Introduction

This case study documents the work of a Malawian American organization development (OD) consultant who was hired by Kondanani Community Development Agency (KCDA), a nongovernmental organization (NGO) based in Malawi to help transform it into a highly performing organization. The NGO was operating in an environment where the economy was declining due to rising inflation rates, food shortages due to a recent drought, and a national budget deficit brought on by the decline in foreign aid. Internally, the organization had just hired a new managing director. There was a lack of cohesion among the staff in regard to the strategic direction of the organization, lackluster outcomes, and the lack of clearly defined staff roles and responsibilities.

Against this backdrop, the consultant was faced with the challenge of working with an organization that was struggling to raise resources because of government cronyism, and there was the need for the organization to transform into a cross-functional team environment with a clear strategy for growth and competitiveness in the social sector of Malawi. This engagement was an opportunity to use the tenets of Ubuntu, a southern African collectivist philosophy, encapsulated in the statement "I am because we are," to build a more collaborative working relationship with members of the organization while utilizing the work of Chiku Malunga (2009b) to engage the organization in team and strategy development. Malunga is a Malawian OD consultant and the author with many years of experience working in Africa. He is recognized for his work of the use of metaphors and proverbs to unlock complex organizational concepts among indigenous people of Africa.

While the consultant found the work with the NGO to be extremely challenging, he was able to gain the respect of the client organization through Ubuntu, and he was also able to get the organization to focus on the key issues it needed to work on to survive and thrive in what was developing into a tumultuous

political and economic environment in Malawi. This case study will provide learning opportunities on how to use indigenous wisdom and resources to engage in cross-cultural OD.

Background

Malawi is a landlocked country located in southeast Africa. The country shares its boundaries with Tanzania, Zambia, and Mozambique. Malawi has mainly an agrarian economy that is impacted by constant drought. While there is commercial farming that adds to Malawi's gross domestic product (GDP), many Malawian farmers are subsistence farmers who grow enough crops to feed their families and sell any surplus to support their livelihood.

Since gaining independence from the British in 1964, Malawi's political system regressed into an authoritarian regime under a single political party. In 1994, due to both internal and external political pressure, Malawi held a referendum to decide on whether to keep the single-party system or transition into a more pluralistic political system. Malawians overwhelmingly chose to transition into a more democratic political system. The new dispensation of government provided fertile ground for the birth of civil society organizations and NGOs to facilitate the consolidation of democracy and to address many of the social, economic, and health issues faced by the people of Malawi.

Hofstede's Cultural Dimensions for Malawi

The dimensions in Hofstede's (Hofstede, Hofstede, & Minkov, 2010) cultural framework to highlight for Malawi are power distance, masculinity, and individualism. The score for the dimension of power distance is high, indicating that societies in Malawi are more accepting of hierarchy and authority. Organizationally, supervisors tell their subordinates what to do. The dimension of masculinity has a low score, indicating that Malawi is more of a feminine society. This means that as a society, the people of Malawi are more caring for others. Organizationally, this translates into a culture where compromise and negotiation are important. The last dimension to highlight is individualism. Malawi's score for individualism is very low, meaning that the society is very collectivist. This dimension was the deciding factor for using Ubuntu as the lead approach to fostering a working relationship and engagement with the organization.

Description of Kondanani Community Development Agency

KCDA is an NGO that strives to empower and help the people and their communities to become self-reliant. The organization's core values are centered on teamwork, skills transfer, and good governance. The organization was established in 2007 to provide services in the district of Mchinji, Malawi, which is located close to the border with Zambia. This area of Malawi has the predominance of the Chewa tribe, who are a majority in Malawi. The Chewa society is collectivist in nature, with the preponderance to the "big family" approach whereby distant and close relations are all part of one big family.

KCDA advocates for self-reliance by encouraging the people of Mchinji to improve their conditions of life through the use of local initiatives and resources (land, water, and labor) by their own means. KCDA firmly believes that local needs are best determined by local people.

Relationship Building Using Ubuntu in the Engagement With KCDA

Even though the consultant was born in Malawi, the fact that he had lived in America for over 25 years branded him a foreigner in the eyes of local Malawians. He needed to build trust and a working relationship with the management of KCDA and its staff. He used the following tenets of Ubuntu developed by Mangaliso (2001) to foster a working relationship with members of KCDA during the engagement.

