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Goulet (1996) declared that a new paradigm of development is clearly in gestation. Such paradigm centers on human development as an end, with economic development as the means (UNDP, 1994). In fact, the Millennium Declaration and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), identify human development as a key to social and economic progress. Indeed, MDGs have become a universal framework for development, and a means for developing countries and their partners to work together in pursuit of a shared future for all. However, from all indications, developing countries, particularly in Africa, are not on target on any of the goals. In order to achieve the MDGs, developing countries are urged to mobilize additional resources and break with business as usual syndrome. Thus the challenge of the MDGs underscores the need for Africa to wake up and exploit the opportunities that “Botho” can offer in the continent’s quest for a “second independence” (Ake, 2001; Nnoli, 2003) and/or a “second liberation” (Nnaemeka, 2009) from protracted development crisis of the modern history. Such a need, however, according to Tambulasi and Kayuni (2005) begs the question: Can African feet divorce Western shoes? Of course, there is a wider list of thoughts to be produced on that topic. The paper intends to reflect on “Botho” as a resource for a just and sustainable economy towards Africa’s development path in modern history.

This paper aims to explore, with the view to establish the prospects of applying Ubuntu-Botho African approach to stakeholder corporate social responsibility (CSR) for business organisations in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), the experience of Basotho of Lesotho in using Ubuntu-Botho African principles and practices to pursue their socially responsible development fashioned in social responsibility (SR) terms.

Using data mainly from desktop research, the theoretical or conceptual content of the paper was established to inform the discussions on the prospects of applying Ubuntu-Botho African principles and practices to stakeholder CSR for business organisations in SSA.

Ubuntu-Botho African approach to stakeholder CSR could generate a very different notion of ideal SR of business organizations in the context of SSA as the experience of Basotho of Lesotho reveals. Whether or not one is persuaded by this Ubuntu-Botho approach to stakeholder CSR, the discussion serves to illuminate the need to broaden the terms of the debate over the appropriate role of business organizations, at least in the context of SSA, regarding their CSR and performance within which they operate.

The paper mainly uses secondary data that is considered to be most relevant, valid and reliable to inform discussions on the prospects of the application of Ubuntu-Botho African ethics to stakeholder CSR for business organisations in the context of SSA. The author’s knowledge of Lesotho – where he lived, studied and worked – informed the writing of this paper, as well as discussions on the prospects of applying Ubuntu-Botho African approach to stakeholder CSR for business organisations in SSA using the experience of Basotho of Lesotho in engineering their socially responsible development to become the granary of Southern Africa in 1900s.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the prominence and positioning of ethics in the four editions of the King Report on corporate governance for South Africa that were published since 1994. It tells a tale of how certain ethics aspects remained fairly constant over the four editions of the King Report on corporate governance for South Africa (King I in 1994; King II in 2002; King III in 2009; King IV in 2016), whilst other ethics aspects evolved quite substantially over the four editions.

In this paper, a conceptual distinction between “Ethics of Governance” and “Governance of Ethics” will be introduced, which will then be used to analyse the ethics dimensions of the four King reports.

It will be demonstrated that there is continuity across the four editions of the King Report as far as the Ethics of Governance is concerned.

With regards to the Governance of Ethics, there has been a quite drastic evolution in both the prominence and positioning of ethics since the publication of the first King Report in 1994.

Our children may learn about the heroes of the past.

Our task is to make ourselves architects of the future.

The twenty-first century confronts society with challenges that will determine the future of humanity and the planet. Such challenges defy traditional analysis. Paralyzed by the inadequacy of our standard logic, on which much of traditional scholarship relies, we search for meaningful and effective understandings that can guide us – understandings that seem inherently wise and just, and not simply empirically confirmable. Few of us question the need for wisdom, yet to date, academic scholarship has failed to address the role that it plays, and could play, in supporting international organizational processes capable of addressing the world’s most demanding societal challenges.² This chapter explores the nature of pragmatic wisdom – wisdom that incorporates both profound understanding and action. It uses the founding of an international development initiative, Uniterra, to highlight the need for and influence of wisdom in international organizational processes and outcomes. Uniterra’s core structure and central process involve partnering – forming networks of non-hierarchical relationships. The chapter therefore investigates the wisdom needed to create and maintain global partnerships. Given the chapter’s focus on pragmatic wisdom, it also explores the concepts of hope and courage, for without hope and courage, wisdom could never move beyond conceptualization to action. The writing style purposely differs from that of most scholarly articles. Beyond presenting a specific case, the writing offers readers the opportunity to experience wisdom via indigenous proverbs from a wide range of the world’s more pragmatic wisdom traditions. So as not to interrupt readers’ appreciation of the proverbs or reduce their impact or meaning merely to the underlying logical constructs, the chapter uses endnotes rather than more traditional text references.

