Book Review of Noble Kumawu’s ″Father of Organization Development in Africa, the Journey, the Strugg

Book Review of Noble Kumawu’s ″Father of Organization Development in Africa, the Journey, the Struggles and the Career”

Abstract

This article reviews Noble Kuwawu’s book, ″Father of Organization Development in Africa, the Journey, the Struggles and the Career”. The first chapters create an outside view. Generally, it is a compilation of different people''s different ideas that crossed Dr. Kamawu''s path of career and life. The author''s initial statement is that towards knowing oneself, an organization development practitioner should actively seek feedback from other professionals. The later chapters present all the thoughts about him and the qualities that an effective organization development practitioner should possess. In this chapter, Dr Kamawu defines an organization development practitioner''s work as the application of behavioral science in studying the way that can make an organization more functional and effective. Organizations across the world are faced with the issue of effective management of their resources towards improving efficiency and productivity. However, in his 262-page book, Noble Kamawu sufficiently addresses this issue.

The book begins by giving an account of the author''s journey. It also gives detailed information on how businesses can utilize their resources to achieve productivity, innovation, and profits. An identification of the right tools and an explanation of the important models in the job market are also given. In the book, which is divided into three parts, Dr. Kumawu hails himself as the father of Organization Development by mentioning his passion for training organization development practitioners across Ghana. He also goes ahead to explain his motivation and how it all started, tracing his journey back to the 1990s. The book has been recommended to different reviewers as an important resource for leaders and managers in any organization. Indisputably, the work of Dr. Kamawu succeeds in equipping leaders in organizations in Africa and the world at large with important knowledge on how they can improve efficiency and productivity in their organizations through effective management of resources.

Keywords: African renaissance, Engaging Emergence, Re-Description.

Introduction

Many organizations across the world are faced with the issue of effective management of their resources towards improving efficiency and productivity. However, in his 262-page book, Noble Kamawu sufficiently addresses this issue. The book begins by giving an account of the author's journey. It also gives detailed information on how businesses can utilize their resources to achieve productivity, innovation, and profits. An identification of the right tools and an explanation of the important models in the job market are also given. In the book, which is divided into three parts, Dr. Kumawu hails himself as the father of Organization Development by mentioning his passion for training organization development practitioners across Ghana. He also goes ahead to explain his motivation and how it all started, tracing his journey back to the 1990s. The book has been recommended to different reviewers as an important resource for leaders and managers in any organization. Indisputably, the work of Dr. Kamawu succeeds in equipping leaders in organizations in Africa and the world at large with important knowledge on how they can improve efficiency and productivity in their organizations through effective management of resources.

Part 1

This part has eight chapters. Generally, in the eight chapters, Dr. Kamawu is more focused on the journey of organization development in Africa. He explores its triggers, its progress and its future on the continent. Dr. Kamawu hails himself as having done a few innovative things in the profession of organization development in Africa, with some having received considerable recognition. The first part of his book mentions each of them. This part also presents some of the fundamental topics in organization development that affect young practitioners clearly and understandably. The author makes a clear point in this part by explaining that Africa lacks organization development. Despite the different approaches that have been used in approaching leadership and management, most African organizations keep failing (Dr. Kumawu 30). Kamawu became one of the many voices that have raised concern over organization development in Africa. Like many other commentators, the author portrays organization development in Africa as under-developed and insufficient.

It is also true that organization development in Africa lacks the much-needed theoretical frameworks required to achieve commendable organization development. Kamawu's voice that associates under-development in Africa's organization development to the conflicts between Anglo-American theoretical perspective and African renaissance scholars is also true. For a long time, Africa has been torn between the Anglo-American theoretical perspectives that have shaped organization development education and the African renaissance scholars who criticize the mainstream that lacks universality. According to the critics, the Anglo-American theoretical perspective is a just but a mere form of western intellectual hegemony that tends to be focused on continuing the colonial projects in Africa while at the same time dismantling the already created empire in Africa after colonization (Dr. Kumawu, 50). However, Dr. Kamawu does not show his intention to involve himself in the debate; he confirms that Africa's organization development requires reorganization towards solving the leadership problems facing it. It is clear that organization development in Africa lacks a clear contextual knowledge framework that is important in developing its industries. The misappropriation of African organization development as a resource in Africa results in Africa importing more than it exports despite being one of the most endowed continents with natural resources.

The remedies that Kamawu recommends towards improving leadership management are also true. An earlier warning should be given to all those organization leaders who may want to reestablish leadership styles and management in Africa differently. The move is important in refraining from simplistic binary opposition. By not inclining to any of the two conflicting ideas about the best theoretical perspective in reorganizing organization development in Africa, the author succeeds in not challenging African renaissance scholars' intellectualism or even looking like he advocates for Anglo-American colonialism. Kamawu's argument's viability is brought by his alternative way of conceptualizing organization development in a specific geographic and socio-cultural setting. African organization development practitioners should be more focused on improving their organization development rather than emphasizing resisting western-influences in their leadership and management.

