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'Who are you?' – Constructing managerial identities in post-apartheid South Africa

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  • Mayer, Claude-Hélène
  • Louw, Lynette

Abstract

This study focuses on the construction of identity concepts and values, in the process of developing managerial identities within a selected publically owned utility in South Africa. The methodology used is a multi-method case study approach which is conducted in the phenomenological, qualitative research paradigm. The findings show that managers define themselves in terms of “intra-personal” and “social identities” which are based on strong individual and socio-cultural value foundations. Data highlight that managerial identities are connected to the organisational identity. Seventeen years after the end of apartheid, managerial identities are no longer reduced and limited to fixed racial, cultural or professional identities founded on historic perspectives, but are rather viewed as a dynamic cross-cultural construct of interpersonal interactions. This article provides the reader with new insights into managerial identity constructions in a multicultural public utility setting in post-apartheid South Africa.

Suggested Citation

  • Mayer, Claude-Hélène & Louw, Lynette, 2013. "'Who are you?' – Constructing managerial identities in post-apartheid South Africa," management revue. Socio-economic Studies, Rainer Hampp Verlag, vol. 24(4), pages 289-308.
  • Handle: RePEc:rai:mamere:1861-9908_mrev_2013_4_mayer
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    identity; South Africa; management; ethnography; interviewer-interviewee interaction; values;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • F54 - International Economics - - International Relations, National Security, and International Political Economy - - - Colonialism; Imperialism; Postcolonialism
    • J17 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Value of Life; Foregone Income
    • J71 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor Discrimination - - - Hiring and Firing
    • O10 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - General
    • O55 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economywide Country Studies - - - Africa

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