Nigerian and Indian Workers’ Study on National Culture and Work Values: Empirical Evidence with Special Reference to Hofstede’s Dimensions

Nigerian and Indian Workers’ Study on National Culture and Work Values: Empirical Evidence with Special Reference to Hofstede’s Dimensions

Prof. (Dr.) S. M. Shariq Abbas¹, Prof. (Dr.) Tandra Sharma^2
1Professor and Head, Department of Business Administration, Yobe State University, Damaturu, Yobe State, Nigeria.
²Professor of Education, Jagannath Institute of Education (Affiliated to Guru Govind Singh Indraprastha University), JIMS Engineering Management Technical Campus, 48/4 Knowledge Park III, Greater Noida, UP-201308, India.

Received: 10 March 2023; Accepted: 24 March 2023; Published: 13 April 2023

ABSTRACT

This study examined the national cultural and work value differentials in Nigeria and India by comparing various variables with special reference to the insights given by Geert Hofstede. The sample of 324 working age respondents from both the countries was evaluated through statistical tools like Skewness and Kurtosis tests, Cronbach’s Alpha, Kendall’s Tau B method, Pearson’s Correlation Coefficient, One-way analysis of variance ANOVA, Means, Standard Deviation and Percentages. Though some cultural values and dimensions were found to be similar but there were also startling differences among the two countries which are discussed in managerial implications given.

Keywords: National Culture, Work Values, Nigeria, India, Hofstede’s Dimensions

INTRODUCTION, BACKGROUND AND LITERATURE REVIEW

The world is divided into many cultures and subcultures which impact the day to day life of people, which also includes work. According to Leung et al. (2005) the culture of a country has a bearing on commercial activities. It is worth noting that national culture also affects organisational culture, which comprises of values, beliefs, attitudes, expectations, understandings, norms shared by people working in an organization. Handed down to subsequent generations, organisational culture regulates appropriate behaviour inside the organisation (Covin and Slevin, 1991; Hofstede, 1997; Daft and Marcic, 2009). National culture and specifically work values which is researched in the present study are the two concepts which effect the practical application of different models of management (Matić, 2008), it has to be assumed that for efficient management of organisations and business activities around the world, understanding of cross culture work values is important. As considered by Hofstede (2001), many issues in the organisations, be it resolving conflict, change management, communication or for that matter motivation of members of staff, they all are affected by work values. Many researches have established there does exist an association between cultural values, job attitude and behaviours, for instance some cultures encourage workers to team efforts, others don’t, some value extrinsic rewards while some cultural orientations tilts towards intrinsic ones. So various studies have suggested how to treat diversity issues at workplace (Orsburn, 1990; Verkuyten, 1993; Manz, 1995; Palich, 1995; Huang, 2003) and the present research also adds to such literature. This research paper analyses and presents the cross-cultural dimensions of work values between Indian and Nigerian workers and endeavour to answer the questions on variances in work cultures and values that exist in these two countries and provide some managerial implications for the same. Various studies have suggested that age, sexual category, religion, life style, organisation size/structure, type of industry, social class, views, education, affluence and job have sway over an individual’s attitudes and value system (Triandis, 1982; Handy, 1993; Tayeb, 1988, 1994; Deresky, 1997) which indeed translates into his work, thus the rationale for many independent variables taken up in the present study to cover them. Moreover, according to Sondergaard (1994), the framework used in bulk of cultural researches in the field of management and allied areas like psychology, sociology, marketing is that of Hofstede, which is the validation to use it in the present research.

