Customer Service Essentials is a must-read and a definitive source of information on effective management of customer service in Africa and beyond. Leveraging on unique concepts and practices developed in the field of customer service management, this book uses case studies and vignettes to reinforce learnings, drawing parallels to real life experiences. The book is a valuable resource for individuals and organizations, in the quest to achieve excellent customer service, increased productivity and enhanced employee satisfaction. It explores the practical challenges of customer service in Africa, examines critical success factors and provides guidelines for effective customer engagement in this evolving highly networked digital era. Policy makers, directors, managers and students will gain valuable and actionable insights on service management as they navigate the chapters.

Africa’s unique and diverse culture, embedded in age-long business practices, presents an interesting proposition for advancing indigenous knowledge and building sustainable structures. Casebook of Indigenous Business Practices in Africa is a collection of case studies across Northern, Eastern, Central, Western and Southern parts of Africa. Indigenous enterprises contribute to the economic prosperity of Africa and are an essential part of the continent’s business ecosystem. Contributing authors to this two-volume edited work explore the inherent potential of indigenous practices in bolstering business performance and stimulating social and economic development. The first volume focuses on Apprenticeship, Craft, and Healthcare, while this second volume considers Trade, Production and Financial Services, in featured African countries. Indigenous business practices hold great prospects for economic advancement in Africa, despite the dominance of Western business methods, which, although beneficial, are yet to drive the continent’s developmental agenda. By identifying and exploring the unique features of these practices, multiple actors, including entrepreneurs, policymakers, students, educators, and practitioners, are provided with context-based information that can foster social and economic empowerment across the continent. The book extends the frontier of knowledge on the role of cultural orientation, values, and traditions in achieving a more prosperous Africa through the development of indigenous business knowledge.

Africa’s unique and diverse culture, embedded in age-long business practices, presents an interesting proposition for advancing indigenous knowledge and building sustainable structures. Casebook of Indigenous Business Practices in Africa is a collection of case studies across Northern, Eastern, Central, Western and Southern parts of Africa. Indigenous enterprises contribute to the economic prosperity of Africa and are an essential part of the continent’s business ecosystem. Contributing authors to this two-volume edited work explore the inherent potential of indigenous practices in bolstering business performance and stimulating social and economic development. This first volume focuses on Apprenticeship, Craft, and Healthcare, while the second volume considers Trade, Production and Financial Services, in featured African countries. Indigenous business practices hold great prospects for economic advancement in Africa, despite the dominance of Western business methods, which, although beneficial, are yet to drive the continent’s developmental agenda. By identifying and exploring the unique features of these practices, multiple actors, including entrepreneurs, policymakers, students, educators, and practitioners, are provided with context-based information that can foster social and economic empowerment across the continent. The book extends the frontier of knowledge on the role of cultural orientation, values, and traditions in achieving a more prosperous Africa through the development of indigenous business knowledge.

This volume of Advanced Series in Management traces the origins, development, and key themes of the business practices of Nigeria's south-eastern Igbos including apprenticeships, entrepreneurial clusters, sales practices, conflict management, talent recruitment, indigenous financial practices, locally-generated venture capital, family businesses, and succession planning. The Igbo Traditional Business School (I-TBS) is not a conventional academic institution as it operates outside the classroom. Though without a library, or even an address, its tradition of lifelong entrepreneurial learning is an important area to explore. At a time when there is increased interest in Africa-centric business models, it is valuable to consider sustainable business prototypes built on established cultural practices, norms, and values. Academics will find the examination of innovative I-TBS business practices, a valuable contribution to sustainable development discourse in Africa and frontier markets. Practitioners and policymakers will gain insights into the unique practices of an indigenous entrepreneurship system in an African context, with implications for socioeconomic advancements.

