Towards a Collective-Values Framework of Ubuntu: Implications for Workplace Commitment

Abstract

Objective: This research offers an extension of current research on commitment across cultures. It incorporates the concept of Ubuntu as an integrating model that can be paired up with other perspectives for directing employee workplace commitment.
Research Design & Methods: A literature review entailing concepts related to cross-cultures and their relationship to Ubuntu and commitment was considered. The review spanning 50 years covered online-databases of global and African research.
Findings: We argue here that the conceptualisation of Ubuntu is important in adapting currently accepted cultural frameworks as operationalised by individualism, collectivism and power distance dimensions for regional management application. Ubuntu collective values (compassion, survival, group solidarity, respect and dignity), which relate affirmatively with a sense of workplace collectivism, was identified as a unique element of cultural management philosophy for directing personal interactions, workplace commitment and performance management improvements.
Implications & Recommendations: Ubuntu should be facilitated by managers
as a motivational force that facilitates workplace commitment ensuring organisational team performance. The implications of Ubuntu in the context of extending existing theories of individualism-collectivism and power distance cannot be overstated.
Contribution & Value Added: A model based on relationships between Ubuntu collective values and EWC, applicable with contextual managerial frameworks.

Keywords

performance management, South Africa, workplace commitment

Author Biography

Thembisile Molose

Director

Cape Town Hotel School

Faculty of Business and Management Science

Cape Peninsula University of Technology

Geoff Goldman

Head of Department: Department of Business Management                              
Managing Editor: Acta Commercii                                                                          
Johannesburg Business School, College of Business and Economics
University of Johannesburg
Office: D-Ring 521A (Auckland Park), Tel: +27 11 559 3172
Johannesburg, 2006
E-mail:ggoldman@uj.ac.za

Peta Thomas

Lecturer

Department of Business Management, Johannesburg Business School, College of Business and Economics