The cross-cultural study at hand is based on Hofstede’s national cultures dimensions of power distance, the degree to which people accept the fact that someone is more powerful than them followed by uncertainty avoidance which is absence of tolerance of doubt. The next dimension is individualism versus collectivism where a person at former end is concerned with self only as against the group or organisation as a whole. The fourth one is masculinity versus femininity where in masculine societies dominant values are achievement and competition and for latter, quality of life and caring for others is preferred (Hofstede, 1980, 1984, 1991, 2001), here gender has no role to play with masculinity and femininity. How much a society is future oriented, it adheres to adaptation, is persistence and follows thrift, contrasted with the one which has respect for tradition and fulfilling social obligations, the former characteristics are for long term cultures while latter are for short term orientation people. The last dimension is indulgence versus restraint where former culture promotes unrestricted gratification of yearnings, desires and feeling while restraint society tend to be less happy as a result suppression of desires (Hofstede and Minkov, 2013). The initial research done by Hofstede was among the IBM workers globally which led to these conclusions. In many cross-cultural works as the present one, countries and employees have been compared and inferences reached vis-à-vis work values and cultural dimensions. A study done by Hartog et al. (1997) concluded that managers from Poland had higher score on power distance, administrative skills, vision, and diplomacy in contrast to their Dutch counterparts who stressed more on integrity, inspirational behavior and vision. Power distance has been found to be higher for China where workers were agreeable on the issue of better acceptance to take supervisory directions as compared to Americans, it being a low power distance country has been corroborated by the findings of Hofstede too (Bu, Craig and Peng, 2001).

Managerial views world-wide may be uniform in general but national variations also play an important role in variances in attitude of managers, study done by Haire et al. (1966) in 14 countries is testimony to the fact.  Even leadership styles or belief on aptitude of their subordinates in participative management style also was found to be varied in different nationalities. Russian and American managers were compared and it was established that despite of the fact that many managerial undertakings were similar, nevertheless, former gave more weight to traditional management and had less consideration for networking and human resource management as compared to the Americans (Luthans, Welsh and Rosenkrantz, 1993). As evidenced from researches like that of Petrović et al. (2015), national culture is an important moderator of business performance in Serbian small firms engaged in construction sector. The study concluded that large power distance, low individualism and masculinity have negative consequences for the degree to which the top management of a company are willing to take the business risk (entrepreneurial orientation) and the business performance. A study in Sri Lanka done by Dissanayake and Semasinghe (2014), in which aforementioned cultural dimensions of Hofstede were researched revealed that the 127 entrepreneurs interviewed were collective, high power distant, feminine, low uncertainty avoidance, long term oriented and indulgent society. For those who contest that the Hofstede’s research is outdated, Silva et al. (2008) proved that they are still applicable. In their study it was found that Brazil scored higher on the dimension of power distance and collectivism as matched to Portugal which was earlier established by Hofstede. Additionally, World Value Survey of 65 countries which comprises of around 75% of global population also support the contemporary validity of Hofstede’s dimension despite of broad changes as a result of modernization and economic advances the world has experienced (Inglehart and Baker, 2000).

Research Objectives

The aim of the present research was to analyse and compare national cultural dimension indices and work values of Nigeria and India with special reference to that given by Geert Hofstede. The cross cultural measurements of employees’ work attitude in organizations in India and Nigeria was also aimed to be studied on a relative basis. The associations between different independent variables and different dimensions was also designed to be researched.

Instrument and Statistical Analysis Tools

Values Survey Module 2013 (VSM 2013) developed by Geert Hofstede and his associates (Hofstede, Hofstede & Michael Minkov, 2010) with 24 number of items was used to collect data. The cultural dimensions researched were measured according to the formulae given by the authors and are discussed in subsequent sections. To check the normal distribution of data and to determine whether to apply parametric or non-parametric test, Skewness and Kurtosis tests were used followed by Cronbach’s Alpha for reliability examination of the scale. Kendall’s Tau B method which is a non-parametric correlation test was subsequently applied along with Pearson’s Correlation Coefficient, One-way analysis of variance ANOVA, Simple Means, Standard Deviation and Percentages as other statistical tools for the purpose.