Solving the issues that face Africa's organization development requires an understanding of their historical background, as Dr. Kamawu explains. By understanding the historical background, it becomes possible for the management development specialists to contribute to the continent's organization needs. The author's argument's credibility is boosted by his outlining of the important elements that have to show the lessons learned from the pre-colonial, present, and future programs of managing organization development. The author also makes an important contribution by outlining the impacts that the colonial period had on institution and management development. Most importantly, by outlining the need to draw on local resources and indigenous knowledge systems, the author plays an important role in showing African organization development practitioners where they have been failing. His discussion on the importance of drawing the local resources and indigenous knowledge systems in developing and implementing effective organization development programs serves an essential role in helping African organizations make critical management and leadership decisions.

The discussion also equips the leaders in the organizations with knowledge of the challenges and opportunities they expect to come across. The conclusion made by the author in this chapter that by having their organization development practitioners, African countries would save money is also realistic. In most cases, many African countries rely on foreign organization development practitioners who tend to be unreasonably expensive (Dr. Kumawu,70) and not necessarily effective or relevant. Others may also portray an element of bias, especially those who hold negative prejudice about Africa. However, the scarcity of qualified organization development practitioners forces African organizations to hire expensive foreign organization development practitioners. The norms can only be reversed if adequate training is done on African development practitioners.

Part Two

This part contains four chapters, with each representing different but connected views. This part majorly dwells on the life of Dr. Kamawu and his experience in organization development. The first chapter creates an outside view. Generally, it is a compilation of different people's different ideas that crossed Dr. Kamawu's path of career and life. The author's initial statement is that towards knowing oneself, an organization development practitioner should actively seek feedback from other professionals. He infers that one tends to be the reflection of the opinions held by others about themselves. He feels that for the responses not to be biased, an organization development practitioner should seek both compilations of negative and positive views about them. An organization development practitioner should seek random responses from the people they have come across to avoid bias, especially towards unfavorable responses. As the author explains, organization development practitioners in Africa should regularly request the people they have come across in their line of work to write about who they perceive them after encountering them. To avoid conflicts of interest in the views of those who had encountered him as an organization development practitioner, the author only includes those responses that he had received before going to press. Chapter nine presents all the thoughts about him and the qualities that an effective organization development practitioner should possess. In this chapter, Dr Kamawu defines an organization development practitioner's work as the application of behavioral science in studying the way that can make an organization more functional and effective. Across the world, organization development practitioners are tasked with analyzing companies from all aspects to determine the changes that may make the organizations top performers in their field. As the author explains, most organization developers work as independent consultants.

As Dr. Kamawu explains, many organizations worldwide are recently under pressure to integrate humanism into their organizational life. Generally, most African organizations have embraced the recent digital economy swings of their pendulum away from the initial mechanical nature to focusing more on knowledge, innovation, and creativity. In their organization development, most African organizations focus more on what humans can create and communicate as opposed to their past focus on what people can make. Consequently, an effective organization development practitioner should lead a shift to the gig economy that creates acceptable ideas important in dealing with the challenges present in the workplace. It is also true that effective organization development practitioners should be part of organization development interventions that uphold the organization's beliefs and values. They should ensure that the organization's culture is upheld by everyone who works for the organization and the senior leadership team alone. As Dr. Kamawu explains towards the end of chapter nine, an effective leader does not ignore important organization processes. Consequently, organization development practitioners in Africa should identify talents, potentials, strengths, and weaknesses with their team (Dr. Kumawu,70). As the author explains, for African organizations to consider themselves effective organization development practitioners, their practitioners should have an unashamedly humanistic mindset.

Dr. Kamawu explains that a qualified organization development practitioner should have a clear knowledge of organizational practice and theory. He expounds on common organization development theories such as Lewin's change and the Psychodynamic Theory. Indisputably, for African organizations to deal with the organization development challenges facing them, they should have the important knowledge written by the founding fathers of organization development. Understanding how organization development should effectively work will make it easy for the organizations to understand how to deliver sustainable change and put the theories of organization development into practice in African organizations. As Dr. Kamwu explains, it is unrealistic for organization development practitioners in Africa to claim that they are effective in their work if they are not aware of the theoretical foundation of organization development practice. The failure of organization development in most African organizations can be largely attributed to a lack of knowledge on behavior science in most African organization development practitioners (Dr. Kumawu 115). The ignorance makes it impossible for them to understand and put into practice emerging techniques such as Engaging Emergence and Re-Description. The lack of knowledge also makes it impossible for the organization development practitioners to apply effective tools in solving the organization development problems that may regularly face African organizations. Consequently, the delivery of better results in sustainable performance and organization performance are all affected.

