Cross-Cultural Management: Singapore Firms in the African Context

This report delves into the cultural landscape of Africa, analyzing its impact on business practices and providing a comparative perspective with Singapore. It explores the national culture of Africa, including arts and crafts, religion, clothing, cuisine, and languages, highlighting the diverse cultural elements within the continent. The report identifies key cultural dimensions of African society, such as the importance of rules, communitarianism, work-life balance, and value exchange, and how these aspects influence business interactions. Furthermore, it outlines the requirements of African organizations when engaging with Singaporean firms, covering political aspects, goodwill, relationship status, and innovation capabilities. The report also presents surprising facts about Singapore that are relevant to African businesses. Finally, it offers recommendations for Singaporean firms to successfully navigate the African market, considering the challenges and opportunities present.

Organization Culture
Cross Culture Management

Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................1
National Culture of Africa...............................................................................................................2
Principal dimensions of Africa Culture...........................................................................................5
Africans Requirements to work with Singaporeans........................................................................6
Surprising fact about Singapore.......................................................................................................7
Challenges for Singapore Firms......................................................................................................8
Opportunities for Singapore Firms................................................................................................10
Recommendations..........................................................................................................................12
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................13
References......................................................................................................................................15
1

Introduction
Singapore is considered as a famous global city. It is a sovereign state in Southeast Asia and also
considered as one of the leading island-city-state. In this paper, the chosen country is Africa.
Furthermore, various opportunities and challenges are identified for Singaporean firms to doing
business with Africa organizations. This has been done through measuring different cultural
aspects of Africa and requirements of its citizens regarding the functioning of Singaporean firms.
It can be said that Singapore has a very vast and developed market economy which is highly
based on extended entrepot. It is the combination of different famous organizations such as
Trafigura Group, Wilmar International, and Flextronics. Apart from these various firms are there
which makes the economy of Singapore very competitive and challenging. On the other hand,
Africa is considered the second largest and populous continent in the world. The economy of
Africa is fully covered with the trade, agriculture, human resources, and industry. During 2012,
approximately, 1.06 billion people were leaving in 55 different countries in Africa. It is also
considered the resource-rich continent (Thomas, 2014). It can be said that culture and traditions
play an important role in the success of a country. But, culture is different from country to
country. Cultural awareness brings significant benefits for the success of every country. It is
necessary for the Singaporean organizations to get additional information about the culture of
Africa because it is the most significant factor which influences their overall profitability and
performance. The culture of Africa and Singapore has significant differences. The main reason
behind these differences is thinking and culture of people living in the Africa and Singapore.
Taste and preferences of these people highly influenced by their traditions and culture
(Browning, 2013). For example, some people require non-vegetarian food, and some require
vegetarian. It is because of their culture and preferences. Thus, it can be said that study of
2

African culture enables the Singaporean organization to offer them goods and services as per
their requirements.
National Culture of Africa
The national culture of Africa is considered a combination of different cultural aspects.
Furthermore, it also considered the mixture of tribes and each have their different features. The
culture of Africa is expressed in its music, language, crafts and arts, clothing, religion and
folklore, and cuisine. It is full of culture, within a single country, one can discover different
cultures. The national culture of Africa is widely different from others, but at somewhere there
are similarities also (Uchem, 2015). The morale of African people is respect and love for their
culture as well as high respect for the elder people of their country such as chiefs and kings. It
also can be said that Africa is largely influenced by the other continents. The modernism of their
culture mostly depends on the willingness of Africans. The government of Africa also takes
various initiatives to improve the overall culture and tradition of Africa. This will be done
through encouraging national music groups, dance, and museums. The national culture of Africa
made with below mentioned things:
 Arts and Crafts: Africa has a wide and very rich tradition of crafts and arts. African
crafts and arts find expression in a different range of leather, brass, and woodcarvings
artworks. If the Art and Craft firms of the Singapore want to enter itself into the African
market, it needs to do something similar with the arts and craft culture of Africa. While
dealing with African arts and crafts firms, the Singaporean firms need to focus on soul
force behind their creation rather than objects. African crafts and arts also contain
pottery, sculpture, religious headgear; paintings dress (Green-Gibson, 2014).
3

