The Social Innovation Think Tank: African American management history

The Social Innovation Think Tank

The Social Innovation Think Tank series explores the power of social innovation in the modern world; sharing its necessity and capacity to challenge the status quo.

The monthly series is hosted by Dr Neil Stott and Professor Paul Tracey, co-directors of the Cambridge Centre for Social Innovation. They interview academics from many disciplines, who discuss their motivation to strive towards to a more equitable and sustainable world.

Episode Three – African American Management History

In the third episode of The Social Innovation Think Tank, our guests discuss their new book ‘African American Management History: Insights on Gaining a Cooperative Advantage’, touching on issues such as racial and ethnic diversity in management.

Our guests are Dr Simone Phipps from School of Business at Middle Georgia State University and Dr Leon Prieto from Clayton State University. With expertise in Human Resources & Leadership, both Simone and Leon have a focus in Management History. They have recently co-authored their new book ‘African American Management History: Insights on Gaining a Cooperative Advantage’.

Dr Neil Stott and Professor Paul Tracey discuss with our guests some of the issues such as racial and ethnic diversity in management, which are raised in their book.

“Why do I not see anyone that looks like me? Did we not contribute to Management history? And, of course, you know that can’t be right. And so, you want to delve more into it […] when you leave people out like that you end up with a gap in education. So, your education is really going to be incomplete. So, it’s important to have a variety of people, a variety of perspectives from their contexts to make sure everyone is included and benefits from a more extensive education”.

Dr Simone Phipps