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Ecology is a word commonly used in many circles with a focus on the environment and human interactions with it. Human ecology as a concept studies human interaction with the environment in different cultures. Human cultural backgrounds differ and the way the traditional beliefs influence human activities varies from place to place. In entrepreneurship, traditional values can play a role as they often shape the character of practitioners. In the quest for sustainable development, one cannot underestimate the influence of these cultural tenets in shaping the dynamics of the practitioners’ activities. This chapter explores the role of African cultural beliefs, philosophies in cultivating principled entrepreneurship. It presents some traditional values that influenced the mindset of entrepreneurs in the past towards ethical work. These tenets guided the dynamics of trade and responsible management of resources for the benefit of one’s community and of oneself.

This chapter explores African indigenous wisdom and its orientation to the common good in the practices that characterise responsible leadership and entrepreneurship. Traditionally, a wise leader was grown from the community and steeped in its communitarian traditions which led the leader to apply practical wisdom in seeking the collective good. These considerations of such wise practices are central to responsible management. Based on a qualitative literature review that is complemented with a micro-study (semi-structured interviews) of African sages and on the analysis of wisdom found by chapter contributors to this volume, insights indigenous to Africa are presented and then discussed. The countries referenced across the two studies are Kenya and Uganda (Eastern Africa), Ghana and Nigeria (Western Africa), Egypt (Northern Africa) and South Africa (Southern Africa), thereby providing some geographical spread though far from being exhaustive.

This chapter examines the common good orientation of (i) African indigenous wisdom about responsible management in the light of (ii) Aristotelian epistemic architecture of phronesis and (iii) Catholic Social Teaching. Looking at what the chapter contributors found in Ghana, Zimbabwe, Nigeria, South Africa, Lesotho, Uganda, Cameroon, and Egypt, the authors compare and contrast what common good means in these three great traditions that have done much to shape the world into what it is today and that can continue to help redirect humans into more responsible and sustainable domains of flourishing. The results show that the three traditions have much in common albeit with some nuances due to the disparity in their contexts and cultural settings. The expectation that the wise business leader should judge rightly and act ethically in pursuance of the common good is common to all three. The communitarian element of African indigenous wisdom stands out as the polis where wise leaders are taught and groomed for their responsibilities to the community. Where the person is disconnected from this reality of community, it could become more difficult for him or her to attain and maintain moral uprightness.

Wisdom from Africa comes in different forms: proverbs, adages, folktales with moral lessons, the use of figurative speech which transmit deep messages, a variety of wise sayings, songs, etc. Such wisdom guided many interactions including those relating to trade, entrepreneurship and other activities that drive the dynamics of economies. African communities are well known for a sense of communal living and a concern for others often manifested as solidarity. Aggregating the combined data from the preceding chapters, this final chapter in Volume 2 of Responsible Management in Africa explores the role of these two realities that are part of the African cultural heritage in promoting solidarity and inclusion. Four themes emerge: values-based education, mutual trust, personal social responsibility and sustainability factors. Beyond these four, since responsible businesses ought to have inclusive growth among their goal, they can also apply the knowledge of traditional values such as Ubuntu and Omoluabi for tackling challenges to sustainable development and contributing to attaining an ethical economy.

This chapter examines common managerial practices inspired by local values and ethics within Algerian companies, with a focus on managerial discretion surrounding corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives. The complexity of human, economic and institutional development realities within the Algerian context makes it a uniquely intriguing subject, yet little attention has been attributed to studying the manifestation of local values through CSR practices in this environment. The chapter presents a qualitative case study of six companies operating in Algeria, and coins CSR discretion as a local concept that reflects undertaking CSR actions while purposely not communicating over it. The influence of local values and ethics are most visible through (a) CSR initiatives powered by personal responsibility, (b) CSR discretion to preserve the value of one’s actions, referred to as the ‘neya’, and (c) the common forces that shape individual values which then manifest through management practices.

Since independence in 1968, the Mauritian economy has moved from a monocrop economy to a more diversified middle-income economy. In addition, women’s emancipation in the 1983–2001 period has contributed to an upliftment to the business panorama. Attitudes and behaviours of people engaged in business transactions were mainly regulated by traditions, culture and values stemming from their inherent religious beliefs. In Mauritius, the four predominant religions are Hinduism, Christianity, Islam and Buddhism. Each one upholds traditional rituals and festivals which serve to maintain certain business decorum in the country and establish strong corporation and business trades. Nowadays, there are business dealings which are increasingly being scrutinised by the public and independent bodies for transparency and accountability, a situation not obtrusive in the past.

This study adopts a phenomenological approach to gain insights into the evolution of tradition, values and culture during the past 50 years. A survey questionnaire was administered to seven (n = 7) purposive participants and one of them was selected for a structured interview for triangulation purposes. The findings suggest a clear decline in the contribution of religion, tradition and culture in modern-day business dealings, especially in the advent of technology and a gradual increase of corrupt practices triggered principally by sociocultural groups mushroomed around religions. The nexus between these groups and the governing bodies further fuels unethical and obscure practices. It is believed that a digitalisation of the business ecosystem would provide some relief and restore business ethics.

This chapter seeks to examine the concept of corporate social responsibility (CSR) in Kenya and evaluate whether the practices of CSR evidenced in Kenya resonates with the needs and aspirations of the people or has been caricatured from the West. The chapter epistemologically examines CSR and tilts this approach to Kenya and how Kenyan indigenous organisations are practising it. There is no denying that the West has been significant in shaping the frameworks of the contemporary CSR agenda thus making its definition not African. It is important to realise that there is no homogeneity in terms of the needs and realities between developed and developing countries. In this regard, any attempts to homogenise the conceptualisation of CSR cannot hold water due to disparities in the cultural underpinnings. A common understanding in the scholarship on CSR is that it is culturally determined. Most multinational organisations operating in Africa have always practised the kind of CSR that mostly resonates with the West rather than Africa. The organisation’s mandate is not only to make profits but also to increase and strike a balance of the needs and interests of the stakeholders. Through desktop research, published scholarly articles were analysed and it was established that there is no African CSR. The one practised in Kenya and the other parts of the African continent is a caricature of the Global North which does not conform to the needs, realities, and expectations of Africans.