UBUNTU

South Africa is a great country with whole different history, folklore, mythology, culture, norms, values, and behaviors than other countries in the world. As a result of the previous, as result of their way to see life, they have developed a philosophy called UBUTU.

UBUTU can be defined as humaneness- a pervasive spirit of caring and community, harmony and hospitality, respect and responsiveness- that individuals and groups display for one another (Mangaliso, P. Mzamo, (2001) Building competitive advantage from ubuntu: Management lessons from South Africa, Academy of Management Executive, vol 15 no 3, pag 24) This philosophy also implies that “a person is a person through others” this means that a person becomes a person only through his or her relationship with and recognition by others (Mangaliso, P. Mzamo, (2001) Building competitive advantage from ubuntu: Management lessons from South Africa, Academy of Management Executive, vol 15 no 3, pag 24).

This philosophy and the statements and behaviors around it have several implications for companies and organizations. Understanding the whole thoughts can be the key for the success of a company in southern Africa and this model can be applied to every place of the world.

As in every new country you want to move your company to, in South Africa it is important to understand their culture and it is very important to be aware of the influence the UBUTU philosophy has in people belonging to this culture. We know that there are some aspects we have to keep in mind when treating with other cultures, because we are not all the same. In this case it isn’t different. As the social level is so important to them, managers should treat them as persons, not as parts of the company`s system, to communicate with them, to hear them, to give importance to their problems, and to understand their behavior through their ideology.

In organizations around the world, this philosophy can be applied in order to reach better relationships between the individuals and improve the working environment. The postulates of the UBUTU philosophy can be adopted as general rules of behavior towards others in organizations. Treating others as you would treat your own family, feeling part of the community and caring for them as it was you, communication, choosing carefully the words you say, taking time to make clever decisions, solidarity and social harmony as key points for increasing productivity, thinking rewards and punishment must be shared because all the members belong together and are part of the same, and recognizing the importance of age, of wisdom, of the wisdom acquired through time can be determinants of better working teams and in result of better organizational performance.

Image taken from: southafricaproject.org