Management Challenges for Africa in the Twenty-First Century


Book Description

Edoho and his contributors examine the management challenges facing African governments and businesses on the eve of a new millennium. As the authors make clear, Africa's future is defined by how Africa does in the 21st century. For Africa, a major challenge is how to effectively and efficiently manage its vast wealth. Africa is not poor because it is poor—it is poor because it cannot manage its development process. The shortages of managerial knowledge, skills, and talents are pervasive. Consequently, the region lacks the ability to organize production and run operations effectively and efficiently. The task of developing managerial manpower in Africa is not only imperative, it is urgent. After outlining theoretical and applied perspectives on management, the volume examines the public and private sector planning and management. It then explores the globalization of management technology, provides case studies of African management dilemmas, looks at management ethics and morality, and concludes with an analysis of the role of management in African national development. As the authors make clear, abundant resources will not of themselves usher in an African economic renaissance. Africa needs skills to identify and analyze its resources, to undertake investment, and to establish and run all kinds of organizations. Until Africa develops its indigenous managerial talents, development will continue to be elusive, and the process traumatizing. An important resource for scholars, students, and policy makers involved with African economic development.




The United States' Foreign Policy in Africa in the 21st Century


Book Description

Since the dawn of the 21st century, transnational terrorism has compelled increased American strategic engagement with Africa. Further, with the 2008 election of President Barack Obama, America's first black president and one with an African heritage, there was greater African expectation that a drastic new course in the United States' African policy would emerge. Washington was now expected to engage Africa in a more robust manner than in the past. In nine well-researched essays authored by contributors from a range of disciplines, this book articulates some of the dynamic forces driving contemporary relationships between the United States and Africa. The volume offers a fresh perspective to salient issues defining US-African relations in the twenty-first century such as health, trade, sustainable development, counter-terrorism, military and strategic partnership, conflict resolution, and democratization and good governance. Scholars, foreign policy analysts and policymakers, students, and the general reader interested in diplomatic history and international relations would find this work indispensable. This book is part of the African World Series, edited by Toyin Falola, Jacob and Frances Sanger Mossiker Chair in the Humanities, University of Texas at Austin. "The question of what Africa should mean to the United States and vice-versa has again come to the fore of critical discussion, especially since President Barack Obama became the President of the United States. Often at the centre of the debate is what should be the extent (or intent) of the relationship. The chapters in this book take a bold attempt at addressing some of these issues and provide a compelling study for which we should be grateful." -- Abiodun Alao, King's College London "A particular strength of the work is its multi-disciplinary approach...[the book] is a useful addition to an understanding of the many opportunities and challenges vis-à-vis the United States and Africa. Students, scholars, and general readers alike should benefit from its detailed exploration of the relationship between US foreign policy in Africa and the contributors' cogent suggestions for improving upon that important relationship in the future." -- William A. Taylor, Angelo State University




Economic Development in the Twenty-first Century


Book Description

This book uses lessons from history to help African countries take charge of their own economic development agenda. History is an important part of Africa’s economic development narrative, and Ocran investigates how the development outcomes between Africa and Western Europe became so divergent when in the early medieval period average income levels and economic development in the two regions differed only marginally. The sixteenth century marked a turning point, with the emergence of Western European mercantilism and capitalism and their associated exploitation of other countries. In understanding Africa’s economic development, it is crucial to recognise that Africa has not always been poor. Examining 400 years of enslavement and colonisation, this book takes us to present day Africa and economic issues affecting the continent. With selected case studies from Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Singapore to South Korea and China, Ocran proposes ways to break out of the economic development quandary Africa currently faces.




Violence, Politics and Conflict Management in Africa


Book Description

This volume critically interrogates, from different angles and dimensions, the resilience of conflict and violence into 21st century Africa. The demise of European colonial administration in Africa in the 1960s wielded fervent hope for enduring peace for the people of Africa. Regrettably, conflict alongside violence in all its dimensions physical, religious, political, psychological and structural remain unabated and occupy central stage in contemporary Africa. The resilience of conflict and violence on the continental scene invokes unsettling memories of the past while negatively influencing the present and future of crafting inclusive citizenship and statehood. The book provides fresh insightful ethnographic and intellectual material for rethinking violence and conflict, and for fostering long-lasting peace and political justice on the continent and beyond. With its penetrating focus on conflict and associated trajectories of violence in Africa, the book is an inestimable asset for conflict management practitioners, political scientists, historians, civil society activists and leaders in economics and politics as well as all those interested in the affairs of Africa.




The Anthropology of Africa: Challenges for the 21st Century


Book Description

In 1999 (August 30 - September 2) the Pan African Anthropological Association (PAAA) marked the 10th anniversary of its creation by holding its 9th Annual Conference in Yaounde, Cameroon - the city and country of its birth. The conference, themed "The Anthropology of Africa: Challenges for the 21st Century", was attended by some seventy participants, mostly African. Among the international participants was Dr Sydel Silverman, President of the Wenner Gren Foundation at the time - a long term partner of the PAAA; she was present at the inaugural conference in 1988. The conference proceedings were initially published in 2000 with very limited circulation. Given the continued relevance of the papers presented, and in view of the call by the President of the PAAA for African anthropologists to reunite anthropological theory and practice in the teaching programmes of African universities, the PAAA is pleased to republish the proceedings of its landmark 9th Annual Conference. The book consists of forty three divided into eight parts, namely: i) teaching anthropology in the decades ahead; ii) Health Challenges: HIV/AIDS Anthropological Perspectives; iii) NGOS: Use and Misuse of Anthropology; iv) Anthropological Focus on Environment; v) Some Applied Issues in Anthropology; vi) The African Family in Crisis; vii) Ethnicity and Ethnic Conflicts; and viii) Population issues and anthropology: Fertility Crisis. Paul Nkwi concludes his introduction to the volume with these words: "The Anthropology of Africa will remain for a long time, fundamentally applied if it is to meet the challenges of the 21st Century."