The author also mentions the ability to carry out sustainable practice as an important characteristic of an effective organization development practitioner. Truly, an organization development practitioner should also be an effective business person. As the author explains, most organization development practitioners in Africa lack effective communication skills, especially in introducing the changes most organizations require. The practitioners should understand the importance of building relationships with their sponsors and key stakeholders (Dr. Kumawu,136). Whether an employee or an external consultant, organization development practitioners in Africa should understand that their work results are two-fold. Consequently, the organization development practitioners in Africa should ensure that work leads to sustainability and leaves a legacy of organizations' skills. The practitioners should also ensure that their program's success continues even after their services are no longer needed in the organization.In the third and last part, Kamawu talks about his life as a consultant and the encounters leading to his organization development discovery.

Part Three

In this last part, the author chooses to share his experiences with young and upcoming organization development consultants. The experiences are derived from inside and outside Africa, especially after the author had traveled to the United Kingdom and China. From his experience, the author gives insight into organization development across the continent and the challenges that an upcoming organization development practitioner should expect to come across. The chapter also expands more on the values inseparable from an organization development practitioner, as shown in the second chapter.

The soft-style approach applied in this chapter is important in allowing the reader to follow and engage slowly. The notable quotes from other seasoned leaders, especially on the importance of organization development in the businesses eyeing success and seeking to thrive in the increasingly competitive world, are important elements that make this chapter extremely practical. The most important part of this last chapter is where the author explains the benefits of organization development from his experiences. According to him, organization development creates business relationships (Dr. Kumawu, 174). He understands that organization development has a significant contribution to work collaboration in any organization. He makes a clear point in associating organization development with the creation of a team that supports the vision of the organization. The teamwork creates an important bond between the organization's stakeholders towards the realization of the organization's vision. As Dr. Kamawu explains, organization development has an important role in creating constant communication of the organization's business needs. The open communication fostered enables a flow of information in and outside the business. By associating organization development with important communication of information within an organization, the author explains a serious problem that faces African organizations. The insufficiency of African organization development tends to hamper the flow of information with African organizations. As a result, the great failure that faces African organizations face can be attributed to the ineffectiveness in organization development, which hampers the organization's active engagement (Dr. Kumawu. 201). The result is a limit in the achievement of effectiveness and efficiency of a business. Dr. Kamawu makes an important point that organizations in Africa should be knowledgeable in how to start and implement organization development in them. In his opinion, the first point should be the development of leadership capabilities. The author has a point in arguing that African organizations should start by empowering their leaders towards embracing behavior that supports productivity and motivation.

Dr. Kamawu understands organization development as an important aspect of capacity building in an organization. Notably, nearly all industries and markets worldwide have been facing changes that compel them to adopt organization development processes. The work of Dr. Kamawu comes across as having been written after thorough research, especially when he states that organizations must enhance skills and competency if they want to improve their work process. His advocacy for regular training is realistic since regular training for employees has proved an important measure for improving organization development practitioners' service in Africa. Consequently, the author's concern is that most organizations in Africa employ organization development towards opposing foreign influence rather than focusing on how to create a balance between their strengths and weaknesses (Dr. Kumawu, 245). Generally, by reading Dr. Kamawu's book, most organizations will understand the importance of developing goals before embarking on organization development. When the goals are developed, even the resources needed to make the strategy fully functional will be reduced. From his experience, Dr. Kamawu understands that organization development is important in reducing operation costs in a business or organization. When well applied, it also increases employee satisfaction.

As the author explains, If African employs the best organization development strategies, absenteeism and turnovers will be reduced. As a result, there will be fewer recruitments, which will significantly reduce the organization's operational costs and increased productivity (Dr. Kumawu, 254). A reader may also be interested in the part where Dr. Kamawu associates organization development with increased competitiveness. It is indisputable that adopting organization development easily steers an organization towards becoming a winning business. One of the organization development practitioners that Dr. Kamawu interviewed confirmed that their work had a significant contributory role towards enabling businesses to employ unique competencies. The unique skills are important in making a business stand out in the market.

In conclusion, taking time to read “Father of Organization Development in Africa, the Journey, the Struggles and the Career” by Dr. Noble Kumawu is time well-spent. Most of the arguments made by the author on organization development are realistic.Massive experience guides his writing author who has been an organization development practitioner for decades. This is a book emanating from wide research by an author who has traversed Europe, China, and Africa studying how organization development was carried out in these regions. Scholars and scholar-practitioners will find this book's practicability so enhanced by the author’s personal family and life experiences, especially his childhood and marriage. The book's reality is increased by the author involving the views of other people with diverse knowledge about organization development. It is thus important that entrepreneurs across the world take time to read this immensely valuable book.

Works Cited

Kumawu, Noble, 2020: The Father of Organisation Development in Africa: The Journey, The Struggles and The Career.

https://www.amazon.com/Father-Organisation-Development-Africa-Struggles-ebook/dp/B08Q9PQNK8