Furthermore, it can be said that some African cultures mostly placed their emphasis on
jewelry and personal accessories. It is because the person of such culture is very
conscious about their personal appearance. African firms developed this jewelry by using
cowry shells. So, it can be said that art and crafts organization of Singapore need to
design arts by considering all African aspects in their mind. Apart of it, they should come
up with latest jewelry design with the effective material.
 Religion and Folklore: As per the human cultures of other countries, African religion
and folklore also represent social facets of different varieties. Like all cultures and
civilizations, floods myths have been spreading in every part of the Africa. In Ethiopia,
Islam and Christianity build the important aspects of Ethiopian culture and inform rites
and rituals as well as dietary customs (Viveen, 2013). Thus, it can be said that
Singaporean firms and institutions which want to establish themselves in the African
culture should have a great knowledge regarding religion and folklore cultural aspects of
the country. By considering religion aspects, the Singaporean firms are more able to
satisfy the Africans.
 Clothing: Clothing style of African is different from culture to culture. In the Ethiopia
culture of Africa, women generally like to wear schemma cloth which is developed by
using habesha kemis (Ens, 2016). On the other hand, men wear a knee-length shirt with a
white collar and pants, sometimes sweater also. They basically focus on wearing cloth
developed from cotton. On the other hand, in Zulus culture of Africa people mainly use
both traditional for celebratory or ceremonial occasions and modern westernized clothing
for daily use. So, it can be said that cotton manufacturing firms of Singapore have wide
opportunities to establish themselves in the African market (Anshan, 2014). But, for
4

grasping such opportunities, it is necessary for the Singaporean organization to focus on
clothing culture and type of fabric they like to use for their clothes. By doing this, the
clothing firms of Singapore can significantly enter the African market.
 Cuisine: Cuisine is considered the first drink priority of African. Due to this, the cuisine
dealing firms of Singapore can efficiently fulfill the cuisine requirements of the African.
The cuisine manufacturing firms of Africa mainly utilize vegetables, cereal, milk, and
grains. On the other hand, African firms also utilize cassava and plantains to develop
healthy and tasty cuisines for serving different Africans. Thus, for competing with the
traditional African cuisine firms, the Singaporean Cuisine organizations need to come up
with different and tasty flavor. By doing such activity, they can successfully cope with
existing cuisine market scenario. Apart of this, the food culture of the Africa also
surrounds other food products such as spinach stew.
 Languages: The continent of Africa mainly uses more than hundreds of languages.
Knowledge of such languages enables the Singaporean firms to communicate with
African efficiently and enhance the sale of their products (Parrinder, 2014). African
mainly speaks different European languages such as French, Dutch, Spanish, German,
Portuguese, and Italian. Information regarding languages helps the Singaporean firms in
avoiding all across culture barriers and performs effectively.
Thus, it can be said that national culture of Africa combines different culture at a single place.
Focusing on the cultural aspects of Africa, Singaporean firms can significantly enter the African
market.
5

Principal dimensions of Africa Culture
The principal dimensions of Africa culture are following:
 African people mainly give importance to laws, rules, obligations, and values. They deal
politely with the other person. In that situation, the Singaporean organizations need to
establish themselves on the basis of trust and should follow all rules and regulations
determined by Africa government.
 The second important thing is that African culture highly based on Communitarianism
cultural dimension. It is because they believe that the society and neighborhood are more
important than the individual. They believe in help and loyalty. According to such
cultural dimension, Singaporean organizations need to win the trust of people by
adopting the strategy of mutual working (Nyanzi, 2013). According to this strategy, the
organization gives respect to African and their cultural aspects.
 On the other hand, the third key dimension is that African maintains work balance
between their personal lives or professional lives. They don't give importance to work
relationship. So, while entering into Africa market, the Singaporean organizations need to
prepare themselves and should focus largely on objectives of individuals. On the basis of
their objectives, they can satisfy their customers. Such type of people can attract through
maintaining an efficient, professional relationship.
 In addition, the last and key important dimension of African culture is that African thinks
that they should receive value in exchange for their efforts and hard work. Position and
power matter for them in a larger context (Muller, 2015). It is because they play an
important role in shaping their behavior. In such a situation, the Singaporean
6

organizations need to come up with such products and services which suit their standard
and style.
Thus, it can be said African culture is different from others and has significant importance for
Singaporean organizations. If they want to gain profit and enter the African market, all
dimensions should consider and perform their works accordingly. If it fails in following these
dimensions it cannot operate for a long time.
Africans Requirements to work with Singaporeans
Before making the decision to work with Singaporean organizations, African work organizations
wants to know different things. These things are following:
 Political aspects: It is the major requirement which demanded by every country.
Knowledge regarding political aspects of Singapore helps them in making their
relationship healthier and saves them from occur any future loss due to change in
government (Thomson, 2016). Apart of this, information about political aspects aware the
African about the government intervention in the economy of Singapore. Furthermore,
they also gain knowledge about tax policies, employment laws, and trade barriers.
 Goodwill: Before choosing partnership of Singaporean organizations they also want to
know their goodwill in potential markets (Leung, 2016). This will give a significant
understanding about the market reputation and their product quality. Knowledge
regarding all such aspects saves them from fraud and future losses.
 Relationship Status: Another thing which African wants to know about Singaporean
organizations is their relationship with potential customers. This enhances their
knowledge regarding the behavior and viewpoint of organizations towards their customer
7