References

1. Astakhova, M.N. (2016). Explaining the effects of perceived person-supervisor fit and person-organization fit on organisational commitment in the U.S. and Japan. Journal of Business Re-search, 69(2), 956-963. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2015.08.039
2. Batho Pele Handbook. (2003). A service delivery improvement guide. Department of Public Service and Administration. Pretoria: GCIS.
3. Battle, M. (1996). The ubuntu theology of Desmond Tutu. In L. Hulley, L. Kretzchmar & L.L. Pato (Eds.), Archbishop Tutu: Prophetic witness in South Africa. Cape Town: Human & Rousseau (pp. 93-105).
4. Becker, H.S. (1960). Notes on the concept of commitment. American Journal of Sociology, 66, 32-42.
5. Broodryk, J. (2002). Ubuntu: Life lessons from Africa, Ubuntu School of Philosophy, Pretoria. South Africa.
6. Brotherton, B., & Wood, R.C. (2008). The nature and meaning of hospitality: The sage handbook of hospitality management. London: British library.
7. Browning, V. (2006). The relationship between HRM practices and service behaviour in South African service organizations. International Journal of Human Resource Management, 17(7), 1321-1338. https://doi.org/10.1080/09585190600756863
8. Christie, P., Lessem, R., & Mbigi, L. (1993). African Management: Philosophies, Concepts and Ap-plications. Johannesburg: Knowledge Resources.
9. Cohen, A. (1993). Organizational commitment and turnover: A meta-analysis. Academy of Man-agement Journal, 36(5), 1140-1157.
10. Dhar, R.L. (2015). Service quality and the training of employees: The mediating role of organiza-tional commitment. Tourism Management 46, 419-430. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tourman.2014.08.001
11. Fischer, R., & Mansell, A. (2009). Commitment across culture: A Meta analytical approach. Journal of International Business Studies, 40, 1339-1358. https://doi.org/10.1057/jibs.2009.14
12. Gellatly, I.R., Meyer, J.P., & Luchak, A.A. (2006). Combined effects of the three commitment com-ponents on focal and discretionary behaviors: A test of Meyer and Herscovitch’s propositions. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 69, 331-345. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvb.2005.12.005
13. Hofstede, G. (1980). Culture’s consequences: International differences in work-related values. London and California: Sage Publication.
14. Honeycutt, J.M. (1989). A functional analysis of imagined interaction activity in everyday life. In J.E. Shorr, P. Robin, J.A. Connella & M. Wolpin (Eds.), Imagery (pp. 13-25). Boston. MA: Springer.
15. House, R.J., Hanges, P.J., Javidan, M., Dorfman, P.W., & Gupta, V. (2004). Culture, leadership and organisations: The Globe study of 62 societies, 1st ed. Thousand Oaks, London: Sage Publica-tions.
16. Hrebiniak, L.G, & Alutto, J.A. (1972). Personal and role-related factors in the development of or-ganizational commitment. Administrative Science Quarterly, 17, 555-573.
17. Jackson, T. (2004). Management and change in Africa: A cross-cultural perspective.
18. London: Routledge.
19. Jaiswal, D., & Dhar, R.L. (2016). Impact of perceived organizational support, psychological empow-erment and leader member exchange on commitment and its subsequent impact on service quality. International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management, 65(1), 58-79. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJPPM-03-2014-0043
20. Kamwangalu, N. (1999). Ubuntu in South Africa: A sociolinguistic perspective to a Pan African concept. Critical Arts, 13(2), 24-41.
21. Khoza, R.J. (2005). Let Africa lead. Sunninghill: Vezubuntu.
22. LaMastro, V. (1999). Commitment and perceived organisational support. National Forum of Ap-plied Educational Research Journal, 12(3), 1-13.
23. Li., J.J., Kim, W.G., & Zhao, X.R. (2017). Multilevel model of management support and casino employee turnover intention. Tourism Management, 59, 193-204. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tourman.2016.08.006
24. Limpanitgul, T., Boonchoo, P., Kulviseachana, S., & Photiyarach, S. (2017). The relationship be-tween empowerment and the three-component model of organisational commitment: an empirical study of Thai employees working in Thai and American airlines. International Jour-nal of Culture, Tourism and Hospitality Research, 11(2), 227-242. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJCTHR-07-2015-0069
25. Lutz, D.W. (2009). African Ubuntu Philosophy and Philosophy of Global
26. Management. Journal of Business Ethics, 84 (3), 313-328. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-009-0204-z
27. MacDonald, P., Kelly, S., & Christen, S. (2014). A Path Model of Workplace
28. Solidarity, Satisfaction, Burnout, and Motivation. International Journal of Business Communication, 1-19. https://doi.org/10.1177/2329488414525467
29. Mangaliso, M.P. (2001). ‘Building a competitive advantage from ubuntu: Management lessons from South Africa’. The Academy of Management Executive, 15(3), 23-33.
30. Mastrangelo, A., Eddy, E.R., & Lorenzet, S.J. (2004).The importance of personal and professional leadership. The Leadership & Organization Development Journal, 25(5), 435-451.
31. Mathieu, J.E., & Zajac, D.M. (1990). A Review and Meta-Analysis of the antecedents, correlates, and consequences of organizational commitment. Psychological Bulletin, 108(2), 171-194.
32. Mbigi, L., & Maree, J. (1995). The spirit of African transformation management. Pretoria: Sigma.
33. Mbigi, L. (1997). Ubuntu: The African dream in management. Pretoria: Knowledge Resources.
