personnel Review, Vol. 26 Nos 1/2, pp. 6-23.
14. Bolden, R. and Kirk, P. (2009), “Cultural perspectives: African leadership surfacing new understandings through leadership development”, International Journal of Cross Cultural Management, Vol. 9 No. 1, pp. 69-86, available at: http://ccm.sagepub.com (accessed 24 April 2009).
15. de Cremer, D. and van Dijk, E. (2008), “Leader-follower effects in resource dilemmas: the roles of leadership selection and social responsibility”, Group Processes & Intergroup Relations, Vol. 11 No. 3, pp. 355-69.
16. Dorfman, P., Howell, J., Hibino, S., Lee, J., Tate, U. and Bautista, A. (2006), “Leadership in Western and Asian countries: commonalities and differences in effective leadership practices”, in Pierce, J. and Newstrom, J. (Eds), Leaders and the Leadership Process, McGraw-Hill, New York, NY.
17. Edoho, F. (2007), “State-corporate alliance: ramifications for corporate social responsibility and sustainable livelihood”, African Journal of Business and Economic Research, Vol. 3 No. 1, pp. 96-113.
18. Fafchamps, M., Teal, F. and Toye, J. (2001), “Towards a growth strategy for Africa”, REP/2001-06, Centre for the Study of African Economies, University of Oxford, Oxford.
19. Fiedler, F.E. (1967), A Theory of Leadership Effectiveness, McGraw-Hill, New York, NY.
20. Gluck, F., Kaufman, S.P. and Wallach, S. (1980), “Strategic management for competitive advantage”, Harvard Business Review, July/August, pp. 154-61.
21. Hersey, P. and Blanchard, K.H. (1977), The Management of Organizational Behaviour, 3rd ed., Prentice-Hall, Upper Saddle River, NJ.
22. Hofstede, G. (1980), Culture's Consequences: International Differences in Work-related Values, Sage, Beverly Hills, CA.
23. Jackson, T. (2004), Management and Change in Africa: A Cross-cultural Perspective, Routledge, London.
24. Jones, M.L. (1986), “Management development: an African focus”, Management Education and Development, Vol. 17 No. 3, pp. 202-16.
25. Kamoche, K. (1997), “Competence-creation in the African public sector”, The International Journal of Public Sector Management, Vol. 10 No. 4, pp. 268-78.
26. Killick, T., White, H., Kayizzi-Mugerwa, S. and Savane, M.-A. (2001), African Poverty at the Millennium: Causes, Complexities and Challenges, World Bank, Washington, DC.
27. Kuada, J. (1994), Managerial Behaviour in Ghana and Kenya – A Cultural Perspective, Aalborg University Press, Aalborg.
28. Kuada, J. (2006), “Cross-cultural interactions and changing management practices in Africa: a hybrid management perspective”, African Journal of Business and Economic Research, Vol. 1 No. 1, pp. 96-113.
29. Kuada, J. (2008), “Social resources and entrepreneurial activities in Africa”, International Journal of Social Entrepreneurship, Vol. 1 No. 1, pp. 27-55.
30. Kuada, J. (2009), “Gender, social networks, and entrepreneurship in Ghana”, Journal of African Business, Vol. 10 No. 1, pp. 85-103.
31. Leonard, D.K. (1987), “The political realities of African management”, World Development, Vol. 15 No. 7, pp. 899-910.
32. Lord, R.G., Brown, D.J. and Freiberg, S.J. (1999), “Understanding the dynamics of leadership: the role of follower self-concepts in the leader/follower relationship”, Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Vol. 78 No. 3, pp. 167-203, available at: www.idealibrary.com (accessed 27 August 2009).
33. McLaurin, J.R. (2006), “The role of situation in the leadership process: a review and application”, Academy of Strategic Management Journal, Vol. 5, pp. 97-115.
34. Maak, T. (2007), “Responsible leadership, stakeholder engagement, and the emergence of social capital”, Journal of Business Ethics, Vol. 74, pp. 329-43.
35. Martin, J. (1992), Cultures in Organizations: Three Perspectives, Oxford University Press, Oxford.
36. Montgomery, J.D. (1987), “Probing managerial behaviour: image and reality in southern Africa”, World Development, Vol. 15 No. 7, pp. 911-29.
37. Muczyk, J.P. and Holt, D. (2008), “Toward a cultural contingency model of leadership”, Journal of Leadership & Organizational Studies, Vol. 14 No. 4, pp. 277-86.
38. Nahavandi, A. (2009), The Art and Science of Leadership, 5th ed., Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ.
39. Nwankwo, S. and Richards, D.C. (2001), “Privatization: the myth of free market orthodoxy in Sub-Saharan Africa”, The International Journal of Public Sector Management, Vol. 14 No. 2, pp. 165-79.
