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Ever since this area of scholarship has been developed in the West, what has generally been taught, researched and written about in the organisation/management field have been primarily English and North American theories about and practices in organisations. This focus has also been adopted by scholars and teachers all over the world, so that mainstream organisation/management scholarship is generally synonymous with western systems. However organisation and management, though not necessarily described in those terms, have existed in all societies through their economic, social and political arrangements, regardless of period, types of activity and stages of technological development.

It is here proposed to examine some African traditional societies in terms of their economic, social and political systems and compare them with mainstream Anglo-Saxon theories and practices. The main focus of this study will be on questions of accountability. Areas to be investigated are the assumptions underlying theories and practices in both types of societies; the systems in practice; their advantages and disadvantages and crucially whether western approaches have anything to learn from these traditional systems, now diminished in power and scope but still very much present in many parts of Africa. The converse question might also be put – can those traditional systems still extant benefit from Anglo-Saxon models of organisation and management?

There are difficulties with such a project. Differences in time, space, culture, size, economic activity and technology must make for problems for researchers. There are then the problems faced by any researcher in terms of their ‘habitus’ or ‘situatedness’ and the need for awareness of their own potential influences on their research. How much more problematic might this prove when examining very different cultures and attempting to make comparisons between their social systems in different time spans, different locations and in entirely different global political and economic contexts?

British social anthropologists, studying traditional societies during the colonial period, had the additional difficulties of being part of (or seen as part of) an occupying colonial administration. Normal difficulties concerning problems with information given to researchers by informants were compounded by this political context in which a great deal of scholarship about traditional societies was produced. This has been discussed over the decades by social anthropologists and sociologists, and will be addressed in this chapter, as at least some of the information used is from that period.

However, despite the difficulties, there is value in such comparisons and in heightening awareness of issues such as accountability in non-western systems as compared with questions of accountability in western institutions. This is relevant for those teaching organisation and management studies – not least to students from other parts of the world, and for practitioners who might gain some advantage from considering different systems and practices, and possibly also gain more insight into their own situations.

The study here examines how business actors adapt to changes in networks by analyzing their perceptions or their network pictures. The study is exploratory or iterative in the sense that revisions occur to the research question, method, theory, and context as an integral part of the research process.

Changes within networks receive less research attention, although considerable research exists on explaining business network structures in different research traditions. This study analyzes changes in networks in terms of the industrial network approach. This approach sees networks as connected relationships between actors, where interdependent companies interact based on their sensemaking of their relevant network environment. The study develops a concept of network change as well as an operationalization for comparing perceptions of change, where the study introduces a template model of dottograms to systematically analyze differences in perceptions. The study then applies the model to analyze findings from a case study of Norwegian/Japanese seafood distribution, and the chapter provides a rich description of a complex system facing considerable pressure to change. In-depth personal interviews and cognitive mapping techniques are the main research tools applied, in addition to tracer studies and personal observation.

The dottogram method represents a valuable contribution to case study research as it enables systematic within-case and across-case analyses. A further theoretical contribution of the study is the suggestion that network change is about actors seeking to change their network position to gain access to resources. Thereby, the study also implies a close relationship between the concepts network position and the network change that has not been discussed within the network approach in great detail.

Another major contribution of the study is the analysis of the role that network pictures play in actors' efforts to change their network position. The study develops seven propositions in an attempt to describe the role of network pictures in network change. So far, the relevant literature discusses network pictures mainly as a theoretical concept. Finally, the chapter concludes with important implications for management practice.

The traditional Confucian management system is considered distinctly different from Western-based management. This study draws data from indigenous Taiwanese firms listed on its public stock market and examines the associations among various human resource (HR) systems and organizational performance. First, factor analysis is used to explore a wide range of HR practices. Then, cluster analysis is used to classify indigenous Taiwanese firms with regard to their HR practices. Indigenous Taiwanese firms were found to use various HR systems, ranging from traditional Confucian HR to high-involvement HR practices. Companies that used high-involvement HR systems were found to perform better than those using a traditional Confucian HR system.

Internet + and Electronic Business in China is a comprehensive resource that provides insight and analysis into E-commerce in China and how it has revolutionized and continues to revolutionize business and society. Split into four distinct sections, the book first lays out the theoretical foundations and fundamental concepts of E-Business before moving on to look at internet+ innovation models and their applications in different industries such as agriculture, finance and commerce. The book then provides a comprehensive analysis of E-business platforms and their applications in China before finishing with four comprehensive case studies of major E-business projects, providing readers with successful examples of implementing E-Business entrepreneurship projects.

Internet + and Electronic Business in China is a comprehensive resource that provides insights and analysis into how E-commerce has revolutionized and continues to revolutionize business and society in China.

