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Ubuntu-Orientated Leadership
Broodryk (1997) wrote that ubuntu-orientated leadership can be interpreted as the indigenous African style of participatory leadership. He explained that this kind of African leadership could be compared with the four teats of a cow, each representing a different aspect of the leadership process. The symbolism of the cow is used because it is an important animal in African culture. These four aspects refer to leadership, the social environment, culture, and strategy.
Openness is an important aspect of leadership which allows for spontaneous participation and trust between leader and followers. Trust facilitates the possibility of consensus after discussions, which could at times be adjusted due to unforeseen environmental changes. An important aspect of this form of leadership is that the leader is part of the team and therefore there is a remarkable openness, free movement, communication and contact between leade and followers.
According to ubuntu, the community does not exist in a vacuum and forms an inter-connected network with the natural, political, social, economic, cultural and psychological levels. Manifestations of all of these dimensions should be analysed and interpreted as it appears in the work environment. Broodryk (1997) explained that in the African context people can speak without interruption at meetings that last for hours. Since all individuals are equal, they are free to voice their opinions until consensus is reached. The practice of the imbizo, a mass meeting which is attended by as many people as possible, can also be seen as such an open system where all inputs are encouraged and welcomed. It is interesting to note that President Thabo Mbeki has initiated a number of imbizo’s in various areas of South Africa since 2001, where citizens have the opportunity to discuss issues of concern directly with the president (Jackson, 2001; Seale, 2001).
The aspect of culture relates to the Western versus African discussion above. Broodryk (1997) pointed out that culture tends to influence strategy, and as such, it does not make sense to apply rigid Anglo-Saxon standards in a situation where an ubuntu worldview is present. He listed (p. 55) various aspects that need to be considered in an ubuntu-orientated leadership process to enable better relations and communication in the work environment:
· Simunye the spirit of oneness or inclusivity;
· Shosholosa teamwork;
· ‘nKhozi sikhelela the blessing of God;
· Humanness ubuntu aspect of care;
· Informality Africans are informal people;
· Toyi-toyi spontaneous dancing;
· The extended family system symbolic of the spirit of brotherhood; and
· Death this is a serious event and managers need to be aware of the rituals.
The strategic exercise of analysing the vision, mission, obstacles, opportunities and the questions of why, how, when, and whom, can only follow an open and trusting relationship with the leader in an environment where everybody had an opportunity to have their say and where an agreement was reached based on consensus and not necessarily majority vote.
How to Value both African and Western Leadership Approaches
It follows that it does not make business sense to ignore the cultural archetypes of employees in organisations by imposing a Western business culture. Leaders cannot expect the Western approach to facilitate the accomplishment of business goals effectively in an environment where there are more professional Black employees than before who do not necessarily adhere to the practices and values of these approaches. Booysen (2001) also recommended that South African organisations place equal value on the Western and African approaches to leadership.
Mbigi (1994a) argued that effective leadership in an African context can only become a reality when leaders have the courage and vision to start this long transformational journey to a more authentic leadership philosophy. The uniqueness of this African leadership philosophy is the ability to balance and reconcile a number of polarities present in organisations. These are:
· Stability versus chaos;
· Harmony versus conflict;
· Reality versus vision;
· Feudalism versus modernity;
· Freedom versus control; and
· Diversity versus integration (Mbigi, 1994b, p. 88).
Mbigi (1994b) proposed that uniquely African management approaches should be developed that could synthesise the above-mentioned polarities. He interpreted Lessem’s (1994) “Fourworld business sphere” as such an approach.
The international economy is usually divided into three economic regions or zones. There is the Western world, which represents the capitalist regions of North America and Europe, the more recently successful Eastern nations with their distinctive management practices, and the so-called Third World, consisting of all the developing and under-developed regions, like Africa, South America and parts of Asia (Booysen, 1999). Lessem (1994, 1996) proposed that instead of these three worlds, four distinct and complementary strands of business and economy should be acknowledged. These are competitive (World One), managerial (World Two), cooperative (World Three), and communal (World Four). These are seen as possible ways to utilise diversity within the South African context effectively to increase productivity.
