See discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: https://www.researchgate.

net/publication/322006692

THE UBUNTU PHILOSOPHY AS A MANAGEMENT STARTEGY

Research · December 2017

DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.10116.01925

CITATIONS READS

6 3,625

5 authors, including:

Christopher Tworeck Davinderpal Dhillon

NHL Stenden University of Applied Sciences Griffith University
1 PUBLICATION   6 CITATIONS    1 PUBLICATION   6 CITATIONS   

SEE PROFILE SEE PROFILE

Amanda Matomela
Tshwane University of Technology
1 PUBLICATION   6 CITATIONS   

SEE PROFILE

Some of the authors of this publication are also working on these related projects:

Mock Thesis - Research proposal View project

All content following this page was uploaded by Christopher Tworeck on 22 December 2017.

The user has requested enhancement of the downloaded file.

THE UBUNTU PHILOSOPHY
AS A MANAGEMENT
STARTEGY
Final

Christopher Tworeck, Daniel Hemminga,

Daphne Huber and Davinderpal Dhillon
Abstract
This paper investigates if the Ubuntu Philosophy can be applied as a management strategy in
Dutch hotels. The idea behind the philosophy of Ubuntu is simple; “I am because we are”.

The paper investigates if that idea can be turned into a management philosophy and appealed
to Dutch hotels. Many Authors argue that Ubuntu already ticks the boxes of what the typical
management strategy is.

Surveys and interviews were conducted amongst employees in Dutch hotels to see if the
hypothesis would hold water. The majority of respondents agreed that Ubuntu could be
applied as a management strategy while there was a spilt in the question if the respondents
wanted the strategy implemented at their hotel. However, most agreed that the strategy
would lead to more motivation.
Plagiarism Form
The authors know that plagiarism means taking and using the ideas, writings, works or
inventions of another as if they were one’s own. The authors know that plagiarism not only
includes verbatim copying, but also the extensive use of another person’s ideas without
proper acknowledgement (which includes the proper use of quotation marks). The authors
know that plagiarism covers this sort of use of material found in textual sources and from the
Internet. The authors acknowledge and understand that plagiarism is wrong. The authors
understand that the research must be accurately referenced. They have followed the rules
and conventions concerning referencing, citation and the use of quotations as set out in the
prospectus of Stenden University. This proposal is the authors own work. They acknowledge
that copying someone else’s assignment, or part of it, is wrong, and that submitting identical
work to others constitutes a form of plagiarism. The authors have not allowed, nor will they
in the future allow, anyone to copy their work with the intention of passing it off as their own
work.

Names and Signatures:

