The influence of informal structures on corporate strategy: an African perspective

Abstract

This paper provides a detailed exploration of the Afrocentric epistemological perspective of socio-cultural constructs that drive the influence of informal structures on corporate strategy and employees. The research focuses on the African context, which has a dearth of studies despite ample research exploring informal structures in Western and Asian socio-ecological contexts. To achieve this, the study employed a systematic literature review through the aid of NVivo 14 and ChatGPT, a language generation model. NVivo 14 provided the study with a tool to manage and analyze the data, and ChatGPT offered a dialogical string that created a clear path for critical analysis. The paper adopted a systematic literature review approach to investigate the origin of the concept of informal structures and their impact on corporate strategy in an Afrocentric context. The findings indicate that informal structures can have a positive influence by facilitating the flow of information, flexibility, and fulfilling social needs and shared values. However, the negative influence of informal structures, including resistance to corporate strategy, social fragmentation, conflict, and political discord, outweighs the positive influence. The study also reveals that there is limited research on the social-ecological context of Africa and its impact on corporate strategy. The paper addresses a contextual gap in the body of knowledge through its contribution that focuses specifically on the Afrocentric context. The research also sheds light on the need for more studies on the social-ecological context of Africa to gain a better understanding of its impact on corporate strategy. Overall, the paper provides a comprehensive and detailed exploration of the Afrocentric perspective of informal structures and their impact on corporate strategy and employees.