The purpose of this book is to establish the first formalised scholarly work on critical management studies (CMS) in the South African context. The book is a collection of seven chapters, six of which employ a conceptual methodology and one of which follows an interpretive paradigm employing qualitative methods of inquiry. CMS is a relatively young school of thought, arising in the early 1990s and still very much a peripheral movement within the academic discipline of management. South Africa has very little scholarship on CMS as precious few scholars work in this space. Furthermore, publication opportunities are virtually non-existent as CMS is virtually unknown in the South African community of management scholars. Thus, this book represents the first academic work on CMS published in South Africa, written and reviewed by scholars who are familiar with the field. The primary target readership would be management academics, but it could also be a useful reference for postgraduate students in management.

This book shows how Critical Management Studies (CMS) scholarship is starting to develop a character of its own in South Africa. It attests to CMS slowly gaining momentum and acquiring an identity of its own amongst South African scholars. However, management studies in South Africa is dominated by capitalist ideology and positivist methodology. Although Interpretive scholarship has gained some momentum, it still falls within the parameters of ‘mainstream’ capitalist thinking. Scholarship outside the domain of capitalist thinking, such as critical scholarship, remains sorely underexplored. Being entrenched in the positivist tradition is arguably a major Achilles’ Heel for the progression of management as a field of inquiry. CMS presents a vehicle for alternative epistemologies to be heard in the management discourse. With its focus on power imbalances, struggles for emancipation from oppression, and distrust of capitalism, CMS provides the peripheral point of view with a voice. CMS presents a space where scholars can engage with South African realities surrounding political, cultural, social, and historical contexts and issues in management. This book is promoting CMS to the scholarly community to show that there are exciting possibilities being offered by a different approach to management scholarship. This book also forms part of a larger project of growing CMS in South Africa and is a collection of original works by academics actively working in CMS, following various methodological approaches which can be categorised into two broad methodological categories, namely, conceptual work and empirical work following an Interpretive approach.

This book examines the trajectory of management studies in South Africa during the apartheid and post-apartheid periods. The unique political journey of South Africa provides a distinctive context in which to explore the progression of management studies within a developing state. The authors consider how Apartheid has configured the discipline of management studies to reflect certain racial, institutional and gendered trends, and analyse the extent to which these trends have adapted or changed in post-Apartheid times. Appealing to management scholars and professionals, this book provides implications for policy and practice within the South African higher education sector, and presents avenues for future research.

This book brings together a variety of international, cross-cultural case studies of management education programmes and discusses the results in light of the present higher social expectations on managerial behaviour. It presents both traditional and unusual approaches to management education, examining concept mapping, transformational learning theory, the practice-theory gap, cultural indoctrination and business students’ increased concern with socio-ecological sustainability. It moves from restating the purpose of university business schools to discussing the construction of conducive learning environments on introductory courses and of communities of learning through ‘harmonised teaching’. In addressing the social and ethical problems that will soon confront all managers, Meeting Expectations is a valuable resource for teachers, students and practitioners.

The Handbook of Feminist Research Methodologies in Management and Organization Studies focuses on the interlinkages between feminist theories, methodologies and research methods, and their practical implementation in business and management research. Featuring contributions from leading scholars in the field of management and organization studies, this groundbreaking Handbook analyses key theoretical texts and their methodological implications, as well as topical approaches including postcolonial feminism and critical race theory. This title contains one or more Open Access chapters.

The main thesis of this book is that, given that South African education faces major challenges, the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) constellation of states offers — thus far overlooked — a valuable tertium comparationis, a source of international comparative perspectives, to inform the domestic scholarly discourse on education. This book first investigates the national contexts and development of education in the BRICS countries, arguing that this grouping represents a valuable but yet overlooked field for illuminating South African education issues with international perspectives. The book consists of chapters arguing for and illustrating this thesis from a variety of angles. Common to all chapters is that authors used the comparative method in education, that is comparing the national education system, in their education societal context interrelationships, of the BRICS countries. The chapters focus on a number of critical issues in South African education, including the language of learning and teaching issue, the alignment of the world of education with the world of work, early childhood education, and the development of world-class universities. Regarding the last, for example, China has been the terrain of the most intensive national projects of establishing world-class universities, with Project 985, Project 211, and the “Double First Class University” project. The chapters demonstrate what South Africa, in approaching her education issues, can learn from the experience of the BRICS countries.