As Africa strives to catch up with the rest of the world at the economic, political and sociocultural fronts, there is an increasing coalescence around the need for backward integration and the revival of traditional business management practices as enablers in the global war for economic dominance. Unfortunately, a significant consequence of colonial rule was the systematic denigration and portrayal of traditional African institutions and knowledge systems as inferior to those of the West. Although the negative depiction of the African worldview has been extensively challenged in the academy, changes in their perception and adoption have remained slow. The ‘Igbo Apprenticeship System’ (IAS), widely recognised as the largest business incubator platform in the world today, is a great testament to the sophistication and resilience of indigenous African business models and the need to scale up their impact as a strategic step towards the economic emancipation of the continent. However, one fundamental aspect of IAS's success story that is hardly ever mentioned in the extant literature is its approach to conflict management. Understandably, business by its nature is competitive and conflict-prone. Nonetheless, the Igbos appear to have successfully managed different types of conflicts associated with their traditional business model without recourse to western methods or processes. Using a conceptual approach, this chapter attempts to examine the efficacy of the conflict transformation mechanisms in the ‘Igbo Traditional Business School’ (I-TBS) against the background of emerging challenges in the twenty-first-century business environments in Africa and around the world. From the prism of the Conflict Transformation Theory, the chapter argues that I-TBS can serve as a vehicle for the economic growth of the continent, but it must be prepared to deal with ‘new’ conflicts and demands arising from within and outside of its ecosystem.

This chapter explores the role of indigenous knowledge system (IKS) in the development of informal entrepreneurial models in Africa. This was undertaken through a discussion of the production processes and the marketing platforms used in producing and distributing mpesu (a traditional medicine used for sex enhancement and reproductive healthcare) by Traditional Healthcare Practitioners (THPs) in the Vhembe District of South Africa, and Beitbridge areas of Zimbabwe. The argument is that drawing on Vhavenda IKS-based strategies, entrepreneurs involved in the healthcare product have managed to develop context-appropriate and innovative strategies for marketing mpesu. However, while this model may appear unorthodox, it has helped sustain the appetite and demand for the product. It has also, despite its imperfections, provided economic safety-net for local entrepreneurs.

The evolution of MIS technology has affected traditional auditing and created a new set of audit issues. This paper describes the Continuous Process Auditing System (CPAS) developed at AT&T Bell Laboratories for the internal audit organization that is designed to deal with the problems of auditing large paperless real-time systems. The paper discusses why the methodology is important and contrasts it with the traditional audit approach. CPAS is designed to measure and monitor large systems, drawing key metrics and analytics into a workstation environment. The data are displayed in an interactive mode, providing auditors with a work platform to examine extracted data and prepare auditing reports. CPAS monitors key operational analytics, compares these with standards, and calls the auditor’s attention to any problems that may exist. Ultimately, this technology will utilize system probes that will monitor the auditee system and intervene when needed.

Traditional African Health Systems (TAHS) is one of the earliest systems of health care known to humankind. It remains a sustainable practice in many indigenous cultures and in Africa accounts for the great majority of cures for illnesses despite the advent of Western Medicine. This chapter explores the concept of TAHS and the specialisations that constitute it. It looks at relational and contextual factors in the practitioners of TAHS within the continent that explain its viability. There are resources and knowledge passed on from generation to generation which make African Traditional Medicines a force to be reckoned with.

The authors look at the specific system of health education contained in the health-related adages which foster wisdom with respect to prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of ailments. Situating education in its cultural context is one of the factors that has promoted TAHS. The authors compare some of these factors with Western Medicine and outline the benefits of encouraging mutuality rather than the dominance of one over the other. TAHS will definitely be a practice in the future and prospects have to include continued research in the areas of pharmacognosy, medical ethics, responsible health care, and education.

Despite arguments that traditional product costing and variance analysis operate contrary to the strategic goals of advanced manufacturing practices such as just in time (JIT), total quality management (TQM), and Six Sigma, little empirical evidence exists that cost accounting practices (CAP) are changing in the era of continuous improvement and waste reduction. This research supplies some of the first evidence of what CAP are employed to support the information needs of a world-class manufacturing environment. Using survey data obtained from executives of 121 U.S. manufacturing firms, the study examines the relationship between the use of JIT, TQM, and Six Sigma with various forms of traditional and non-traditional CAP. Analysis of variance tests (ANOVA) indicate that most traditional CAP continue to be used in all manufacturing environments, but a significant portion of world-class manufacturers supplement their internal management accounting system with non-traditional management accounting techniques.

This study has covered many types of solar-powered air-conditioning systems that may be used as an alternative to traditional electrically powered air-conditioning systems in order to reduce energy usage. Solar adsorption air cooling is a great alternative to traditional vapor compression air-conditioning. Solar adsorption has several advantages over traditional vapor-compression systems, including being a green cooling technology which uses solar energy to drive the cycle, using pure water as an eco-friendly HFC-free refrigerant, and being mechanically simple with only the magnetic valves as moving parts. Several advancements and breakthroughs have been developed in the area of solar adsorption air-conditioners during the previous decade. However, further study is required before this technology can be put into practise. As a result, this book chapter highlights current research that adds to the understanding of solar adsorption air-conditioning technologies, with a focus on practical research. These systems have the potential to become the next iteration of air-conditioning systems, with the benefit of lowering energy usage while using plentiful solar energy supplies to supply the cooling demand.