the effect of culture on job satisfaction and organizational commitment
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This article was downloaded by: [UNIVERSITY OF ADELAIDE LIBRARIES]On: 16 November 2014, At: 17:44Publisher: RoutledgeInforma Ltd Registered in England and Wales Registered Number: 1072954Registered office: Mortimer House, 37-41 Mortimer Street, London W1T 3JH,UK
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The Effect of Culture on JobSatisfaction and OrganizationalCommitmentJohn O. Okpara aa of Strategic Management & International Business,Department of Management , College of Business,Sutliff Hall , Room 266Bloomsburg University ofPennsylvania, 400 East Second Street, Bloomsburg,PA, 17815-11301, USAPublished online: 04 Oct 2008.
To cite this article: John O. Okpara (2007) The Effect of Culture on Job Satisfactionand Organizational Commitment, Journal of African Business, 8:1, 113-130, DOI:10.1300/J156v08n01_07
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The Effect of Culture on Job Satisfactionand Organizational Commitment:
A Study of InformationSystem Managers in Nigeria
John O. Okpara
ABSTRACT. Job satisfaction has received a great deal of attentionin organizational research due to its significant impact on work attitudessuch as organizational commitment, performance, absenteeism, and turn-over intentions. Many organizations in Africa are plagued by poor per-formance, high turnover rates, and low productivity, largely due tothe negative work attitudes of the workforce. Information technology(IT) is seen as one of the means to liberate the sagging African econo-mies, and boost employees’ morale, performance, and productivity. Thispaper investigates the effect of cultural values on job satisfaction and or-ganizational commitment in Nigeria. Data were collected from 316information systems managers in selected business organizations inNigeria. Results of this study suggest (in support of many western stud-ies) that cultural factors are positively and significantly related to jobsatisfaction and organizational commitment. Implications for manage-ment practice are discussed. doi:10.1300/J156v08n01_07 [Article copiesavailable for a fee from The Haworth Document Delivery Service:1-800-HAWORTH. E-mail address: <[email protected]> Website:<http://www.HaworthPress.com> © 2007 by The Haworth Press, Inc. All rightsreserved.]
John O. Okpara, PhD, is Associate Professor of Strategic Management & Interna-tional Business, Department of Management, College of Business, Sutliff Hall, Room266, Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania, 400 East Second Street, Bloomsburg,PA 17815-11301 (E-mail: [email protected]).
Journal of African Business, Vol. 8(1) 2007Available online at http://jab.haworthpress.com
© 2007 by The Haworth Press, Inc. All rights reserved.doi:10.1300/J156v08n01_07 113
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KEYWORDS. Cultural values, organizational commitment, informationsystems, job satisfaction, performance, productivity, turnover, globaleconomy, Africa, Nigeria
INTRODUCTION
Many organizations in Africa are plagued by poor performance, highturnover rates, and low productivity, largely due to the negative workattitudes of the workforce. Information technology (IT) is seen as one ofthe means to liberate the sagging African economies, boost employees’morale, and enhance job satisfaction, performance, and productivity.The globalization of business, the emergence of information econo-mies, and the growth of the Internet and other global communicationsnetworks have recast the role of information systems managers inorganizations (Laudon & Laudon, 2000).
To deal with the enormous growth in IT, organizations must competeto hire and retain the best and brightest people they can find. In today’sglobally competitive environment, the success of businesses will ulti-mately depend on how they use information technology (Shelly et al.,2000). Businesses have spent billions of dollars on the development andimplementation of information systems (IS) applications. The develop-ment and implementation of these systems is the responsibility of IS man-agers. Thus, the welfare of both organizations and the individuals withwhom they interact depends largely on the conduct of these managers.