Marketing in Healthcare-Related Industries captures the concepts and complexities of marketing healthcare in today's environment. The book provides detailed conceptual and practical insights that will be of great benefit to healthcare scholars and practitioners. Topics on healthcare marketing have been carefully selected to provide wide coverage and are illustrated by mini-cases with a highly practical marketing tool kit for healthcare managers included. The healthcare sector in the 21st century face a multiplicity of challenges, which include changing disease patterns, more technology-driven health interventions, a more assertive and quality conscious clientele, as well as a rapidly growing for-profit segment of the industry. This places more responsibilities on healthcare service providers in both the public and private sectors, to deliver value-for-money services at competitive costs. To respond to the changing business environment, a carefully crafted marketing approach is needed by all players in the industry to create value and sustain the confidence of clientele and stakeholders.

African nations are seeking ways to build strong institutions that are development-oriented and people-centred. Extant literature has reported the negative consequences of ineffective government communications with the public. In response, this book - the first of a two-volume edited work - focuses on marketing communication themes related to branding, public relations, trade fairs and exhibitions, and public sector communications. Public sector marketing communication plays a crucial role in bridging the gap between society and the government. Building a relationship with the public through appropriate communication tools and platforms is sacrosanct to restoring public sector image and trust. The book supports this effort by sharing conceptual and theoretical research towards the marketisation of Africa's public sector as it strives to become an effective partner with the public it serves. Together with the second volume, which focuses on traditional and digital perspectives, this collection fills an existing information gap that is evident in Africa's public sector.

Building public sector image and trust in Africa requires judicious use of appropriate marketing communications tools and platforms. Contributing authors to this second volume of a two-volume work offer insights into how the selection and strategic utilisation of marketing tools will facilitate interactions between the government and the citizens, improve inter-governmental and inter-agency collaboration, and boost a citizen-oriented public sector. Traditional marketing communications tools continue to play a key role in citizen and public sector relationships; however, given mega-trends of demographic change, urbanisation, and digitalisation in Africa, it is important to consider how public institutions, including government agencies, local government, universities, and football associations, respond and adapt to these changes. The digital revolution presents an opportunity for public sector institutions to align their communication plans with new technologies, particularly leveraging social media platforms. Together with the first volume, which focuses on public relations and brand communication perspectives, this collection fills an existing information gap evident in Africa’s public sector literature. The text serves as a decision making, teaching, and learning guide for practitioners, faculty, and students interested in applying marketing principles and practices to the public sector.  

Advances in technology and changes in consumer buying patterns have forced businesses to alter their traditional marketing approach to incorporate contemporary ideologies that will drive customer satisfaction, meet societal expectations, and boost business performance for competitive advantage. Interest in marketing communication and brand development has increased in recent years due to the proliferation of productions, changing consumer behaviour, increased competition, and technological advancement. Recognising the complexity of these challenges, it has become imperative for firms in emerging economies to understand contemporary issues in marketing to compete effectively and create value for consumers and stakeholders. The first of this two volume work provides insights into this critical issue in a changing world, including destination brand management, brand avoidance, sponsorship, health and personal branding, and offers a futuristic perspective on marketing communications, including the influence of neuromarketing, artificial intelligence, and virtual reality. Meanwhile, Volume II focuses specifically on the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, social responsibilities, and emerging technologies. Taken together, this two-volume work is a definitive resource for scholars and students of marketing, branding and international business.

This book analyses and evaluates the accomplishments, challenges, and approaches associated with the New Public Management (NPM) in Africa towards establishing context-specific interventions for public sector institutions' performance. Taking the reader through various business and management approaches, including leadership in the public sector, digitalisation, market orientation and trust building, this book provides an understanding of the key issues facing public sector organisations in Africa and offers novel ways of approaching public management in a changing socio-economic landscape to drive improved performance of public institutions. The book offers students, practitioners and researchers important insights on NPM and public sector institutions in Africa. The recommendations of the book will help government and policymakers implement appropriate public sector management policies for strengthening public sector service delivery in Africa.

