The Role of Culture in Industrialization: Ethnography of the Structure, Culture and Behavior of the Corporation in Kenya
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Date
2000Author
Mwendwa, Fredrick M
Type
ThesisLanguage
enMetadata
Show full item recordAbstract
This study was a comparative examination o f the Kenyan corporate culture
as it contributes to making the society adapted in a know ledge-based
economy. It examined 152 corporations from all the sectors o f the economy
within a period o f 26 months (between November 1994 and January 1997)
in seven major urban areas in Kenya.
The general objective o f the study was to find out the relationship between
the African cultural heritage, prevailing organizational structures and
consequent behavioral outcome es in corporations as they relate to success,
or lack o f it, and change for the betterment o f the Kenyan corporation in a
globalized and teleworked economy. The specific objectives were: to
establish the nature o f the relationship between African cultural heritage
(ethnicity) and adaptation in a knowledge-based economy; how various
kinds o f organizations perform in the Kenyan economy; to examine the
culture o f inefficiency in the Kenyan corporation; to formulate and test
behavior change theories and to examine the relationship between structure
(systems), culture and behavior in the actual performance of a corporation.
Multi-stage stratified random sampling was conducted to obtain a sample o f
22 corporations for participant observation, and 130 for a structured
interview. The sampling frame comprised membership records o f various
umbrella organizations in Kenya. Data collection was conducted using
observation and participant observation, person centered ethnography, key
inform ants, structured and a semi-structured interview schedule, diary/daily
field notes and secondary sources o f data. Qualitative data was analyzed
using tables, diagram s and taxonomies while quantitative data was analyzed
using SPSS for windows.
The main findings o f the study are that cultural heritage does not affect one’s
performance in a knowledge-based economy if the culture o f the
organisation one works for is adapted to a know ledge-based economy and if
one is educated; private sector organisations perform better in the Kenyan
economy; the culture o f vigilance, an inward looking consumption without
investment based culture is what ails the Kenyan corporation; RED model is
a better predictor o f behavior analysis and change than rational activity
models (R), emotive psychodynamics (E) and deterministic aspects of cultured (D) in isolation; and structure, being just one part o f culture is not adequate on its own to cause behavior. The study recommends the strict
enforcement o f the existing laws and vetting o f appointees to head public
institutions as the way to reform the Kenyan economy.
Publisher
University of Nairobi
Rights
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 United StatesUsage Rights
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/us/Collections
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