Chinese management practices in Kenya: toward a post-colonial critique
While transforming the investment, trading and infrastructural landscape in Africa, Chinese firms are also generating much-publicised controversy about their real motives. Many of the large Chinese firms operating in Africa focus mostly but not exclusively on engineering, infrastructural projects an...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article |
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Taylor and Francis
2015
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| Online Access: | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/50938/ |
| _version_ | 1848798372604936192 |
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| author | Kamoche, Ken Siebers, Lisa Qixun |
| author_facet | Kamoche, Ken Siebers, Lisa Qixun |
| author_sort | Kamoche, Ken |
| building | Nottingham Research Data Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | While transforming the investment, trading and infrastructural landscape in Africa, Chinese firms are also generating much-publicised controversy about their real motives. Many of the large Chinese firms operating in Africa focus mostly but not exclusively on engineering, infrastructural projects and mining. This Africa–China engagement has only recently begun to receive critical attention in the area of management and organisation studies. With reference to Kenya, we found that this phenomenon is characterised by four key themes: the unique yet diverse motivations of investors, the challenge of reconciling cross-cultural differences, the impact of low-cost strategies and the boundary-spanning role of managers. This paper also considers the extent to which post-colonial theory might serve as an analytical lens for examining the perceptions and attitudes of Chinese managers as well as the experiences of the Africans who work for them. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T20:18:44Z |
| format | Article |
| id | nottingham-50938 |
| institution | University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus |
| institution_category | Local University |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T20:18:44Z |
| publishDate | 2015 |
| publisher | Taylor and Francis |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | nottingham-509382020-05-04T20:11:10Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/50938/ Chinese management practices in Kenya: toward a post-colonial critique Kamoche, Ken Siebers, Lisa Qixun While transforming the investment, trading and infrastructural landscape in Africa, Chinese firms are also generating much-publicised controversy about their real motives. Many of the large Chinese firms operating in Africa focus mostly but not exclusively on engineering, infrastructural projects and mining. This Africa–China engagement has only recently begun to receive critical attention in the area of management and organisation studies. With reference to Kenya, we found that this phenomenon is characterised by four key themes: the unique yet diverse motivations of investors, the challenge of reconciling cross-cultural differences, the impact of low-cost strategies and the boundary-spanning role of managers. This paper also considers the extent to which post-colonial theory might serve as an analytical lens for examining the perceptions and attitudes of Chinese managers as well as the experiences of the Africans who work for them. Taylor and Francis 2015 Article PeerReviewed Kamoche, Ken and Siebers, Lisa Qixun (2015) Chinese management practices in Kenya: toward a post-colonial critique. International Journal of Human Resource Management, 26 (21). pp. 2718-2743. ISSN 1466-4399 Africa China cultural differences Kenya management practices post-colonial theory https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09585192.2014.968185 doi:10.1080/09585192.2014.968185 doi:10.1080/09585192.2014.968185 |
| spellingShingle | Africa China cultural differences Kenya management practices post-colonial theory Kamoche, Ken Siebers, Lisa Qixun Chinese management practices in Kenya: toward a post-colonial critique |
| title | Chinese management practices in Kenya: toward a post-colonial critique |
| title_full | Chinese management practices in Kenya: toward a post-colonial critique |
| title_fullStr | Chinese management practices in Kenya: toward a post-colonial critique |
| title_full_unstemmed | Chinese management practices in Kenya: toward a post-colonial critique |
| title_short | Chinese management practices in Kenya: toward a post-colonial critique |
| title_sort | chinese management practices in kenya: toward a post-colonial critique |
| topic | Africa China cultural differences Kenya management practices post-colonial theory |
| url | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/50938/ https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/50938/ https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/50938/ |