An extensive survey of the available literature coupled with an-ecdotal evidence has shown that a great deal of research has beenconducted on cultural values, job satisfaction, and the organizationalcommitment of employees; however, these studies have been under-taken primarily in the United States and Europe. Very little researchhas been done on this issue–and none at all on the effect of culture onjob satisfaction and the organizational commitment of IS managers inNigeria. As this country’s economy is developing very rapidly, it is im-perative that more research be conducted if this development is to bemaximized within the business and industrial sectors. The current studyof Nigerian IS managers was an attempt to bridge this gap in order toimprove our understanding on this topic and to learn how to deal withwork-related attitudes in managing modern business organizations inthis country.
This study is significant for a rapidly developing country such asNigeria, as there is a great need to understand the attitudes of IS manag-
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ers toward their work in order to determine job satisfaction and commit-ment levels. This could lead to improvements in workplaces to helpmanagers remain satisfied and continue in their jobs. Second, job satis-faction has often been linked to organizational commitment, turnoverintentions, and absenteeism (Koh & Boo, 2000). These variables arecostly to organizations as they lead to low morale, poor performance,lower productivity, and higher costs in hiring, retention, training, anddevelopment. Third, from a theoretical perspective, it is important toenhance our understanding of how cultural values affect the job satis-faction and organizational commitment of managers in a non-westerncountry. This could stimulate further research in this area. Finally, froma practical standpoint, it is vital to provide practitioners with crucialinformation that could enable them to make informed decisions in theareas of recruitment, selection, promotion, and training. Thus, this studyhas dealt with issues that are potentially important for educators andpractitioners alike. The purpose of this study, therefore, was to examinethe influence of cultural values on job satisfaction and the organiza-tional commitment of IS managers in Nigeria.
THEORETICAL RATIONALE
The theoretical rationale for this study is based on the results of studiesconducted by a variety of researchers (Hofstede, 1980, 1994; Dorfman &Howell, 1988; Dubinsky & Borys, 1981; Clark & Larkin, 1992; McNeilly &Russ, 1992; Igbaria & Guimaraes, 1993; Deconinck & Bachman, 1994;Baugh & Roberts, 1994; Liou 1995; Aram & Piraino, 1978; Burger &Bass, 1979; Wright, 1981; Adler, 1991). These researchers have demon-strated that there exists a relationship among the study variables (culturalvalues, job satisfaction, and organizational commitment). Figure 1 pre-sents the conceptual framework for this study, which is based on previousstudies that have demonstrated that cultural values affect work behavior(Hofstede 1980, 1994; Ahiauzu, 1984; Ejiofor, 1987; Okpara, 1996). Otherresearchers (Russ & McNeilly, 1995; Kalleberg & Marsden, 1995) havealso indicated that job satisfaction and organizational commitment arepositively correlated.
A one-stage normative model was developed, as depicted in Figure 1.The model relates independent and dependent variables without any in-tervening variables. The relationships as shown in the model are asso-ciative rather than causal in nature. In this study, cultural values are the
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independent variables and job satisfaction and commitment are thedependent variables.
LITERATURE REVIEW AND HYPOTHESES
This section contains a discussion of research on cultural values, jobsatisfaction, and organizational commitment. The literature review isorganized as follows: A review of cultural values studies is presentedand two hypotheses based on the literature are presented. The secondsection presents research on organizational commitment and job satis-faction. Based on the literature review, further two hypotheses arepresented.
Cultural Values
Cultural values have been defined as sets of rules for making choicesand reducing conflicts in a society. A number of studies have indicatedthat levels of organizational commitment fluctuate with variations incultures (Near, 1989; Al-Meer, 1989, 1995). An extensive search of theliterature on the impact of culture on work attitudes revealed that therewas a lack of research relating cultural factors (such as the extendedfamily system) to work-related behavior in Nigeria. Ahiauzu (1984)argued that culture should not be ignored in the study of work behaviorbecause of its influence on the attitudes of people. Other management
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Cultural Variables
CollectivistCulture
Extended FamilyCulture
OrganizationalCommitment
Job Satisfaction
Work Attitude Variables
Independent Variables Dependent Variables
FIGURE 1. The Research Framework
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scholars in Nigeria such as Ejiofor (1987) have supported the notion thatcultural factors affect employees’ work attitude. Ejiofor (1987) statedthat cultural factors affected work attitudes in many ways. He arguedthat the extended family system in Nigeria is such that the worker seeshimself as working for the members of his extended family rather thanfor his own immediate family. Previous studies in Nigeria relating cul-tural issues to work attitudes such as job satisfaction have concludedthat cultural factors are associated with work behavior (Ahiauzu, 1984;Ejiofor, 1987; Okpara, 1996). Thus, one might argue that variations inorganizational commitment levels resulting from variations in culturewould lead to variations in the levels of both job satisfaction andcommitment.