Employment Relations in the 21st Century


Book Description

It cannot be denied that in recent decades, for many if not most people, work has become unstable and insecure, with serious risk and few benefits for workers. As this reality spills over into political and social life, it is crucial to interrogate the transformations affecting employment relations, shape research agendas, and influence the policies of national and international institutions. This single volume brings together thirty-nine scholars (both academics and experienced industrial relations actors) in the fields of employment relations and labour law in a forthright discussion of new approaches, theories, and methods aimed at ameliorating the world of work. Focusing on why and how work is changing, how collective actors deal with it, and the future of work from different disciplinary angles and at an international level, the contributors describe and analyse such issues and topics as the following: new forms of social protection and representation; differences in the power relations of workers and political dynamics; balancing protection of workers’ dignity and promotion of productivity; intersection of information technology and workplace regulation; how the gig economy undermines legal protections; role of professional and trade associations; workplace conflict management; lay judges in labour courts; undeclared work in the informal sector of the labour market; work incapacity and disability; (in)coherence of the work-related case law of the European Court of Justice; and business restructurings. Derived from a major conference held in Leuven in September 2018, the book offers an in-depth understanding of the changing world of work, its main transformations, and the challenges posed to classical employment relations theories and methods as well as to labour law. With its wide range of insights, analysis, and reflection, this unique contribution to the study of industrial relations offers an authoritative reference guide to scholars, policymakers, trade unions and business associations, human resources professionals, and practitioners who need to deal with the future of work challenges.




Africa's Development in the Twenty-first Century


Book Description

Having been under colonial rule for the first half of the century, by 1965 all but a handful of African countries had regained their independence and were poised to take off into an era of development. However, Africa now suffers from the most acute form of underdevelopment anywhere in the world. Bringing together a broad selection of case studies covering a wide range of key issues, this volume provides a multidisciplinary exploration of Africa's development opportunities and challenges into the twenty-first century.




The Palgrave Handbook of Management History


Book Description

The coronavirus pandemic of 2019-20 and its associated global economic collapse has bluntly revealed that decision makers everywhere are ill-equipped to identify the innovative capacities of modern societies and, in particular, deploy managers to harness such capabilities. Getting the problem of management right is a voyage to the heart of human experience. Indeed, the perennial questions that haunt our existence almost invariably prompt answers that invoke conceptions of work, transformative effort and realisation of ideas. One way or another, all such endeavour requires management. It is often overlooked that more than any other discipline, management history brings into focus humanity’s most pressing questions. At the time of writing, these queries come with a disquieting urgency. What is management? How do its modern methods differ from those in pre-industrial societies? How does the management that emerged in Western Europe and North America in the nineteenth century differ from forms practiced in the twentieth? In what ways do Asian, African and South American societies have distinctive managerial philosophies? Perhaps most importantly, what don’t we know or don’t do very well? It is to these fundamental questions that the Palgrave Handbook of Management History speaks. The work’s 63 chapters – authored by 27 of the world’s leading management and business thinkers – explore virtually every aspect of management globally as well as across millennia. The series explores the theoretical contributions of classical Western business and management scholars (Adam Smith, Frederick Taylor, Elton Mayo, Peter Drucker, Alfred Chandler, etc.) as well as commentaries from critical theorists such as Michel Foucault, Jacques Derrida and Hayden White. The Handbook is also practical. For example, its content addresses the day to day experience of management in ancient Greece and Rome as well as the contemporary approaches of China, France, South Africa, India, Denmark, Australia, South America, New Zealand and the Middle East. In short, the Palgrave Handbook provides students of economics, management, business theory and practice, and critical studies with a single comprehensive and in-depth point of reference.




Africapitalism


Book Description

Africa is on the rise. Enabled by natural resources, commodity trading and the recent discovery of Africa as the last frontier of capitalism by the global market, African entrepreneurs are now being empowered as economic change agents. How can this new economic elite engage in the sustainable development of the continent? 'Africapitalism', the term coined by Nigerian economist Tony O. Elumelu, describes an economic philosophy embodying the private sector's commitment to the economic transformation of Africa through investments generating economic prosperity and social wealth. The concept has attracted significant attention in both business and policy circles. Promoting a positive change in approach and outlook towards development in Africa, this book consolidates research and insights into the Africapitalism movement, and will appeal to scholars, researchers and graduate students of Africa studies, international business, business and society, corporate social responsibility, strategic management, economic thought, international political economy, leadership and development studies.




Challenges to African Entrepreneurship in the 21st Century


Book Description

This volume offers an overview of the critical challenges faced by aspiring African entrepreneurs and their coping strategies to sustain and develop their businesses. Contributors to this volume detail the constraints placed on African entrepreneurs through rich case studies and challenge African leaders and international donors to review their own behaviors if they hope for African entrepreneurs to succeed.