Christopher Tworeck

Daniel Hemminga

Daphne Huber

Davinderpal Dhillon
Table of Contents
Abstract ...................................................................................................................................... 2
Plagiarism Form ......................................................................................................................... 3
Table of Contents .................................................................................................................. - 4 -
Chapter One – Introduction .................................................................................................. - 6 -
Chapter 1.1. – Problem Discussion ................................................................................... - 6 -
Chapter 1.2. – literature Review ....................................................................................... - 6 -
Chapter 1.3. – Conceptual Model ..................................................................................... - 9 -
Chapter 1.4. – Problem Statement ................................................................................. - 10 -
Problem statement ..................................................................................................... - 10 -
Research Questions .................................................................................................... - 10 -
Chapter 2 – Methodology ................................................................................................... - 11 -
Chapter 2.1. – The Choice of Research Design ............................................................... - 11 -
Chapter 2.2. – Instrument ............................................................................................... - 11 -
Qualitative Instrument ................................................................................................ - 11 -
Quantitative Instrument ............................................................................................. - 12 -
Chapter 2.3. – Population, Sample and Sampling Method ............................................ - 12 -
Qualitative data........................................................................................................... - 12 -
Quantitative Data........................................................................................................ - 12 -
Chapter 2.4. – Data Collection ........................................................................................ - 13 -
Qualitative ................................................................................................................... - 13 -
Qualitative ................................................................................................................... - 13 -
Chapter 2.5. – Data Analysis ........................................................................................... - 14 -
Quantitative Data........................................................................................................ - 14 -
Qualitative Data .......................................................................................................... - 14 -
Chapter 2.6. – Ethical Issues ........................................................................................... - 14 -
Chapter 2.7 – Gantt Chart (Proposed Completion time) ................................................ - 15 -
Chapter Three – Results ...................................................................................................... - 16 -
Results interview questions ............................................................................................ - 16 -
Which style of management is your hotel currently using? ....................................... - 16 -
Is it successful in motivating your employees? .......................................................... - 16 -
Are you aware of the Ubuntu Philosophy and the meaning behind it? ..................... - 16 -
Do you think it could be transformed into a management strategy? ........................ - 17 -
Would you implement it in your hotel?...................................................................... - 17 -
If yes to the last question, do you think it would be successful? ............................... - 17 -
If no to question 5, why? ............................................................................................ - 17 -
Conclusion ................................................................................................................... - 17 -
Results questionnaire ..................................................................................................... - 17 -
Have you heard of the Ubuntu Philosophy? ............................................................... - 18 -
If you answered YES to the above, do you agree that Ubuntu could be translated to a
Management Strategy? .............................................................................................. - 18 -
Would you like it to be implemented in the hotel?.................................................... - 19 -
Do you think that it would benefit your hotel? .......................................................... - 20 -
 Do you think it would benefit the hotel in terms of motivating the staff and creating
cohesion in the workforce? ........................................................................................ - 20 -
Chapter Four – Discussion and Recommendations ............................................................ - 22 -
Can the Ubuntu Philosophy be applied as a management strategy in Dutch hotels? ... - 22 -
Will Ubuntu as a management strategy motivate staff and create cohesion? .............. - 22 -
Will Ubuntu as a management strategy lead to better productivity?............................ - 23 -
Limitations....................................................................................................................... - 23 -
Recommendations .......................................................................................................... - 23 -
References .......................................................................................................................... - 25 -
Appendices .......................................................................................................................... - 26 -
Appendix A ...................................................................................................................... - 26 -
Interview Questions .................................................................................................... - 26 -
Appendix B ...................................................................................................................... - 26 -
Questionnaire ............................................................................................................. - 26 -
Chapter One – Introduction
This chapter serves to introduce the Idea of Ubuntu as management strategy, and to
introduce the paper.

Chapter 1.1. – Problem Discussion

In an ideal world, all companies would use the Ubuntu Philosophy as a management strategy
and as such all decisions would be made that benefit the group as a whole. This forms the
basis of the research that was conducted. The authors theorize that the Ubuntu philosophy
can be adapted and implemented as a management strategy in Dutch hotels.

Sigger, Polack and Pennick (2010) use Van Veen’s (1998) four characteristics to describe a
management strategy and argue that Ubuntu fulfils all four characteristics. These
characteristics can be found in the literature review.

The main issue that is facing the success of this paper, is that literature is lacking on the
subject of African developed management strategies. However, as described in above
paragraph, is that Ubuntu is considered by many as an easy to adapt as a Management
strategy.

The ideal solution to the problem that was research, is that the hotels interviewed agree that
Ubuntu can be adopted as a management strategy in their hotels and thereby as proxy other
European hotels.

The benefits of this solution is a more cohesive workforce and as such a more productive
workforce.

To draw together the above, the solution to the problem of Ubuntu being applied as a
management strategy can lead to a more cohesive and productive workforce.

Chapter 1.2. – literature Review

Ubuntu is described as the “quality of being human” (Sparks, 1990), therefore the philosophy
of Ubuntu is to run society for the benefit of all (Sparks, 1990). The word itself is derived from
a prefix and a root. The prefix is “ubu”, referring to the abstract (Sparks, 1990) and the root
“ntu” which the Xhosa believe is an ancestor that started humanity and laid down the
foundation of Ubuntu (Sparks, 1990). This literature will look at the philosophy of Ubuntu,
Ubuntu as a management strategy, the success and failures of Ubuntu as a management
strategy.

The philosophy of Ubuntu can be understood as “a person being a person through others”
(Moloketi, 2009 in Khomba, 2011). Khoza (2006, in Khomba 2011) makes the point that
Ubuntu can be described as the African cultures’ capacity to show compassion, reciprocity,
dignity, humanity and mutuality in Building communities with justice and mutual caring.
Furthermore, Mandela (2006, in Khomba 2011) describes Ubuntu as a philosophy that
encompasses a universal truth that underpins how a society should function. Khomba (2011)
makes the point that Ubuntu does not mean that mean that people should address a problem,
rather that Ubuntu implies that people should look at weather what they are doing will
empower the community and thereby improve it.