Descriptive and Reliability Statistics

Total sample included in the study was 324 randomly selected from Nigeria and India through a questionnaire sent electronically through google forms as well as the hard copy of the same, half-filled ones were excluded. Nationality wise 241 respondents were Nigerians and 83 Indians. The majority of Nigerian sample at 31.5% was in the age group of 25-29 years whereas for India it was 40-49 years at 44.6%, thus the Nigerian respondents in greater part were younger as compared to the Indian sample. Also the male respondents were more for Nigeria (77.6%) than the Indian ones (61.4%). The mean work experience for Nigerians was 8 years as against 16 years for Indians. Further, the study also involved certain job categories and among the Nigerian data most respondents were presently having no paid job (33.6%) followed by academically trained professionals 28.2%, which was most for Indian respondents at 31.3% and manager of one or more subordinate at 24.1% was the second highest. Other job types were vocationally trained craftsman, generally trained office workers, unskilled or semi-skilled manual workers, manager of one or more managers. To see the normal distribution of data Skewness and Kurtosis tests were executed, which are necessary to ensure validity and reliability of results (Tarhini, 2013). Skewness and Kurtosis values also help in determining whether to use a parametric or non-parametric test in the analysis (Orcan, 2020). It was found that all the variables tested were normal, coefficient of skewness being according to the recommended criteria of Bulmer (1979) at between -1 and +1 and kurtosis value between -3 and +3 (Field, 2013, p. 237). The Cronbach’s Alpha value (which was according to the standards) for Nigerian sample was .709 and that of Indian was .817.

Work Culture in Nigeria and India in light of Hofsteed’s Dimensions

It was established in the present study that for some cultural dimensions both India and Nigeria samples display almost similar levels, but if there are some reasonable differences, they are presented all through the present study. With mean 4.09 and 4.01 in that order, Nigerian respondents report that they have a direct superior that they can respect and they are turned to in decision making which was more than Indian mean of 3.90, 3.82 respectively. In Nigeria there are more instances of subordinates being afraid to oppose their person in charge (mean 3.04), while Indians are more likely to go against their bosses with mean 2.76. Also Indians in bigger numbers are against organisations having two bosses (mean 3.63) as compared to Nigerians who are more comfortable with the likelihood of two bosses (mean 3.39). Indian personnel however as compared to Nigerians state that they have sufficient time for their personal or home life, have security of employment, do interesting work and their work is respected by family and friends (means 4.29, 4.23, 4.23 and 4.05 as against 4.14, 4.07, 4.07 and 4.07 in that order).

Though not much difference but Indians also describe that they get recognition for good performance, have pleasant people to work with and have chances for promotion (means 4.17, 4.16 and 4.22 as against 4.16, 3.98 and 4.11 correspondingly). Nigerian workers also have feeling of nervousness (mean 3.32) more than Indians with mean 2.96 and they also believe that a person can be a good manager without having clear-cut answer to every question that a subordinate may raise about his or her work (Nigerian mean 2.95 and Indian mean 2.90). However, Nigerians were found to be more flexible than Indians for breaking organisational rules. With mean 2.99 Indian workers have the attitude than organisational rules should not be broken even when the employee thinks flouting the rule would be in the organization’s best interest (Nigerian mean 2.76). The findings further suggest that both set of respondents are on the same level on the issue of being proud of their country, but Nigerians (mean 3.87) more than Indians (3.80) feel that sustained struggles are the assured way to results. Indians also believe that it is important to have time for fun (mean 3.86) on a higher degree than Nigerians (mean 3.63), also living in moderation (mean 2.12) is the virtue of Nigerian as compared to Indians (mean 2.01). Nigerians also on greater levels feel that other people or circumstances sometimes prevent them from doing what they really want to do more than the Indians (means 3.41 as against 3.23), nonetheless, comparatively they are happier than Indians as a whole (Nigerian mean 3.70 and Indian mean 3.63).

Comparison between National Cultural Dimension Indices of Nigeria and India

All cultural dimensions as given by Geert Hofstede have been calculate with the formula given by the authors. The formula for Power Distance Index, PDI = 35(m07 – m02) + 25(m20 – m23) + C(pd) was used and the calculated values were Nigeria 78 and India 65 (world average 55) indicating that former has higher power distance in its culture than India. However, both the countries are on the higher side of power distance. The high power distance culture operates in a centralized organizational structure which has strong chain of command and hierarchies cannot be broken and which despises participative style of decision making. In modern organizations higher power distances may not work effectively. Nigerian respondents were found to be having more individualism tendency with score of 48 as against their Indian counterparts (42 being the score). Individualism Index (IDV) was calculated the formula being IDV = 35(m04 – m01) + 35(m09 – m06) + C(ic), the world average is 43. It is difficult for workers of individualistic culture to work in group settings like teams which are a new reality in modern work settings. Against the world average of 50 Masculinity Index (MAS) for Nigeria was significantly higher at 62 as against Indian score of 59, which goes on to show that Nigeria is a relatively masculine society. The formula for MAS = 35(m05 – m03) + 35(m08 – m10) + C(mf) was used for the calculations.

