For those who like me, don`t speak Zulu; this sentence can be translated as "A person is a person through others".
It follows the African principle of UBUNTU. Now... what is it about?
Before Africa was colonized, the people who lived there had their own culture and religious beliefs that even nowadays stand by their side.
This is what managers and anybody who wants to enter the country, basically any country has to be aware of: Differences in cultures and Cultural background.
To be able to successfully cross-cultural switch on this country, it is necessary to know the principle stated before.
Ubuntu is an ideology that defines the loyalty of people and the relations among them. What factors are to take into account from this?
Treating others with respect, being willing to negotiate in good faith, providing opportunities for self-expression, understanding the beliefs and practices of indigenous people, promoting equity in the workplace and finally, being flexible and accommodative.
Summing up, in order to succeed on a cross-cultural switch, a company must implement their own strategies applied to the principles of the host country and taking them as a competitive advantage. (Otherwise these could cause big misunderstandings)
An example of this may be the managers that did not want to talk with their employees because they feel this unnecessary, while the employees in Africa need this in order to have a good communication. Since the managers did not accept to talk to them and broke the rules of Ubuntu, the workers then initiated a strike.
When can this be a competitive advantage?
If the managers had talked to the employees and had promoted the elder ones (since according to Ubuntu the elderly have more wisdom and are more respected) the employees would have been more willing to work and would have done a better job.
References
Google. (2010). google images. taken from http://www.google.com.co/imgres?imgurl=http://rlv.zcache.com/ubuntu_i_am_because_we_are_tshirt-p235421172116721211qt22_400.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.zazzle.com/ubuntu_i_am_because_we_are_tshirt-235421172116721211&usg=__2iZ1eJPWycQKTLy3x6yRQ20cgk0=&h=400&w=
Mangaliso, M. P. (2001). Building competitive advantage from ubuntu: Management lessons from South Africa.
i am agree, with the fact that cross-cultural managers should listen and respect their employees because a good communication inside the company between managers and employees can brig values ideas that can provide to the growth of the company.
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