Sustainable Development in Africa through Management Theory and Research
The Canadian Journal of Administrative Sciences welcomes submissions to a special issue on “Sustainable Development in Africa through Management Theory and Research.” The guest editors of this special issue have also co-organized the 2nd biannual Africa Academy of Management Conference in Botswana, Africa, held Jan 7-11, 2014. Authors considering submission to this special issue are encouraged to re-submit their conference papers. We also welcome new submissions on this topic.
About the topic:
The importance of the application of management research to sustainable development has moved from the margins to the mainstream and has gained recognition and impetus over the past two decades. Sustainability issues in management gained momentum with the publication of seminal articles in the Academy of Management Review, Volume 20, Number 4, 1995, focusing on the role of management in enhancing ecological sustainability (e.g., Gladwin, Kennelly, and Krause, 1995; Shrivastava, 1995; Jennings and Zandbergen, 1995); and the Special issue of the Academy of Management Journal, Volume 43, Number 4, 2000 with an emphasis on the management of organizations in the natural environment. Sustainability issues in management are now widely accepted and several fields in management and organizations encourage research topics that link their fields to sustainability. The concept of sustainable development is inextricably linked with sustainability in its broadest sense. Sustainability is a complex concept which is generally agreed to encompass the balancing of the three broad dimensions of economic, social and ecological (or environmental) impacts of organizations (Stead and Stead, 2004). According to The World Commission on Environment and Development (Brundtland Commission Report), sustainable development is “development which meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs” (1987, p. 8). However, Gladwin et al. (1995) argue that sustainable development is the “process of achieving human development in an inclusive, connected, equitable, prudent, and secure manner” (p. 878, Italics in original). This special issue focuses on the management of sustainable development in Africa. By the management of sustainable development, we mean the application of management and organizational theories and practices by organizations that take into consideration their economic, social and environmental (ecological) impact on development.