It indicates that there is more of competition and achievement motive among the people of both the countries, Nigeria however has more of this dimension and less of values like quality of life and caring for others. Further, the Uncertainty Avoidance Index (UAI) indicates reasonably moderate levels for Nigerian respondents with the score of 49 while at a comparative level Indian data scored 67 which is higher, the world average being 64. The formula for UAI = 40(m18 – m15) + 25(m21 – m24) + C(ua) was used and analysis point out that less emphasis is given by Nigerians as against Indians on career stability, they establish less of suitable rules, they don’t care much about deviant ideas or behaviours and they accept unfamiliar situations. Nigerian workforce also therefore is less resistant to change differing from their Indian counterparts. Long Term Orientation Index formula LTO = 40(m13 – m14) + 25(m19 – m22) + C(ls) indicated that India respondents with score 52 were more long term oriented as against Nigerian sample which scored 34, the world average being 45. Long term oriented societies attribute their failures on lack of efforts not on luck, which is good for business and work in general. Therefore, the results indicate that Indians are more frugal, practical and persistent in their approach as compared to Nigerians, who are looking for instant outcomes and goals. Indulgence versus Restraint Index (IVR) was the last dimension analysed and the formula used was IVR = 35(m12 – m11) + 40(m17 – m16) + C(ir). Low values of IVR were found in both the samples, Indian score at 19 was still lower for indulgence as compared to Nigeria with score 36. Fulfilling impulses and desires thus is more important for Nigerians which means they are happier in life than the Indians and they are also more entrepreneurial, all the values are presented in figure 1.

Figure 1: Geert Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions for India and Nigeria

Source: Research data

Cultural and Work values for Nigeria and India: Comparative Evaluation

For both the countries variables PDI, MAS and IDV have been analysed to see their association with the other cultural dimension given by Hofstede, employing Pearson’s Correlation Coefficient. The inter-item correlations in the Nigerian data shows a positive correlation for PDI with MAS with values of r=0.172 and p=0.007; p<0.01 which is comparable with that of Indian data with values of r=0.280 and p=0.010; p<0.05 which implies that as the power distance increases both the countries are found to be having masculine tendencies. Next PDI was correlated with LTO and for Nigerians as well as Indian there was a statistically significant positive correlation with the values of r=0.187 and p=0.004; p<0.01 and r=0.271 and p=0.013; p<0.05 respectively, thereby suggesting more the power distance more is the long term orientation for the respondents. Additionally, one more significant positive correlation was also experienced for the Indian data between PDI and IDV with the values of r=0.238 and p=0.030; p<0.05, meaning if there is more power distance people are having more of individualistic tendencies. For rest of the cultural dimensions there were no statistically significant relationships observed. In the Nigerian sample MAS was then interrelated with other variables and for IDV, IVR and LTO it witnessed positive significant correlations with values of r=0.419 and p=0.000; p<0.01, r=0.128 and p=0.047; p<0.05 and r=0.167 and p=0.030; p<0.05, in that order.  Therefore, as the masculinity index increased for Nigerians they were more individualistic, indulgent and long term oriented. However, for Indian sample MAS was positively correlated only with IDV and LTO with the values of r=0.353 and p=0.001; p<0.01 and r=0.351 and p=0.001; p<0.01. This means Indians if are more masculine, they were more individualistic and long term oriented but not indulgent. Next IDV was correlated with LTO and only for the Indian sample there was a positive correlation established among these two variables (r=0.508 and p=0.000; p<0.01). It implies that as the Indians become more individualistic they are also found to be more long term oriented, however this is not the case with Nigerians.

