When growing up in the rural areas, I used to hear of this very wealthy family, which had made fortunes through running a highly successful motor garage. I only got to visit this business upon the demise of the founder, who was also the head of the family. Thereafter, the garage business was up for grabs by the various siblings, who could not agree on the modalities of letting the then huge business to continue operating as a going concern.
Instead, they subdivided the respective space into small mini-garages, each owned and managed separately by the seemingly disagreeable siblings. Before long, there was no garage and there was no continued creation of the earlier admirable wealth. That happened in Nyeri County about 4 decades ago and is seemingly happening even today, but in different forms and varying players. Why are these scenarios so prevalent in our society? We need to realize that every business existing anywhere in this world today was initiated by one person or a group of persons. …show more content…
The business grew from a humble idea to become great entities contributing to improvement of the society and occasionally growing into enviable multinational corporations. Consider such multinational giants as Coca Cola, Barclays Bank and General Motors amongst others. Why is it that these organizations have continued thriving long after the demise of their founders, whereas those known to us in our situations continue becoming victims of challenged succession planning?
Apparently, it’s difficult to solve any problem whose source is not easily comprehensible. There are numerous causes which contribute either directly or indirectly to the ongoing phenomenon. One of the causes can be linked to cultural orientations especially with regard to perceptions about time. The general concept of time varies widely and greatly impacts on societal values. Thus, a person’s perception of time influences the way s/he understands time and behaves in that regard. The views about time are ultimately diverse across cultures. Cultural studies bring out past, present, future time orientations which no doubt relate to how we conduct our affairs including business. For many cultures, the past is, understandably, very important. Lessons learned from past successes or mistakes are remembered and applied to current situations. In East Asia, for example, past events, notable scholars, as well as ancestors are honored and observed in ways other cultures may not fully understand. Historical context is extremely important to many European cultures as well, where nearly every speech, book, or article begins with background material providing historical perspective. The value of the past lies in memory and history. When partnering with someone with a past orientation, it is extremely useful to frame the present situation in a way that will allow the future to become more credible, as it evolves into a new occurrences based on forecasts from past experiences. Learning from past mistakes helps to ensure the same will not recur. Conversely, many traditional cultures live in an unending present. Many African cultures for example do not have verb tenses to indicate past occurrences or future events as everything is referred to in the present tense. American people are also largely focused on the present therefore heavily being influenced by the ideas of instant gratification and short term benefits, as evidenced by pronounced capitalism. The challenge with a now mentality is that mistakes of the past can sometimes be overlooked and often repeated. At the same time, clear direction may not be defined, whereas there may be little to strive for, especially if the future is disregarded. On the other hand, a future focused orientation usually coincides with a long-term worldview and typically resides within relationship and obligation-based cultures. Chinese and Japanese cultures, for example, are careful to build mutual commitment to relationships because they understand that many years from the present time, those relationships will continue to grow and add value. It is the view that short-term profit is not nearly as valuable as long-term growth. The future gives meaning to our present actions and defines where and how our dreams will materialize if sufficient efforts are put in place. Obviously, a good balance between past, present, and future orientation is inevitable. We must