The managerial entrenchment: The paradox of law and acts in state-owned enterprises in Cameroon

Abstract

In Cameroon’s state-owned enterprises (SOEs), a number of managers have succeeded in maintaining their positions as the head of the corporation, paradoxically with disappointing results. Based on this unorthodox practice, this study strives to understand and explain the strategic levers used by these managers to maintain their positions at the top of the company, based on 12 cases in SOEs. The results corroborate existing knowledge and make it possible to identify the singular contingencies in the instrumentalization and instrumentation practices of governance bodies and structures that enable manager entrenchment.