This week I am thrilled to bring the What’s Next! audience my first double-interview with brilliant academics Leon Prieto and Simone Phipps! Their book, African American Management History: Insights on Gaining a Cooperative Advantage, comes after having been recognized by the Academy of Management for publishing "ground-breaking African-American management history research," much of which has been included in a number of other prominent management books.
Leon is an Associate Professor of Management at Clayton State University. His research areas are in African American management history, social issues in management, and minority social entrepreneurship. His research is focused on the contributions of minorities (gender as well as racial & ethnic) to the development of management as a discipline and the interrelationship between organizational management and society.
Simone is an Associate Professor of Management in the School of Business at Middle Georgia State University, where she teaches organizational behavior, entrepreneurship, principles of management, strategic management, human resource management, and leadership. Her research interests include management history, entrepreneurship, HR practices, leadership, and relationships between the organization and society. Usually, her research involves the exploration or examination of gender, racial, and ethnic minorities, with the aim of highlighting their struggles and contributions, as well as finding possible solutions to improve the minority experience in business and society.
THIS EPISODE IS PERFECT FOR… everyone–especially anyone interested in the source of much current management thinking, leadership practices and/or anyone interested in African-American and Black history.
TODAY’S MAIN MESSAGE… Simone and Leon share some of their ground-breaking, African-American management history research as well as the rich history of cooperative structures inherent in African culture–like the idea of Ubuntu: I am because we are. Leon and Simone break down the importance of cooperation and its place in the post-pandemic world, spirituality and it’s place in the modern capitalist system and the rich history of forgotten and/or hidden figures in black leadership and black business ownership in the United States. Leon and Simone discuss the ramifications of this forgotten history on organizational structures and opportunities today in the 21st century, they also share their mission to make capitalism a more compassionate and more complete system, and their work on updating management textbooks to include influential black figures who have been written out of our so much of our academia on leadership and management.