Literature on green marketing continues to gain traction in the sustainability discourse, focusing on core subject areas such as green product development, green marketing strategy and green advertising. Achieving green marketing success encompasses influencing, orientating, and communicating green offerings of an organisation to the consumers. Emerging markets particularly provide unique opportunities for green product innovations to thrive due to their rapid industrialisation and economic growth; hence the value proposition of organisations must be rightly communicated to the consumers. The book is part of a multi-volume work that highlights the goals of green marketing, such as influencing consumers' green adoption, behaviour, and attitude towards sustainability practices. This book provides insights to researchers, students and practitioners interested in marketing and sustainability initiatives in the context of emerging markets. It is also recommended for marketing managers and brand consultants who desire an in-depth understanding of how to communicate their organisation's green offerings while positioning the organisation as a green brand to influence consumers' green purchasing behaviours.

This book provides a management perspective on the full historical, contemporary, and geographic landscape of hospitality and tourism (H&T) in Africa. In so doing, it critically assesses and challenges the applicability of Western theories within the African context and draws attention to the insights offered by African management concepts. A variety of key topics are examined, including, for example, H&T management practices and management innovation in Africa, the drivers of and variation in uptake of Western management practices, policies and strategies to promote the development of H&T organizations, the influence of management practices on the competitiveness of African countries as tourism destinations, and areas for improvement of H&T organizations in Africa in the digital age. The approach is multidisciplinary. Both local and global perspectives are presented by authors from Africa, Europe, North America, and Asia, with inclusion of intra- and inter-country comparisons. This book will be essential reading for scholars, students, businesses, and policy makers with an interest in H&T in Africa.

Green marketing has risen in prominence over recent years as corporations face calls to lower their carbon footprint, engage in socially responsible practices, and promote sustainable ways of conducting business. In emerging economies, social, economic, and environmental problems resulting from rapid industrialisation requires urgent attention. Promoting environmentally responsible practices through green marketing has been identified as a key solution. This book provides theoretical and practical insights into how businesses in emerging economies can integrate green objectives into their marketing activities to achieve sustainable outcomes and attain green-focused goals. It discusses green marketing from strategic and operational perspectives, which considers target consumers, products, processes, promotion and sustainability of resources and presents the institutional logic of embedding greenness across organisational marketing activities. Issues concomitant to green marketing such as consumer buying behaviour of green products, green integrated marketing communication, green product management, green initiatives in logistics social responsibility, greenwashing and the need for transparency, and green marketing orientations and firm performance, are covered in the book. Ultimately, this collection contributes to and extends theoretical conversations on green marketing while also providing actionable recommendations for organisations and the larger society in emerging economies. Chipo Mukonza is a Lecturer at the Tshwane University of Technology in Polokwane, South Africa. Ogechi Adeola is an Associate Professor of Marketing at the Lagos Business School, Pan-Atlantic University, Nigeria. Isaiah Adisa is a management researcher and consultant based in Nigeria. Robert E. Hinson is a Professor and Head of the Department of Marketing and Entrepreneurship at the University of Ghana Business School. Emmanuel Mogaji is a Senior Lecturer in Advertising and Marketing Communications at the University of Greenwich, United Kingdom.

This book describes the political, social, and economic connections between gender and the Covid-19 pandemic. The authors offer innovative ideas for recovery that will build a more prosperous, healthy, equitable, and sustainable future for African women and girls, targets identified under Goal 5 (Gender Equality and Women's Empowerment) of the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals slated to be achieved by 2030. Within this context, authors identify issues related to the protection of women and girls from poverty, hunger, and gender-based violence; improved healthcare and healthcare workforce experiences; girl-child education; financial inclusion; and entrepreneurship opportunities for women in fintech, tourism, and information, communication and technology (ICT). The book concludes with a discussion of economic empowerment for women that focuses on normalising the 'un-normal' outcome of the pandemic. The book will be of value to policymakers, non-profit organisations, practitioners, and scholars who understand the importance of gender equality and women empowerment in the African continent.

