Culture-specific management and the African management movement: Verifying the premises

Abstract

Lessem's proposals which purport to predict the key differences between black managers and white managers in South Africa have been widely adopted by writers within the African management movement. This article investigates the validity of Lessem's relevant proposals. The research found no support for the use of Lessem's model in helping to define African management, but the data were indicative of the prevalence of two forms of organisational culture, reminiscent of Schein's 'operator culture' and Handy's 'club culture', in the organisations researched, and supported the view that organisational culture can have a strong modifying effect on the values of employees, regardless of national or ethnic culture.