Kemi Ogunyemi

Business and Management Practices Influenced by Catholic Humanism: Three Case Studies

This chapter presents three cases studies which show how Catholic Humanism can be a source of inspiration in managing business. The first case study deals with a medium size company, the owner-manager of which has a solid Catholic education and a great sense of integrity and discipline. This company has high quality policies and practices in treatment of people, acting with justice, care and promoting the development of managers and employees. The second case study focuses on a small company that is organized according to the principles of the ‘economy of communion’. In this case, Christian humanism adopts particular characteristics of the Catholic Focolare movement. This is not merely reflected in particular management and business practices, but it pervades the company, as well as all of its internal and external relations. The third case relates how a retail company, created by a Catholic family, has grown rapidly to become a multinational corporation. During this process the influence of Christian humanism on business practices has evolved and become more indirect, but undeniably, the company has fostered a corporate culture of responsible business.

One Nigerian “Femtrepreneur”: A Case Study of Virtue in Business

For a transition economy, entrepreneurship is one of the activities that contribute greatly to boosting development. Research suggests that business activities run by men and those run by women in Nigeria do not have specific differentiating factors once they are already established (Halkias et al., 2011), nor would the values of men and women entrepreneurs differ much (Fagenson, 1993). In fact, Bruni et al. (2004) raise questions about the unnecessary “othering” of women entrepreneurs, which could end up precisely emphasizing male entrepreneurship as though it were superior. According to Ahl (2006), there is a need for more profound reflection and new directions in research that can give due attention and regard to women entrepreneurs and their distinctive qualities. It is indeed true that an increase in the number of women entrepreneurs would be good for the country’s economic development (Halkias et al., 2011). This could be for many reasons. It could be, for example, that this is a hitherto inadequately tapped resource for national development; Birley et al. (1987) suggest that women are more constant in following through on their business plans. It could be that women have taken a back space for a long time because of cultural considerations that have shaped their involvement in the business space — in Singapore, it would seem that women were rarely allowed to step out of the role culturally assigned to them in that context (Kim and Ling, 2001). These first two possible reasons would indicate that there is room to be filled and it would be good to encourage “femtrepreneurs” to step up and fill it.

Managerial Anthropology: A Humanistic Approach to Management Studies

This chapter aims to show the relevance of managerial anthropology as a foundational module for management education today. This objective is achieved by explaining and commenting on a course outline that has been used to teach it for years, and by presenting evidence from four different years which illustrates the impact of the course on the students.

The Art and Ethics of Business: Through African (Yoruba) Lenses

A traditional African understanding of the way to do business has contributed, and still has a lot to contribute, to the running of business today, especially with regard to the practice of management. This contribution, as one would expect, is multifaceted, not least because Africa (and each of its countries) is vastly multicultural and multicontextual. Each of its countries (54 fully recognized territories and 10 non-sovereign territories) has its own numerous and diverse stores of time-honored knowledge. Given the impossibility of the task, this chapter does not attempt to touch on all aspects of African wisdom. Rather, it offers the reader selected insights into traditional management philosophy from the Yoruba ethnic group of Nigeria,1 thus providing an example of the role of adages and wise sayings in communicating and developing values (Fasiku, 2006). Esusu (a cooperative financing model)2 and a few other traditional structures and concepts (leadership; mentoring and people management and development; the importance given to family and relationships) are also touched upon, but only very briefly, to ensure the chapter has a clear focus.

The Lumberworks Agent: When Trust and Integrity Matter to the Agent

The problem of the principal-agent relationship is one that has plagued human transactions since time immemorial. Information asymmetry and moral hazard, (Eisenhardt, 1989) make it difficult to achieve the levels of trust that could reassure the principal that the agent’s interest is aligned to his, especially when viewed against the background understanding of man as ‘homo oeconomicus’, characterised by an utility maximizing perspective (Jensen and Meckling, 1976). Fligstein and Freeland (1995) identified the problems as issues of internal control, especially of hierarchy and motivation, and mention that they commonly occur where there is management on one side and workers on the other, or ownership on one side with control on the other, or division of labour into several levels of management.Agency theory postulates that once incentives are appropriately structured and information is made more symmetrical, agents will work in favour of their principals (Eisenhardt, 1989). Time and experience have shown that there may be other variables at work and that there is a need to exercise caution in applying agency theory (Donaldson and Davis, 1991). A single case study of Lumberworks Ltd. is used to explore, validate and extend these ideas, following the suggestion by Tosi and Gomez Mejia (1989) that there may be need to research agency theory using other behavioural science methodologies other than the psychometric approach commonly favoured, in order to enrich the understanding of the effects of monitoring and incentive alignment efforts. According to Yin (1984), looking at a phenomenon in a real life context makes it more intelligible and guides our further understanding of its confines and its reaches.Thus, using single case methodology, this paper suggests that monitoring and incentive structures, the most common responses to principal-agent concerns, are limited in their effectiveness and that a trust-building approach is what is needed to achieve the much sought after alignment of interests. Since trust can only be built where there is integrity, it would seem that integrity is what really matters to the agent, and a culture of integrity is what will grow mutual trust in such a way as to resolve all the conflicts thrown up within the agency relationship.The paper also suggests that there may be some institutional differences across cultures which affect principal-agent relationships and that, in Nigeria in particular, and perhaps for countries in similar emergent economic conditions, a deinstitutionalization perspective may be very useful. In such a case, the trust-building approach based on fostering a culture of integrity still is the solution, since it tends to generate a deeper and more long-lasting solution to both agency and institutionalization problems related to instances of negative work ethic. Further research could be aimed at exploring the distinct steps towards building cultures of integrity and the possibilities of deinstitutionalizing negative and or self-interested attitudes and replacing them with productive and other-regarding ones through education and training activity.