This open access book explores the intersection of gender and climate change, suggests ways in which innovative technologies can accelerate climate relief actions, and offers strategies for integrating climate change initiatives into national policies and planning. By examining the devastating consequences of climate change on women and girls throughout the continent, the authors pose a crucial question: Does gender matter in climate change discussions in Africa?  Political and social traditions have burdened women with greater vulnerability to the impacts of climate-related natural disasters, including violence, displacement, poverty, famine and lack of access to clean water. However, women are also key to effective and inclusive climate mitigation, adaptation, and decision-making. The authors provide a compelling discourse that identifies the social and economic benefits for all citizens when gender-inclusive policies shape equitable and targeted action plans, from mitigation to adaptation and funding.  The United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal 13 calls for urgent action and commitment to combat climate change. The implementable and action-oriented propositions presented in this book will be of interest to students, educators, practitioners, third-sector actors, and policymakers committed to gender equality, sustainable development and climate action in Africa.

In a fast-moving era of increased international competition, frontier markets must devise innovative ways to meet demanding sales targets and maintain profitability. These efforts will only succeed when local businesses abandon the concept of sales as a checklist of persuasive arguments that lead a customer to make a purchase and accept that building enduring customer relationships is the key to achieving sales goals. To understand what it means to sell successfully, sales representatives must develop a solid foundation in selling skills and an understanding of the critical elements needed to achieve sales goals. By delving into the foundational concepts related to leveraging sales as a tool for organisational profit, the authors give readers important insights into the critical elements of the sales process, including consultative selling, sales force management, qualities of effective leadership in sales, and the use of technological tools such as Customer Relationship Management (CRM) and Sales Force Automation (SFA) systems. This book includes insightful contributions from leading sales and marketing practitioners across the continent of Africa on characteristics of successful salespeople and how to recruit them, the crucial role of sales leadership, sales team training methods and strategies for developing customer relationship management programs. Case studies tie theory to practice and short quizzes help readers test their understanding of the material. Written in an accessible and reader-friendly format, this book is primarily aimed at undergraduate students with a secondary audience comprised of postgraduate students and business practitioners.

The dynamics of the world's pervasive digital technologies is transforming organisations and enabling enterprises to create sustainable competitive advantage. This presents huge economic opportunities for Africa. This book responds to the need for African enterprises and organisations-particularly those in the service sector-to fully exploit the inherent potential in digital platforms by putting in place processes to respond effectively to changing consumer demands. Digital service delivery is conceptualised as a key driver of effective management and service delivery across the value chain of businesses. The authors offer insights into the opportunities, drivers, structures, and models of digital service delivery specific to the African context, using case studies and country-based themes that highlight how the adoption of digital platforms and practices can transform service delivery for value-creation. The book examines the scope and applications of digital businesses, emphasising the emergence, value-creation, and strategic implications for Africa's private and public enterprises. Students, entrepreneurs, IT innovators, academics, and policymakers will gain a greater understanding of how digitalisation is shaping consumer expectations, industry practices, and service delivery in Africa.

Customer Service Management in Africa: A Strategic and Operational Perspective (978-0-367-14337-4, K410515) "Customer Service is Changing!" The message of 34 authors featured in Customer Service Management in Africa: A Strategic and Operational Perspective is clear: Today's consumers are no longer 'passive audiences' but 'active players' that engage with businesses at each stage of product or service design and delivery systems. Consumer demands and expectations are also increasingly being dictated by changing personal preferences, enhanced access to information and expanding digital reality. The customer service principles - strategic and operational - advocated by these authors are universal, but particularly compelling as they apply to Africa's unique and dynamic operating environment. In recognition of the importance of excellent customer service, this comprehensive and well-timed book provides an essential guide on the increasing role of the customer to business success. This book discusses the management and delivery of customer service under seven broad themes: Customer Service as Shared Value, Customer Service Strategy, Customer Service Systems, Customer Service Style, Customer Service Culture, Customer Service Skills and Customer Experience - Advancing Customer Service in Africa. Central questions posed and addressed include: What is the new definition of customer service management? How should organisations position themselves to create value for customers and stakeholders? How should employees project themselves to align with customer service promises made by their organisations? Overall, this book provides strategic and operational insights into effective customer service management in Africa. The customer service management concepts, roles and practices outlined, particularly as they apply to the African context, make it an important addition to scholars' or practitioners' reference works.