Also, cultural factors such as the prevailing national culture and theextended family system would be positively related to job satisfactionand commitment. Therefore, we propose the following:
H1: National culture will be significantly and positively related tomanagerial job satisfaction and commitment.
H2: The extended family system will be significantly and posi-tively related to managerial job satisfaction and commitment.
Job Satisfaction and Organizational Commitment
Job satisfaction and organizational commitment have received a greatdeal of attention in organizational research due to their significant impacton work attitudes such as commitment, performance, absenteeism, andturnover intentions. For instance, several researchers have concluded thatemployees who are more satisfied with their jobs are also absent less of-ten (Hackett & Guion, 1985) and less likely to leave (Carsten & Spector,1987). They are also more likely to display organizational citizenshipbehavior (Organ & Konovsky, 1989) and to be satisfied with theirlives overall (Judge & Watanabe, 1993). Employees who are morecommitted are less likely to plan to leave their jobs (Mathieu & Zajac,1990) or to actually leave (Netemeyer et al., 1995). They are less likely toexperience stress (Begley & Czajka, 1993) and are more likely to performwell (Mathieu & Zajac, 1990), and behave prosaically (O’Reilly &Chatman, 1986). Some researchers have attributed satisfaction and com-mitment differences to cultural values (Dorfman & Howell, 1988). Forexample, Palich and his colleagues (1995) found employee commitmentlevels in 15 European and Canadian affiliates of a U.S. multinational tobe significantly and negatively affected by individualism (the tendency to
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promote one’s own interests over the interests of the group or society,Hofstede, 1980b) and uncertainty avoidance (the extent to which a soci-ety’s members feel threatened by uncertain and ambiguous situations,Hofstede, 1980b). Also, commitment levels were significantly and posi-tively affected by masculinity (the extent to which the dominant values ina society are assertiveness and material gain) (Hofstede, 1980b).
Russ and McNeilly (1995) investigated the relationship betweenorganizational commitment and job satisfaction using experience, gen-der, and performance as moderators and concluded that there was a rela-tionship between job satisfaction and organizational commitment.
Specifically, these studies have indeed shown that there is a positiverelationship between organizational commitment and job satisfaction(Meyer et al., 1989; Mayer & Schoorm, 1992; Deconinck & Bachman,1994; Liou, 1995; Ward & Davis, 1995; Wong et al., 1995; Fletcher &Williams, 1996). Based on these studies, one could therefore concludethat there would be an association between organizational commitmentand job satisfaction. Thus, we propose the following:
H3: Job satisfaction will be significantly and positively related toorganizational commitment.
H4: National culture will be a better predictor of managerial jobsatisfaction and commitment.
RESEARCH METHOD
Sample and Data Collection
The sample used in this study consisted of 400 IS managers em-ployed in the banking, construction, manufacturing, and transportationindustries represented in the “A to Z Trade Directory of Nigeria.” Theresearcher made telephone calls to companies in the directory to deter-mine their managerial structure so that samples could be selected. Thesurvey was conducted in Nigeria from August 7 to September 9, 2002.The researcher traveled to Nigeria to supervise the data collection pro-cedure personally. The companies identified for the research wereall located in Lagos and Abuja. These cities were selected because theyhave the highest concentration of the industries identified by the re-searcher. Transportation and communication factors also played a sig-nificant role in selecting the cities. A stratified sampling technique wasused to select the managers identified for this research to ensure that
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different managerial ranks were adequately represented in the sampleand to increase the level of accuracy in estimating parameters. Fourhundred questionnaires were distributed through drop-off and pick-upmethods. Of the 400 questionnaires distributed, 316 were returned, rep-resenting a 79% response rate. The covering letter accompanying eachquestionnaire explained the objectives of the study, assured respondentsof confidentiality, and urged them to participate in the study.
