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
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