CHAPTER 1: CONTEXT AND FRAMEWORK
-INTRODUCTION
-CHALLENGES FACING SOUTH AFRICAN ORGANISATIONS POST-1994
Cultural Values
Cultural Strata
Core and Peripheral Cultural Values
Social Constructionism
Leadership in the Multi-Cultural South African Environment
Transformational Leadership
New Economy Leadership
Female Leadership
Cross-Cultural Leadership
-RESEARCH OBJECTIVES
-RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Population and Sample
Data Collection
Measuring Instruments
Biographical Questionnaire
Societal Questionnaire
Core and Peripheral Cultural Values Questionnaire
Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ)
-CONCLUDING REMARKS
CHAPTER 2: CULTURAL VALUES
-INTRODUCTION
-THREE LEVELS OF HUMAN MENTAL PROGRAMMING
Distinction between Individual-Level and Culture-Level Value Dimensions
-DIMENSIONS OF CULTURE
Individualism/Collectivism
The Independent/Interdependent Self
Power Distance
Uncertainty Avoidance
Masculinity versus Femininity
Gender Egalitarianism
Assertiveness
Long Term (Future) versus Short Term (Present) Orientation
Humane Orientation
High Performance versus Low Performance Orientation
-DIFFERENCES BETWEEN NATIONAL AND ORGANISATIONAL CULTURES
-CULTURAL CHANGE
Acculturation
Acculturation Strategies
Core and Peripheral Cultural Values
-SOCIAL CONSTRUCTIONISM
Social Constructionism and Scientific Knowledge
Social Constructionism and Theoretical Psychology
Construction of Social Categories
Implications of Social Constructionism
-CONCLUDING REMARKS
CHAPTER 3: THEORIES OF LEADERSHIP
-INTRODUCTION
-LEADERSHIP, MANAGEMENT, AND SUPERVISION
-TRENDS IN LEADERSHIP RESEARCH
-TRANSACTIONAL VERSUS TRANSFORMATIONAL LEADERSHIP
Transactional Leadership
Unintended Consequences of the Transactional Approach
Transformational Leadership
Idealised Influence
Self-concept Based Theory of Motivation
Inspirational Motivation
Intellectual Stimulation
Individualised Consideration
Impact of Transformational Leadership
Laissez-Faire Leadership
-NEW ECONOMY LEADERSHIP
Relational Competence
Change Agent and Risk Taker
Teacher, Mentor, Coach and Learner
Ability to Generate and Sustain Trust
Servant Leadership
Transformational and Visionary Leaders
-FEMALE LEADERS
Biology and Gender
Gender Role
Environmental Factors
Attitudinal Drivers
-CONCLUDING REMARKS
CHAPTER 4: CROSS-CULTURAL LEADERSHIP
-INTRODUCTION
-LEADERSHIP: CULTURAL UNIVERSAL OR CULTURAL SPECIFIC?
Culture-Enveloping Model of Leadership
Integrated Systemic Conceptual Model of Leadership
Universally Endorsed Leadership Attributes
-CULTURAL Multifariousness AND LEADERSHIP
Diversity in the South African Context
Leading a Diverse Workforce
Cultural Diversity in the Global Organisation
-AFRICAN VERSUS WESTERN LEADERSHIP
Ubuntu
Ubuntu-Orientated Leadership
How to Value both African and Western Leadership Approaches
-CONCLUDING REMARKS
CHAPTER 5: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
-INTRODUCTION
-RESEARCH DESIGN
Methodological Implications in Cross-Cultural Research
Establishment of Equivalence
Etic-Emic Distinction
Unit of Analysis
Population and Sample
Data Collection and Procedures
Measuring Instruments
Biographical Questionnaire
Societal Questionnaire
Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ)
Core and Peripheral Cultural Values Questionnaire
-DATA ANALYSIS
-RESEARCH OBJECTIVES
-CONCLUDING REMARKS
CHAPTER 6: RESULTS
-INTRODUCTION
-DESCRIPTIVE STATISTICS OF SAMPLE
-PSYCHOMETRIC PROPERTIES OF MEASURING INSTRUMENTS
Construct Validity
Societal Questionnaire
Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ)
Internal Consistency
Societal Questionnaire
Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ)
-SOCIETAL QUESTIONNAIRE
Descriptive statistics
Investigating alternative data groupings
Analysis of results
-CORE AND PERIPHERAL CULTURAL VALUES QUESTIONNAIRE
Descriptive statistics
Analysis of results
-COMPARISON OF RESULTS OF PRESENT STUDY WITH THE RESULTS OBTAINED BY BOOYSEN (1999)
-MULTIFACTOR LEADERSHIP QUESTIONNAIRE
Descriptive statistics
Analysis of results
-CORRELATIONS BETWEEN THE SOCIETAL QUESTIONNAIRE AND THE MLQ
-CONCLUDING REMARKS
CHAPTER 7: DISCUSSION OF RESEARCH RESULTS
-INTRODUCTION
–SUB-CULTURAL DIFFERENCES AND SIMILARITIES OF SOUTH AFRICAN MANAGERS ON THE CULTURAL VALUE DIMENSIONS
Uncertainty Avoidance
Assertiveness
Gender Egalitarianism
Future Orientation
Power Distance
Individualism/Collectivism
Humane Orientation
Performance Orientation
-IMPACT OF CHANGE ON CULTURAL VALUES
Core and Peripheral Cultural Values
Comparison of Results of Present Study with those obtained by Booysen (1999)
-LEADERSHIP STYLE AND ITS RELATION TO CULTURAL VALUES
-CONCLUDING REMARKS
CHAPTER 8: CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
-INTRODUCTION
-CONCLUSIONS
Cultural Values
Core and Peripheral Cultural Values
Stability of Cultural Values
Leadership Style and Relationship to Cultural Values
-RECOMMENDATIONS
Organisational and Leadership Development
Future Research
REFERENCES