MEASURES
Organizational Commitment
Mowday et al.’s (1979) Organizational Commitment Question-naire (OCQ) was used to measure employees’ commitment to theirorganizations. This instrument measures attitudinal commitment, andconsists of nine items. Examples of these items are: “I am willing to putin a great deal of effort beyond that normally expected in order to helpthis organization to be successful,” “I talk up this organization to myfriends as a great organization to work for,” “I am extremely gladI chose this organization to work for over others I was considering at thetime I joined.” A 7-point scale ranging from 1 (Strongly disagree) to 7(Strongly agree) was employed. Scores on the nine items were averagedto yield a summary score reflecting organizational commitment. Thisinstrument has been tested and used previously in a Third-world setting(Al-Meer, 1989; Yavas et al., 1990). The internal consistency reliability(Cronbach’s alpha) for this scale in this study is 0.88.
Job Satisfaction
A questionnaire was constructed consisting of a slightly modifiedform of the Job Descriptive Index (Smith et al., 1969, 1985) and somedemographic questions. The Job Descriptive Index is one of the mostpopular measures of job satisfaction and has been found to producehighly reliable results (Imparato, 1972). The questionnaire used in thisstudy employed eight scales designed to measure satisfaction with re-spect to different components of the IS managers’ overall job satisfac-tion, namely: (1) satisfaction with pay, (2) promotion, (3) supervision,(4) co-workers, job satisfaction (work), (5) overall job satisfaction,(6) organizational commitment, (7) national culture, and (8) extendedfamily system (see Table 1). Each item in the scale was measured on
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a scale from 1 (representing Extreme dissatisfaction) to 7 (representingExtreme satisfaction). Thus, 4 represented Indifference, that is, neithersatisfied nor dissatisfied, and neither 5, 6, nor 7 represented Positive sat-isfaction. The higher the number, the greater the satisfaction level. Sim-ilarly, 1, 2, and 3 recordings represented negative satisfaction–the lowerthe number, the greater the level of dissatisfaction. The total from theeight scales gives a summary measure of overall job satisfaction. Thedemographic questions covered gender, age, education, and experience.
National Culture
An instrument developed by the researcher based on Hofstede’sindividualism/collectivism dimension was used to measure nationalculture. The six items measured collectivism, or a culture in whichpeople believe that group success is more important than individualachievement. Examples of items included in this instrument are: “groupwelfare is more important than personal rewards,” “Group success ismore important than personal success,” “Being accepted by the mem-bers of a workgroup is very important,” “Individuals should only pursuetheir goals after considering the welfare of the group,” “Supervisorsshould encourage loyalty even if individual goals suffer,” “Employeesmay be expected to give up their goals to benefit the group.” A 5-pointscale was employed, ranging from 1 (Strongly agree) to 5 (Strongly dis-agree). The internal consistency reliability (Cronbach’s alpha) for thisscale is 0.85. The Spearman-Brown step-up formula is 0.90.
