Responsibility-Seeking, Empowerment And Supervisory Control Among Nigerian Managers From Three Ethnic Groups

Abstract

This study was aimed at finding ethnic differences in responsibility-seeking, empowerment and supervisory control among Nigerian managers. Data were collected from 537 managerial employees randomly selected from among the MBA executive part-time students in Lagos, Nigeria. The sample included 176 Yoruba, 147 Igbo, 198 Hausa/Fulani and 16 unclassified managerial employees of different private and public organizations within the country. The participants responded to the 57-item Work Opinion Survey (WOPS) designed by Mendonca & Kanungo (1994). Analysis of data was restricted to the relevant sub-scales measuring the variables of interest mentioned above. The One-way ANOVA results confirmed the hypothesis of significant ethnic differences in responsibility-seeking (F=8.24, df=3/533, p<.01), empowerment (F=11.11, df=3/533, p<.01) and supervisory control (F=9.11, df=3/533, p<.01) respectively. The results were discussed in terms of their implications for the variations in the historical, religious and economic background of the people from the three major ethnic groups in Nigeria.