Hospitality Culture- Welcoming visitors (Similar to bowed head posture but the women folks kneel down in front of the visitor), Offering Water for visitors to Home.
International Conference
Dr. M.G.R. EDUCATIONAL AND RESEARCH INSTITUTE
UNIVERSITY
April 3-4, 2009 CULTURE AND REVERSE-CULTURE SHOCK – IN UGANDA Change Management inputs as part of ICT Project Implementation in East Africa - KRISHNAN UMACHANDRAN
ABSTRACT:
Observations and Experiences as part of Change Management Inputs, during my tenure as Project Manager for country wide implementation of ERP (Oracle) for the Ministry of Defense and as Consultant implementation of the Government sponsored Call Center in Uganda. There is an evolutionary string1 of attachment to South Indians especially to the people of TamilNadu2 to align and acclimatize easily to the African Culture. Furthermore, African continent is a very big sourcing ground and a market with abundant untapped resources with a wide demand driven geographical coverage. Considerable populations of migrated Tamil Communities live in each countries of Africa. This habitation happened due to favoring factors such as Climate (Warm temperate), Occupation (Predominantly agriculture), Food usually blunt (Mango, Jack fruit, Bananas and Sweet Potatoes Kasava are commonly grown. Irish Potatoes, Beans, Baked-smashed Bananas - Matookae, Rice and Corn are preferred food (of course with Meat), either over boil the potatoes or add readymade MIX for getting the gravy form in their sauces) , Language can be easily picked, Hospitable Culture in Living, Birth & Death, Marriage etc., which are “similar to” or “customized to acceptance” levels, of course with deviations exist in the African Culture.
Notwithstanding these favoring factors there are many Culture Shocks in Language Expressed – Vocal, Body Language, Importance attached to Money Money– nothing works other than Money, value to Education such as Creamy layer drain to US, England for Higher studies, changing Living Styles and beliefs in Institutions such as Marriages, Accepted abuse due to economical necessities and growth of hybrid population, Westernization usage Tissues and cutleries, Growing Indiscipline such as opportunistic way of living, through gun culture and piracy,
Environment and Safe Upkeep leading to Malaria,
Hepatitis B & HIV etc., Business taken over by outsiders, Cheap Goods and used goods find place, Religion is run as a business on Fridays and Sundays, Nostalgic practices are still evident. Could be even for some political reasons, there are many opportunities such as Employment Employment, Electricity Electricity, Effective use of Natural Resources Resources, Health & Housing are untouched. Change Management is therefore a comprehensive tool to identify the inputs that is required for the successful implementation of the Project. Ultimately, tell “WHAT THE CUSTOMER WILL ACCEPT, TO MAKE A BUY”
KEY WORDS:
Culture, Culture Shock, Change Management, Project Management, ICT Projects, Opportunities in Africa, ERP, SDLC
INTRODUCTION
Change Management finds its position in all the ICT Project Implementations. There can be many reason but the predominant one is that the End Users of the Project are the real Customers of the Project. Hence the End User Satisfaction is the important criteria. To meet this the Project usually starts with the identification of the User requirements. This is the tricky segment of the whole project. This aspect requires capturing of the told and untold requirements by the Users. Where ever documents are there, it can be easily referred to “as and when” required, but in organizations there are many practices that go habituated with the “Role Holders”. These intrinsic data is neither available as document nor captured as Policy in the KM Inventory.
Hence Change Management, a Psycho-social approach of identifying the needs in the People – ProcessSystems are garnered as Phase 1 requirement in the SDLC (Software development Life Cycle) of ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) customizations.
