Practicing Strategy A Southern African Context 3rd Edition -
The problem wasn’t the theory — it was the context . Strategy, as practiced in Southern Africa, had to account for high unemployment, deep inequality, infrastructure gaps, multiple regulatory regimes, and a history of extraction and resilience. A small group of strategy academics — led by Professors Tshepo Mongalo (Wits Business School) and Liezel Alsemgeest (University of the Free State) — decided to write their own book. They called it Practicing Strategy because they wanted to shift focus from abstract planning to doing . The first edition was lean: 12 chapters, case studies from Shoprite, Econet, Debswana, and a struggling citrus cooperative in the Eastern Cape.
The final chapter of the third edition is titled “Strategy as a Verb.” It ends with a provocation: “You cannot learn strategy from a book. You learn it by practicing — in a factory in Gweru, a startup hub in Kigali, a municipal office in Gqeberha, a taxi rank in Lilongwe. This book is just a map. The thornveld is real. Now go practice.” Would you like a sample chapter outline, a fictional classroom scene using the book, or a list of real-world strategy exercises based on the Southern African context? practicing strategy a southern african context 3rd edition
The authors decided the third edition couldn’t just update cases — it had to rewrite the definition of strategy itself. Strategy was no longer a five-year plan. It was agile resilience . Practicing Strategy: A Southern African Context, 3rd Edition is born in a very different world. The cover features a stylized baobab tree — roots deep in tradition, branches reaching into the future, and a hollow trunk that shelters communities. The problem wasn’t the theory — it was the context
The authors realized the second edition needed to be less a collection of static cases and more a living framework . The second edition expanded to 18 chapters. New voices joined: a logistics expert from Maputo, a strategist from the Botswana Innovation Hub, and a researcher on conflict minerals in the DRC. The book introduced the SADC Strategy Matrix — a tool for analyzing opportunities across borders with varying political stability. They called it Practicing Strategy because they wanted
