Philosophical Foundations of Strategic Management Research in Africa: Ontological Pluralism and Methodological Innovation

This theoretically-oriented doctoral study examines the philosophical foundations underpinning strategic management research conducted in Africa, arguing for ontological pluralism and methodological innovation as necessary conditions for the development of a contextually-valid African strategic management scholarship. The dominant paradigmatic assumptions embedded in mainstream strategic management theory are examined through a critical meta-theoretical review of 320 African management studies published over two decades, revealing systematic biases toward positivism, Western ontological assumptions, and methodological isomorphism that limit theory relevance and contextual validity. Drawing on philosophy of social science literature, African philosophy, and indigenous knowledge system scholarship, the study develops an original ontological pluralism framework that enables strategic management researchers in Africa to draw on critical realism, interpretivism, and African relational ontology as complementary rather than competing epistemological resources. Case illustrations from Nigerian, Kenyan, and South African research contexts demonstrate how ontological pluralism generates richer theoretical constructs, including communitarian strategy logics and network-embedded competitive dynamics, that positivist mono-methods systematically miss. The study's original contribution lies in producing a philosophically-grounded research design framework with concrete methodological guidelines for doctoral researchers and journals working to develop authentically African strategic management theory. This study responds directly to calls from leading management journals for greater theoretical diversity and geographic pluralism in strategy research. Keywords: strategic management, African management theory, ontological pluralism, research methodology, philosophy of management.