First Academy of Management Africa
Professor Ethel Brundin from JIBS held a workshop in the first Academy of Management Africa conference in Johannesburg, January 7-10.
The conference took place at GIBS – Gordon Institute of Business Science – and attracted researchers, educators, lobbyists, and business executives from all over of the world.
Together with Peter Rosa from University of Edinburgh and Brenda Watuli, Research Fellow, Makerere Univeristy Business School, Uganda (representing the MUBS family business team), Professor Brundin convened a four-hour workshop about family businesses.
The workshop was entitled Cultural Diversity and the African Family Business. During the workshop, the global STEP project was presented, and from there followed introductory presentations about business research in Uganda, South Africa and Egypt. These built the basis for a discussion about confronting preconceptions of family businesses in Africa, such as the traditional and modern Africa family system, national regulations and institutions, and the concept of family business. The audience then formed groups in order to discuss their take-aways within the three headings Head (cognitive take-aways), Heart (emotional take-aways), and Hands (what actions come from here). The workshop ended with possible directions of a future research agenda of family firms in Africa.
During her stay in South Africa, Professor Brundin also finalized her project within STEP together with Professor Kobus Visser. Among others, interviews were made with people who have started family firms within the wine industry and three cases for STEP were finalized.
In Johannesburg, as well as in Cape Town, Professor Brundin met up with alumni of JIBS and discussed their prosperous careers.