Age and leadership

The older generation is respected because they have experience and wisdom. His approach in working with KCDA was to engage the older staff's points of view without alienating the younger staff. The older staff had been around, and they knew what had worked before and the things that would be difficult to implement within the working environment of KCDA. They also had a better understanding of how to navigate through cultural barriers in Malawi. He realized that if he was to gain the trust of the organization, he needed to have the nod from the elders of the organization. Since power distance is high in Malawi, he realized that the subordinate and younger staff would be more accepting of his approach to working with their organization if there was no resistance from the senior staff. The key was to make some of the ideas he had in working with the organization the ideas of the senior staff.

Relationships with others

He knew that in order to build trust with members of KCDA, he needed to build a relationship with them whereby they accepted him as a member of their family. He engaged the assistance of a local expert who knew and understood the lay of the land, particularly in that part of Malawi. The local expert was a well-respected individual with a great reputation. Their association facilitated the relationship-building process, particularly with the senior members of KCDA. The OD consultant was introduced to the organization as the local expert's friend and a long-lost brother who was now based in the United States. The OD consultant needed to be perceived as someone who was there to help and not to show off his fancy American education. It is sometimes difficult for Malawians who are based abroad to be accepted with authenticity, especially if they are perceived as someone who thinks they know better than the locals.

Language and communication

The use of metaphors and proverbs in Malawian society is critical in conveying and addressing complex issues as well as to build consensus around problematic issues. Due to the OD consultant's background and his relationship with the local expert, he was able to explain what he needed to do to help the organization through the use of proverbs. For instance, on the need to build a functional team environment, he explained to the organization that a leader cannot shoulder the burden of organizational functions on their own. "Mutu umodzi siusenza dengaone pillar cannot support the roof structure on its own. Collective fingers theoryA thumb working on its own is useless." Since power distance is high in Malawi, explaining the importance of teams was appropriate to do through proverbs.

Decision making

Consensus building is an approach that is common in the rural areas of Malawi. In the Chewa society, "pabwalo" is a large group process whereby issues are heard and discussed with the purpose of building

consensus. This was an approach that was considered particularly for strategic planning within the organization.

Assessment and Diagnosis

The approach to assessing and diagnosing some of the issues affecting KCDA involved conducting focus groups with the staff, board, and community members in the area served by KCDA. He also reviewed organizational documents to gain a better understanding as to the alignment between what KCDA had stated within its own documents and what they did in practice. The assessment focused on the structure of the organization, human resources, leadership (which included governance), and the development of a strategic plan.

Structure

It was critical to assess the structure of the organization so that it could be determined if there was alignment between the various positions within the organization and the actual work done by KCDA. If there was going to be the development of a cross-functional team environment, the structure of the organization needed to be examined to determine opportunities for cross-training. Job descriptions were reviewed against job functions and organizational needs. The structure was also reviewed from the context of reporting relationships and the placement of authority and responsibility within the KCDA. He reviewed the organizational chart, job descriptions, and program functions to determine if they were aligned with KCDA's mission and strategic goals and to determine if the organization's employees had the required skill sets needed to perform their job responsibilities.

Summary of Observations

It appeared that the employees and senior management did not work well together to accomplish the mission of the organization. There were several vacancies that had the potential of impacting program operations. It appeared that job functions were not aligned with the program and service objectives. The organization had not conducted an employee skill assessment to determine if the individual staff, in particular at the leadership levels, had the required skills for their role within the organization. While KCDA's employees seemed to be dedicated to the work of the organization, some were unsure of their roles. Some of the employees were unfamiliar of other employees' roles, and they were also unfamiliar with other programs and services provided by the organization. There was resistance from some of the employees to share everything they did in the field because they viewed this as a threat to their job security.

Interventions

The OD consultant worked with the management of KCDA to update the program delivery structure of the organization to ensure that there were linkages between teams that allowed for program and service integration. The goal was for employees to have a working knowledge of all programs and services and to develop a cross-functional team so that any employee could step in to do the work of another employee. The individual employees were asked to document what they did in the field by developing a step-by-step outline. This was used to train the staff on what each employee did. Management was asked to fill vacancies as soon as possible. An employee skill set analysis was conducted to determine where staff skill sets aligned with the current organizational structure and

programs. Even though there was initial resistance to the sharing of job functions, the opportunity to learn other skills and functions was accepted as professional growth.