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TABLE 1. Descriptive Statistics and Alpha Coefficient of Variables
Variable Mean S.D. Alpha coefficient
Job satisfaction (pay) 2.37 0.53 0.59
Job satisfaction (promotion) 2.14 0.41 0.56
Job satisfaction (supervision) 2.51 0.57 0.61
Job satisfaction (co-workers) 2.62 0.60 0.76
Job satisfaction (work) 2.38 0.55 0.59
Job satisfaction (overall) 2.68 0.48 0.77
Organizational commitment 2.65 0.43 0.80
National culture 3.14 0.47 0.79
Extended family system 3.05 0.53 0.75
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Extended Family System Questionnaire
The Extended Family System Questionnaire (EFSQ) developed bythe researcher was used to elicit responses from the respondents. TheEFSQ measures the influence of the extended family system on job sat-isfaction and organizational commitment and consists of eight items:For example, (1) I see myself working for my extended family ratherthan my immediate family, (2) Financial pressure from the extendedfamily affects my job performance, (3) I am satisfied with my paybecause I have no financial pressures from my relatives, (4) My incomeis inadequate to support my immediate family and my relatives, (5) Over-all, I am more satisfied with my job when I have less financial pressuresfrom my relatives, (6) I am not putting my best efforts into this or-ganization because I have to look for other means to support my ex-tended family, (7) Those who have more dependent relatives tend beless satisfied with their jobs than employees who have less dependentrelatives, (8) Employees who have less dependent relatives are morecommitted to this organization than employees with more dependentrelatives. A 5-point scale was used, ranging from 1 (Strongly agree) to5 (Strongly disagree).
Validity and Reliability of EFSQ
The internal consistency reliability for the EFSQ (Cronbach’s alpha)for this scale is 0.88. The Spearman-Brown step-up formula is 0.98.These data suggest that the EFSQ is a reliable measure for identifyingthe influence of extended family systems on job satisfaction and organi-zational commitment. Several demographic variables (age, gender,education, and experience) were also included in the study.
Validation of the Research Instruments
The instruments used in this research were submitted to a panel ofexperts in Nigeria, the United States, and the United Kingdom for vali-dation. The panel was asked to review the content of the items in eachof the instruments and determine if the items were within the range oflinguistic capabilities and understanding of managers in Nigeria. Thepanel was also asked to eliminate items or questions they found to be ir-relevant to the Nigerian cultural and managerial environment and tomake suggestions for simplification of the items that were not relevant.After some modifications were made, the instruments were resubmitted
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to the panel, which unanimously recommended the use of the modifiedinstruments for this study.
Pilot Test of the Instruments
To establish the highest degree of reliability, the jury-validated in-struments were pre-tested on a small sample of (n = 65) randomly se-lected managers. The correlation of random split-halves for internalconsistency ranged from 0.85 to 0.90. Also, the step-up formula rangedfrom 0.85 to 0.98. Thus, these results suggested that the JDI and EFSQwere reliable instruments for use in this study.
DATA ANALYSIS
The descriptive statistics and alpha coefficient of job satisfaction(pay, promotion, co-workers, supervision, and work), organizationalcommitment, national culture, and the extended family system are sum-marized in Table 1, showing that all the study variables are significantlycorrelated with job satisfaction. The correlation matrix of the variablesin the regression model is given in Table 2. As can be seen, all the mea-sures of job satisfaction (X1 to X9 in the table) are significantly and
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TABLE 2. Correlation Matrix of Study Variables
Variable X1 X2 X3 X4 X5 X6 X7 X8 X9
X1 1.00
X2 0.58* 1.00
X3 �0.41 0.87* 1.00
X4 �0.37 0.52* 0.76* 1.00
X5 0.60* 0.59* 0.41 0.48 1.00
X6 0.53* 0.32* 0.36 �0.43 0.26 1.00
X7 0.46* 0.44* 0.77* 0.40 0.22 0.31 1.00
X8 0.55* �0.39 0.62* 0.80* 0.35 0.41 0.24 1.00
X9 0.64* �0.45 0.78* 0.85* 0.60* 0.36 0.74* 0.88* 1.00
*p < 0.01Note: X1 = National culture; X2 = Extended family system (issues); X3 = Job satisfaction (pay); X4 = Jobsatisfaction (promotion); X5 = Job satisfaction (co-workers); X6 = Job satisfaction (supervision); X7 = Jobsatisfaction (work); X8 = Job satisfaction (overall); X9 = Organizational commitment.