CHANGE MANAGEMENT
Change management is a set of processes that is employed to ensure that significant changes are implemented in an orderly, controlled and systematic fashion to effect organizational change. One of the goals of change management is with regards to the human aspects of overcoming resistance to change in order for organizational members to buy into change and achieve the organization's goal of an orderly and effective transformation.3
Change Management can ensure standardized methods, processes and procedures are used for all changes, facilitate efficient and prompt handling of all changes, and maintain the proper balance between the need for change and the potential detrimental impact of changes. ITSM (IT Service Management) Change Management is not typically responsible for overseeing changes that occur within deployment or development projects which are typically delegated to a change management process dictated by the project management methodology adopted for the project. However close liaison between development project managers and the Change Manager is expected and the project manager may be required to utilize Change Management for items within the production or test environments that are required for testing or release.4
According to John R. Davis of SAP Canada Inc., OCM (Organization Change Management) defines Role Mapping and speaks to the logical build that is required in order to ensure that the project process teams output is properly transferred to the business, at an End User level, and supported by the organization. Role Mapping results are critical as they will be the basis for the training curriculum and the security profiles. They will also be the foundation for the HR position descriptions impacted by the SAP project. 5
PROJECT MANAGEMENT
Project management is the discipline of planning, organizing and managing resources to bring about the successful completion of specific project goals and objectives. A project is a finite endeavor (having specific start and completion dates) undertaken to create a unique product or service which brings about beneficial change or added value. This finite characteristic of projects stands in sharp contrast to processes, or operations, which are permanent or semi-permanent functional work to repetitively produce the same product or service.6 Project management includes developing a project plan, which includes defining project goals and objectives, specifying tasks or how goals will be achieved, what resources are need, and associating budgets and timelines for completion.7
ENTERPRISE RESOURCE PLANNING ERP is a way to integrate the data and processes of an organization into one single system. Usually ERP systems will have many components including hardware and software, in order to achieve integration, most ERP systems use a unified database to store data for various functions found throughout the organization. In short it refers to how a large organization planned to use organizational wide resources. 8 Once implemented, the ERP system brings tremendous advantages. Because all systems are joined together, all departments can more easily share information. The workflow that takes place between departments can become much more automated, and ultimately, customers are better served because the individual using the customer-facing applications will have access to every bit of information regarding each relevant process.9
SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT LIFE CYCLE (SDLC) Customers typically have an abstract idea of what they want as an end result, but not what software should do. Incomplete, ambiguous, or even contradictory requirements are recognized by skilled and experienced software engineers at this point. Frequently demonstrating live code may help reduce the risk that the requirements are incorrect.
Figure 1 Development Process
Once the general requirements are gleaned from the client, an analysis of the scope of the development should be determined and clearly stated. This is often called a scope document. Certain functionality may be out of scope of the project as a function of cost or as a result of unclear requirements at the start of development. Domain Analysis is often the first step in attempting to design a new piece of software, whether it be an addition to an existing software, a new application, a new subsystem or a whole new system. If the Software developers have more knowledge on the domain, then the less load is on the initialization of the Project. However this situation cannot be expected in all Verticals (Manufacturing, Production Planning, Supply Chain, HR, Finance, CRM etc.)
Figure 2 Knowledge Transfer Process
Subsequently Specifications, Architecture, Design, Development & Testing etc., are to be iterated. These are done either on a Virgin Platform or customized on a existing Software.
ERP PROJECT IMPLEMENTATION The following process is usually followed. Figure 3 Implementation Process – Macro Flow
The existing process is studied, this includes knowledge gathering from the Documents, Policies and Written materials available, Interactions with the SAE (Subject Area Experts), End User interaction, Observations, Inter departmental expectations, Customer complaints etc.,
This need identified is then verified with the existing ERP version and then customizations are carried out. In order to facilitate the identification of the exact Project Requirements that is to find place in the OUTPUT, the Soft aspects of Psycho-Social expectations on the People – Process – Systems are identified.
The following is the results that were obtained during the process of ORACLE –ERP implementation in the Ministry of Defense across the country of Uganda and during the establishment of the government sponsored Call Center in Makerere University, Uganda.
CHANGE MANAGEMENT INPUTS
Some of the factors which acclimatized better jelling and were similar to that of the Tamil with the African Culture. 1. Climate – Warm temperate climate as in TamilNadu but the seasons are as follows Wet (March to May, October to November), dry (December to February, June to September). The temperature, usually ranging from 21 to 29°C (70 to 85°F), can be quite cool in some parts of the country owing to the country’s high altitude, despite its position on the equator. The mountain areas become much cooler and the top of Mount Elgon is often covered with snow. Other parts of the country are much warmer. There is heavy rain between March and May and between October and November. 2. Occupation – Predominantly agriculture. The temperature, usually ranging from 21 to 25°C (70 to 77°F), can be quite cool in some parts of the country owing to the country’s high altitude, despite its position on the equator. The mountain areas become much cooler and the top of Mount Elgon is often covered with snow. Other parts of the country are much warmer. There is heavy rain between March and May and between October and November. 3. Food – Mango, Jack fruit, Bananas and Sweet Potatoes are commonly grown. Irish Potatoes and Rice are preferred food (of course with Meat). Except for the way of making (or the variety in the dishes, with less salt and no chilly – flavor, they add a MIXTURE of ingredients for getting the gravy form in their sauces) 4. Language has many words which are commonly used in Indian Languages e.g., Chai, Padari, Their languages can easily be picked up. 5. Hospitality Culture- Welcoming visitors (Similar to bowed head posture but the women folks kneel down in front of the visitor), Offering Water for visitors to Home. 6. Official Culture – Completely Westernized
SHOCKING 1. Language a. Expressed - Vocal i. English & French is widely spoken & acknowledged (both don’t co-exist) ii. Don’t use the word POSITIVE. iii. “Yeah” is an exclamation used after all sentences of conversation? b. Body Language i. Brisk Hand Shake with an embrace (with Men). ii. Open Embrace & Kiss (with Women) iii. Nodding Head “Up & Down” means YES iv. Shaking Head “sideward” means NO. v. Raising & Dropping of Eyebrows means YES vi. Sound of “Huh Hum” through nose means NO 2. Money Greedy – nothing works other than Money. a. Quick Money – get in activities which have more returns b. Project as RICH – They would even starve or spend minimum for themselves but they want to have a CAR and DRESS well. 3. Education a. S1 - S5 is High School & S6- S7 is Pre University. b. The Creamy layer goes to US & England for Higher studies. Studying IT in India is valued premium. c.
