Abstract
Drawing on the prominent Institutional theory, the study evaluates the relevance of institutional factors in driving both the orientation towards and the actual implementation of sustainable management practice (SMP). The study expands our understanding of organisational actions by introducing the norms of Ubuntu as drivers of SMP in a developing African country context. By arguing that the specific norms of Ubuntu can be a substitute for the universal norms defined in literature, this study leads to a novel attempt to detect the influence of a particular African context on SMP in organisations.
Whereas the institutional environment has been shown to affect management philosophies and consequent practices, research notes that this influence may differ between developing and developed countries. Our present understanding of the drivers of SMP relies on the assumption of enabling arrangements, including strong governments and market and civil structures that necessitate, reward and punish actions of organisations, the absence of which might result in weak sustainable behaviour. Yet, even in contexts where institutional structures seem fraught with ambiguities, organisations can still be found to be adopting SMPs. This study investigates the drivers of SMP in such seemingly ―weak‖ institutional contexts.
The study hypotheses were tested with a survey of 189 Zimbabwean firms. Findings indicate that even in the ostensibly weak institutional contexts of developing countries, market forces still play a significant role in ensuring organisations develop the orientation towards sustainability and adopt actual practices aimed at ensuring sustainability. The study emphasises the role of an informed customer base in demanding specific organisational performance, as well as the development of sustainability-oriented supply chains that foster the adoption of SMPs in organisations.
Findings further indicate that the norms of Ubuntu form a significant part of the country‘s institutional framework and have a bearing on organisational actions. These norms play a significant and positive role in determining sustainability orientation, and sustainable practice specifically environmental and human resources management practices. I submit that an alternative institutional framework exists in developing African countries that works in tandem with the more widely accepted formal institutions to drive management practice.
The study extends sustainability management dialogue by explaining SMP in the context of developing countries, where the traditional incentives for such behaviour may not necessarily apply. The study provides empirical evidence, first, for the existence of Ubuntu ideology among 21st-century managers and second, for the relevance of Ubuntu to sustainability management in developing Africa. The study concludes by highlighting this profound yet understudied value system that can help develop orientations towards sustainability and ultimately lead to the adoption of sustainability management best practices in a developing-country context.