Sigger, Polak and Pennink (2010:7) quote Colff (2003) in a figure to demonstrate how Ubuntu
works. Colff calls it the African Tree concept. He describes the tree as follows: The trunk forms
Ubuntu with the roots that anchor the tree forming the seven concepts of Ubuntu. These are
as follows:

1. Communal Enterprise
2. Leadership Legitimacy
3. Value sharing
4. Collectivism and Solidarity
5. Continuous Development
6. Interconnectedness
7. Respect and dignity

In short, Ubuntu is about how one person can affect the group for better and how the group
can affect the individual for the better. “I am because we are.”

Before one can understand how the Ubuntu philosophy can be implemented as a
management practice, one has to understand how it differs from and compares to the
Western philosophy. According to Jinadu (2014:185), there were certain factors that worked
against African philosophies, Jinadu claims chief among these was the fact that is the absence
of writing and documentation. He argues the point that many writers and commentators on
African philosophy compare it to modern Western philosophy and thereby draw conclusions
that there is no African Philosophy in the sense of the word. He further argues that Western
Philosophy was only recorded with the birth of Ionia. He states that when commerce
emerged, the rituals that were associated and similar to African Philosophy, fell away as a
they were no longer needed or observed. Therefore, one can draw a conclusion that both the
western and the African philosophies are related yet different from one another.

One can draw similarities between Laissez - Faire leadership and Ubuntu and as a
management strategy. Laissez – Faire leadership style according to Gill (2014) is where the
manager allows the workforce to do anything as long as the job is done right. In short, Laissez
– Faire is a hands off approach to leadership. According to Gill (2014) this style of leadership
is most prevalent in advertising agencies, etc. This leader ship style could be similar to Ubuntu
as the manager allows the group to self-govern themselves and thereby get the job done with
little to no interference from the manager. However, the main difference between the two is
Humanness according to Jindau (2014).
There is no recorded implementation of Ubuntu in Belgium, The Netherlands and Germany.
This point is further cemented by Nkomo (2006 in Sigger, Polak and Pennink 2010:5) where
he makes the point that African management is almost invisible in management textbooks.
However, he further makes the point that in recent years, more and more literature has been
produced on “African management philosophies” (Nkomo, 2006 in Sigger, Polak and Pennink
2010:5).

Before one can look at Ubuntu as a management philosophy one take into account the four
characteristics of a management philosophy. These were developed by Van Veen (1998 in
Sigger, Polak and Pennink 2010:5). They are as follows:

• Striking label
• Describe specific management issues in general
• Give solutions to the above issues
• Success of the management concept in the organisation

Sigger, Polak and Pennink (2010:5) apply the Ubuntu philosophy to the above four
characteristics. For the first characteristic, striking label, they make the point that the
Philosophy of Ubuntu is the striking label. The second characteristic is that Ubuntu as a
management strategy much describe specific management issues. According to Mbigi (2000,
in Sigger, Polak and Pennink, 2010:5) is it the existence of a solidarity of a spirit of solidarity
among employees. The third characteristic is to give solutions to the management issues.
Mthembu (1996) argues that an African philosophy is needed in African business. He makes
the example of South African business that still follow the old Apartheid style of management
and that using Ubuntu can reduce the old way of thinking and create solidarity in the
workforce. The fourth characteristic is success of management concept in an organisation.
Here the original problem as described by Nkomo (2006 in Sigger, Polak and Pennink 2010:5)
comes into play, the lack of literature on this characteristic. Sigger, Polak and Pennink (2010:6)
advocate caution in applying the Ubuntu as a management strategy.

However, according to Larkin (2016, Business Report), The Nelson Mandela Children’s’ Fund
Hospital is a lesson in Ubuntu as a management strategy. Larkin cites Mkhabela in providing
an example. Mkahabela states that in her goal to open the hospital, she learnt the true
meaning Ubuntu. In that she had to sacrifice her goals for the goals of the organisation. Larkin
further states that the organisation its self is a model of Ubuntu. It exists to help a group of
people thereby embracing the mantra of “I am therefore We are”. In relation to this,
Nussbaum (2003) writes that in setting up the fund, Nelson Mandela gave one third of his
presidential salary to the fund. She believes that this embraces the Ubuntu Spirit and shows
his commitment to managing the fund in the spirit of Ubuntu.