The idea that international development aid needs to be better managed and coordinated gained currency in the early 1990s. The increasing emphasis on management has resulted in the present vogue of ‘managing for development results’ as one of the central tenets in the discourse on international aid. But how appropriate are these ideas, tools, and techniques for non-governmental development organizations (NGOs), and how much does geographic context matter? Examining the current debate on aid effectiveness and the role of NGOs in contributing to it, this book highlights the critical importance of understanding how the global and the local interact to increase aid efficacy and develop more culturally astute ways of managing NGOs. With a focus on NGOs active in sub-Saharan Africa as case studies, author Frederik Claeyé demonstrates that NGOs are not mere passive recipients of management knowledge and practices emanating from the global governance structure of international aid, but actively engage with these ideas and practices to translate and rework them through a local cultural lens. This process results in the emergence of unique hybrid management systems that combine the pressure to become more business-like with the mission to satisfy the demands of the communities they serve.

This book engages in a critical reading of cultural knowledge. By cultural knowledge I refer to cultural dimensions as introduced by Geert Hofstede, Edward T. Hall and Fons Trompenaars. Their research has manifold been taught to individuals who will face an intercultural setting in their business career at some point in the future. It aims to create understanding for cultural differences in order to decrease emotional discomfort and enhance (business) success of those who acquire the knowledge. At the same time it claims to present a foundation for respect for cultural differences since it gives (an imaginative) room to them. If one studies the knowledge (s)he will be aware of cultural differences and therefore treat them with respect. The book is composed of two perspectives on cultural knowledge. In a first step the book turns to post-colonial theory. Post-colonialism argues how a Western perspective has framed cultural identities and how these representations are flawed by colonial thinking. In a second step a Levinasian perspective is taken on cultural knowledge. The French philosopher Emmanuel Levinas was deeply concerned with our way of approaching the Other. He understood the Other to be incomprehensible to our understanding. The Other’s otherness cannot be „grasped“ by framing her/him into categories. He argued that every encounter is of ethical nature and encouraged each individual to show infinite re-sponsibility (responsebility) towards the Other that is not confined by any pre-knowledge. The book concludes that cultural knowledge has been exposed to significant limitations. These limitations are mainly a product of control interests. Individuals who acquire cultural knowledge and are not (made) aware of its limitations face consequences that may compromise their respect for cultural differences. Even though cultural knowledge presents itself as foundation for respect, it prioritizes understanding for the sake of control. As a consequence respectful representations are not given and respect for cultural differences is only supported as long as it does not threaten control. Ultimately, this book shall present a plea for trainers and teachers of cultural knowledge to become acquainted with the limitations, reflect on them and forward this knowledge to their students. It shall also encourage researchers of cultural differences and other scholars to reflect and perhaps improve on it.

Information Systems Research: Relevant Theory and Informed Practice comprises the edited proceedings of the WG8.2 conference, "Relevant Theory and Informed Practice: Looking Forward from a 20-Year Perspective on IS Research," which was sponsored by IFIP and held in Manchester, England, in July 2004. The conference attracted a record number of high-quality manuscripts, all of which were subjected to a rigorous reviewing process in which four to eight track chairs, associate editors, and reviewers thoughtfully scrutinized papers by the highly regarded as well as the newcomers. No person or idea was considered sacrosanct and no paper made it through this process unscathed. All authors were asked to revise the accepted papers, some more than once; thus, good papers got better. With only 29 percent of the papers accepted, these proceedings are significantly more selective than is typical of many conference proceedings. This volume is organized in 7 sections, with 33 full research papers providing panoramic views and reflections on the Information Systems (IS) discipline followed by papers featuring critical interpretive studies, action research, theoretical perspectives on IS research, and the methods and politics of IS development. Also included are 6 panel descriptions and a new category of "bright idea" position papers, 11 in all, wherein main points are summarized in a pithy and provocative fashion.