CULTURAL DIFFERENCES IN MALLEABILITY,
FEEDBACK AND SKILL VARIETY AMONG NIGERIAN
WORKERS.
ANDREW A. MOGAJI,
DEPARTMENT OF PSYCHOLOGY,
BENUE STATE UNIVERSITY,
MAKURDI, NIGERIA.
PAPER PRESENTED AT 20TH CONGRESS OF THE IACCP
AT THE UNIVERSITY OF MELBOURNE FROM 7-10
JULY, 2010
INTRODUCTION
• Feedback and skill variety are two of the five core job
characteristics identified by Hackman and Oldham's
(1976), in their job characteristics model (JCM). The
five core job characteristics are summarized below:
• Skill variety. This refers to the extent to which the job
requires the employee to draw from a number of
different skills and abilities as well as upon a range of
knowledge.
• Task variety. This refers to whether the job has an
identifiable beginning and end or how complete a
module of work the employee performs.
• Task significance. This involves the importance of the task.
It involves both internal significance (i.e. how important the
task is to the organization) and external significance (i.e.
how proud employees are to tell their relatives, friends,
and neighbours what they do and where they work).
• Autonomy. This refers to job independence. How much
freedom and control employees have to perform their job,
for example, schedule their work, make decisions or
determine the means to accomplish the objectives.
• Feedback. This refers to objective information about
progress and performance that can come from the job
itself, from supervisors or from any other information
system.
• These core job characteristics are followed by three critical
psychological states which can be summarized as follows:
• Meaningfulness. This cognitive state involves the degree to
which employees perceive their work as making a valued
contribution, as being important and worthwhile.
• Responsibility. The degree to which the employee feels
personally accountable for the results of the work they do.
• Knowledge of results. The degree to which the employee
knows and understands, on a continuous basis, how
effectively they perform their job.
Consequences of these Psychological
States
• These critical psychological states are
accountable for increased work satisfaction,
internal work motivation, performance and
reduced absence and employee turnover. The
model (JCM) assumes that autonomy and
feedback are more important than other work
characteristics for organizations and
employees to survive in a turbulent work
environment.
• In today's world, to survive in the turbulent
marketplace, creativity, innovation, skill and
knowledge acquisition have become major
aspects in improving the performance of
employees and creating virtuous circles for
organizations to reach the pinnacle, as they
lead to improved decision-making and goal
setting.
Literature Review
• Adler (1991)
• found that systems in which employees reported
higher perceptions of skill variety, task
significance, autonomy, and feedback reported
higher levels of satisfaction and internal work
motivation.
• Dodd and Ganster (1996)
• examined the interactive relationship between
feedback, autonomy and skill variety by
manipulating the characteristics in the laboratory.
• Arce (2002)
• found that the reward from outside activities is
affected by the performance on inside activity.
The study provides a rationale for the existence
of synergies between different activities, thus,
showing the implication of task significance.
• Renn and Vandenberg (1995)
• studied the strongest support for the job
characteristic model that allowed the core job
dimensions to have direct and indirect effects on
personal and work outcomes.
• Morrison et al. (2005)
• found that job designs that provide for high levels of employee
control also provide increased opportunities for the development
and exercise of skill. Also, the mediational influence of perceived
skill utilization on job control and job satisfaction has been
observed. Rotating managers to different jobs adds the benefit of
task variety, resulting in increased performance of employees.
• Bassey (2002)
• observed in his study that skills, task identity, task significance,
autonomy, feedback, job security and compensation are important
factors for the motivation of employees. Thus, the research done in
this field has created virtuous circles for more research and
practice.
Diagnosing and measuring job scope
• The Job Diagnostic Survey (JDS) was developed by Hackman
and Oldham (1975) to analyze jobs and to measure
• some supplementary job dimensions (feedback from
others, dealing with others),
• experienced psychological states (meaningfulness of work,
responsibility for work, knowledge of results),
• affective responses to the job (general satisfaction, internal
work motivation, growth satisfaction),
• context satisfactions (pay satisfaction, security satisfaction,
social satisfaction, supervisory satisfaction) and
• individual growth need strength (GNS).
• Amah (2008) found that
• feedback contributes to organisational
productivity and improved benefits for the
employees.
• employees in other cultures adopt similar
feedback management strategies in perceived
good and poor performance situations.
• This implies no cultural difference but the present
study wishes to establish that there should be
cultural difference in providing feedback to
employees.
• Okpara (1991) studied the effect of psychoand cultural systems of value orientation on
the behavior of the three dominant Nigerian
ethnic groups- Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba. He
collected data from 114 Hausa, 148 Igbo and
141 Yoruba respondents.
• The traditional value orientations investigated include:
obedience (respect for authority), fatalism, financial and
material wealth, morality (sexual permissiveness), and
hard-work. Analysing the data with One-way ANOVA,
showed significant differences among the three ethnic
groups in respect for authority, fatalism, financial optimism
and morality. No significant difference was found in hardwork. A test of the means using the t-test, showed that the
Hausa and Yoruba respondents assigned greater
importance to values implying difference to authority
(respect for authority), scored high on values relating to
fatalism, tended to be more moralistic but attached little
importance to financial and material wealth.
• The Igbo on the other hand, tended to exhibit marked disrespect
for authority but expressed high materialistic world view.
• The results have implications for value re-orientation and the use of
feedback.
• Elloy, Everett & Flynn (1995) found that
• job characeteristics including variety, autonomy, task identity and
feedback played an important role in facilitating involvement in
one’s job.