40. Ochola, S.A. (2007), Leadership and Economic Crisis in Africa, Kenya Literature Bureau, Nairobi.
41. Oke, A., Munshi, N. and Walumba, F.O. (2009), “The influence of leadership on innovation processes and activities”, Organizational Dynamics, Vol. 38 No. 1, pp. 64-72.
42. Okpara, J.O. (2006), “The impact of personal characteristics on the job satisfaction of public sector managers in a developing economy: implications for personnel development”, African Journal of Business and Economic Research, Vol. 1 No. 1, pp. 10-33.
43. Okpara, J.O. and Wynn, P. (2007), “The effect of culture on job satisfaction and organizational commitment: a study of information system managers in Nigeria”, African Journal of Business and Economic Research, Vol. 2 Nos 2/3, pp. 9-36.
44. Redding, S.G. (1980), “Cognition as an aspect of culture and its relation to management processes: an exploratory view of the Chinese case”, Journal of Management Studies, May, pp. 127-48.
45. Roberts, K.H. (1970), “On looking at an elephant: an evaluation of cross-cultural research related to organizations”, Psychological Bulletin, Vol. 74, pp. 327-50.
46. Robinson, S.L. and Rousseau, D.M. (1994), “Violating the psychological contract: not the exception but the norm”, Journal of Organizational Behaviour, Vol. 15, pp. 245-59.
47. Rousseau, D.M. (1990), “New hire perceptions of their own and their employer's obligations: a study of psychological contracts”, Journal of Organizational Behaviour, Vol. 11, pp. 389-400.
48. Sackmann, S.A. (1992), “Culture and subcultures: an analysis of organizational knowledge”, Administrative Science Quarterly, Vol. 37, pp. 140-61.
49. Sackmann, S.A. (1997), Cultural Complexity in Organizations, Sage, Thousand Oaks, CA.
50. Schneider, M. and Somers, M. (2006), “Organizations as complex adaptive systems: implications of complexity theory for leadership research”, The Leadership Quarterly, Vol. 17 No. 4, pp. 351-65.
51. Sørensen, O.J. and Kuada, J. (2001), “Institutional context of Ghanaian firms and cross-national inter-firm relations”, in Jacobsen, G. and Torp, J.E. (Eds), Understanding Business Systems in Developing Countries, Sage, New Delhi, pp. 163-201.
52. Stogdill, R.M. (1974), Handbook of Leadership: A Survey of Theory and Research, The Free Press, New York, NY.
53. Triandis, H.C. (1994), Culture and Social Behavior, McGraw-Hill, New York, NY.
54. Trompenaars, F. and Hampden-Turner, C. (1997), Riding the Waves of Culture, Nicholas Brealey, London.
55. UNCTAD (2004), “Enhancing the contribution to development of the indigenous private sector in Africa”, available at: www.afrasia.org/cmsupload/_1188676352_AABC_UNCTAD (accessed 10 July 2008).
56. Whitley, R. (Ed.) (1994), European Business Systems: Firms and Markets in their National Contexts, Sage, London.
57. Yeats, A., Amjadi, A., Reincke, U. and Ng, F. (1996), “What caused Sub-Saharan Africa's marginalization in world trade?”, Finance & Development, No. 38, pp. 41-5.
58. Yukl, G. (2010), Leadership in Organizations, 7th ed., Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ.
59. Barnard, C.I. (1938), The Functions of the Executive, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA.
60. Blunt, P. and Jones, M.L. (1986), “Managerial motivation in Kenya and Malawi: a cross-cultural comparison”, Journal of Modern African Studies, Vol. 24 No. 1, pp. 165-75.
61. de Cremer, D. (2003), “How self-conception may lead to inequality: effect of hierarchical roles on the equality rule in organizational resource-sharing tasks”, Group & Organization Management, Vol. 28 No. 2, pp. 282-302.
62. Gabarro, J.J. (1987), “The development of working relationships”, in Lorsch, J.W. (Ed.), Handbook of Organizational Behavior, Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ, pp. 172-89.
63. Gullestrup, H. (2006), Cultural Analysis – Towards Cross-cultural Understanding, Aalborg University Press, Aalborg.
64. Miller, D. and Toulouse, J.-M. (1986), “Strategy, structure and EEO personality and performance in small firms”, American Journal of Small Business, Vol. 10 No. 3, pp. 47-62.
65. Roberson, L. (1989), “Assessing personal work goals in the organizational setting: development and evaluation of the work concerns inventory”, Organizational Behaviour and Human Decision Processes, Vol. 4, pp. 345-67.
66. Stogdill, R.M. (1963), Manual for the Leader Behavior Description Questionnaire, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH.