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1 – 10 of over 1000Sasha Boucher, Margaret Cullen and André Paul Calitz
Contemporary entrepreneurial ecosystem models and frameworks advocate that culture is a criterion for entrepreneurial intention and central to entrepreneurship discourse. However…
Abstract
Purpose
Contemporary entrepreneurial ecosystem models and frameworks advocate that culture is a criterion for entrepreneurial intention and central to entrepreneurship discourse. However, there is limited research from resource-constrained economies, such as sub-Saharan Africa and at a sub-national level. Responding to calls for bottom-up perspectives hinged on local context and heterogeneous nature, this paper aims to provide an in-depth understanding from multiple perspectives about the effect that culture and entrepreneurial intention have on the entrepreneurship process and performance in Nelson Mandela Bay, South Africa.
Design/methodology/approach
A mixed-method research design followed a sequential independent process consisting of two phases. Phase 1 included the dissemination of questionnaires to economically active participants, and 300 responses were statistically analysed. In Phase 2, 15 semi-structured interviews with influential economic development agents were conducted.
Findings
The results indicated that social legitimacy towards entrepreneurship existed and self-employment was viewed positively. However, self-employment endeavours were mainly necessity driven, and the systemic low levels of innovation, poor business competitiveness and the inability to scale were highlighted. The findings indicated that individuals venturing into business had a culture of being dependant on the government, lacking a risk appetite, fearing failure, with disparate groups suffering from a poor legacy of entrepreneurship.
Originality/value
Despite research done on the role of culture and entrepreneurial intention on entrepreneurial ecosystems, there are few case studies showing their influence at a sub-national level. This study responds to calls for studies on a sub-national level by exploring the influence that culture and entrepreneurial intention have on entrepreneurship in a resource-constrained metropole.
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Building on the contributions of chaos and complexity theories, this paper aims to conceptualize how the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King and Nelson Mandela were…
Abstract
Purpose
Building on the contributions of chaos and complexity theories, this paper aims to conceptualize how the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King and Nelson Mandela were able to transform chaos (randomness) into order (integration). More specifically, it aims to identify the qualities by which such leadership worked in the context of conflict and cultural confrontations, which is, leading at the edge of chaos.
Design/methodology/approach
This research follows a qualitative approach in data collection and analysis; it narrates and analyses biographic data as well as literature about these three prominent leaders. Common qualities of these leaders are explored in-depth, discussed and linked.
Findings
Success in leading at the edge of chaos was attributed to the following leadership qualities: vision, non-violence and tolerance. This paper conceptualizes Gandhi, King and Mandela's embodiment of these qualities in transforming difference and disagreement to unity and how they inspired and developed their societies at home and all over the world. This paper concludes with the following results: Dr King, Gandhi and Mandela were visionary leaders; the three leaders had a vision about the future of freedom, equality and peace. More importantly, they were able to hearts and minds, and convey their visions to followers and to society at large. They struggled to achieve their goals non-violently, but knew that violence could destroy society due to unbalanced power structures. In the fight for their people's emancipation/freedom, they avoided ethnic, racial and religious discrimination. The three leaders were politically, culturally and socially tolerant.
Research limitations/implications
By identifying their leadership qualities and analyzing their leadership mechanisms, this paper stresses the necessity of the emergence and preservation of leadership as exhibited by King, Gandhi, Mandela and many other influential leaders. Leaders, committed to enrichment and sustainability of cultural diversity and nurturing of tolerance, can play a role in unifying nations. Practically put, today’s leaders need to rethink their strategies, by taking into consideration what Gandhi, King and Mandela have contributed to leadership in dealing with cultural diversity and conflict. Furthermore, leaders must extend the applicability of such leadership to include the ending of violence in every facet of people's lives, and work publicly to overcome the challenges encountering human kind such as nuclear weapons, war, poverty, racism, global warming, drugs, religious bigotry and violence of any kind. That is, today's leaders need to lead at the edge of chaos due to the ongoing conflicts around the globe.
Originality/value
This paper uniquely conceptualizes leadership qualities by analyzing and comparing literature and biographical data of the above-mentioned leaders. The study also contributes to the existing literature on leadership using an interdisciplinary approach by proving the mechanisms by which leadership transforms chaos into order within the context of cultural diversity and confrontation, where studies are rare. This research contributes to the theory of leaderships at three levels. First, it offers an interdisciplinary theory on leadership qualities by linking these qualities with chaos and complexity theories. Second, unlike the majority of literature which views leadership from a business or public leadership perspective, this research provides a new perspective of leadership for cultural diversity. Third, it highlights the role models of three exemplary leaders for each of whom previous literature is lacking.
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This paper aims to perform a longitudinal assessment of the visitors to the Mandela Portal using Web analytics over a period of seven years, between 2009 and 2015.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to perform a longitudinal assessment of the visitors to the Mandela Portal using Web analytics over a period of seven years, between 2009 and 2015.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper is based on Web analytics methodology that consists of a four-step process and utilises the first and second steps with data collected using Google Analytics.
Findings
The research process found a number of trends relating to the Portal’s visitors, including changes in the ranking of countries from which the visitors accessed the website as well as the variety of language settings in the Web browsers. It identified some issues both with the Google Analytics tool and broader implications on the trustworthiness of data.
Originality/value
This paper provides an analysis of Web visitors to the Mandela Portal, offering trends that are only possible when viewed over a long period. It also explores issues of data trustworthiness.