• the results showed that organizational commitment, satisfaction
with growth and satisfaction with supervision are the outcome
variables that are most closely associated with job involvement.
• the results suggested that supervisors who are seen as trusting,
innovative, fair and cohesive and who positively reinforce (that is,
show feedback to) subordinates for a job well done, also play a role
in developing a climate that fostered involvement.
METHODS
• Participants
• 521 employees drwn from the three major ethnic
groups in Nigeria including
• 176 Yoruba, 147 Igbo and
• 198 Hausa/Fulani managerial employees.
• Participants were randomly selected from among
the MBA executive part-time students in Lagos,
Nigeria, They were employees of various public
and private sector business organizations.
Research Instrument
• Work Opinion Survey (WOPS) designed by Mendoca & Kanungo
(1994). The questionnaire had four parts. The first part asked for
demographic information. In the second, third, and fourth parts,
dimensions of socio-cultural environment, internal work culture and
HRM practices were assessed, respectively, using a total of 57
statements. Respondents were asked to indicate the extent to
which they agreed with each statement by using a six-point Likerttype scale (1 = strongly disagree; 6 = strongly agree). One- third of
the items were reverse-coded to minimize response bias. Subscales
were coded in such a way that high scores reflected the variable
name (for example, a high score on the paternalism scale indicate
high paternalism). Psychometric properties of the measures were
reported by Mathur, Aycan & Kanungo (1996). For this study, the
adequacy of the psychometric properties of scales (especially
internal consistency) was tested and confirmed for each of the 3
samples.
• Participants evaluated the internal work culture of
their organizations by reporting prevailing managerial
assumptions on five dimensions. Malleability was
assessed by five questions. Sample items include ‘there
is no limit for those employees who really want to
improve their skills’, ‘you cannot train people to change
their work habits’(reverse coded).
• Human resource management practices were assessed
in three areas: Feedback, Autonomy, Skill Variety and
Task Significance. Two questions were used to measure
the first two dimensions, whereas a single item was
used to assess the last two dimensions.
Procedure
• The questionnaire which was developed in
English Language was administered in its
original language. It was administered to the
subjects in the classroom during their lecture
in Business Organization and Administration.
It took them less than 30 minutes on the
average to complete.
RESULTS
• Table 1 Mean Scores and Standard Deviations
of measures according to Ethnic Group
• The results in Table 1 show that Yoruba
managers had the highest mean score in
feedback while the Hausa/Fulani managers
had the highest mean score in skill variety.
Table 1
YORUBA
Mean SD
MAL 4.25 1.12
FD
4.44 1.74
SKVAR 3.23 1.71
IGBO
HAUSA/FULANI
Mean SD
Mean SD
4.25
.98
4.00 1.12
4.42 1.70
3.68 1.69
3.23 1.64
3.36 1.70
• Table 2
• One-way ANOVA Summary Table showing
Differences in measures according to Ethnic
Group
• The results in Table 2 show that a significant
difference was found among the three major
ethnic groups in feedback and not in
malleability and skill variety.
Table 2
Source of Variation
Between Groups
Within Groups
Total
Sum of Sq.
8.93
621.38
630.31
FD
Between Groups
Within groups
Total
98.65
1577.51
1676.16
3
533
536
32.88
2.96
11.11**
SKVAR
Between Groups
Within groups
Total
12.30
2332.77
2345.07
3
533
536
4.10
4.38
.94
MAL
Df
Mean Sq.
3
2.98
533
1.17
536
F
2.55
DISCUSSION
• It can be extrapolated from the study that
feedback is highest among the Yoruba managers
followed by the Igbo and Hausa/Fulani managers.
Malleability is highest among the Yoruba and Igbo
managers but lowest among the Hausa
managers. However, skill variety is highest among
the Hausa managers but lowest among the
Yoruba and Igbo managers.
•
CONCLUSION
• There are various approaches that allow management
to design jobs for employee motivation, increase
productivity and future growth. In order for the job
design to be effective, management needs to look at
what aspects of the jobs are important and better fit
the organizational goals. Thus, one of the major
purposes of job design is to be able to discuss what is
needed from the job and the employees. It is of current
interest in establishing a link between human resource
management (HRM) or high involvement practices and
organizational performance with an increase in
intrinsic motivation.
• An individual experiences this state when there is a match
between an individual's perceived skills and tasks. Thus,
effective job design has become one of the salient aspects
of human resources management and organizational
behaviour so as to survive in the global workplace.
• In terms of practical recommendations, empowerment is
an effective strategy for promoting expertise. It creates an
effective and safe environment within which individuals can
acquire skills. Importantly, empowerment provides an
opportunity for employees to apply new skills, which is
likely to reinforce the values of personal development. It
can be regarded as an effective means of improving skills
and can be regarded as an effective strategy for managing
knowledge in different respects.
• Source attributes and recipients’ personality
disposition have been found to affect the seeking
of feedback in situations when performance
outcome is unknown (Madzar 2001, Tuckey, et al.
2006). The results showed that employees’
relationships with their supervisor play a major
role in the choice of feedback management. The
study also questioned the relevance of personal
and social cost in feedback seeking in situations
where performance outcome is perceived to be
known.
• The study has important implication for human
resources practitioners, who desire to ensure that
employees obtain accurate feedback in perceived good
or poor performance situations, to maintain or
enhance future performance. Organisations should
ensure that supervisors have adequate reward power
and also trained to acquire expertise necessary to
deliver feedback accurately. Supervisors should also be
encouraged to maintain quality relationship with their
subordinates, so as to enhance quality interaction, and
minimise fears that could hinder appropriate feedback.