Lovemore Mbigi. Knowledge Resources
Professor Lovemore Mbigi, celebrated inside the African administration and psychology disciplines, died in Harare, Zimbabwe on 26 June 2023. He left a physique of labor that resonates on the continent.
Mbigi was over his profession affiliated with a number of African and worldwide universities. Notably, he contributed to the PhD programme on the National University of Science Technology in Zimbabwe. Academics have described him as an vital African scholar whose work made an affect in administration training.
In addition to his function within the academy, Mbigi was a advisor to enterprise and an energetic contributor to how state-owned entities could possibly be improved for higher service supply. His areas of experience included technique execution, transformation, management and variety administration.
I got here to know Mbigi and his work once I was an aspiring organisational behaviour scholar. I noticed by my studying of the literature that a variety of emphasis was positioned on what could be termed western psychology. The affect of this western psychology would permeate by to consulting follow. In in search of a spot the place I belonged inside my self-discipline, the work of Mbigi was a lightweight in a darkish tunnel. I appreciated him all through my profession phases and transitions, and have beneficial his work as helpful studying for the masters and PhD college students I’ve supervised.
African ideas
Mbigi’s work challenged the dominance of “WEIRD” – western, educated, industrialised, wealthy and democratic – nations in data manufacturing and dissemination. He reminded us as Africans that we must always by no means go away behind that which was distinctively ours in favour of what could possibly be termed modernity.
Mbigi introduced African ideas and cultural practices to the tutorial and consulting realm. For instance he noticed the African philosophy of ubuntu as a foundation of efficient human assets administration. In ubuntu, the emphasis is on fostering a way of togetherness and utilizing this shared togetherness to realize goals. At the core the administration of individuals in organisations must espouse these tenets of ubuntu in attaining a aggressive benefit.
Read extra:
Education in Zimbabwe ought to attempt for inclusion — how the philosophy of ubuntu can assist
He additionally used ideas akin to harambe from east Africa and nhimbe from southern Africa to tell expertise administration and organisational improvement practices. Both these “teamwork” practices of their contexts acknowledge the communal nature of African societies. Individual expertise may be directed to fixing neighborhood challenges by gathering collectively. Clear strains of authority exist round a purpose however, importantly, there’s a sense of togetherness in attaining this purpose.
Read extra:
African philosophy must blossom. Being exclusionary will not assist
Mbigi’s work has additionally been utilized extensively to different fields of examine, particularly the place individuals and the interplay of cultural methods are at play.
African administration and management
Mbigi’s first ebook on African administration, co-authored with Jenny Maree, was Ubuntu: The Spirit of African Transformation Management. In this work, worth is positioned on the function of African indigenous data methods as cultural capital to help managers inside up to date workplaces. Such data methods, as considered by Unesco, place worth on the understandings, expertise and philosophies developed by societies with lengthy histories of interplay with their pure environment.
For Mbigi, turning to indigenous data methods provided a perspective that might assist deal with challenges confronted in organisations. Such views turn into helpful in acknowledging range and utilizing it for good.
His ebook The Spirit of African Leadership is an try to place the function of African management within the international enviornment, particularly inside trendy administration follow. Mbigi known as for consciousness of the truth that the African continent has a wealth of management data. He emphasised that such management data not solely deserves equal consideration globally: it has the potential to make a contribution universally, too.
Mbigi additionally wrote In Search of African Business Renaissance: An African Cultural Perspective, and Ubuntu: The African Dream in Management.
When I used to be an undergraduate pupil I encountered and drew on Mbigi’s work in two lessons: organisational improvement and consulting psychology. In these lessons, there was a necessity for idea and follow to be linked and balanced. I used to be impressed by Mbigi’s framing of cultural paradigms, particularly these prevalent in African societies. I realized I may use such African cultural paradigms to tell not simply my worldview however as a doable resolution to particular person and organisational challenges.
Read extra:
Work contracts are a fancy internet of social and cultural dynamics
Mbigi’s books on African management and ubuntu proceed to be cited in scholarly outputs. His work in some instances is even seen as seminal and pioneering. It has featured in coaching and consulting follow and is an inspiration for African students and practitioners to make an affect in a “WEIRD” world. One of his college students described him aptly as “beneficiant, energetic and humorous”. These have been attributes Mbigi used to get his message throughout not solely as a instructor but additionally as a researcher and advisor in a critical world.
Willie Tafadzwa Chinyamurindi receives funding from the National Heritage Council and the National Research Foundation.
