Routledge Handbook of Organizational Change in Africa

Franca Ovadje, Samuel Aryee

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2018
• ISBN:
  9781317246053
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Economics
• Subtopic: Sustainable Development
• Index: Economics

Although change management and therefore effective adaptation to environmental complexity is considered a uniquely human cultural activity, the extensive change management literature is largely based on the experiences of organizations in the advanced economies of the West. As the economies of African countries become increasingly open, African organizations will need to be agile in order to adapt and grow in a dynamic, global environment. Currently, there is a dearth of contextualized knowledge on change management within Africa, but this handbook aims to address this by bringing together a wide range of experts to explore organizational change and change management from an African context.

The handbook adopts a multidisciplinary (historical, philosophical, processual, and strategic) perspective as well as empirical accounts of change management. It addresses such issues as: What are the external and internal pressures for change? What is the content and process of change management? What are the essentials of effective change management? How can change management be theorized from an African perspective? What sort of leadership can best align with change management demands in an African context? How do organizations build internal change management capability? It is hoped that answers to these questions contained in the handbook will provide a contextualized understanding of change management which African organizations and scholars can leverage to respond to the threats and opportunities inherent in their increasingly dynamic environment.

The handbook should constitute an essential reference for academics, researchers, and advanced students of change management, development studies, and African studies, as well as practitioners.

1
Introduction

Franca Ovadje and Samuel Aryee

History is littered with stories of once-successful organizations that went into terminal decline and eventual death (Cameron, Sutton, and Whetten, 1988; Whetten, 1980). Although organizational decline and death have not attracted much scholarly interest relative to organizational success, as adaptive systems, it is imperative that organizations respond to environmental changes or continuously adapt to their environment if they are to survive and grow (McKinley, Latham, and Braun, 2014; Probst and Raisch, 2005; Trahms, Ndofor, and Sirmon, 2013). The increasingly turbulent environment in which organizations operate has, therefore, made organizations more dependent than ever on their ability to understand the forces that precipitate change, how change is managed, and its impact on organizational performance. Despite the importance of effective change management to an organization’s continued survival and growth, there are several stories of failed organizational change efforts (Beer and Nohria, 2000; Probst and Raisch, 2005). Indeed, some researchers estimate that between 70–80% of change initiatives fail or achieve only partial success (Coetsee and Flood, 2013: 4).

A defining feature of the extensive discourse on organizational change is its predominant focus on change efforts of organizations in the West (Armenakis and Bedeian, 1999; Rafferty, Jimmieson, and Armenakis, 2013). Over the past two decades or so, the previously underperforming economies of sub-Saharan African have been experiencing a form of economic renaissance, with some of these countries averaging annual growth rates in the region of 6% (Economic Commission for Africa, 2012). Indeed, so impressive has the performance of these economies been that this development is said to herald the emergence of the continent as a pole of global growth. Among the imperatives for the economic transformation is the ability of African organizations to ride the storm of change. While globalization has created opportunities for organizations in Africa, they face the challenge of effectively exploiting these opportunities in order to survive and grow. Unfortunately, how these organizations manage change has not been the subject of much systematic research. In fact, research within Africa is limited (George, Corbishley, Khayesi, Haas, and Tihanyi, 2016: 379). This is particularly unfortunate as sub-Saharan African countries have had their fair share of organizational failures exemplified by state-owned corporations (Amankwah-Amoah and Debrah, 2010). Although a multiplicity of factors may have precipitated these organizational failures, it is fair to argue that at the root of the failures of these once-successful organizations is the inability of their leaders to understand the changing environmental context in order to respond to the threats and opportunities inherent in these contexts.

The objective of this handbook is to address this lacuna in the change management literature in Africa and, ultimately, to provide an actionable knowledge base that organizations can draw on to effectively manage change. This handbook addresses, among others, such issues as change drivers, the process of change, winning commitment to change, and building change capacity in an organization.

Taken together, these issues are underpinned by the realization that organizational survival in an increasingly dynamic environment is contingent upon its agility and adaptability. Consequently, the handbook adopts a contextual, historical, processual, strategic (Pettigrew, Woodman, and Cameron, 2001), and philosophical orientation to change management in Africa. Scholars and managers will find the Handbook a useful source of insights and resources on change management in Africa. It is also hoped that the issues addressed in the handbook will provide theoretical inspiration for context-specific change management research, the findings of which will contribute to the scholarly conversation on change management.

The handbook is structured around five themes: the change context and the drivers of change; understanding the change process; leaders as change agents; enhancing change implementation; and embedding change and building change capability.

The context and drivers of organizational change in Africa

Part I introduces the African context and discusses the change drivers in this context. Leading change in Africa presents peculiar challenges because of the unstable macro-economic and political environment (Ovadje, 2014) and the presence of institutional voids (Khanna and Palepu, 2010).

Three chapters are dedicated to a discussion of this theme. The first chapter discusses the change drivers in the African macro-economic and socio-political environment. Pat Utomi and Christopher Akor discuss global- and national-level drivers of change. The global drivers include technology, new knowledge, labour costs, computing, telecommunications, and broadcasting (and social media).