However, there are some negative aspects with regards to implementing Ubuntu as a
management strategy. Schwartz and Davies (1997 in Sigger, Polak and Pennink 2010:9) argue
that in a person giving up their personal needs for the needs of the group has the potential
to lead to dysfunctional conflict among the group.
 Drawing together the above, Ubuntu as a management strategy could be effective in terms
of the philosophy that Ubuntu portrays. It is however relevant to examine the successes and
setbacks that can occur if Ubuntu is used as a management strategy. The most important of
which was portrayed by Schwartz and Davies in mentioning that the philosophy can lead to
dysfunctional conflict if instituted. It should however be noted that Ubuntu as a management
strategy has been successfully implemented as portrayed by Larkin in the Nelson Mandela
Children’s fund. All in all, the literature about Ubuntu as a management philosophy is few and
far between as pointed out by Nkomo makes the subject a difficult one to review not only in
the European sense, but even in the African sense.

Chapter 1.3. – Conceptual Model

Ubuntu as a Influences
management Laissez – Faire Leadership
strategy style

influences
Which leads to

Leads to

The way A more

managers cohesive More
lead their and better productivity
staff performing
workforce
Results in

More
turnover and
a more
satisfied
workforce
The above conceptual map can be understood in the following way. The Laissez – Faire
leadership style influences Ubuntu as a management style. Ubuntu as a management style
will influence the way managers treat and lead their staff which in turn will lead to a more
cohesive therefore a better performing workforce. This in turn will lead to more productivity
and that in turn results in a higher turnover and a more satisfied workforce.

Chapter 1.4. – Problem Statement

Problem statement

Implementing Ubuntu as a management strategy in Dutch hotels.

Research Questions

1. Can the Ubuntu Philosophy be applied as a management strategy in Dutch hotels?

2. Will Ubuntu as a management strategy motivate staff and create cohesion?

3. Will Ubuntu as a management strategy lead to better productivity?

Chapter 2 – Methodology
This chapter serves to define and explain the methodology that was used to collect data and
analyse the collected data.

Chapter 2.1. – The Choice of Research Design

The authors have chosen to design this research as an exploratory research due to the fact
that there is very little available information on applying the Ubuntu Philosophy as a
management strategy.

This will lead the authors to set up parameters and explore the possibly to apply Ubuntu as a
management strategy and the rules pertaining to applying it as a management strategy.

Chapter 2.2. – Instrument

The Authors chose to collect data using both quantitative and qualitative methods.

Qualitative Instrument

In terms of the qualitative instrument, the Authors used an Interview. Here the authors
interviewed five (5) candidates. These candidates were top level hotel executives that have
insight and a deep understanding of the operations and strategies of the hotel where the
executive works. The five executives were spread out over hotels in the Netherlands. The
reason for selecting this instrument is that it will provide a deeper understanding if the
western hotel industry, being represented by the Netherlands, is ready for Ubuntu to applied
as a management strategy.

The course of the interviews followed the following structure:

• Skype Interview
• At most Thirty (30) minutes in length
• The information that is intended to be collected is the following:
o Do the interviewees know about the Ubuntu Philosophy?
o Do they understand how it works?
o Do they think that Ubuntu can be converted to a management strategy?
o Do they think their hotel could implement it?

To maintain trustworthiness, questions were asked that tested for a false positive in the
interview. Should this come up, the data of the interview will be rejected and the interview
will be conducted with another executive.

The questions for the interview can be found in Appendix A

Quantitative Instrument

In terms of the quantitative instrument, a questionnaire for the low level employees was
created. Here the authors used a scale type questionnaire to test if there is a willingness to
accept Ubuntu as a management strategy. The authors conducted the interview first and then
ask for assistance in disseminating the survey to the low level staff. The survey its self was
designed using an online system such as survey monkey as online platforms offer data
analysis.

Information that the authors gathered is the following:

• Readiness for Ubuntu as management strategy.
• Readiness to accept change.
• Understanding of Ubuntu

In order to avoid a false positive, the authors rejected five (5) percent of all received
questionnaires.

The questionnaire can be found in Appendix B.

Chapter 2.3. – Population, Sample and Sampling Method

As indicated in the last Subsection, the authors made use of both qualitative and quantitative
data. As such, the population was sampled in two different hotels.

For both methods, the population were employees in hotels in the Netherlands. The sampling
method is laid out below.

Qualitative data

The population for the interviewees were five (5) top level executives in the hotels spread out
over the Netherlands

The sampling method used Judgemental sampling. As the authors only interviewed top level
executives in the hotels.

Quantitative Data

The population for this method were the employees that the top level executives were able
to reach with an email blast. The sample size was restricted to thirty (30) respondents in order
to be able to analyse the data correctly.

