value in themselves (see the concept of ubuntuin Box 1). It may be possible to
reconcile this antithesis, but it would seem logical that before this can happen,
managers should be aware of these different perspectives. In the current
author’s study of predominantly black management in South Africa (Jackson,
1999), managers saw themselves as generally oriented towards the view of an
intrinsic value of people for themselves rather than as a means to an end of the
organization. The consensus was that people should be valued in their own
right, they should be consulted, and they should be treated fairly and ethically
in an organization that is not merely concerned with short-term results and
making profits or gaining results above all else.
Whilst the study indicated that organizations are making strides to address
the developmental aspects of people, there still seems to be a gap between
humanistic and developmental intentions of organizations and their somewhat
instrumental orientation. The fact that organizations were often seen as hierar-
chical, authoritarian and rule bound, and that they were trying to move towards
an outcomes-based management focus while at the same time encouraging
employee participation, indicates a move from post-colonial influences towards
Western influences (Jackson, 1999). This is reflected in a number of other studies
in South Africa (although Hofmeyr’s, 1998 findings indicated a lack of optimism
about the change from the one to the other). It may also be that there is still a
low articulation of an ‘African’ approach in South Africa, and very little evi-
dence that, for example, ubuntuprinciples are being applied. This may be in part
due to a lack of articulation of these different influences, as a result of a lack of
conscious management of multiculturalism not only at the macro-level of man-
agement systems, but also at the level of managing a culturally diverse work-
force with different expectations about the way people should be managed.
Managing the dynamics of multiculturalismThe management of multiculturalism can be undertaken from a number of
perspectives. For example, in most African countries, as indeed in countries in
other emerging regions, this would involve not only managing differences in
culture and gender from the point of view of understanding different cultures.
It would also involve managing the power relations that are bound up with
interactions among people of different cultures (e.g. Human, 1996). A huge dis-
tortion in the relative power of different cultural groups exists as a result of
apartheid in South Africa. In other African countries with large white settler
populations, such as Zimbabwe, such distortions also still exist. In most other
African countries dominant and subordinate cultural groups can be identified,
either at country or corporate level. Again, this is reflected in many
other emerging countries around the globe. The Central Asian states, such as
Kazakstan, have large Russian settler populations that have been dominant
within their industrial economies (e.g. Akiner, 1995).
HRM in Developing Countries 241