University study is socially credited.
d. CAR LOANS on Graduation e. Part time course are exhaustive (Night Shifts are also available) f.
Distance Education is picking up
4. Living Styles a. Less / no belief in Marriage – widely Cohabitation b. Child Motherhood c.
Adolescent Relations / Pre-marital
d. Accepted abuse due to economical necessities – It is a play ground of the European & Arabic countries. Musungus (Whites) offer support for bearing their children. e. Half Cast population on raise.
f.
Dance is in their blood
g. Fork & Knife is part of cutlery. h. Week end Culture – Either completely westernized or Go to Countryside.
5. Concern Areas a. Sluts, thug – a opportunistic way of living. b. Sustaining Health is a Question Mark – Malaria & HIV are prevalent. c.
Difference of Opinion is settled over bullet.
d. Poor try robbing the Foreigners – Piracy on raise. e. Steal information and Gain fortunes – Buy computers and gadgets, pilfer the information such as PIN number, passwords etc., and stealthy garner wealth. 6. Business a. Indian Guajarati’s are the BUSINESS generators. b. Sub standard Chinese products piped into the Continent. c.
Used Goods Market
d. STANDARDS ORGANIZATION is in evolving stage. e. All contracts are scam prone. f.
Bidding is highly padded
g. Foreigners can easily survive & can easily access the Power Centers. 7. Religion a. Christianity & Muslim are equally divided. b. Religion is sponsored. c.
Black Magic practice exists.
8. Untapped Opportunities a. English Speaking Manpower in abundance b. Electricity is yet to reach more than have the continent c.
Health plans to Common masses
d. Natural ( Water, Minerals, Forests, Deserts, Gem stones) Resources are abundant e. Housing is a not in nearness to reach for many (6/10)
CONCLUSION
People are the same where ever in the world. Their “Needs and Wants” vary with the situation to which they are in that time frame. In Business the requirement is “to make successful sale”. In order to achieve it, the professionals be it in any field linked with the organization, are to identify newer means that makes them complete their deliverable as desired by the organization. Hence Business Deliverable skills are completely creative adaptation of the Project (or) Delivery Head with the reality in front of them.
Change Management is a comprehensive tool to identify the “nitty gritty” that is required for the successful implementation of the Project. The customization and apt usage of the situation to tilt the scale in favour of the project and to sustain the tilt till SIGN OFF requires an able expertise of the Change Management skill buttered with the Product & Service that the Organization sells.
Ultimately, tell “WHAT THE CUSTOMER WILL ACCEPT, TO MAKE A BUY”
REFERENCES
1. B. Sridharan and U. Shankarkumar - Int J Hum Genet, 4(2): 119-124, HLA Antigens in Nadars a Native Dravidian Caste Group of Tamil Nadu, South India (2004) 2. http://www.srilankaguardian.org/2008/04/let-us-all-go-back-home-to-africa.html 3. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Change_Management_(ITSM) 4. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_management 5. http://managementhelp.org/plan_dec/project/project.htm 6. http://images.google.co.in/imgres?imgurl=http://www.scnsoft.com/images/content/development_p rocess_2.gif&imgrefurl 7. http://images.google.co.in/imgres?imgurl=http://www.systemarchitecture.net/images/SystemArchi tecture.NET_Methodology.png&imgrefurl