Human Resources

The human resources function was key to ensuring that there was a system in place to guide the role and function of the employees within the organization. The managing director, board members, and program staff were interviewed. The OD consultant reviewed the personnel policies, hiring practices, performance evaluations, and job descriptions. These areas were reviewed to ensure employees were

qualified to perform certain job functions,

provided with the appropriate training and support, and

rewarded or recognized for their accomplishments.

He worked with a local legal expert to examine the corporate documents and personnel files to ensure compliance with Malawi's labor laws.

Summary of Observations

Upon review of board minutes and interviews that were conducted with the KCDA board and managing director, he learned that the new managing director had not been evaluated by the board of directors. The board of directors consisted of local villagers and members of other community-based organizations. They found it difficult to evaluate the managing director because they thought that she was above them given her role and title. This was an issue which spoke to Malawi's high power distance where positions of authority are highly regarded. There was no one in the organization who was qualified and officially designated to perform human resource functions. That role by default fell on the managing director and the accountant. The organization's personnel manual was outdated according to existing agency processes and Malawi labor laws. There was no clear line of responsibility to ensure that employees were informed and understood agency protocol. The organization chart did not contain current job titles.

Interventions

The OD consultant was able to identify a legal expert who was willing to update KCDA's personnel policies pro bono so that they were in compliance with current Malawian labor laws. The staff led by the managing director worked as a team to separate the personnel policies from the corporate master file. He worked with the KCDA team to update the organizational chart with the current job titles. It was recommended that KCDA hire a qualified HR officer. An employee system was developed to track staff training as well as fieldwork.

LeadershipBoard Governance

The KCDA board of directors is comprised of local villagers and members of community-based organizations in the Mchinji area. Many of these individuals, though committed to developing their region through the various programs offered by KCDA, did not understand their fiduciary role as members of the board. Their relationship with the managing director was reversed, whereby she was perceived by members of the board as their boss and not the other way around. They not only needed

training on their roles and responsibilities, but they needed to feel comfortable in fulfilling the role of policy implementation as it related to the work of KCDA.

Summary of Observations

Ten of the 21 board members and the managing director were interviewed. Board minutes, financial reports, bylaws, and board and staff reports were reviewed. Board minutes were missing key recordings of board actions and were not complete with supporting program and financial documentation. They did not clearly demonstrate that motions were carried properly. The agency's bylaws needed a thorough review to adhere to Malawi's laws. The managing director of KCDA had not been evaluated since she was brought on board. There was no evidence that the board of directors has received training on the key roles and responsibilities as evidenced by their lack of understanding of their role with regard to the managing director. There was no documentation that the bylaws had been reviewed by a legal expert for adherence to Malawian laws.

Interventions

The OD consultant worked with the managing director to develop a sample board packet inclusive of an agenda, minutes, and supporting documentation. Training was provided to the board secretary on the proper recording of minutes with the need to clearly document discussion and approval of pertinent items. The board was provided training on how to conduct a performance evaluation of the managing director and given a sample evaluation form. The board was trained on its fiduciary roles and responsibilities. The bylaws were updated with the assistance of an attorney to reflect Malawian laws that govern NGOs.

Strategy

The final part of the engagement was the facilitation of strategic planning for KCDA board, staff, and stakeholders for mission clarification and the development of key strategies. It was understood that conversations about strategy would be difficult in that setting because the word strategy was not linguistically translatable in Chichewa (the local Malawian vernacular predominantly spoken in Mchinji). The use of Malunga's (2009a) approach to strategic planning utilizing metaphors and proverbs was chosen for this purpose.

When a meeting with KCDA's board of directors, staff, and stakeholders took place, the first thing that was done was to convey the importance of planning by stating "there can be no tree without roots" and that "when hunting, the one who waits for the whole animal to be seen from its cave spears the tail." This meant that the KCDA needed to think about its future if the organization was going to be around for a long time in spite of the economic and political turmoil that Malawi was experiencing at the time. The use of proverbs and metaphors helped in unpacking the meaning and importance of strategic planning for KCDA within its service area in Mchinji.

