Conversely when a team is not intrinsically held

Conversely, when a team is not intrinsically held together by all members, the
consequences can be negative or sub-optimal. Sub-optimality occurs because
each team member works towards different goals based on different value
systems. This can result in dissatisfaction, a lack of productivity and commitment
and a lack of teamwork or team spirit amongst team members (Poovan et al.,
2006:25). With such a scenario, it would be the task of the team leader to try to
create an environment that is conducive to a team culture that appreciates the
values of the Ubuntu philosophy.
Within an African society, oneness and sharing play a pivotal role in local
communities and organisations – it is said in the Nyanja language that Mu
umudzi muli mphamvu [unity is strength]. Community-based approaches also
help to build synergies where the whole is more effective than the sum of
individual parts. Under the Ubuntu philosophy, synergies are realised where the
groupings are socially or culturally bound (Mangaliso, 2001:28-32; Prinsloo,
2000:275-285). The spirit of Ubuntu leads to cooperative and collaborative work
environments, because the community is encouraged to participate, share and
support all the team members (Regine, 2009:17-22; Van den Heuvel et al. ,
2006:48). People can work together in community groups in order for them to be
more productive, for example, they farm, construct roads, fish or fell trees
together, while they are singing traditional songs as part of morale boosting.
Thus, the community-based Ubuntu philosophy enhances productivity and
organisational performance.
Through the Ubuntu philosophy, synergies create a great deal of competitive
advantage for organisations from employees who practise this philosophy and
their teams. An African organisation can gain competitive advantages on the
basis of several business premises, including effective human relationships with
others, language and communication, decision-making, time management,

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productivity, age and leadership, and cultural beliefs (Hampden-Turner and
Trompenaars, 1993). Such business premises about the Ubuntu’s contributions
towards different areas of business perspectives is in conformity with English’s
(2002:203) argument that it is the spirit of Ubuntu that can give the African
continent an edge and that will allow it to find a way forward. Within the
redesigning processes of foreign ideologies, an African organisation must be
localised in terms of its systems to respond to socio-cultural and environmental
demands.
Overall, the above literature review shows that the Ubuntu philosophy conforms
to a large extent with the understanding of the conceptual framework of this study
in Figure 1 on p. 7. Culture and stakeholder relationships are regarded as one of
the strategic themes of corporate performance. To facilitate all these
relationships, there is a need for an effective communication system, which
would be in line with the precepts of the Ubuntu philosophy. The importance of
management decision-making and time management issues in facilitating
productivity cannot be over-emphasised. The Ubuntu philosophy provides its own