A Case Study of Nigeria

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Religion/tradition

There are three predominant tribes within Nigeria, Hausa in the north, Ibo and Yoruba in the south, with subsequent subdivision of the south into two sections - south-east and south-west. This subdivision puts the Ibo in the south-east and Yoruba in the south-west. The north is highly populated with Muslims and the south is divided amongst the Ibo which is predominantly Christians and the Yoruba with an equal mix between both religions. It is important to know the geographic location of the state in which you are doing business with regards to understanding the different customs and values that are observed. While it is common to greet a Nigerian with a handshake, observant Muslims will not shake hands with those of the opposite sex. Observing religious holidays will also differ depending on location. For Christians, major holidays like Christmas and Easter are recognized as national holidays. Ramadan, the Islamic month of fasting is observed by Muslims as well as, Eid-Al-Adha and Eid-Al-Fitr. For those employed in the north the working hours will differ from those in the south to help accommodate for Jumu'ah, holy prayer on Fridays. (Nigeria Country Guide, 2017)

Norms and Scripts

With lack of regard to time, this norm is carried through in the initial business meeting. When meeting a Nigerian business partner for the first time, the first 2 hours are dedicated to getting to know your partner on a familiar level. Though the initial meetings will be formal, when Nigerians begin to feel comfortable around you and a mutual trust has been established, the meetings will become less formal (Communicaid, 2017). The Nigerian society is that of a high power distance, the importance of class of order is important. It is imperative to note that elders and those in authority are given most respect. When meeting someone who is older than you it is suggested that one should lower their eyes out of respect. When in meetings with colleagues of higher rankings be prepared to be spoken-over, and interrupted. Even though employee input is encouraged, final decisions are made by senior manager. When introducing yourself, titles are important, being that Nigeria is very class-conscious one should address their academia and professional title and surname. Nigeria is not a first name basis culture, not unless someone welcomes you to address them by their first name should you (Nigeria Country Guide, 2017 ).

Communication Styles: High context or low context

The concept of high or low context of communication explains how different cultures communicate. It shows how implicit or explicit people in either cultural category use words or gestures to convey meaning (Bennett, 2014). High-context implies that many unspoken information is implicitly transferred during communication, while Low-context implies that a lot of information is exchanged explicitly through the message itself and rarely is anything implicit or obscure (Communicaid, 2017). Owing to the varying ethnic makeup of the country, the style of communication tends to vary. While people in the southern region have been known to be very direct with communication, other regions like the west and north are less direct and often use provers and adage to supplement how they convey messages or communicate with others (Nigeria Country Guide, 2017).

However, according to the Hofstede’s cultural dimension discussed above, Nigeria’s low score of 30 on the Individualism dimension implies that the country is a collectivist community with close ties among its members, where family or community values are highly respected and valued. With this in mind, and according to the communication framework developed by Edward Hall, individualistic culture tends to be on the dimension of high context communication, while collectivist culture tends to have low context style of communication (Bennett, 2014). Suffice to say that, statistically and to allow a fair comparison with other cultures, Nigeria is considered one of the countries with a low context style of communication.

Value of time and time consciousness

Anthropologist Edward Hall developed the concept of Time Orientation, which he used to explain how cultures structure their time. The concept explained two types of orientation, which he called polychronic versus monochronic time orientation (Hall, 1989). Monochronic time orientation goes by the assumption of doing one thing at a time while polychronic assumes the idea of doing multiple task at the same time. Based on this concept, Nigeria may be considered a polychronic culture in terms of time orientation and time management, because in Nigeria, time is fluid and flexible. Work time is not clearly separable from personal time and many tasks are handled simultaneously. With this laid back mentality about punctuality, it should be advised when trying to gather for a business meeting, make appointment months in advance, and reconfirm the day prior to meeting. Though being punctual is appreciated, it is not expected as congested traffic is a viable excuse (Communicaid, 2017).

Cultural differences: The US and Nigeria

Some of the key differences between culture in Nigeria and the United States are their difference in time consciousness, individualism and power distance according to Hofstede's cultural dimension. While some of these differences have been discussed above, it is equally important to discuss them in this section as a summary of salient differences between both culture. The sense of time in Nigeria is considered fluid. Lateness is a norm and tolerated to a fault. While in the United States, time is taken very seriously. Punctuality is highly expected and lateness is strongly frowned upon. Nigeria has a low score of 30 on Hofstede’s Individualism cultural dimension and this indicates that Nigeria is a Collectivist community with high sense of interdependence within the society and a sense of catering and supporting in-groups in exchange for loyalty, as opposed to the United States with a high score of 91 on the same dimension, which make the US a highly Individualistic culture where the degree of interdependence within their culture is low, that is, individual only take care of their self and their immediate family members. Lastly, power-distance is another key cultural difference between Nigeria and the United States. In Nigeria, people accepts unequal distribution of power as a norm, whereas in the United States, power is fairly evenly distributed.

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References

Bennett,