(Lim, 2014). It is because relationship has significant importance and in the absence of
relationship all efforts become meaningless.
 Innovation Capability: Innovation is the key feature which determines success of every
organization. Before making an investment or working with Singaporean organizations,
African wants to know their innovation capability (Thibodeau, 2015). It is because
innovation enforces them to earn a large and large profit.
Thus, it can be said that questioning on all such aspects enhances African knowledge which
ultimately makes their partnership best. On the basis of such partnership, they both can prove
themselves in the African market and can produce positive outcomes for the GDP growth of both
countries.
Surprising fact about Singapore
Every country needs to aware of the key facts of another country in which it wants to operate. In
the same manner, African also wants to aware about different political, economic, and cultural
aspects of Singapore. But some facts are there which surprises them. These facts are following:
 The gross domestic product increased by 22.5% in its first quarter of 2011 (Mao, 2013).
Such a large growth never is done by any country prior. Thus, it can be said that such
positive information about the country encourages the organizations of an African
country to make a relationship with Singaporean organizations.
 In addition, Finance and banking sector of Singapore is considered strongest in the world.
It has the fourth largest foreign exchange in the world after London, Tokyo, and New
8

York. Due to this fact, the African can observe their future in Singapore. It is because
they can easily get needed finance by making a partnership with the Singaporean firms.
Information about such surprising facts motivates and encourages them to do business with
Singapore organizations (Mahendran, 2015). By doing this, they can significantly provide
efficient services to African people with latest technology innovations.
Study of cultural and other aspects of Africa enables Singaporean organizations to offer product
and services as per their culture. They can offer products and services as per their taste and
preferences or culture (Khapoya, 2015). Study of African culture can give significantly aware
them about their traditions, living style, clothing sense, and languages. With knowledge of all
such aspects, the Singaporean organizations can effectively operate in the African market and
can develop a long-term relationship with their customers.
Challenges for Singapore Firms
Singaporean firms decided to enter the market of Africa. It has more growth opportunities if it
successfully expands its business in Africa. In doing all this, the firms of the country need to face
following challenges:
 Talent Gap: The Singaporean organization faces lots of difficulty in finding and retaining
the talented employees who have knowledge about the African market and culture for
highly skilled jobs (Goh, 2013). Highly talented employees help the Singaporean
organizations in reducing their work burden because they easily handle both the national
or international work processes. Singaporean organizations require very creative
employees to maintain their quality, so these faces quite difficulties in doing so.
9

 Management Development: Due to the different cultures, beliefs, economic systems and
legal system the Singaporean organizations faces lots of problem in developing sustain
and effective management system with which they can successfully place themselves in
the African market. Improved management can create a good image of Singaporean firms
in mind of African customers. This consumes lots of efforts and costs of the organization.
 Demand Creation: Another main challenge in front of Singaporean organizations is the
creation of demand. The organizations need to perform large efforts in creating demand
for their products in African market (Juster, 2015). They need to spend huge on
advertisement and various others which ultimately enhance the cost of the organization.
 Staffing Policy: It is considered a significant challenge which the Singaporean
organizations face while establishing their business in Africa. The success of the
organizations mostly depends on the quality of their workforce. During hiring of
international quality human resources, the organizations face lots difficulty because it is
very hard to find a sufficient number of IHRM candidates.
 Laws Conflict: Laws are different from country to country. When the Singaporean
organizations enter into India market, they require working accordingly laws and
regulations developed by the country. Due to it, the Singaporean organizations suffer
more and lose their productivity (Sugden, 2014). For example, "Employment at Will"
statement valid in the only US but in Africa and the other states it is not followed. In the
same manner, due to the difference in laws working situation of the Singaporean
organization's changes completely.
 Managing Customer: Management of Customer enables the Singaporean firms to enter
the African market successfully. Due to the difference in culture, language and beliefs of
10

the customer's, Singaporean organizations face lots of problem in managing their
customers. The difference in thinking and culture lead various changes in the lifestyle and
preferences of customers which ultimately reduces the overall profitability of the
organization (Granhag, 2015). Customers of the Singaporean organizations are their
strength, and due to changes in lifestyle and taste, the quality or demand of the products
decreased which influence the reputation of the organizations in a negative manner.
Opportunities for Singapore Firms
Doing business with the African firms brings lots of opportunities for the Singaporean
organizations. Conducting global business ultimately enhances the foreign reserve of the country
and also brings economic development. Motives of doing business with African firms produce
performance goals, different business strategies, and even forms of market participation
(Vanlaar, 2015). Some of the opportunities which the Singaporean organizations can receive are
following:
 Increase Sales: The major opportunity in front of the Singaporean organization is an
enhancement in the sale of their ultimate products. Doing international business with
African firms helps the Singaporean organizations in enhancing the sale of their products.
Approximately 95 % of the world's population lives outside the Singapore. So, the
organizations of Singapore feel a good opportunity to expand their market in the African
countries also. The organizations of Singapore have a different product line or creative
advantage with which they can easily enter the African market. Due to their creative
designs, the organizations of Singapore can successfully establish themselves in the
11