As the authors have no control over who the email blast the reaches, the sampling method
was simple random sampling as the authors selected 30 candidates to analyse based on the
response’s sent to the online survey method.
Chapter 2.4. – Data Collection
Data collection was conducted in two separate ways in accordance with the quantitative and
qualitative designs.

Qualitative

The contacting of the hotel executives was done using the network of contacts that the
authors have established working in various hotels. This was completed using email as to
maintain records of contact. In these emails, the purpose of the research was explained. To
maintain a standard, all emails were sent out in English.

Here the interviews were conducted over Skype at a time that suits the interviewer. The
structure of the interview was as follows:
• Greeting
• Explanation of the topic
• Explanation of why the interviewee was chosen
• Asking of questions
• Asking the interviewee to assist in disseminating the surveys
• Wrap up
• Ending

The recoding of the interviews was done using either a voice recorder or preferably, a
computer program that records Skype conversations. These recordings were then stored on
two (2) separate from each other storage options. The first was an external hard drive and
the second a cloud based storage service.

Qualitative

As mentioned in 2.2, the interviews had to be conducted first. After the interview was
conducted and the interviewee had agreed to assist in disseminating questionnaires, these
were sent out. The interviewee was then asked to send out a second batch of emails seven
(7) days after the first batch. This was to ensure that all staff are reminded to fill out the
survey. For the purpose of this research, a minimum of thirty (30) responses were required.

The questionnaires were electronic as to assist in the collection and analysis of the data. The
questionnaire contained a section informing the respondents about the research and its
purpose.

Survey collection was electronic as the respondents were filling out an online survey. This will
allow the authors to collect both analysis and the completed surveys for data storage. Again,
the data storage was done using the above mentioned two storage (2) options.
Chapter 2.5. – Data Analysis

Quantitative Data

As mentioned above, Online survey platforms have an analysis tool already built in that
analyses the data in real time. However, these only provide basic bar graphs and pie charts.
These will be downloaded and presented in the paper as part of the results collected.

However, in order to gain a deeper understanding of the results acquired, the authors were
to ask Clare Du Plessis to assist in using the SPSS software to statistically analyse the data
collected.

The authors of this paper proposed to use the correlational test to test if there is an
association among variables that will be posed as questions. The results of this test will
presented in a table format in the research paper.

Qualitative Data

In addition to the collection and analysis of the quantitative data, the authors had to analyse
the qualitative data.

This was done by means of analysis of the recordings to ascertain similarities and differences.
These were then coded to words that appear across all the recordings in order to simplify the
analysis of the recordings.

Chapter 2.6. – Ethical Issues

In order to set Ethical guidelines for this research, the authors have chosen to be guided by
the guidelines as set out by Bryman and Bell (2007) to guide the ethical considerations for the
proposed research. These can be found in their book titled “Business Research Methods”.

The Guidelines are as follows:

• All contributing respondents, weather interviewees or questionnaire respondents,

shall not be mistreated in any way, form or matter while participating in the research.
• The dignity of the respondents shall be respected.
• Full permission of the respondents shall be obtained prior to starting the research and
data collection.
• Anonymity of all respondents answering the questionnaire shall be guaranteed,
interviewees shall be asked if they wish to remain anonymous.
• There shall be no exaggeration of the aims of this research, nor shall there be any
deception as to the aims of this research.
• All affiliations to the possible respondents shall be laid to scrutiny as to avoid a
possible conflict of interest.
 • All forms of communication to the interviewees and respondents shall be conducted
in a transparent manner.
• All data shall be presented in a non-biased manner.

Chapter 2.7 – Gantt Chart (Proposed Completion time)

START END DURATION

Interview Module 4, week 1 Module 4, week 4 4 weeks

Questionnaire Module 4, week 2 Module 4, week 4 2 weeks
Analysis Module 4, week 4 Module 4, week 5 1 week
Results Module 4, week 5.1 Module 4, week 5.5 0.5 weeks
Discussion Module 4, week 5.5 Module 4, week 6 0.5 weeks
recommendations Module4, week 6.1 Module 4, week 6.5 0.5 weeks
Conclusion Module 4, week 6.5 Module 4, week 6.5 0.5 weeks
Editing Module 4, week 7 Module 4, week 8 1 week
Submission Module 4, Friday Module 4, Friday 1 day
week 8 week 8
Chapter Three – Results
Results interview questions
The data was collected in 7 weeks. Due to the low response rate, the data was only collected
in the Netherlands. Another change in the data collection is that the interviews were not
conducted via Skype but via email.

