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This opening chapter of this special volume of Research in Ethical Issues in Organizations (REIO) opens the anthology by setting the foundation for an authentic African philosophy. This establishment of an ‘African Philosophical Bedrock’ serves as a fundamental point of departure and primer for Bantu Wisdom as Transcendent Development drawing on the works of transcendent Bantu philosophers concerned with realising the golden mean capable of reconciling the extreme contradictions inherent in the social ills afflicting Africa. These intellectual trailblazers include Stephen Bantu Biko, Frantz Fanon, and Anton Muziwakhe Lembede. The philosophical bedrock herein established consists of four philosophical delineations systematically arranged in the following orderly fashion: (1) Logic, (2) Metaphysics, (3) Axiology, and (4) Epistemology. After presenting and justifying the development of the bedrock, Bantu Wisdom and its associated key terms are conceptualised and defined in order to create a conceptual framework through which the problem of ‘Compound-Indignity’ may be understood and addressed. This chapter then comes to a close by introducing the idea of Transcendent Development and its harmonising essence – the golden mean – that reconciles antagonistic dualisms underpinning the ‘compound-indignity’ problem. As such, this chapter serves as a Transcendent Development paradigmatic primer and philosophical point of departure for the further development of authentic African ethics.

This study examines the impact of financial services employees’ engagement on the attitude toward artificial intelligence (AI) in Sri Lanka. The model developed in this study comprises three constructs to demonstrate employee engagement (EE), namely, psychological state engagement (PSE), trait engagement (TE), and cognitive engagement (CE). Further, the model tests the moderating effect of age and gender on the relationship between EE and attitude toward AI. The authors conducted this research through a survey of 200 employees at Sri Lankan financial service firms. The findings indicate that EE substantially impacts attitudes regarding AI. Additionally, PSE, CE, and attribute engagement substantially affect how people feel about AI. Further, age has a moderating effect on the association between EE and attitude toward AI among financial services personnel. Based on the findings and discussion, the researcher recommends AI’s most significant importance in promoting a high level of engagement. The results would be helpful for both academic researchers and practitioners, especially HR managers, to understand the status of AI in Sri Lanka and formulate strategies to expedite EE.

The Ghanaian construction industry implemented the concepts of value management (VM). Despite this implementation, the practice has not been totally utilized to an acceptable level for the industry to enjoy optimum benefits of the services concerned with applying VM The introduction gave an insight into what the subject is and diving into other matters related. The historical relevance and adoption level in this construction level indicated some of the reasons for the perception of some professionals in or against VM. VM processes were discussed, and the benefits they bring to project management led to more understanding of the phases involved to have a wider scope for VM in construction. VM techniques and strategies explicitly showcased solutions to perceived challenges associated with the practice of VM in buildings.

Existing studies relating to value management in developing countries reveals that the Nigerian construction industry is also facing the challenge of not fully adopting value management practice into construction, let alone other sectors of the system. The introduction gives the correlation between sustainability and value management as techniques vital to the development of construction in Nigeria. The relative importance of value management is said to give an overview of the new advantages the practice brings to parties involved in an identified project concerned with using value management. Requirements, challenges and behavioural elements pertaining to value management in the Nigerian construction industry summarize the concerns with the application of value management in the country. The conclusion gives a general summary of the elements highlighted throughout this research.

Appearance has two meanings. On the one hand, appearance is about the physical qualities of a person being of certain height, weight, complexion and having a particular hair, eye and skin colour as well as choice and style of dress and attire. On the other hand, appearance has a social dimension, as those physical qualities of a person are interpreted, rated and judged, and attributed varied meanings and values across different settings. Appearances can influence the experiences of individuals in the workplace in both positive and negative ways: Positive, when they are mobilised as a resource that increases the influence and advantage of individuals on others; and negative, when individuals are discriminated or disadvantaged on the basis of their appearance. Drawing on a Bourdieusian conceptual repertoire, this chapter delves into this duality of appearance and frames appearance both as a resource (a form of carnal capital) and a source of symbolic violence. As appearance is an aspect of an individual's self-identity in the workplace, this chapter explores appearance and intersectionality across gender, ethnicity, class and sexual orientation at work. Appearance is examined as a cross cutting category of diversity as both privilege (carnal capital) and disadvantage (symbolic violence).

In this chapter Suzanne Ross draws on her experience previously as a talent manager and now as a leadership consultant, Executive Coach and Senior Lecturer in Executive Education, and applies her research on leadership derailment to talent management. As organizations continue to invest in leadership development, research suggests up to 50 per cent of leaders derail or fail in their role. The derailment literature is, to-date, disconnected from TM although central to the definition of leadership derailment is that derailed leaders were previously successful and had potential. The chapter explores the concept of derailment, how it is defined, its scale and scope and some of the causes of derailment including a lack of organizational support during leadership transitions. The notion of the ‘accidental manager’ is used to provide an example of where literature on TM and derailment converge as a key derailer characteristic is having an overly functional orientation. This maps to the accidental manager concept and to the challenges that TM practitioners face in developing career pathways for expert/specialists beyond managerial roles. Suzanne argues that talent identification should take more account of derailment characteristics and suggests there may be gender differences in how these are perceived and in the consequences that arise when they are present. The chapter contributes to a greater understanding of how the concept of derailment can be integrated within talent management research and practice.

In this chapter, the authors analyze the academic field of comparative education in Spanish speaking Latin America as a contested construction both in epistemological and political dimensions. First, the authors provide a brief historical account of the origin and development of comparative education in the region since the nineteenth century. Next, they focus on the current state of the field by addressing three aspects: (1) the institutional basis, specially the development of comparative education societies; (2) an account of the contributions of international organizations, both in terms of studies that have been recently conducted and of the development of data bases; and (3) an analysis of prevailing topics as well as theoretical and methodological approaches in a sample of articles published during the 2010-2017 period. The authors conclude by summarizing the main aspects of the current situation, and pointing to future epistemological and political challenges for the field in the region.

The implementation of value management (VM) by the stakeholders in the South African construction industry is very low due to misperception about the integration of sustainability and VM as two separate studies. The South African construction industry implementation of VM is at a stage where one could infer that it has not been introduced into the construction industry at all. The introduction gives a review of the interest of the client towards getting the desired satisfaction using various VM techniques. The following chapter evaluates the services employed using VM practice to how project management could be enhanced through the services mediated by construction professionals in South Africa's construction industry.