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Purpose– This paper aims to report the efforts to reverse a dire research output trend at a Ghanaian Business School, following a similar effort at a business school in New Zealand in the 1990s. African universities are often challenged by resource constraints, ageing faculty and low compensation regimes. The consequences of these challenges are particularly felt in the area of the research output of faculty members in the business and management area. The problem of low research output has been written about by management scholars who lament the weak showing of African management faculty in reputable journals and top-notch conference presentations.Design/methodology/approach– This is a qualitative and phenomenological study of an applied intervention. Using a combination of open-ended questionnaires as well as open forums attended by faculty members of the business school, views, perceptions and opinions on factors mitigating research and issues on research culture were collected and analysed. Descriptive analyses were used to collate the dominant views and frequency of mention of such views.Findings– Using the descriptive accounts of faculty of the Business School, the research finds that a research-oriented culture expressed through factors such as leadership, institutional support, articulation or otherwise of relevant values have significant impacts on research output.Research limitations/implications– Based on the impacts reported here, this paper advances an intervention model to assist efforts towards improving the research culture and scholarly outputs in business schools in Africa. The paper also proposes a conceptual and research framework for examining and influencing the organisational and research culture of universities in Africa.Originality/value– This paper is perhaps the only attempt to examine research culture in an African business school. It suggests that the research culture in a business school or faculty can be developed, reinvented or influenced and that research in African universities will not "just happen", it has to be carefully planned for, nurtured and built into the fabric of university culture. This has significant implications for the growing effort to bring African scholarship in the management areas up to the point where it can more directly impact management thinking.

"Sustainable Management Development in Africa examines how African management and business scholarship can serve African and multinational management and organizations operating in Africa. In a broader sense, this book, within an African context, explores how human capital and intellectual capabilities can be organized at the higher education level; describes the cultural, social, and political influencers impacting management and organization; helps conceptualize African management theories to address organizational effectiveness; addresses the current management and organizational practices in Africa in identifying challenges; and provides guidance for more effective management and organizational operation."

This book offers a comprehensive look at the current literatures and research based on empirical data from across different countries in Africa. It focuses on the work of leading scholars of management in and around Africa and the African Context, exploring whether we can at this point refer to 'African Management' as an emerging and distinct stream in the scholarly discourse in management. The main themes are macro and micro issues of Management in Africa, each chapter illustrating the historical or traditional view of Management in Africa versus the newer western business management persp.

AbstractThis exploratory study considers an African perspective on leadership behaviour and motivation in Ghana, Egypt, Kenya, Nigeria, and Uganda using the Delphi Technique with a small sample of corporate, community, and religious leaders. Focus group sessions with working people (nonleaders) then followed. The findings indicate that vision, commitment, honesty, goal‐orientation, and humour were descriptors of effective leadership. Further, it was found that the quest for justice, extrinsic benefits, and service to community motivated leaders, while extrinsic rewards and the need to achieve motivated followers. This research contributes to understanding leadership effectiveness and motivation from an African context and informs both scholarship and practice in these areas. Copyright © 2014 ASAC. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.