When going abroad into a different country you have to take into account that it is necessary to be aware of several cultural beliefs, we can take note the Ubuntu in South Africa, which is really important for the organizational culture. Some of the main aspects that ubuntu has are:
- Human interdependence, which is really good at maintaining work groups, also how they can be close together and stay for a longer period of time in a company.
- Kindness: the respect between each others is really important because a fair treatment is vital for making business in south Africa, being tender and not coercive manager will lead to more loyal and better performing employees.
- Communication is vital for South African employees, having close relations with their boss might be reflected in better performance.
- Use of time: Ubuntu explains that time is not a barrier, but instead is a tool because time will heal everything, also is way to reflect about what happened. So a foreign manager has to understand that they have to deal with people that are not willing to rush, but take more time to conclude a task.
- Equity and Seniority: the South African culture has a strong hierarchical structure, where the seniors are highly respected and it is not well seen to receive orders from a younger person, so a foreign manager has to take into account that an older manager will be well seen in a higher level.
Finally we can see a clear example of a future entrance to the South African Market in this new york times article, were Wal-Mart wants to acquire a South African supermarket to enter in the continent; in order to success they have to understand the Ubuntu philosophy, so they need to maintain the elder managers, don’t try to rush their processes in the country and some other basic Ubuntu statements to enter properly in the South African Market
Bibliography:
Clifford, S. (2010, September 27) “Wal-Mart Bids for Massmart to Expand Into Africa” The New York Times, Retrieved from: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/28/business/global/28walmart.html?_r=1&ref=global-home
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Sunday, September 5, 2010
/Metaphors (#6
Using metaphors is widely known in the promotion industry, one clear example of the use of those is found in the country, with the government strategy to promote tourism “Colombia es Pasion” which has being the brand of the country to foreign and locals. The use of the metaphor is clear, they were looking for something that portrayed the Colombian spirit and characteristics, after a search the creators found “the passion is the force that move us everyday, is the source were our extraordinary tenacity arise, without a doubt passion is the best raw material of our citizens”(1)
We can see a video(2) of how this brand uses metaphors to show the wide characteristics of the country and in that order of ideas promote tourism of nationals and foreigners in it.
After we saw a clear example, we can get to the main task of the week, which was the creation of a metaphor to promote something that was clearly Colombian and unknown by foreigners. I have decided to use the “parrandas vallenatas” a clearly folkloric tradition that is evolving nowadays (not saying that I’m a fan of them) and which is really common in our country but almost unknown by people from outside it. The metaphor used to describe it could be joy. A short word that tries to describe an emotion so complex that might not fit even in a thousand words. Some of the tactics could be promoting them side by side with the example above of “Colombia is Passion” since it is really close to the customs and characteristics of the Colombian culture. Another strategy can be promoting festivals of Vallenato in other cultures, like in the states or Europe. Also it can be explained how this traditional musical activity bring so much joy to the people that listen to them, it could be hard in the beginning because foreigners are not used to this tropical sounds, but it’s matter of creating the idea in their minds, so they can relate joy to “Parrandas Vallenatas” also is a great cultural exporting tool.
References:
1. Colombia is Passion. “¿Porque Colombia es Pasion?” retrieved from: http://www.colombiaespasion.com/es/colombia-es-pasion/ipor-que-colombia-es-pasion
2. Colombia is Passion (2009) “A Colombian’s Heart” Available at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r2FncG2Dkrs
We can see a video(2) of how this brand uses metaphors to show the wide characteristics of the country and in that order of ideas promote tourism of nationals and foreigners in it.
After we saw a clear example, we can get to the main task of the week, which was the creation of a metaphor to promote something that was clearly Colombian and unknown by foreigners. I have decided to use the “parrandas vallenatas” a clearly folkloric tradition that is evolving nowadays (not saying that I’m a fan of them) and which is really common in our country but almost unknown by people from outside it. The metaphor used to describe it could be joy. A short word that tries to describe an emotion so complex that might not fit even in a thousand words. Some of the tactics could be promoting them side by side with the example above of “Colombia is Passion” since it is really close to the customs and characteristics of the Colombian culture. Another strategy can be promoting festivals of Vallenato in other cultures, like in the states or Europe. Also it can be explained how this traditional musical activity bring so much joy to the people that listen to them, it could be hard in the beginning because foreigners are not used to this tropical sounds, but it’s matter of creating the idea in their minds, so they can relate joy to “Parrandas Vallenatas” also is a great cultural exporting tool.
References:
1. Colombia is Passion. “¿Porque Colombia es Pasion?” retrieved from: http://www.colombiaespasion.com/es/colombia-es-pasion/ipor-que-colombia-es-pasion
2. Colombia is Passion (2009) “A Colombian’s Heart” Available at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r2FncG2Dkrs
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)