34. Meyer, J.P., & Allen, N.J. (1991). A three component conceptualisation of organizational commit-ment. Human Resources Management Review, 1(1), 61-89.
35. Meyer, J.P., Stanley, D.J., Herscovitch, L., & Topolnytsky, L. (2002). Affective, continuance, and normative commitment to the organization: A meta-analysis of antecedents, correlates, and consequences. Journal of Vocational Behavior, (61), 20-52. https://doi.org/10.1006/jvbe.2001.1842
36. Meyer, J.P., & Maltin, E.R. (2010). Employee commitment and well-being: A critical review, theo-retical framework and research agenda. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 77, 323-337.
37. Meyer, J.P., Stanley, D.J, Jackson, T.A, McInnis, K.J. Maltin, E.R., & Sheppard, L. (2012). Affective, normative, and continuance commitment levels across cultures: A meta-analysis. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 80, 225-245. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvb.2011.09.005
38. Meyer, J.P., Morin, A.J.S., & Vandenberghe, C. (2015). Dual commitment to organization and su-pervisor: A person-centered approach. Journal of Vocational Behavior, (88), 56-72. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvb.2015.02.001
39. Metz, T. (2007). Towards an African moral theory. Journal of Political Philosophy, 15(3), 321-341.
40. Modise, T. (2006, May 24). Mandela, N.R. Interviewed by Tim Modise. Experience Ubuntu Inter-view. Retrieved on June 30, 2017 from Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/file:Experience
41. Molose, T. (2017). Organisational commitment in the hospitality sector. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Johannesburg, South Africa.
42. Mowday, R.T., Steers, R.M., & Porter, L.W. (1979). The measurement of organizational commit-ment. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 14, 224-247.
43. Msengana, N.W. (2006). The significance of the concept of Ubuntu for educational management and leadership during democratic transformation in South Africa. Unpublished doctoral disser-tation, University of Stellenbosch, South Africa.
44. Ndaba, W.J. (1994). Ubuntu in comparison to western philosophies. Pretoria: Ubuntu School of Philosophy.
45. Ngidi, T.L., & Dorasamy, N. (2014). Imperatives for Good Government: A case study of the imple-mentation Batho Pele principles at Durban Home Affairs Regional level. Journal of Social Sci-ences, 38(1), 9-21.
46. Nicolaides, A. (2010, August). Cultural diversity training programme development for hospitality and tourism industry enterprises. Paper presented at an International Research Symposium in Service Management, Mauritius.
47. Nussbaum. B. (2003). Ubuntu: Reflections of a South African on our Common Humanity. Reflec-tions, 4(4), 21-26.
48. Nyathi, N. (2008). The organisational imagination in African anti-colonial thought. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Leicester, United Kingdom.
49. Poovan, N., Du Toit, M.K., & Engelbrecht, A.S. (2006). The effect of the social values of Ubuntu on team effectiveness. South African Journal of Business Management, 37(3), 17-27.
50. Ritzer, G., & Trice, H. (1969). Empirical study of Howard Becker’s side-bet theory. Social Forces, (47), 475-479.
51. Rousseau, D.M. (1989). Psychological and implied contracts in Organizations. Employee Responsi-bility and Rights Journal, 2(2), 121-139.
52. Srivastava, A.P., & Dhar, R.L. (2016). Impact of leader member exchange, human resource man-agement practices and psychological empowerment on extra role performances: The mediat-ing role of organisational commitment. International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management, 65(3), 351-377.
53. Stebbins, R.A. (1970). On misunderstanding the concept of organisational commitment: A theoret-ical clarification. Social Forces, 48, 526-529.
54. Steers, R.M. (1977). Antecedents and outcomes of organizational commitment. Administrative Science Quarterly, 22(1), 46-56.
55. Stinglhamber, F., & Vandenberghe, C. (2003). Organization and supervisors as sources of support and targets of commitment: a longitudinal study. Journal of Organisational Behaviour, 24(3), 251-270.
56. Tett, R.P., & Meyer, J.P. (1993). Job satisfaction, organizational Commitment, turnover intention, and Turnover: path analyses based on Meta analytic findings. Personal Psychology, 46, 259-293.
57. Tutu, M.P. (1995). ‘The Right to Hope’. Thick, C. (Ed.) Global Problems, Global Vision. UK: Earthscan Publications.
58. Tutu. D. (2004). God has a Dream: A Vision of Hope for our Time: New York Doubleday.
59. Valickas, A., Raišienė, A. G., & Arimavičiūtė, M. (2017). Leadership competences for the excellence of municipalities’ strategic management. Journal of International Studies, 10(4), 131-142. doi:10.14254/2071-8330.2017/10-4/10
60. Vveinhardt, J., Andriukaitiene, R. (2017). Management Culture as Part of Organizational Culture in the Context of Corporate Social Responsibility Implementation. Economics and Sociology, 10(3), 294-320. doi:10.14254/2071-789X.2017/10-3/21
61. Westmoreland, M.W. (2008). Interruptions: Derrida and Hospitality. Kritike, 2(1), 1-10.
62. Wiener, Y. 1982. Commitment in Organizations: A normative view. Academy of Management Review, 7(3), 418-428.
63. Woermann, M., & Engelbrecht, S. (2017). The Ubuntu Challenge to Business: From Stakeholders to Relationholders. Journal of Business Ethics. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-017-3680-6
64. Yukl, G. (2002). Leadership in organisations. Englewood: Prentice-Hall.
65. Zhao, X.R. (2016). Work-family studies in the tourism and hospitality contexts. International Jour-nal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 28(11), 2422-2445.