Age and Cultural Dimensions

Since it does not rely on any assumptions on distribution of variables and requires non-parametric measure, the rank correlation between age and different dimensions was calculated through Kendall’s Tau B method (Kendall, 1938). One thing before the analysis to note here is that in social and behavioural sciences .10 is low, .30 is moderate and .50 is high correlation. Since correlation coefficient is a measure of extent to which two variables are related to each other the variable of age having statistically significant correlation with the dependent variables are presented in this section, non-significant results are excluded. In the Nigerian data we see a high and significant correlation between age and IDV (Kendall’s tau=.125, 2-tailed Sig.=.28 p<.05) which implies as the age of the Nigerians increase, their individualistic tendencies also increase. However, there was no statistically significant correlation in the Indian sample for IDV, also same was true for age and MAS for the samples of both the countries. Next we find that the age if correlated with PDI for Nigerians did not yield any significant relationship, but that was not true for Indian respondents, as they had a very high and significant correlation for age vis-à-vis PDI (Kendall’s tau=.218, 2-tailed Sig.=.28, p<.05).  It implies that for Indians as their age increases their sense of power distance is also high. Next age was compared with IVR and for both the data there was a negative correlation experienced, which suggest that as the age of the respondents in the two countries increase their indulgence tendencies decrease and vice versa, however there was no significant correlation observed for this dimension. Correspondingly, though there was no significant correlation witnessed for age and LTO, however apparently as the age of Nigerians increased their long term orientation decreased and for Indians contrary was true. The last correlation of age was with UAI, where the Nigerian data showed a high significant negative correlation (Kendall’s tau=-.161, 2-tailed Sig.=.004 p<.01) implying that as the age increased for them uncertainty avoidance decreased and vice versa. However, age does not correlate significantly with UAI in the Indian data though superficially a negative association is observed here.

Gender and Cultural Dimensions

The one-way analysis of variance ANOVA test performed on the Nigerian sample indicates that with F (1,239) = .208, significance .649 (p>.05) there was no significant difference between males and females for the dimension individualism v/s collectivism. However Indian sample showed a very opposite result with F (1,81) = 7.816, significance .006 (p<.05), for this dimension having very significant statistical difference between gender. Hence Indian males with mean 4.43 standard deviation .575 were more individualistic than their women (mean 4.09 standard deviation .466). The dimension masculinity v/s femininity with F (1,239) = .012, significance .914 (p>.05) Nigerian sample was not statistically significant, which implies that both males and female have same levels of masculinity versus femininity dimension. In contrast with F (1,81) = 13.055, significance .001 (p<.05) the Indian sample which showed a very significant difference between males and females for this dimension indicates that men show more masculine tendencies than women (mean 4.51, 3.97 and standard deviation .579 and .782 in that order). For long v/s short term orientation dimension Nigerian equations for ANOVA were F (1,239) = .812, significance .368 (p>.05) which shows no significant difference between men and women vis-à-vis this orientation. However, India sample shows a very significant difference for the same dimension with values being F (1,81) =16.174, significance .000 (p<.05). Indian males with mean 4.24 and standard deviation .651 were more long term oriented that their women (mean 3.62 and standard deviation .707).  For all the other dimensions there was no significant difference in statistical terms between the sample of the two countries researched.

 Kind of Job and Individualism v/s Collectivism

ANOVA was employed to understand the statistical relationship between the different kind of jobs with each and every Hofstede’s dimensions and major results are discussed henceforth. Among the Nigerians the highest mean at 4.46 and standard deviation .502 for academically trained professionals suggest that among all the respondents researched on the basis of the work they do, these set of people are the most individualistic in approach. Manager of one or more subordinate were the most collectivist in orientation with mean 4 and standard deviation .690. For the Indian sample respondents under the category managers of one or more managers were most individualistic in their orientation with mean 4.60 and standard deviation .516 and the most collectivist were those who were presently not having paid job with mean 3.67 and standard deviation .707. Further the ANOVA values of F (6,234) = 4.117, significance .001 (p<.05) for Nigerian sample and F (5,77) = 3.553, significance .006 (p<.05) for Indian respondents suggest that for both the countries there is a very significant differences among the respondents under different job categories for the dimension of individualism v/s collectivism.

Kind of Job and Masculinity v/s Femininity

The most masculine tendencies for Nigerians are under the job category academically trained professional with mean 4.46 and standard deviation .502 and vocationally trained craftsman being the least (mean 3.86 and standard deviation .535). While for the Indian sample it was manager of one or more managers with mean 4.70 standard deviation .483 being most masculine and vocationally trained craftsman having most feminine tendencies (mean 4.00 and standard deviation .000). There was also variance in the Nigerian and Indian respondents for the dimension masculinity v/s femininity. While there was statistically significant difference among the various job categories in relation to this element in the Nigerian sample with F (6,234) = 4.658, significance .000 (p<.05), there was none for the Indian respondents with F (5,77) = 1.474, significance .208 (p>.05).