The national-level drivers of change are perhaps particularly important to business in Africa. The Growth Drivers Framework is proposed as a tool for analyzing national-level drivers of change. According to Utomi and Akor, policy choices by government, institutions, human capital, entrepreneurship, culture, and leadership affect the business environment and thus impact organizational strategies.

Institutions are often a challenge to business even where policy choices are attractive. According to Utomi and Akor, business “runs into the headwind of weak institutions and the predatory actions of public officials and bureaucrats.” While they provide tools for a systematic analysis of the social, political, and economic environment, they emphasize the role of institutions. According to them, “to deal with change in Africa is to understand institutions.”

African firms are going international (Ovadje, 2014: 13) and internationalization is driving change not only in international firms, but also in the competitive environment. New entrants may increase the level of competition in an industry. For example, the entry of United Bank for Africa (UBA) into the banking industry in Ghana led to a shake up as incumbents struggled to improve their customer service models to compete with UBA’s. In their chapter on “Firm internationalization as a driver of organizational change,” Chris Ogbechie, Franklin N. Ngwu, and Godson Ikiebey argue that as firms expand across borders, they create new departments, employ international executives, and ultimately, manage an international business. Internationalization involves doing new things as the size and structure of the organization changes and the firm faces the challenge of managing in new cultures, geographies, legal environments, etc. Internationalization may lead to a revision of the business model (to adapt to new markets), new processes, and governance structures. As the firm manages in several environments with specific environmental challenges, it must adapt to these local environments or implement change initiatives if it is to survive.

Ijeoma Nwagwu examines “Responsible Management Education” (RME) as a catalyst of change.

RME involves integrating ethics, corporate responsibility, and sustainability in the curricula, research, and other activities of business or management schools. It is hoped that undergraduate and graduate students, as well as senior executives, who attend these schools will learn the principles and implement what they have learnt in their organizations.

RME as a driver of change is predicated on the belief that business schools have an extensive reach and can influence the society significantly. RME is new in Africa; only about 26 schools on the continent are signatories of the Principles for Management Education (PRME). Of these, only six (five in South Africa and one in Nigeria) are champions of RME. These champions have reviewed their mission statements and are adapting their curricula, research, and core activities to reflect ethics, corporate responsibility, and sustainability. These institutions are undergoing change and are driving organizational change through the students and executives they impact through their teaching and research activities.

To summarize thus far: Because of the pervasiveness of government in African economies, the macro-economic and socio-political environment are major change drivers in this context. Frequent policy changes mean that companies have to be agile and adaptive if they are to survive. A growing driver of change is internationalization. A number of African firms have become international: they export goods to other African markets (usually neighbouring countries), and they have agents in foreign markets or have set up offices and manufacturing facilities in these markets. Many Africans think there is more similarity than difference across Africa (Ovadje, 2014). International companies are finding that this is not so. Internationalization brings more complexity to the organization: the need to comply with local regulations, manage different cultures, etc.

Another driver of change in the African context is Responsible Management Education. Though this is not yet a significant driver of change, Nwagwu argues that it could be significant in the near future. Business schools educate not only undergraduates but also senior executives. As more of these schools become signatories of PRME and embed the principles of RME into their teaching and research, they are likely to develop change agents who will drive change in their organizations.

Understanding the change process

Three chapters are presented in this section: two theoretical models and a model of the change process based on the African culture.

In the first chapter, David B. Zoogah proposes a circumstantiated model of organizational change and development in Africa. He argues that the internal and external context impacts the drivers, processes, and outcomes of organizational change and development. He asserts that unlike the environment of Western countries which are reliable, controllable, and appropriate for diagnostic and dialogic models, the African environment has different cultural, social, political, institutional, economic, and regulatory characteristics. Zoogah argues that the circumstantiated model is more appropriate for the African context which is unclear, unpredictable, and ambiguous.

The model is based on complexity theory, and proposes conversations in large groups as a way to implement change. These conversations should be about planned and unexpected events (common in an unpredictable environment). Change outcomes may be planned and unplanned as reversals occur and unexpected outcomes become the norm.

Mangaliso, Mangaliso, Knipes, Jean-Denis and Ndanga, in their chapter on “Ubuntu as essential inspiration for more humanistic organizational management,” argue that the change process and outcomes in Africa cannot be divorced from the African context. They focus on the African cultural context as captured by Ubuntu, and tease out the characteristics of this context and its impact on the change process and outcomes.

According to them, language (social aspects of communication), decision making, the African concept of time, and leadership affect the change process and thus the outcomes.

In the African worldview, time is not a series of deadlines, but rather a series of opportunities to create or reinforce the social bonds among individuals. In the African context, decision making takes time, as the change process revolves around conversations. It requires wide consultation, typically in open forums such as town hall meetings, building a sense of community, consulting widely and reaching agreement results in greater commitment to the change.

