Acta Universitatis Danubius. Communicatio, Vol 9, No 1 (2015)

Abstract

Objective: The paper identifies strategy and cultural hidden secrets and soft skills pertaining to supply chain management in African contexts that are pertinent to supply chain and operations management.

Prior work: Africa is increasingly becoming attractive for not only multi-nationals but supply chain businesses that either want to diversify or expand their foot print. The market is complex, turbulent and highly competitive (Porter, 1986) and requires significant knowledge and understanding of the local context but also culture (Johnson, 1987; 1992; 2000), diversity and institutional dynamics (Ogbonna et al., 2002).

Approach: Due to the complex nature of the emerging markets, the paper draws from multiple-disciplines (Sociology, Business, Management) and theoretical approaches namely: culture and strategy; Ubuntu, stakeholder theory and systems thinking, to elicit best practices. Utilizing qualitative methods comprising case study, interviews, focus group discussions and extensive document analysis, the study covers a variety of management practices ranging from strategy, culture to hyper market management.

Results: This paper highlights lessons from successful supermarket chains in Africa particularly the hidden secrets and soft skills that are often ignored in mainstream operations and supply chain management or strategy research. Findings underscore the lessons of understanding strategy and culture implementation through practicing cultural values, treating the customer as a queen/king, knowing political skills, being a learning organisation and implementing continuous improvement.

Implications: It contributes to management theory for academics, researchers & managers through strategy and culture, proposing inclusion of the cultural diversity into strategy implementation as a critical force affecting the behaviour of people inside the organization. Managers should take into account the cultural context and use it to promote organizational business excellence.

Value: These lessons for business excellence are discussed within the context of external and internal organisational pressures in emerging economies and provides value to ward off competition in emerging economies. The paper fills a gap in qualitative research that is missing in supply chain or operations management and points out the fact that traditional supply chain management practices may be ineffective due to the complex and unique local characteristics of African emerging economies.