Cultural Distance and Sino-Nigerian Business Partnership Performance: Evidence from Manufacturing Joint Ventures

Cultural distance between Chinese and Nigerian business partners is frequently cited as a determinant of joint venture performance, but empirical measurement of this relationship using validated cultural distance instruments in the Nigerian context is absent from the literature. This study empirically examines the relationship between cultural distance and business performance outcomes in Chinese-Nigerian manufacturing joint ventures. A quantitative survey design was adopted, with structured questionnaires administered to senior managers from both Chinese and Nigerian sides of 45 joint venture firms across Lagos, Ogun, and Rivers States. Cultural distance was operationalised using adapted versions of Hofstede's cultural dimensions and GLOBE cultural values instruments, calibrated for Chinese and Nigerian respondent populations. Joint venture performance was measured through financial performance (revenue growth and profitability), operational performance (production efficiency and quality), and relational performance (partner satisfaction and intent to continue). Structural equation modelling was used to test hypothesised relationships. Results confirm that cultural distance in power distance and uncertainty avoidance dimensions significantly predicts lower relational performance. Intercultural management practices, including cultural training and bilingual communication structures, significantly moderate the cultural distance-performance relationship. Financial performance is less directly affected by cultural distance than relational performance. The study makes an original empirical contribution by providing Nigerian-context evidence on the cultural distance-JV performance relationship, previously examined predominantly in East Asian contexts.

Keywords: cultural distance, Sino-Nigerian joint ventures, business performance, manufacturing, empirical study