Mangaliso and colleagues highlight the core values which underpin the Ubuntu philosophy: collectivism, harmonious relationships, kindness, etc. It is not surprising that African interpretation of change outcomes emphasize social wellbeing more than efficiency. The authors note that Africans are more concerned about the impact of the change on fellow team members than on the bottom line.

In the third chapter in this section, David B. Zoogah adopted a flow perspective of change and introduced a murmuration model of change in Africa. According to him, change in Africa is both complex and dynamic. A myriad of factors influence change in this context, change outcomes are varied and could include change reversals, and the change process is similar to a murmuration. Change drivers operate across different levels and move in tandem such that a change in one factor triggers change in the other factors. These change drivers (social, economic, political, cultural, and legal factors) drive change not only at organizational, but also at individual, levels.

Leaders as change agents

The focus in the third part of the book is on leaders as change agents. Part III contains four chapters. The role of authentic leadership and trust is the subject of the first chapter. Everlyne Misati and Fred O. Walumbwa, in their chapter on “Authentic leaders as change agents,” point out that Africa still faces huge challenges in spite of its growth in recent years. A number of African companies, however, are re-inventing themselves and are clearly on a growth trajectory. To continue on this trajectory, they must manage change (innovation) more efficiently. The contributors posit that authentic leaders are needed to facilitate these changes.

Authentic leaders are sensitive to the needs of employees. They build credibility and trust and are willing to learn. These attributes are important for change implementation. While Misati and Walumbwa recognize that other types of leadership, such as transformational leadership, facilitate organizational change, they argue that authentic leaders are best suited to the African cultural context: they communicate with employees, empower them, and facilitate a favourable organizational culture and climate.

In his chapter on “Human resource function as change agent,” Samuel Aryee adopts a strategic human resource management approach which is grounded in the resource-based view (RBV) and dynamic capabilities perspective. As a strategic partner, the HR function’s primary responsibility is capability building as a competitive resource that facilitates strategy implementation. The chapter argues that product-market competition has meant that African organizations need to evidence marketplace agility through product and service innovation. As change agent, the HR function initiates change through the adoption of high-performance work systems for agility. The adoption of this change intervention triggers the development of a change management capability by institutionalizing a climate for agility which fosters skill and behavioural flexibility in the form of innovative behaviours leading to marketplace agility/organizational performance. However, the extent to which the HR function can effectively perform its change agent role is argued to be much dependent on top management’s emphasis on employees as a strategic resource, the competencies and power of the HR function, and the quality of the employee-organization relationship. The quality of the employee-organization relationship is argued to be an important boundary condition because of the African cultural emphasis on the collective.

George Ferns and Kenneth Amaeshi, in their chapter on “Rethinking African business elites as change agents,” highlight the importance of business elites in driving change in Africa. The contributors acknowledge that business elites are often accused of stimulating corruption and of rent-seeking behaviour, but argue that business elites sometimes play positive roles which have implications for change in Africa. They thus bring a novel perspective to the organizational change literature in Africa.

Business elites, because of the amount of power they wield in developing countries, have the power to influence governments and government policies which create the environment for business. They present a typology of business elites as change agents and argue that a small but growing number of them are leading change on the continent. The pervasive influence of government and government regulation in these countries makes business elites a formidable force for change in these countries.

We close Part III of the Handbook with an interview by Franca Ovadje and Glory Enyinnaya of a change agent in the public sector. Peter Obi, the former Governor of Anambra State of Nigeria, led a change initiative that transformed the State. In the interview, Obi argues that from his experience in Anambra State, to lead change in the public sector, the change agent must be “insanely” committed to the vision and have execution skills. The change leader must deliver on his campaign promises; he must execute. The choice of the change team is important. Team members must be open, accountable, and able to tell truth to power and ask questions, sometimes difficult questions.

According to Peter Obi, change agents need, above all, character; their conduct (their example), especially in public, ...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• Figures
• Tables
• List of appendices
• Acknowledgments
• Notes on contributors
• 1 Introduction
• 2 Change drivers in the macroeconomic and sociopolitical context
• 3 Firm internationalization as a driver of organizational change
• 4 Responsible management education as a catalyst for change
• 5 A murmuration model of change in Africa
• 6 Ubuntu as essential inspiration for more humanistic organizational management
• 7 A circumstantiated model of change in Africa
• 8 Authentic leaders as change agents
• 9 Human resource function as change agent
• 10 Rethinking African business elites as change agents
• 11 Change leaders in the public sector: an interview with Governor Peter Obi
• 12 Fundamentals of organisational culture change: who and what really matters in a Nigerian organisational context
• 13 Enhancing change implementation through virtuous leadership: a philosophical discourse
• 14 Transformational change in Africa: a case study of sustainable economic growth in Kenya
• 15 The challenge of institutionalizing organizational renewal: a case study of Equity Bank
• 16 Riding the waves of change: an interview with Mitchell Elegbe, CEO Interswitch group
• 17 Conclusions: toward effective change management in African organizations
• Index