Kind of Job and Power Distance

In Nigerian sample highest power distance is acknowledged most by the job type academically trained professional (mean 3.87 and standard deviation .644) and least by vocationally trained craftsman with mean 3.50 and standard deviation .650. For the Indians generally trained office worker with mean 3.82 and standard deviation .405 had the highest PDI while manager of one or more subordinate (mean 3.50 and standard deviation .513) were having the least. This means that Nigerians are less into participative decision making in their organization and relatively Indians accept less that power should be distributed unequally in their institutions and organizations. Nevertheless, when the data was compared among both the Indian and the Nigerian respondents there was no significant difference among the job categories and their PDI.

Kind of Job and Indulgence v/s Restraint

Generally trained office workers were found to be most indulgent or go for free gratification of their desires among the Nigerians with mean 3.38 and standard deviation .561, least being unskilled or semi-skilled manual workers with mean 3.14 and standard deviation .363. For Indians with mean 3.57 and standard deviation .535 vocationally trained craftsman had highest indulgence score and manager of one or more managers exercise most restraint (mean 3.10 and standard deviation .316). Though, when the data was compared among both the Indian and the Nigerian respondents there was no significant difference among the job categories and their indulgence v/s restraint score.

Kind of Job and Long Term v/s Short Term Orientation

In Nigeria manager of one or more managers with mean 4.08 and standard deviation .862 were found to be most long term oriented characterized by future rewards, adaptation, perseverance and thrift while manager of one or more subordinate were most short term oriented group with mean 3.50 and standard deviation .913. Among Indians manager of one or more managers with mean 4.40 and standard deviation .699 were the most long term oriented while respondents presently with no paid job were the most short term oriented people (mean 3.33 and standard deviation 1), regarded as having values like respecting tradition and accomplishing social obligations. Additionally, among the Nigerian job categories there was no significant difference vis-à-vis long and short term orientation, nonetheless ANOVA proves a very significant difference for this dimension for Indian sample with F (5,77) = 3.441, significance .007 (p<.05).

Kind of Job and Uncertainty Avoidance

Unskilled or semi-skilled manual workers with mean 3.21 and standard deviation .579 had the highest score in uncertainty avoidance among the Nigerian respondents while manager of one or more subordinate (mean 2.73 and standard deviation .631) had the least, which means they are not threatened by anxiety contrasted with the former group.  As against this manager of one or more subordinate among Indians were highest in uncertainty avoidance index meaning they are threatened by ambiguous events more than the category of those who presently had no paid job (mean 3.10 and standard deviation .308 and mean 2.67 and standard deviation .500 in that order). All the same, there was no significant difference among the job categories and their UAI for both the countries.

DISCUSSION, CONCLUSION AND MANAGERIAL IMPLICATIONS

Bringing alignment between how management is done and cultural environment with myriad work values can be good for business. Masculinity for both Indian and Nigerian groups meant they were having more individualistic tendencies and had long term orientation, also latter had indulgent positioning except for Indian sample. Also more individualistic Indians were found to be long term oriented. Relative to India, Nigerian culture experiences greater degree of power distances, meaning they are more comfortable as compared to Indians if someone is more powerful than them, also business expansion for Nigerians is likely to be affected by power distance between proprietor and people working under him. For low power distance cultures participative management is good while its opposite for high power distance cultures. Also in high power distance orientation employee selection is based on social classes more than education, salary difference is high for managers and workers, authoritarian, coercive leadership is practiced and overall flat organisations are not found, more likely in Nigeria as against India. Nonetheless, both the countries are on higher side of power distance in terms of the world average. Additionally, we can also conclude that this is advantageous for entrepreneurial start-ups and smaller business entities in Nigeria who require an authoritarian managerial style. However, since more power distance give superiors unrestrained power they get respect from subordinates even when they do not deserve it, this also promotes incompetence. Since the decision making is centralized, even wrong decision taken by someone who is more powerful than you are not questioned, negatively effecting the organisations. Since Nigerian respondents were found to be more individualistic than Indians, it implies that the managers here are likely to promote the ingenuity of its workforce and their uniqueness. Further, it also means that India gives more emphasis on the welfare of the organisation in total as against the interests of individual workers.

