Charles Martin in Uganda : What To Do When A Manager Goes
Native Cherasade Ferhane
RSUM Hydro Generation (HG) is a U.S.-based specialist in power generation, with plants in 16 countries. Charles Martin, a 29 year-old American has been assigned by HG to manage the preliminary stage of the construction of a large dam in Uganda. Vice President James Green is concerned about whether to continue to employ Martin in Uganda for the construction phase of the project. In particular, Green was worried about Martins lifestyle, some of his business practices, and his participation in Ugandan tribal rituals, therefore that some of his actions bordered on the unethical, and that some might actually be illegal in the American legislation.
Question 1: Describe Ugandan cultural attributes that might aff ect
the operations of a foreign company doing business there. The Republic of Uganda is country situated in East Africa, bordered on the east by Kenya, the north by Sudan, on the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, on the southwest by Rwanda, and on the south by Tanzania. For what concerns the culture of this country there are many factors that needs to be take in consideration but for a start its useful to say that its multi ethnic, multi religious and multi language based culture. The culture of Uganda is melting pot of a diverse range of ethnic groups resulting in many tribal based customs and rituals. Many multi religions too are seen within Uganda, even though Christians make up 85.1%, (mainly Catholics and Anglicans) of Uganda's population, there were sizeable numbers of Sikhs and Hindus in the country until Asians were expelled in1972. Nevertheless there is a considerable number of Muslims and others who follow animistic religions too existing within Uganda. This could may lead to problems that occur with certain beliefs linked to these religions such as rituals and some dubious practices. Ugandas multi language based population too can make a huge impact on foreign firms taking up operations within the country. Even though English is the official language of Uganda, only a relatively small percentage of the population speaks it. The most commonly used languages are Bantu or Nilotic languages. For a company that wants to do business in this area the language becomes a true issue that influence on the result of the business activities. Another very important topic is what concerns the number of refugees in Uganda. The case study informs us that theres a growing number of people from Rwanda, Zaire and Sudan that have found asylum in the country which influenced the raising number of the unemployment rate and made all the population suffer from a lower GDP and lower income, as a result of the economical decline. Last but not the least, the problem of corruption is a major issue within the country. If a company gets involved in this activities it might not be so legal to the eyes of the rest of the world. Nepotism in Uganda is legally accepted, but this should not shock because as the case study refers to the reader, the country is considered one of the most corrupted in the world. Question 2: How would you describe the respective attitudes of Martin and Green: ethnocentric, polycentric or geocentric? What factors do you suspect of having infl uenced their respective attitudes? The companys corporate ethic is very influenced by its CEO Lawrence Lovell. His strong faith and believe in Christianity had shaped HG activities. As the founder and manager, he also believe that subordinates should be given responsibilities and freedom to manage, make and implement decisions. Martin has shown a polycentric attitude mainly because of the
way he does business in Uganda. The control is decentralized so Martin
can do business according to his animal spirit ( J.M. Keynes), according to his instinct. Green it the complete opposite showing more of a geocentric attitude towards business. This way of operating is the preferred one, as placed in the middle of the two extremes and adapting to the host country culture, but at the same time, keeping some good principles of the home country is always the best solution. A factor that may have influenced Martins attitude is of course his young age, the will of affirming his position in the company by taking autonomously important decisions, and the interest in the African culture, pushed him to take part to local activities and adapting to local customs and traditions, rather than acting according to the ethic of the company back in the U.S. When it comes to Green, his attitude is surely influenced by his concern of the company image and a less adapting attitude towards the way of doing business in Uganda, whether it concerns bribing, or participating to tribal rituals. Question 3: Who was right, Green or Martin, about Martin controversial action in facilitating the project? How might things have turned out if Martin has not being a member of the project team? The problem behind this question is way deeper than what it looks like. The reason why is that there is no right or wrong, its a matter of point of view, notwithstanding Martins actions gave a good result. Martin is very young for having all those responsibilities but his resume is pretty much impressive, and he is also an expert when it comes to African culture. He quickly learnt how to adapt the business in order to keep it as efficient as possible, and there are also some other elements that underline the importance of what he did. In Uganda nepotism is a norm, and bribing is socially accepted therefore, in order to keep the business as profitable as possible he adapted to the local cultural environment. If he had not being a member of the team probably someone else would have been sent there in Uganda with no knowledge about the country, and everything would have been slowly and more complicated. Question 4: In HGs next phase, the dam construction, should it employ someone whose main function is to be a liaison between HG corporate culture and the culture of Uganda? If so, should Martin be the person for the job? Seen the importance of the job, someone else might be a good helping hand for Martin, but its not necessary at all, since he is the right man for the job. He has a deep knowledge of the culture and he respects the local inhabitants customs and tradition, therefore, there is no need to support other costs, and another salary for HG to pay. If the company would still want to send someone elses there, than this new person will run into the same problems that Martin already dealt with, rituals of the tribes, the nepotism, the bribery etc. Martin is a specialist in what he does and whether HG wants to hire a new professional it surely must work on the corporate management ethic within the U.S. and outside of the country.