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positively correlated among themselves. In addition, the variables na-tional culture (X1) and extended family system (issues) (X2) were posi-tively and significantly correlated to X3 job satisfaction (pay), X4(promotion), X5 (co-workers), X6 (supervision), X7 (work), X8 (over-all), and X9 (organizational commitment). These findings support H1,H2, H3, and H4 and are in line with previous studies and the generalnotion that cultural factors are related to job satisfaction and the organi-zational commitment of employees. Descriptive statistical analysis isused to present the main characteristics of the sample. Means, standarddeviations, and inter-correlations are also used. Additionally, multipleregression analysis regression models were used to test the hypothesesdeveloped for this study.
RESULTS
Multiple Regression Analysis
Two regression runs were performed on national culture, extendedfamily system, and commitment on overall job satisfaction as well assatisfaction with pay, promotion, co-workers, supervision, and work.The multiple regression analysis results are summarized in Tables 3and 4, which show that each regression model gives consistent findings.The results are discussed only for the models with overall job satisfac-tion as the dependent variables. As shown in Table 3, the regressionmodel is significant (p-value = 0.0001) and has an R2 of 0.67. That is,67% of the variation in employee overall job satisfaction and organiza-tional commitment can be explained by the variation in national culture.The result of the regression model in Table 4 also shows that the model issignificant (p-value = 0.0001) and has an R2 of 0.65. That is, 65% of thevariation in employee overall job satisfaction and organizational com-mitment can be explained by the variation in the extended familysystem.
DISCUSSION
The result that national culture and the extended family system affectemployee job satisfaction and commitment is in line with earlier find-ings (Ahiauzu, 1984; Ejiofor, 1987; Okpara, 1996). The finding thatnational culture is associated with job satisfaction and organizational
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commitment might indicate that the respondents believe that groupsuccess is more important than individual achievement, supportingstudies conducted in the west. This result is to be expected, becauseNigerian culture supports and encourages group/team communalefforts. The results showing that the relationships between extended
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TABLE 3. Results of Multiple Regression Analysis of National Culture on JobSatisfaction and Organizational Commitment
Variable r p-value*
National Culture
Job satisfaction (pay) 0.69 0.005**
Job satisfaction (promotion) 0.56 0.005**
Job satisfaction (supervision) 0.55 0.005**
Job satisfaction (co-workers) 0.66 0.005**
Job satisfaction (work) 0.69 0.005**
Job satisfaction (overall) 0.58 0.005**
Organizational commitment 0.71 0.007**
Model 1 (R2 = 0.67; F = 88.10) 0.0001**
*p < 0.05, **p < 0.01
TABLE 4. Results of Multiple Regression Analysis of Extended Family Systemon Job Satisfaction and Organizational Commitment
Variable r p-value*
Extended Family System
Job satisfaction (pay) 0.80 0.005**
Job satisfaction (promotion) 0.78 0.005**
Job satisfaction (supervision) 0.59 0.005**
Job satisfaction (co-workers) 0.53 0.005**
Job satisfaction (work) 0.59 0.005**
Job satisfaction (overall) 0.82 0.005**
Organizational commitment 0.87 0.007**
Model 2 (R2 = 0.65; F = 91.12) 0.000**
*p < 0.05, **p < 0.01
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family issues, job satisfaction, and organizational commitment are posi-tive and significant indicate that financial and social pressures from theextended family affect employees’ job satisfaction and commitment.These results were consistent with the pattern found in a number ofwestern studies (Russ & McNeilly, 1995; Kalleberg & Marsden, 1995;O’Reilly & Chatman, 1986; Mathieu & Zajac, 1990).
Furthermore, the results showing that the relationships between jobsatisfaction and organizational commitment are positive and significantindicate that those who are committed to their organizations are moresatisfied with their jobs and their performance is high. These resultswere also consistent with those found in a number of western studies(Mowday et al., 1974; Clark & Larking, 1992; Vandenberg & Lance,1992; Igbaria & Guimaraes, 1993; Baugh & Roberts, 1994; Russ &McNeilly, 1995; Wong et al., 1995). The findings that national culture(nationality) is a better predictor of job satisfaction and organizationalcommitment indicate that in Nigeria, managerial environment, groupdecision making, adopting a consultative or participative managementstyle, and understanding the influence of the extended family systemplay a critical role in managing Nigerian workers. The results of thisstudy in terms of the influence of national culture on the relationshipsbetween job satisfaction and organizational commitment were consis-tent with the theoretical literature. Therefore, given that most findingsof the present study are in line with those of many western studies, de-spite the great differences between the two settings, one could arguethat the western construct could be valid in non-western settings. Thisstudy provides initial evidence that popular constructs in the westernmanagement and organizational behavior literature should not be auto-matically dismissed as being culture bound. While researchers are en-couraged to develop culture-bound constructs, we should continue tofine tune and modify proven western constructs and adapt them to moveresearch forward in developing countries.