First of all, the results of the interviews are discussed. Five top-level executives in the hotel
spread in the Netherlands have filled in an interview. Each question will be discussed
separately.

Which style of management is your hotel currently using?

There are a lot of different answers given to this question. This shows that every company
has its own management style. However, none of the answers included the Ubuntu
Philosophy. Three of the 5 companies are using a democratic or autocratic management style
or a combination of both. One was answered with the laissez-faire management style which
gives the employees freedom and responsibility. Another is currently using a coaching and
inspiring leadership style. This question shows that most of the companies use a democratic
or autocratic leadership style. They often want to involve everyone in their company but they
do want to have hierarchy when it comes to leadership.

Is it successful in motivating your employees?

All of the leadership styles that the companies currently use are working well in the hotels.
Some of the responses say that it works because everyone has a say in making the decisions.
According to the mangers this is motivating the staff well. So in some companies there is
already a bit of Ubuntu without them knowing. Because three of the five responses say that
they involve the employees with a lower position in their decision making. However, others
say that it works because there is one leader, this leader shows how things are to be done so
employees will follow this. This shows that there must be one (or more) leaders to make the
company work.

Are you aware of the Ubuntu Philosophy and the meaning behind it?

The response on this question was that only two of the five managers are aware of the Ubuntu
philosophy. This shows that this Philosophy is not really familiar in the Netherlands. It is an
African philosophy, which is not really spread over the world yet.
Do you think it could be transformed into a management strategy?

Three respondents answered the question with: yes, they do think Ubuntu can be
transformed into a management strategy. However, the other two do not think it will work
because they want to have one strong leader. Those managers do not want to involve the
employees in the decision-making or want to have one strong leader.

Would you implement it in your hotel?

Three of the five respondents would consider implementing the Ubuntu Philosophy as a
management strategy. Some argue that they already have some kind of Ubuntu leadership
and some think it might help them in achieving their goals. However, two of the managers
would not consider implementing it because they just changed the leadership style and do
not want to go through change again or that they just don’t think it would work.

If yes to the last question, do you think it would be successful?

The three managers who consider using the Ubuntu Philosophy in their hotel do think it would
be successful when implementing. One manager states that if the right channels and
procedures are met it could work as a management style. Also the company, which is
currently using a similar leadership according to the manager, finds his leadership successful.
Therefore, the managers’ opinion is that the Ubuntu Philosophy as a management style could
also work for their companies.

If no to question 5, why?

The two respondents that do not want to implement Ubuntu in their company, do want to
have an autocratic leadership style. One states that there must be a leader in a company for
it to work. They also don’t want to change their current leadership style that is already proven
to be successful for them.

Conclusion

To conclude, Ubuntu is not really familiar with the top-level executives in the hotel spread
out in the Netherlands. However, when explaining the meaning, three out of five managers
would consider this leadership style to be implemented in their company.

Results questionnaire
Secondly, the questionnaire will be discussed. There were 18 questionnaires filled in by the
employees of the companies the top level executives manage. There is a small change in the
questionnaire, because as the research was done in practice it showed some issues.
Therefore, question three and four are slightly changed.
The online survey consisted of 5 questions which contained statements that could be rated on a Likert
scale from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree) and was filled in by 18 people. The following
paragraph will provide an analysis of the answers to those questions.

Have you heard of the Ubuntu Philosophy?

Of the 18 respondents, 15 (83.33%) indicated that they had heard about the Ubuntu philosophy
before. 3 respondents (16.67%) stated that they were unaware of the Ubuntu philosophy. The 3
respondents who stated that they did not know about the Ubuntu philosophy were taken out of the
data analysis. An explanation for this can be the fact that the survey was executed amongst Dutch
employees, who simply do not have any knowledge about African culture.

If you answered YES to the above, do you agree that Ubuntu could be translated to a
Management Strategy?

The majority of the respondents that have heard about Ubuntu believe that it can be translated into
a management strategy. 3 respondents skipped this question, most likely the respondents that did
not know about Ubuntu in the first place. Of the 15 respondents that knew about Ubuntu 8 said they
agreed or strongly agreed with the statement that Ubuntu could be translated into a management
strategy. 7 of the responders disagreed with the statement. An explanation for the data could be the
fact that this survey was conducted mainly amongst Dutch employees, who see themselves almost
equal or equal to their managers. The relative low score (44) of The Netherlands on Geert Hofstede’s
Power Distance index confirms this theory.