Adverse environmental impacts such as greenhouse gas emissions and chemical spills have put the topic of green business firmly on the sustainability agenda. Despite the burgeoning literature on green business and green marketing from the globalised north, there is relative parsimony of green business literature in the global south. This book offers a greater understanding of what green marketing is, as well as the various levels of practices and the implementations thereof. It places specific emphasis on the people through which green marketing excellence can be achieved. Contributors argue that, given the complexity of green marketing, people management plays a key role in achieving green marketing success, and the chapters consider the role that green human resource management practices play in marketing. Providing a unique perspective on the successful implementation of green marketing, this book is an important resource for students, researchers and practitioners. It is of particular interest to those who desire a greater understanding of how organisations deal internally and externally with increasing pressure to become more socially responsible and embed 'greenness' in all their marketing activities.

Business-to-Business Marketing: An African Perspective: How to Understand and Succeed in Business Marketing in an Emerging Africa is a comprehensive application of the most current research results, concepts and frameworks to the African business-to-business (B-to-B) context. The chapters are designed to provide the reader with a thorough analysis of b-to-b. Important aspects like competitive strategy in B-to-B, marketing mix strategies, relationship management and collaboration, business services, big data analysis, and emerging issues in B-to-B are discussed with African examples and cases. As a result, the book is easy to read and pedagogical. It is suitable for courses at universities and other tertiary levels, undergraduate and graduate courses, MBA and professional B-to-B marketing programmes. Working managers will find it a useful reference for practical insights and as a useful resource to develop and implement successful strategies. The Authors Collectively the four authors have over 60 years of teaching and research in B-to-B marketing and management in and outside Africa. They have the managerial and consulting experience that has enabled them to combine theory with practice. Their experience and knowledge provide the needed background to uniquely integrate teaching and research with the realities of the African B-to-B market. Their command of and insight into the subject are unparalleled.

This edited volume assesses the progress that sub-Saharan African countries have made towards gender equality and offers strategies that can be used to empower African women to contribute to the fulfilment of the United Nations' (UN) 2030 sustainable development goals (SDGs). The contributing authors consider the goals identified during the 1995 United Nations World Conference on Women and the 2015 UN World Conference on Sustainable Development in New York-including no poverty, healthy life, quality education, gender equality, peace and justice, reduced inequalities, and decent work and economic growth-and document the advances made on these goals, with a special emphasis on African women's experiences. They provide innovative ideas for accelerating achievement of the SDGs and address challenges and opportunities in tourism, business, politics, entrepreneurship, academia, financial inclusion, and the digital gender divide. This book will be of value to policymakers, non-profit organisations focused on gender equality and sustainable development, and academics and scholars who teach and study gender-related issues in the African continent.

Literature on green marketing continues to gain traction in the sustainability discourse, focusing on core subject areas such as green product development, green marketing strategy and green advertising. Achieving green marketing success encompasses influencing, orientating, and communicating green offerings of an organisation to the consumers. Emerging markets particularly provide unique opportunities for green product innovations to thrive due to their rapid industrialisation and economic growth; hence the value proposition of organisations must be rightly communicated to the consumers. The book is part of a multi-volume work that highlights the goals of green marketing, such as influencing consumers' green adoption, behaviour, and attitude towards sustainability practices. This book provides insights to researchers, students and practitioners interested in marketing and sustainability initiatives in the context of emerging markets. It is also recommended for marketing managers and brand consultants who desire an in-depth understanding of how to communicate their organisation's green offerings while positioning the organisation as a green brand to influence consumers' green purchasing behaviours.

