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The Imperative of African Management Style
- By Chris Uba
- Published January 5th, 2010
- Business School
- Unrated
IN 2001, a cousin of mine, who was a manager in one of the Aba branches of a new generation bank in the commercial city of Abia State, was asked to proceed to Lagos Business School (LBS) for a two-week management course that would prepare him for bigger challenges. After the training, he would become the co-coordinator of the bank’s operations in the South-East geo-political zone of the country.
One evening, he came home complaining about the programmes in LBS. His grouse was that the study pack given to him by the instructors at the school lacked African content and wondered why it should be so. According to him, “I expected to see African management theories, something indigenous to Nigeria and not theories prepared in Europe and America.” He said he did not see how those theories would help him since he was working in Nigeria, whose culture is different from those of Europe and America. He said that he wanted management theories that were tailored to African environment.
The anecdote above is typical of the feelings of many young Nigerian professionals aspiring to higher positions in their various careers, in Africa. Their argument is that 100 percent of the management theories taught in Nigerian business schools are alien to the country. They contend that the values these theories inculcate are not relevant to Africa as they were not developed in the continent. For instance, the principles of scientific management developed by Frederick Tailor, Henri Fayol, Peter Drucker, among others were not developed in the continent. They ignore African settings just as they have not been adapted to African environment.
Two years ago, a managing director of one of the foreign multinationals in the country was recalled by the headquarters in London for non-performance. Before his posting to the country, he had worked in Europe and Asia, where he was very successful, which explained the reason he was sent to Nigeria. A well-placed source in the company told me that the man, an Indian national, complained that he did not understand the Nigerian business terrain and that he had applied all the management techniques he knew but things did not work. What this translates to, is that no two cultures are the same. Business organisations have to understand these differences i.e., a theory that works in one culture may not work in another.
The questions for which many young Nigerian professionals have yet to get answers are: does it mean that Africa has no indigenous management style? If so , how long will the continent depend on management theories imported from abroad? Can’t the Western management theories be adapted to African culture? Answers to these questions are very important for the economic development of the country. Non-appreciation of cultural roots in the way Africans do things may blur or blurs the difference between the continent and the rest of world. Understanding the difference is very important for the smooth running of commercial operations and interactions in the continent.
There is no “weak” or “strong” culture but there are weak or strong people in terms of technology, military power and economic power. Many people tend to confuse economic, technological and military strength with cultural superiority. This is a wrong conclusion. This is partly the reason some Africans view Western culture with awe and respect whereas they despise and reject their own culture as inferior. Perhaps, this also partly explains the reason for high rate of failures among African managers.
If this continues, African-Western-educated elites and intellectuals can hardly become true African patriotic leaders. It is not late yet to do something about the situation. Africa should begin to invest in researches on indigenous management practices and how to adapt Western management theories to its culture if it wants to join the club of rich nations of the world. Otherwise, their quests for economic progress will end up as idle fancies.
A one-time British High Commissioner in Nigeria, Mr. John Thorold Masefield, in an interview in 1995, advised Nigeria to borrow a leaf from the Asian countries. According Merselfield, at independence in 1960, Nigeria was ahead of Malaysia, Singapore, Korea and Indonesia but today it has taken a back seat. What the former British envoy did not say is how these countries, now known as Asian Tigers, got to where they are today. They made use of their indigenous management practices and as well adapted the Western economic and management principles to their environment. They borrowed the ‘trick’ from Japan.
One evening, he came home complaining about the programmes in LBS. His grouse was that the study pack given to him by the instructors at the school lacked African content and wondered why it should be so. According to him, “I expected to see African management theories, something indigenous to Nigeria and not theories prepared in Europe and America.” He said he did not see how those theories would help him since he was working in Nigeria, whose culture is different from those of Europe and America. He said that he wanted management theories that were tailored to African environment.
The anecdote above is typical of the feelings of many young Nigerian professionals aspiring to higher positions in their various careers, in Africa. Their argument is that 100 percent of the management theories taught in Nigerian business schools are alien to the country. They contend that the values these theories inculcate are not relevant to Africa as they were not developed in the continent. For instance, the principles of scientific management developed by Frederick Tailor, Henri Fayol, Peter Drucker, among others were not developed in the continent. They ignore African settings just as they have not been adapted to African environment.
Two years ago, a managing director of one of the foreign multinationals in the country was recalled by the headquarters in London for non-performance. Before his posting to the country, he had worked in Europe and Asia, where he was very successful, which explained the reason he was sent to Nigeria. A well-placed source in the company told me that the man, an Indian national, complained that he did not understand the Nigerian business terrain and that he had applied all the management techniques he knew but things did not work. What this translates to, is that no two cultures are the same. Business organisations have to understand these differences i.e., a theory that works in one culture may not work in another.
The questions for which many young Nigerian professionals have yet to get answers are: does it mean that Africa has no indigenous management style? If so , how long will the continent depend on management theories imported from abroad? Can’t the Western management theories be adapted to African culture? Answers to these questions are very important for the economic development of the country. Non-appreciation of cultural roots in the way Africans do things may blur or blurs the difference between the continent and the rest of world. Understanding the difference is very important for the smooth running of commercial operations and interactions in the continent.
There is no “weak” or “strong” culture but there are weak or strong people in terms of technology, military power and economic power. Many people tend to confuse economic, technological and military strength with cultural superiority. This is a wrong conclusion. This is partly the reason some Africans view Western culture with awe and respect whereas they despise and reject their own culture as inferior. Perhaps, this also partly explains the reason for high rate of failures among African managers.
If this continues, African-Western-educated elites and intellectuals can hardly become true African patriotic leaders. It is not late yet to do something about the situation. Africa should begin to invest in researches on indigenous management practices and how to adapt Western management theories to its culture if it wants to join the club of rich nations of the world. Otherwise, their quests for economic progress will end up as idle fancies.
A one-time British High Commissioner in Nigeria, Mr. John Thorold Masefield, in an interview in 1995, advised Nigeria to borrow a leaf from the Asian countries. According Merselfield, at independence in 1960, Nigeria was ahead of Malaysia, Singapore, Korea and Indonesia but today it has taken a back seat. What the former British envoy did not say is how these countries, now known as Asian Tigers, got to where they are today. They made use of their indigenous management practices and as well adapted the Western economic and management principles to their environment. They borrowed the ‘trick’ from Japan.
