In this article, the authors compare the corporate social responsibility reporting (CSRR) of companies— environment, human relations, community, human rights, and diversity dimensions—in the emerging market economy of South Africa with that of companies in the leading economies represented by the Fortune Global 100. The descriptive analysis extends earlier empirical work on the CSRR of emerging market economies, and the impact of culture on CSRR, by examining annual report data from the top 100 companies listed on the Johannesburg Stock Index and the Fortune Global 100. Generally, the frequency and level of CSRR in South African companies was significantly higher than that of the Fortune Global 100, which indicates a greater willingness to convey social responsibility in their disclosure practices. This lends credence to the notion that emerging market economies may be more receptive to stakeholder concerns and social responsibility than peer institutions in leading economies.

The Problem: Although there are women leading in various sectors within African societies and institutions, very little research has been done to explore and explain their experiences within their cultural, economic, social, historical, and political context. To have a deeper understanding of women’s leadership globally, there must be studies of women’s leadership within specific local contexts. The Solution: This article explicates women’s leadership under the ubuntu worldview, with implications for application in contemporary organizations beyond the African context. Ubuntu reflects the African understanding of the essence of humanity. Guided by Black feminist theorizing, the study employed portraiture qualitative approach; in-depth interviews with women leaders provided illustrative quotes about spirituality, interdependence, unity, and community building. The Stakeholders: The article is aimed at both leadership scholars and leadership training practitioners with a focus on the African context.

The Problem: Authentic leadership literature is often seen as acontextual and unproblematic—leaders merely need to “know thyself” and “to thine own self be true.” Even when scholars like Eagly argue authenticity is a relational concept, it remains uncontextualized for those whose social identities set them apart from the majority within organizations and society.The Solution: Through this collaborative autoethnography, we aim to illustrate the complexity of enacting authentic leadership as immigrant women of color who are leaders within predominantly White institutional contexts.The Stakeholders: One audience for this article is other women of color with whom our experiences may resonate. A broader audience includes those in power within organizations who might use this article as fodder for crafting more inclusive spaces that support both the development of authentic leaders and the practice of relational authenticity.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explicate spiritual leadership lessons of beneficence, courage, hope and ubuntu/humanness that are derived from the experiences of women leaders in Kenya. The paper seeks to connect African data with existing literature on spiritual leadership, to demonstrate where African spiritual leadership is similar to, or different from, western conceptualizations of spiritual leadership. Design/methodology/approach – The study from which this paper is derived employed qualitative methods, specifically interviews with supplemental archival data and observations. Four major themes are explored: beneficence, courage, hope/forbearance and ubuntu/humanness as emerging from the women's leadership stories. These four themes are compared and contrasted against existing literature on spiritual leadership. Findings – It is found that beneficence, courage, and hope are comparable to existing western conceptualizations, whereas ubuntu is unique to the African context. Research limitations/implications – The paper and the larger study were derived from interviews with 16 participants; as such, generalization was not a goal. The paper provides a deeper understanding of spiritual leadership as enacted by African women, with implications for the need for increased research on non-western, non-white perspectives on the phenomenon. Practical implications – Readers may relate to the women's stories and be both informed and inspired towards their own social justice leadership. Originality/value – Whereas the paper is derived from field research conducted in 2005 and published variously in other sources as cited, this paper takes an original perspective in comparing and contrasting African and western understandings of spiritual leadership, and expanding the understanding of the same in a novel way not done in previous publications.