Would you like it to be implemented in the hotel?

The majority of the respondents (9) agreed or strongly agreed with this statement and would like to
see Ubuntu implemented at their workplace. 6 of the respondents stated that they would not like to
see Ubuntu being implemented in their hotel. An explanation for the fact that most respondents
agreed to the statement could be that Dutch employees value empowerment and more involvement
in the decision-making in their hotel.
Do you think that it would benefit your hotel?

The majority of the respondents (9) believes that their hotel would benefit from implementing Ubuntu
as a management style in their hotel. This can be connected to the previous question. If people want
to see Ubuntu implemented as a management style in their hotel surely it is because they believe their
hotel would benefit from it.

Do you think it would benefit the hotel in terms of motivating the staff and creating
cohesion in the workforce?

12 of the respondents believe that Ubuntu will lead to more cohesion and motivation amongst the
staff. This is odd because as only 9 of the survey respondents said they want to implement the Ubuntu
philosophy in their hotel. 3 responders do not want more motivated staff and cohesion in their
workplace.
Chapter Four – Discussion and
Recommendations
The study aimed to find out if the Ubuntu Philosophy can be applied as management strategy
in Dutch hotels.

What is interesting to note that the literature that was discussed in the literature review
indicated that the lack of modern research on the topic of Ubuntu lead to a lack of
understanding of Ubuntu in the Western world. This sentiment was seen in the research
conducted as a number of those who completed the survey did not know about Ubuntu and
those that had, had read some form of African literature.

Can the Ubuntu Philosophy be applied as a management strategy in

Dutch hotels?
Three of the five respondents indicated of the interviews indicated that they would consider
applying the Ubuntu Philosophy as a management strategy in the hotels in which they work.
They indicated that they already have a form of Ubuntu as a management style in place
already. However, two of the five respondents indicated that they would not consider
implementing Ubuntu as a management strategy as they believe that the only method of
management is authoritarian style in an hotel and as such they believe that Ubuntu has no
place in their hotels.

Based on the above, it seems that Ubuntu can be applied as a management strategy in Dutch
hotels based on the fact that three of the five respondents agreed that it is possible. However,
what is interesting to note, is that in the questionnaire 3 of the respondents skipped the
question, 8 agreed and 7 disagreed. The authors were expecting a bigger difference. However,
one can draw a conclusion that the lower level staff of the hotels that the questionnaire was
sent to do not have a clear opinion as to whether they think that the Ubuntu Philosophy can
be applied as a management strategy.

Will Ubuntu as a management strategy motivate staff and create

cohesion?
The results that were generated for this section have conflicting answers to the answers of
the above section. 12 of the respondents indicated that they believe that Ubuntu as a
management strategy would lead to more cohesion amongst their co-workers. This conflicts
the above as only nine respondents indicated that they would implement Ubuntu in the
hotels were they worked.

However, the nine respondents that indicated that they would apply Ubuntu as a
management strategy in their hotels also indicated that the believe it would benefit the hotel.
The top level executives that were interviewed agreed with the above sentiment that Ubuntu
would create more cohesion in the hotels.

Will Ubuntu as a management strategy lead to better productivity?

The main sentiment amongst those interviewed and those who completed the survey seem
to agree that Ubuntu as a management strategy would lead to better productivity as they feel
that in order to have better productivity employees need to feel respected and valued. This
reflects the literature that was discussed in the literature review. Van Veen (1998) seems to
agree that in order for a management strategy to be successful there are four characteristics
to be met. He goes on to mention that if these characteristics are met, they lead to better
productivity in general.

The results and the resulting discussion seem to indicate that Ubuntu can be applied as a
management strategy in Dutch hotels as the majority of the respondents indicated that it
would benefit their hotels and the staff in general. However, what was also apparent, is that
lack of literature on the topic has an effect on the understanding of Ubuntu as some
employees had not heard about Ubuntu at all.

Limitations
The biggest limitations that faced by the paper is the lack of responses from both Germany
and Belgium. This forced the authors to only use The Netherlands as a research area as they
were the only country that was willing to partake.

Furthermore, the initial plan to conduct the interview via Skype was also not feasible as the
managers did not have time or access to a secure and stable internet connection in order to
conduct skype interviews. This led the authors to sending the interview questions via email.

Recommendations
The authors have come up with some recommendations in terms of the research study
conducted.