The 21st century confronts society with challenges that will determine the future of humanity and the planet. Such challenges defy traditional analysis. Paralyzed by the inadequacy of our standard logic, on which much of traditional scholarship relies, we search for meaningful and effective understandings that can guide us—understandings that seem inherently wise and just, and not simply empirically confirmable. Few of us question the need for wisdom, yet to date, academic scholarship has failed to address the role that it plays, and could play, in supporting international organizational processes capable of addressing the world’s most demanding societal challenges. ² This chapter explores the nature of pragmatic wisdom—wisdom that incorporates both profound understanding and action. It uses the founding of an international development initiative, Uniterra, to highlight the need for and influence of wisdom in international organizational processes and outcomes. Uniterra’s core structure and central process involve partnering—forming networks of nonhierarchical relationships. The chapter therefore investigates the wisdom needed to create and maintain global partnerships. Given the chapter’s focus on pragmatic wisdom, it also explores the concepts of hope and courage, for without hope and courage, wisdom could never move beyond conceptualization to action. The writing style purposely differs from that of most scholarly articles. Beyond presenting a specific case, the writing offers readers the opportunity to experience wisdom via indigenous proverbs from a wide range of the world’s more pragmatic wisdom traditions. So as not to interrupt readers’ appreciation of the proverbs or reduce their impact or meaning merely to the underlying logical constructs, the chapter uses endnotes rather than more traditional text references.

Management theory and practice have been developed mostly based on Western capitalist principles and imported into other nations. Some of these nations have their own indigenous principles though these are less well known. This chapter presents the values and concepts of Ubuntu and Batho Pele, both prominent business doctrines originally applied in the South African context.

Many scholars have pointed out the notion of Ubuntu as a philosophy that encompasses the beliefs, values, and behaviours of most South African people. It is a spirit of humaneness, caring and community, harmony, hospitality, and mutual respect among individuals and groups. It shows in the thinking and behaviour of African people towards others. Batho Pele, literally meaning ‘people first’ is a concept emanating from the Ubuntu principle that means putting other people ahead of one’s needs. It started with the drive to put others first, propagated from the advent of democracy in South Africa in 1994. This idea of prioritising others’ needs then gave rise to various service delivery policies, for example, the 1997 Batho Pele White Paper. Batho Pele, as adopted from Sotho–Tswana languages, was an initiative introduced by the Mandela administration to change the public service at all levels to be more focussed on continuously delivering and improving on excellent service.

This chapter explores the perceptions that custodians of African cultures such as parents, grand-parents, village chiefs, and other community leaders hold regarding what higher education institutions ought to achieve for their children, and the extent to which these final ends are being, or can be, achieved through teaching and learning in cyberspace. Using the African context of Botswana as a reference point, the chapter situates learning and teaching practices online in the context of culture. After exploring the literature on cultural worldviews, African expectations of higher education, and online pedagogy and technology, the chapter documents the understandings and perceptions of the final ends that higher education institutions ought to pursue held by 39 village chiefs, community leaders, and parents from different cultural groups and communities. Evidence from phenomenological interviews revealed that Africans held that Afro-communal purposes for higher education in which promoting virtue, supporting culture, facilitating cooperation, and contributing to socio-economic development were seen as the paramount final ends for higher education institutions. The findings support Metz’s (2019) theoretical model of the ends of African higher education institutions. The chapter argues that, for online pedagogy in African universities and colleges to be successful, it should be grounded in collectivism where emphasis is given to the use of synchronous communication systems for the delivery of learning experiences, pedagogical practices are framed within community of practice, students are exposed to education for morality to foster a deeper sense of being real humans, and a socio-economic development agenda is emphasised.

This chapter explores the relationship between higher education leadership and humanizing pedagogy. It is premised on the assumption that higher education leadership, as a social construct, is both a philosophical problem and policy imperative. Yet, the fourth industrial revolution and artificial intelligence (AI) imperatives have far-reaching implications for the “dominant” higher education leadership theory and practice. With this in mind, this chapter advocates for a broader and culturally inclusive understanding of higher education leadership perspectives. Among others, this thesis is that in a developing country context such as South Africa, for example, the dominant approach of higher education leadership should be guided by the Ubuntu principles and humanizing pedagogy. The author argue that the humanizing pedagogy and Ubuntu principles, in a culturally diverse setting of the fourth industrial revolution era and AI, have the prospects of changing the current unacceptable levels of performance and bring change in a larger scale in higher education institutions.