Can Ubuntu philosophy mitigate conflict in supply chain management and improve value creation?

This study examines the extent to which Ubuntu ideology may provide a relational mechanism for mitigating inter-organisational managerial conflict and supporting value creation in supply chain operations. Drawing on survey data from 394 managers and supply chain operations supervisors, the study uses PLS-SEM to test four interrelated hypotheses. The findings show that Ubuntu-oriented conflict management is positively associated with cooperative behaviour and value creation. The results also indicate that cooperative behaviour and value creation are associated with lower levels of inter-organisational conflict. In addition, perceptions of Ubuntu ideology are negatively related to inter-organisational conflict. Taken together, the findings suggest that Ubuntu offers a culturally grounded relational lens through which cooperation, value creation and conflict reduction across organisational boundaries may be better understood.