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Anita Howard and Duncan Coombe
The purpose of this paper is to develop an insight, through an examination of the American Civil Rights Movement and the Anti‐Apartheid Movement in South Africa, into how desired…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to develop an insight, through an examination of the American Civil Rights Movement and the Anti‐Apartheid Movement in South Africa, into how desired change occurs at a national or cultural level of social organization.
Design/methodology/approach
The words and actions of two key figures in these national change movements are analyzed through the use of intentional change theory, and its constituent elements of discontinuous change, reference groups, the ideal self and emotional attractors.
Findings
The findings lead to the suggestion that great leaders, at times of national change, articulate a shared ideal or national vision and are primarily grounded in the positive emotional attractor. Furthermore, they appeal to their followers' cognition and affect.
Research limitations/implications
While these two figures are prominent historical figures in their respective change movements, it is naïve to suggest that they were solely responsible for the change. Future research could look at the many other figures and factors that played a role in these tremendously complex and sensitive change processes.
Practical implications
This paper has important implications for people involved in change efforts at the national and cultural level. It provides evidence from two exemplary cases that could be applied to other such situations.
Originality/value
This paper develops an insight into how desired change occurs at a national or cultural level of social organization. In a world riddled with tension, violence and poverty, this insight is potentially of great value.
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After the Mandela government took power in 1994 in South Africa, one of its highest priorities was providing power to the impoverished rural areas, and particularly the…
Abstract
After the Mandela government took power in 1994 in South Africa, one of its highest priorities was providing power to the impoverished rural areas, and particularly the infrastructure‐poor black “townships.” In addition to a scarcity of resources, multiple stake‐holders with very different agendas were integrally a part of the decision‐making process. To this extent, what happened with the electricity industry is a metaphor for the multiple issues—social, economic, and political—which had to be negotiated by the new society. The multiple stake‐holders were brought together in a “Forum,” a non‐regulatory advisory body which was designed to specifically include all relevant interested parties in an open (“transparent”) problem‐solving process. This forum system was extensively used in the 18–24 months immediately before and after the 1994 elections to deal with a host of issues. The National Electricity Forum (NELF) was one of the earliest and most successful of these forums. This case reviews the build‐up to the 1994 elections, describes how the forum process worked, and outlines its structure.
Jay L. Caulfield, Felissa K. Lee and Bret A. Richards
The aim of this viewpoint paper is to refine the meaning of “leadership as an art” in the context of wicked (complex) social problems and in the realm of contemporary leadership…
Abstract
Purpose
The aim of this viewpoint paper is to refine the meaning of “leadership as an art” in the context of wicked (complex) social problems and in the realm of contemporary leadership research and practice.
Design/methodology/approach
In this paper we explore the meaning of “leadership as an art,” a concept often alluded to but rarely defined concretely. The authors examine the concept by comparing artistic and scientific knowledge paradigms, identifying descriptors of the “leadership as art” concept appearing in the literature and illustrating key attributes of the “leadership as art” concept with real-world examples.
Findings
Leadership as an art is conceptualized as empathetically engaging and normatively uniting people in a vision to promote the common good through collectively formulating an understanding of a complex social problem and its resolution that when courageously and creatively pursued has the potential to make an extraordinary contribution to humanity.
Social implications
The magnitude and complexity of social problems impact communities on a daily basis, making them worthy of attention. History has demonstrated that practicing leadership as an art from a normative power base has the potential of uniting diverse collectives in creatively resolving wicked social problems for the benefit of the common good.
Originality/value
Although leadership as an art has been discussed in the literature over several decades, the term has not been positioned explicitly within contemporary leadership in the context of resolving complex social problems within social networks.
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This chapter focuses on gender, sexuality and security in post-Apartheid South Africa.
Abstract
Purpose
This chapter focuses on gender, sexuality and security in post-Apartheid South Africa.
Design/methodology/approach
The methodology includes secondary analysis of policy and research with the aim of highlighting and assessing the position of gender, sex and security in post-Apartheid South Africa. Feminist theory and intersectionality are used to discuss issues of sexuality, security, construction of gender relationships and experiences of being a woman in South Africa. The normalisation of violence against women is challenged.
Social implications
The social implications of this research are that it challenges normalisation of gendered violence, questions gendercide and produces knowledge of a gendered social reality of living in South Africa. Women who consider assault a regular feature of their sexual relationships have been brought into a discourse which includes the liberalisation of sexual expression, claims to new sexual rights and aspirations to power and status through sexual relationships (Posel, 2005a).
Practical implications
Throughout the chapter the achievement of gender equality is problematised and questioned. However, gender and the relationship between power and sex remain at the centre of the inquiry, particularly with reference to the increasing culture of violence and men as the perpetrators of violence against women.
Originality/value
According to Posel ‘one of the most striking features of the post-apartheid era has been the politicization of sexuality’ (2005a, p. 125) and this chapter demonstrates that a response to the violation of the Women’s Charter of Effective Equality, passed in 2000, is a priority as women and families are disproportionately affected by violence in multiple ways.
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The current work demonstrates how relationship marketing (RM) application in cultures of low power distance, collectivism, femininity, high uncertainty avoidance, and long‐term…
Abstract
The current work demonstrates how relationship marketing (RM) application in cultures of low power distance, collectivism, femininity, high uncertainty avoidance, and long‐term orientation, can bring about customer’s repeat purchase, customer retention and sustained loyalty via superior customer value delivery. The paper also shows the moderation and mediation effects of trust, equity, empathy, and commitment, which are the underpinnings of a relationship as well as important values in the above cultures. Theoretical and managerial implications are discussed.
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