CONCLUSION
This study was primarily concerned with investigating the influencecultural values have on job satisfaction and the commitment of ISmanagers in Nigeria. This issue has not been dealt with in prior studies,especially in relation to Nigeria. The findings of this study concludethat national culture and extended family system issues influence job
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satisfaction and organizational commitment. The study also concludesthat job satisfaction is positively and significantly related to organiza-tional commitment. National culture and extended family issues werefound to be better predictors of job satisfaction and commitment. Cau-tion must also be exercised in making generalizations about the impactof cultural values on job satisfaction and commitment among IS manag-ers since there are likely to be large individual differences among ISmanagers in Nigeria. A number of variables other than cultural factorscould influence job satisfaction and organizational commitment. Allthe usual methodological limitations regarding survey research areapplicable to the results presented in this study. Other research method-ology may be useful in substantiating the findings observed in thisinvestigation.
IMPLICATIONS
The results of this study have a number of implications. Managementshould bear in mind that any action to improve employees’ job satisfac-tion and organizational commitment in a non-western culture like Nigeriashould consider culture as an important variable. In the case of Nigeria,the extended family system issue is a significant work variable to beconsidered when developing strategies to enhance employees’ job satis-faction and commitment. Improving employees’ satisfaction and com-mitment requires an understanding of extended family issues and theirimpact on employees’ behavior. Top management and global businessleaders with organizational ties in Nigeria should consider the extendedfamily responsibilities of workers when selecting and promoting employ-ees. Compensation packages should take into consideration the financialneeds and responsibilities of the worker in maintaining the extended fam-ily. The finding that national culture moderates the relationship betweenorganizational commitment and job satisfaction can benefit managers.Understanding this relationship can help managers to develop strategiesto enhance performance, commitment, and job satisfaction. It is recom-mended that management pay particular attention to the needs of the ISmanagers when selecting entry-level managers for higher positions, be-cause IS managers are frequently difficult to find and expensive to re-cruit. They can also be very costly to the organization if their performanceis low or if their tenure is brief.
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RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FUTURE RESEARCH
In this section, recommendations are made for researchers doingcross-cultural research now or in the future. Based on the results,discussion, and conclusions of this study, the following areas of re-search are recommended for future study.
• As with most research, replication of this study is suggested forcross-validation purposes. The use of larger samples and a broadergeographic base is recommended. Inclusion and/or use of a samplefrom other industrial classifications may enhance the results.
• An ethnographic case study of research design among a wide vari-ety of industries would give a strong indication of what the resltantfindings would mean when compared with the present research de-sign that bases the effect of cultural values on job satisfaction and theorganizational commitment of IS managers on quantitative factors.
• An in-depth study is recommended to determine the extent to whichthe extended family system and national culture affect job satisfac-tion and the organizational commitment of managers in Nigeria.
• It is also recommended that a comparative study be undertaken todetermine whether differences exist in IS managers’ job satisfac-tion and organizational commitment levels between Nigeria andother African countries.
Globalization is having a significant impact on management all overthe world, Africa being no exception. In concluding this study, it is rec-ommended that more cross-cultural research be conducted to assess jobsatisfaction and organizational commitment levels of IS managers indifferent cultures. The art and science of management is an ongoingand far-reaching activity; much more needs to be done, especially insub-Saharan Africa, where modern industrial and service organizationsare said to be in the formalization stage and are destined to expand tobecome major players in the global economy.
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