Management research is in dire need of non-Western voices

In the Western world, we often consider our way of doing business the default. Whether it’s how to manage subordinates or build work relationships, Westerners take for granted that what’s prevalent in their countries is the norm everywhere.

This is reflected in the fact that a vast majority of published papers in supposedly global (but largely Western-run) management journals come from Western countries.

As the editorial team of the Journal of Management Studies (JMS), my colleagues and I wanted to bring this to the community’s attention by looking at the types of investigations featured in our own journal.

We reviewed papers published in JMS between 2012 and June 2023, and found that only 12 per cent of them came from non-Western contexts. For some of those years, the proportion was as low as 3 per cent. Data from countries such as Brazil, India, Nigeria and even Japan, among many others, is under-represented in the literature.

While research from emerging markets has begun to gain traction, these voices continue to be under-represented in scholarly articles about management. Embracing more non-Western voices could create a more level playing field and ease the burden felt by those employing non-Western data in their research.

Moreover, it would open the door to valuable research that could otherwise be overlooked. After all, what happens in Western business settings is not always the global norm and studies of Western practices are not universally relevant. Work cultures differ according to their varying social, political, religious and historical contexts.

Equally, non-Western research is not inevitably “niche” or without relevance beyond its particular region. In fact, there is a lot the West can learn from non-Western contexts. Some JMS studies, for example, look at how Buddhism and Taoism can shape management practices – such as using mindfulness for occupational well-being or adopting leadership practices that focus on nurturing employees. Although these religions are not prominent in the West, they offer lessons that are global in scope – and managers can implement them no matter where their company is based.

Another JMS paper looked at the role that institutions play in reproducing racial oppression and inequality in post-apartheid South Africa. Through qualitative interviews with farmers and other key stakeholders, the research showed how organisations affect inequality through incomplete processes of institutional change – offering valuable insights for scholars studying inequality across the world.

The non-Western papers we looked at – from, admittedly, a limited pool of data – touched on themes such as corporate social responsibility, transition economies and labour rights: globally occurring phenomena that may manifest themselves more forcefully in non-Western contexts. One example looks at apparel factories in Bangladesh, where work safety and fair pay continue to be major issues. The researchers studied workplace dialogue, giving insight into workers’ everyday lives and providing a better understanding of what types of changes could improve their lives in particular and local working conditions in general.

Similarly, entrepreneurship research could look closer at where the phenomenon is prevalent outside Western contexts. One JMS paper questions the role of elite multinational corporations and NGOs that sell microcredit or consumer products to vulnerable populations by drawing from on-site observations at a Rohingya refugee camp in Bangladesh. It urges scholars to reconsider how entrepreneurship can thrive in noncooperative spaces.

Several JMS papers illustrate the importance of studying relationship-building in non-Western contexts, shedding light on how it can differ from conventional approaches in the West. These studies depart from the network-based approach and focus more on the multifaceted drivers, processes and outcomes of relationship-building.

One factor highlighted by these papers – which looked at data from Africa, Asia and South America – is the need for companies to overcome resistance from non-market actors, such as NGOs or labour unions, which operate outside traditional market mechanisms but nonetheless have an important influence on economic activities.

Understanding the diverse stakeholders involved and the time-intensive nature of relationship-building is essential for firms to avoid corruption and build reputations as ethical actors.

Non-Western countries are becoming more central in the global economy – including Brazil, India and Nigeria, as well as South Africa. However, there is a serious lack of research looking into the cultural, political, regulatory and ethical contexts needed to succeed as a business in such countries. According to our research, only 3.7 per cent of the published studies in JMS in the past 10 years were carried out in Brazil, 7.5 per cent in India, 2.8 per cent in South Africa and none in Nigeria.

As JMS editors, we encourage authors working in non-Western contexts to submit their work to us as much as possible.

Yuliya Snihur is associate professor of entrepreneurship at IESE Business School. Her study was carried out with fellow JMS editors Christopher Wickert, Kristina Potočnik, Shameen Prashantham and Weilei (Stone) Shi.