The Values of an African in Business - [website] Published: 3rd of Aug 2011 by: Smart Alec
Managing in Africa is a little different to managing in the rest of the world as we have so many different cultures here, meaning managers have to be cross-cultural if th
To achieve this managers must first understand the African culture value system, which is a system that determines behaviour.
Shepherd Shonhiwa, author of The Effective Cross-Cultural Manager, neatly summarises the African culture value system in his book. What follows are the key points in the African culture value system.
Africans are spiritual people, preferring spiritual collectivism to individualism, and spiritual guidance is expected and respected. When faced with problems the African tends to lean towards consensus rather than dissention, and wanton criticism is usually avoided – humility and helpfulness is what is expected.
This is what is referred to as Ubuntu, which loosely translates to “you are who you are through other people”, which is a greatly valued concept of fellowship among all Africans.
Africans also have a strong trust and belief in the fairness of those in leadership and have a deep respect for hierarchical systems. Their morals are inherited from ancestors, and history plays a prominent role in guiding future conduct.
There is also a deep-rooted optimism among Africans and a belief in superior forces that underlies the African sense of being and attitude to life.
The African culture is also one that expects its leaders to show a heightened sense of ethics, fairness, transparency and accountability, and is one where leaders are expected to not let their subordinates down.
When dealing with management in Africa these are the values one can expect to encounter, although Shonhiwa says unfortunately many leaders today fail to uphold these traits.
To make matters even more complicated, Shonhowa says these values can be misinterpreted by our European counterparts, making conducting business very difficult indeed!
We will look at some of the ways in which these values and traits can be misinterpreted in an upcoming post, stay tuned!
