ABSTRACT
Africa has a history of major kingdoms with relics, values, cultural artifacts, symbols, and realities that still dominate many African peoples through the traditional chieftaincy system. This chapter argues that researchers interested in Africa must show methodological reflexivity and a willingness to challenge the status quo. It suggests four research approaches that scholars may consider as viable tools for researching management and organizations in Africa. The four are: the scholarship of discovery, teaching, integration, and application. The chapter discusses three approaches to research that facilitate closer attention to the reflective scholarship that Boyer espouses. It suggests that greater and more regular use should be made of these methods as they have potential for assisting scholars to conduct relevant, locally grounded, context-rich research that is also internationally connected. Gabriel notes that hermeneutics is a system by which interpretation is arrived at by the interplay between the subject matter and the interpreter's original positions.