Nigeria was also found to be more masculine society as against India which indicates that the workforce here consumes themselves with more competition and aggressive dealings, having side effects of reduced profits for organisations and higher employee turnover as a result of depression, gender prejudices, sexual harassment and a general misbalance of work and life. There is also a perception that feminine leadership is more people oriented which encourages participative management style as against the masculine style which was found in Nigeria which is autocratic and characterizes for task orientation. One common thread in both the countries was that if power distance was more it showed that people were more masculine and long term oriented. While only Indians with high power distance were on higher side of individualism. Nigerian respondents have restrained levels of uncertainty avoidance implying that they as compared to Indians accept vagueness or uncertainty in their work setting. Indians on the other hand as the findings suggest plan in advance which leads to avoidance of making wrong decisions. However, Nigerians in businesses due to this cultural dimension are more risk taking and if they explore and work on new ideas they may also get some innovative and profitable business leads as against Indians. Employees in India are more likely strive to build theirs’ and their organisation’s future since they were found to be more long term oriented which is in contrast with their Nigerian counterparts, who are more concerned about their immediate needs. Nigerians due to this cultural dimension are more ambitious, determined to achieve much with lesser efforts which may lead them to identify opportunities around them for their businesses or work, leading to quicker profits. Managers from cultures like that of Nigeria rely more on past successes and try to replicate them. Though both the societies believe in restraint, nonetheless Nigerians as compared to Indians were found to be more indulgent in context of their national culture, thus they are more optimistic which may be good in context of business. Indulgence also means better corporate performance and according to Martin and Lopes (2016) it leads to higher profitability. In organisational context, the present study also confirms that older Nigerians are more likely to foster the culture of self-sufficiency, autonomy and less of team work, since age for them mean more individualistic tendencies. It also means individual interest for Nigerians is more important than those of organisation as a whole, nevertheless no such association was found for Indian sample.

However Indian managers the study concludes with advanced age don’t believe in equal treatment of the workforce, with high power distance reverence is given to a superior having authority as compared to the Nigerian people. Nigerian workers or for that matter managers also don’t believe much on planning ahead for future and care lesser about organisational rules and regulations. Indian males were also found to be more individualistic, masculine and long term oriented than their female counterparts who showed more collectivistic, feminine and short term orientation which has a bearing on how organisations function, but no statistical association was noted for Nigerian respondents. Thus Indian males as compared to females give more importance to career progress, are less organisationally committed and give more importance to self-interest than the organizational interest. They are also more assertive, aggressive, decisive, determined, prudent and give less value to their social obligations than females. Most individualistic tendencies were displayed for the job category academically trained professionals, which is also well understood as these professionals need to upgrade themselves continually to advance in career.

Overall sample indicated that the managers of one or more subordinate were the most collectivist in orientation which they are supposed be as they have to work on a team basis for the achievement of organisational goals, rather than only striving to advance their own motives, but Indians of this category were individualistic, which is not desired. The country data further suggests that Nigerians were more collectivist than Indians. Academically trained professional Nigerians were found to be most masculine (for Indians it was manager of one or more manager category), while vocationally trained craftsman were the least irrespective of countries. Indians as a whole were also established as more masculine society than Nigerians in the present study. Additionally, power distance experienced by the workforce in different jobs in both the countries was on matching levels, same was true for indulgence versus restraint aspect. In Nigeria whatever be the type of job, workers were found to be more short term oriented, with implication that they followed traditions and societal compulsions more than their Indian counterparts. However, as against Nigeria in India the job category manager of one or more managers cared more of future prospects and were persistent (higher LTO) and people with no paid job was the short term oriented group. As for the different job categories uncertainty avoidance levels were statistically not substantial for both the countries. Nevertheless, Nigerian sample indicted as a whole being more uncertainty avoidance group as compared to India. Keeping in view all the managerial implications discussed above, future studies can move a step forward by filling in the gaps discovered in the present study. Also national culture and work values while researched should be taken due care by the researchers and be simply put and asked since they can unintentionally touch some sensitive issues and can be misunderstood by the respondents.

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