Before conducting the research, the initial plan was to have the data collected from German,
the Netherlands and in Belgium. The reason behind this was to prove if it would be possible
to implement Ubuntu at the above mentioned countries. Unfortunately, due to the low
response received from the establishments the data was only collected from the Netherlands.
This did not have a bad effect on the completion of the proposal as the authors continued
with the data that they had received. However, we were hoping to gather results from
Belgium and German as well.

Another change that took place was that there was no skype interviews as initially planned
out. The data was rather collected via email correspondence. Again, although this did not
work out as planned, however we did receive the necessary feedback. The reason behind the
authors preferring to use Skype as one of the instruments was that it would have provided a
deeper understanding, if the western hotel industry, being represented by Belgium, Germany
and the Netherlands is ready for Ubuntu to be applied as a management strategy.

Another aspect that the authors could have improved would have been to hand out the
surveys and send the emails in time. As part of the reason why we could not receive a
response in time from the executives of Belgium and German was because we failed to send
through the emails early. What could be mentioned about our questions though is that they
were clear and quiet concise which made things easier for the respondents.

In future the same research could be conducted however maybe looking at having other
industries applying the Ubuntu management strategy, not only the Hospitality industry. This
would be very beneficial for many organizations as the outcome of the Ubuntu philosophy is
that it encourages a more cohesive workforce resulting in an increase in productivity amongst
staff and better service provided to guests/customers.
References
• Bryman, & Bell. (2007). Business Research Methods.

• Colff, L. (2003). Leadership Lessons from the African Tree. Management

Decision, 41(3).

• Gill, E. (2014). What is Laissez-Faire Leadership? How Autonomy Can Drive

Success. Leadership is Learned. Retrieved from http://online.stu.edu/laissez-faire-
leadership/

• Jindau, A. (2014). Rethinking the comparison between African and Western

Philosophies. International Journal Of Political Science And Development, 2(8), 180 -
187. http://dx.doi.org/10.14662

• Khomba, J. (2011). Chapter Four: The African Ubuntu Philosophy, 126 - 164. Retrieved
from
http://repository.up.co.za/dspace/bitstream/handel/2263/28706/o4chapter4.pdf

• Larkin, P. (2016). Developing a sense of ubuntu, Madiba-style. Iol.co.za. Retrieved 14

September 2017, from https://www.iol.co.za/business-report/economy/developing-
a-sense-of-ubuntu-madiba-style-2093257

• Nkomo, S. (2006). Images of ‘African Leadership and Management in Organisation

Studies: Tensions, Contradictions and Re-visions. Presentation, University of South
Africa.

• Sigger, D., Polak, B., & Pennink, B. (2010). "Ubuntu" or "Humannes" as a management
concept (pp. 5,6,7,9). Groningen: Groningen University. Retrieved from
http://www.rug.nl/research/globalisation-studies-
groningen/publications/researchreports/reports/ubuntuorhumanness.pdf

• Sparks, A. (1990). The Mind of South Africa. London: Heinemann.

Appendices
Appendix A

Interview Questions

1. Which style of management is your hotel currently using?

2. Is it successful in motivating your employees?

3. Are your aware of the Ubuntu Philosophy and the meaning behind it?

4. Do you think it could be transformed into a management strategy?

5. Would you implement it in your hotel?

6. If yes to the last question, do you think it would be successful?

7. If no to question 5, why?

Appendix B

Questionnaire

The following Questionnaire will be to ascertain your understanding of the Ubuntu Philosophy
and to determine if you agree with applying Ubuntu as a management strategy in your hotel.

The questionnaire uses a scale based on 1 – 5. Were 1 is strongly disagree and 5 is strongly
agreed.

1. Have your heard of the Ubuntu Philosophy?

o Yes
o No

2. If Yes to the above, do you agree that Ubuntu could be translated to a Management
Strategy?
o 1
o 2
o 3
 o 4
o 5

3. If you agree to the above, would you like it to be implemented in the hotel?
o 1
o 2
o 3
o 4
o 5

If disagree to question 3, please answer question 4 and agree, please answer question 5. If
you have selected option “3”, thank you for your participation and assisting us in our research.

4. Do you think that it would not benefit the hotel?

o 1
o 2
o 3
o 4
o 5

5. Do you think it would benefit the hotel in terms of motivating the staff and creating
cohesion in the workforce?
o 1
o 2
o 3
o 4
o 5

Thank you for assisting us in our research.

View publication stats