Part 1: According to the text “Building competitive advantage from Ubuntu.” By Mzamo Mangaliso, the reader would be able to understand certain aspects of South African culture that companies need to take into account in order to develop a competitive advantage.
After the apartheid, South Africa established a democracy that respect racial and gender differences, and the country is having more economic progress after the apartheid.
Ubuntu philosophy is an important part of the culture, and in this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ODQ4WiDsEBQ Nelson Mandela explains in an interview, the Ubuntu concept.
In South Africa, companies need to take into account the Ubuntu philosophy in order to build a competitive advantage, because this philosophy plays an important role for South African employees, who expect that companies learn from the local culture, be flexible and respect their beliefs. If a company is able to understand the following concepts and the importance of Ubuntu, they will achieve a competitive advantage in the South African industry:
In terms of relationship with others, in the Ubuntu philosophy there is a high human interdependence, the individual is member of a family and the clan, teamwork is considered necessary in order to accomplish more things than in an individual way, and people treat others as members of the family. Therefore relations are based on respects, humanness and commitment.
Image taken from: Getty images.
The image shows the clan culture and the importance of music, sing and dance in communication.
In the Ubuntu context, conversations are so important and isolation needs to be avoided; communications through music, dance, and verbal expressions are appreciated by South Africans; in an organization, in order to achieve a competitive advantage, employees need to be able to express their opinions.
In the Ubuntu philosophy, during the decision making process it is accepted a diversity of visions and opinions, therefore the process is circular and decisions are made after it is a consensus.
For Ubuntu, the objective is to optimize efficiency and think in the future, instead of maximize it and spend the resources. Also pay reductions are preferred than layoffs, because layoffs are perceived as a violation of trust and the result is that employees decrease productivity.
In Africa, companies need to take into account that leadership is accepted from a person with more experience, which means, an older person with studies.
Finally, for South Africans, Christianity is the principal faith, although many of them also believe in the power of the isangoma, which is a traditional healer that also see things that others cannot see.
Part 2: According to the text “African Bank Miners Credit – Case Study” and “Building competitive advantage from Ubuntu.” By Mzamo Mangaliso. It would be answered the following questions: What is Ubuntu? How was it applied to support the merging process of the two companies? (3 examples)
Ubuntu is a philosophy, understood by South Africans that belong to different ethnic groups, who are identified with this concept and philosophy. Ubuntu gives to different South Africans the sense of belonging to a specific society.
The concept of Ubuntu has a strong sense of communality, compassion, humanness, interdependence and totally suppression of self-interests. The huge importance it gives to the community can be seen in the fact that they say: “I am because we are”.
The Ubuntu philosophy has a strong influence in South African companies, where employees are highly attach to the Ubuntu values.
Because of the importance that employees give to the Ubuntu concept, in the African Bank Miners Credit- case study, the bank in order to support the merging process of the two companies, applied some symbols that represent important values of the Ubuntu philosophy, in order to solve cultural problems caused by the acquisition of other company.
One of the symbols applied in the bank was giving a drum to every employee, because in the traditional African culture it means communication, and employees feel identified.
Image taken from: Getty Images.
Employees also felt identify with tales and stories that illustrate behaviors to improve performance in key areas of the company. Two examples of tales are:
The tale of the bird and the badger that teaches the importance of working together, because the bank gives to each employee the opportunity of training and developing its knowledge, which is also good for the company growth.
The teaching of the tale that explains why the elephant became so big is the importance of diversity and equality for the company, because the bank accept employees from many parts of the country and give them the opportunity to increase their education and knowledge in order to achieve better positions in the company.
The company also give to employees more tales in order to learn about aspects as security, social responsibility and safety. And the outcome was a total success.
In conclusion, the bank understood the importance of symbols and tales that represent the Ubuntu philosophy in order to make employees feel more comfortable and help with the company´s objectives.
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
African Bank Miners Credit – Case Study
Getty Images, “South African drums”, [Online] Permanent URL: http://www.gettyimages.com/Search/Search.aspx?contractUrl=2&language=en-US&family=creative&p=south%20african%20drums&assetType=image#. Last accessed: April 8, 2010.
Getty images, “Sout African clan”, [Online] Permanent URL: http://www.gettyimages.com/Search/Search.aspx?contractUrl=2&language=en-US&family=creative&assetType=image&p=south%20african%20clan#5. Last accessed: April 8, 2010.
Mangaliso, Mzamo. 2003. Building competitive advantage from Ubuntu. In Thomas, David Clinton, editor, Readings and cases in International Management: A cross-cultural perspective.
Youtube, (November 1, 2006 ), " The Ubuntu Experience (Nelson Mandela Interview) ", [Online] Permanent URL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ODQ4WiDsEBQ . Last accessed: April 8, 2010.
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