Advances in technology and changes in consumer buying patterns have forced businesses to alter their traditional marketing approach to incorporate contemporary ideologies that will drive customer satisfaction, meet societal expectations, and boost business performance for competitive advantage. Interest in marketing communication and brand development has increased in recent years due to the proliferation of productions, changing consumer behaviour, increased competition, and technological advancement. Recognising the complexity of these challenges, it has become imperative for firms in emerging economies to understand contemporary issues in marketing to compete effectively and create value for consumers and stakeholders. The first of this two volume work provides insights into this critical issue in a changing world, including destination brand management, brand avoidance, sponsorship, health and personal branding, and offers a futuristic perspective on marketing communications, including the influence of neuromarketing, artificial intelligence, and virtual reality. Meanwhile, Volume II focuses specifically on the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, social responsibilities, and emerging technologies. Taken together, this two-volume work is a definitive resource for scholars and students of marketing, branding and international business. 

Business-to-Business Marketing: An African Perspective: How to Understand and Succeed in Business Marketing in an Emerging Africa is a comprehensive application of the most current research results, concepts and frameworks to the African business-to-business (B-to-B) context. The chapters are designed to provide the reader with a thorough analysis of b-to-b. Important aspects like competitive strategy in B-to-B, marketing mix strategies, relationship management and collaboration, business services, big data analysis, and emerging issues in B-to-B are discussed with African examples and cases. As a result, the book is easy to read and pedagogical. It is suitable for courses at universities and other tertiary levels, undergraduate and graduate courses, MBA and professional B-to-B marketing programmes. Working managers will find it a useful reference for practical insights and as a useful resource to develop and implement successful strategies. The Authors Collectively the four authors have over 60 years of teaching and research in B-to-B marketing and management in and outside Africa. They have the managerial and consulting experience that has enabled them to combine theory with practice. Their experience and knowledge provide the needed background to uniquely integrate teaching and research with the realities of the African B-to-B market. Their command of and insight into the subject are unparalleled.

Health Service Marketing Management in Africa (978-0-429-40085-8, K402492) Shelving Guide: Business & Management / Marketing Management The application of marketing to healthcare is a fascinating field that will likely have more impact on society than any other field of marketing. It's been theorized that an intrinsically unstable environment characterizes this very relevant emerging field, hence raising new questions. Changing regulations, discoveries, and new health treatments continuously appear and give rise to such questions. Advancements in technology not only improve healthcare delivery systems but also provide avenues for customers to seek information regarding their health conditions and influence their participatory behaviors or changing roles in the service delivery. Increasingly, there is a shift from a doctor-led approach to a more patient-centered approach. In Africa, the importance of marketing-driven practices in improving the delivery of healthcare services cannot be overemphasized. The issue of healthcare delivery and management is significant for policymakers, private sector players, and consumers of health-related services in developing economy contexts. Scholars have strongly argued in favor of marketing and value creation in healthcare service delivery in Africa. Each country in Africa has its own issues. For example, long waiting times, unavailable medications, and unfriendly staff are just a sampling of issues affecting the acceptability of healthcare services. These examples highlight the need to utilize marketing and value creation tools in the delivery of healthcare services. Furthermore, there is a need for the integration of service marketing and management principles to enhance the delivery of quality healthcare across Africa and other developing economies which is the critical focus of this book. This book responds to calls for quality healthcare service management practices or processes from developing economy perspectives. Focusing primarily on African and other developing economy contexts, this book covers seven thematic areas: strategy in healthcare; marketing imperatives in healthcare management; product and pricing management in healthcare; distribution and marketing communications in healthcare; managing people in healthcare; physical evidence and service quality management in healthcare; and process management in healthcare.

This edited volume seeks to examine how enterprises in Africa can utilize digital technologies and innovations in creating value for their customers and clients in order to increase effectiveness and efficiency. Through social media, businesses are increasingly reaching and engaging their customers in several ways and so enterprises in Africa must harness the opportunities in the digital space if they want to remain competitive, earn profit, and meet their customers' needs. Accordingly, this book looks at how digital technologies are helping shape the financial, educational, and advertising sectors in Africa. As digital technologies raise challenges, the chapters that follow will discuss ethical and social practical frameworks to effective digital business in Africa. This volume promises to fore both theoretical underpinnings, and practical implementations of digital technologies in the African business context.