Political economy of Malawi: contextual leadership in expanding entrepreneurial businesses

Subject area: Leadership; Political Economy; Strategy; Entrepreneurship. Study level/applicability: Masters in Business Administration (MBA); MPhil in Strategic Leadership. Case overview: On 5 February 2016, South African entrepreneur Jannie Van Eeden faced a dilemma about whether to expand his current businesses or not. He had to choose between focusing exclusively on hospitality and tourism or dividing his time and resources between the tourism business and expanding his existing logistics business. Expansions to his logistics business would entail investing in a warehouse and supplying fresh produce to the lodges in the wider area of Lake Malawi where he was based. Van Eeden realised that he needed to take into account the political economy of Malawi in unpacking the contextual variables related to his decision. Various stakeholders’ roles are illustrated in the case, for example the government’s role in enabling entrepreneurial businesses as well as the investments made by foreign organisations and international donors. Expected learning outcomes: Development of leaders who can take contextually intelligent decisions. Insights into conducting Political Economy analysis to enable doing business in Africa. Supplementary materials: Teaching Notes are available for educators only. Please contact your library to gain login details or email [email protected] to request teaching notes. Subject code: CSS 7: Management Science.