Using social practice approaches for strategic management research in Africa: an example, design considerations and potential contributions

ABSTRACT

African management theories and practices have received scant scholarly attention in organization and management literature. The recognition for vast opportunities for developing, adapting and extending management concepts, theories and practices in situ has become topical. Scholars have responded thus far, as a bourgeoning body of Africa-centric management and organization knowledge is gradually building as never before. The modest strides made to date covering research approaches are currently limited. By reference to an empirical study this paper explicates a more qualitative, nuanced, relational, and socialized strategy-as-practice research approach that is better attuned to examining strategy as a social practice in context. Extant studies have advanced arguments for the need and value in African-focused management research (the why), the current paper brings the salience of research approaches to the African-focused management scholarship agenda (the how) into sharper focus. The paper specifically, articulates a social practice-inspired research approach for theorizing strategic management in Africa.

KEYWORDS:

• Africa
• Bourdieu
• strategy-as-practice
• social practice approach
• social practice research
• strategic management

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Strategy Research Foundation: [Grant Number SRF-DP2014-093].

Notes on contributors

William Phanuel Kofi Darbi

Dr William Phanuel Kofi Darbi is a Senior Lecturer in Strategic Management at the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration Business School. He received an MSc in International Strategic Management from Staffordshire University, UK and a PhD in Management from the University of Canterbury, New Zealand. His research interests include strategy as practice; context-specific application of strategic management concepts, theories and tools; and cross cultural management.

Stanley Coffie

Professor Stanley Coffie is currently an Associate Professor of Marketing at the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA) where he has been since 2012. Professor Coffie previously lectured at Birkbeck College, University of London where he obtained his PhD. His research interests are in marketing strategy in emerging/developing economies, strategic positioning and branding in bottom of the pyramid markets, and services marketing.