Intercultural Management in West Africa: Strengths and Developments

Many companies, attracted by the hope of exploiting new markets, choose West Africa because there is no language barrier. In the operational reality, the management of African employees and the mix of cultures they represent are still sources of problems and misunderstandings. Many authors, such as G.HOFSTEDE or H.TROMPENAARS, are pioneers in intercultural management and cultural differences. A great number of managerial problems appear because intercultural management is not applied or not enough. The manager must implement communication and managerial methods by involving his teams in a network. There are still many changes to be made to improve relations between individuals from different cultures. But the real evolution will come through the education of new generations. Being able to evolve in multicultural environments seems to be the key to the employability of young graduates and to the performance of companies in West Africa.