Ch10

Malawi was once a British colony—but is now a relatively small (population about 17.4 million) but independent country in Central Africa. Thus, it inherited a British administrative tradition, which is very Western and very bureaucratic. And thus it also benefits from significant investment from Western MNEs, with many local subsidiaries. However, traditional Malawi cultural values, which emphasize family membership and attention to status, are also superimposed onto local and multinational business administrative systems, mostly imported from Europe and the US. In the Malawian culture, workers view employers as an extension of their families. They expect to be provided with a broad array of benefits from their employers, such as housing and transportation. Malawi society also places great importance on status differences. The relationship between managers and subordinates is viewed as authoritative; workers give deference and expect managers to act paternally. Malawians view proper protocol as very important. Managers often resist accepting individual blame for their mistakes and do not directly criticize their subordinates. Malawian managers rarely delegate authority because the culture believes that delegation strips managers of their authority and thus lowers their status in the eyes of their subordinates. How do these cultural practices influence the development of T&D programs by MNEs in Malawi? MNEs setting up local operations in Malawi must consider the following three realities when developing training programs: