A Theoretical and Empirical Examination of the Relationship Between National Culture and Manufacturing Quality Management in Nigeria

This dissertation provides a theoretical and empirical examination of the relationship between national cultural dimensions and manufacturing quality management effectiveness in Nigeria, filling a recognised gap in cross-cultural quality management research where sub-Saharan African cultural contexts are systematically underrepresented. Quality management research has predominantly assumed the universal applicability of frameworks developed in Japanese and American cultural contexts, yet accumulating evidence suggests that cultural dimensions including power distance, uncertainty avoidance, collectivism, and long-term orientation fundamentally shape how quality management principles are enacted and their effectiveness in practice. Nigeria presents a particularly interesting research context given its cultural diversity across Hausa-Fulani, Yoruba, and Igbo dominant cultural groups across its six geopolitical zones, enabling within-country comparative analysis that controls for many macro-institutional variables. The research employs a sequential explanatory mixed-methods design, first collecting quantitative survey data from three hundred and eighty-eight manufacturing quality managers distributed across all geopolitical zones, then conducting thirty in-depth interviews to explain and contextualise quantitative findings. Hofstede's cultural dimensions and the GLOBE framework are used to operationalise cultural variables at the regional level. Multilevel structural equation modelling reveals significant cross-level interactions between cultural dimensions and the effectiveness of specific quality management practices. Original findings demonstrate that collectivism dimensions moderate the relationship between quality circles adoption and product quality outcomes and that power distance dimensions moderate the effectiveness of top management commitment signals on quality culture development. Keywords: national culture, quality management, cross-cultural research, multilevel modelling, Nigeria