Organizational readiness

In preparation for the strategic planning process, an assessment was conducted through focus groups with village headmen, KCDA staff, board members, and some of the funding sources of the organization. Village headmen serve as cultural leaders and figures of authority within Malawian societies and therefore have firsthand knowledge of the needs within their communities. They preside over funerals,

are present at marital ceremonies, and are the custodians of the local culture, rites, and customs. If KCDA was going to be effective in serving the Mchinji area, the various headmen representing several villages in Mchinji needed to be engaged in the needs of their area.

The local expert accompanied him to each village engagement. He introduced him to the village headmen and explained what his purpose of being there entailed. It is customary to provide a gift (kupfupa) to the headman as a sign of respect. It was much easier to present gifts of cash as opposed to chickens or goats, which are common gifts. The assessments were conducted through dialogue with the village headmen. The village headmen shared with him the needs of their villages and how they thought KCDA could assist them. Most of their needs were consistent across the board and entailed access to safe drinking water, as there had been cholera outbreaks in the past; assistance to address the HIV/AIDS pandemic; and assistance with combating child marriages. Overall, they mostly wanted KCDA to assist them in developing economic development activities so that their village members could be self-sustaining. The task was to incorporate the results of the community assessment conducted through the village headmen of Mchinji into KCDA's strategic planning process.

The needs that were identified through the village headmen of Mchinji were found to be in line with the mission of KCDA. The challenge for KCDA was to ensure that its strategic thrust and tactical plan were going to be aligned with the needs of the community at large in which it served.

Strategic planning process

The results of the assessments conducted with the village headmen and some of the organization work done with KCDA drove the strategic planning process. Malunga's (2009a) use of proverbs and metaphors for each stage of the process were utilized to engage KCDA in the planning process. A strategic planning team consisting of members of the KCDA board, managing director, staff, and other NGOs were engaged in a facilitated process that involved assessing KCDA's past history, mapping the present environment, listing accomplishments and opportunities, designing projects and plans, prioritizing projects based on need, and designing mechanisms to evaluate and measure progress. Input throughout the process was gathered through group work as well as individual input to allow for full participation without hindrance. The decision to focus on key strategic objectives was done through consensus, as is done in the Chewa society.

Key Findings

KCDA was significantly impacted financially by the economic and political turmoil within the country. Government grants to NGOs were drying up, in part due to the agency not being located in the region where the president was from. There was nepotism and cronyism in favor of the president's region and tribe. KCDA's new managing director had spent a considerable time abroad and had the connections to build strong partnerships with foreign donors. KCDA had committed employees who believed in the mission of the organization.

Organizational Strategies

The group decided to focus on developing social entrepreneurship strategies that would generate revenue for the organization while developing skills for local villagers. KCDA positioned itself to lease a couple of farms where local youth would be employed and trained on sustainable farming while producing farm products for sale. The resources would then be used to fund its other core services

identified by the village headmen, such as education on HIV/AIDS. KCDA was also going to ramp up its efforts in generating foreign donations through the engagement of social media. This was an idea that was advanced by the younger members of the organization. A social media plan was going to be developed to market the organization's work to interested parties. KCDA was excited to implement its strategic plan, which primarily focused on the generation of resources to support its mission in the Mchinji area.

Evaluation

There were areas of the engagement with KCDA which were difficult. It was challenging to overcome resistance to change, particularly if that resistance was imbued in cultural mores. The board did not want to embrace its role with regard to the managing director. Some of the employees were unwilling to share their job functions on account of job insecurity in a country that was hit with high unemployment and dried-up government support. However, KCDA embraced the strategic plan, which served as a coalescing factor for the organization.

Working with a local expert provided better cultural context in working with KCDA. Even though the OD consultant grew up in that culture, having been away for as long as he had, there were cultural nuances that he could have missed had it not been for the local assistance he received. The cultural frameworks were beneficial as a general guide to working in Malawi, but the local assistance ensured that he was culturally competent in working with KCDA. whats the conclusion of this case study restatement