Clan, Adhocracy and Risk-Taking Cultures as Drivers of Employee Performance in Small and Medium Enterprises in Anambra State, Nigeria

Abstract

This study examined the effect of clan culture, adhocracy culture and risk-taking culture on the employee performance of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Anambra State, Nigeria, using selected paint manufacturing firms as a study context. The major problem the study addressed was that most SME managers in Anambra State do not fully understand how these dimensions of organisational culture affect employee performance. The specific objectives were to determine the effect of clan culture on employee performance, to examine the effect of adhocracy culture on employee performance, and to ascertain the effect of risk-taking culture on employee performance of SMEs in Anambra State. The study adopted a survey research design. The instrument was validated for face and content validity by three experts in management sciences, and reliability was established through a test-retest method with a Cronbach Alpha coefficient of 0.80. The population comprised 3,250 employees of selected paint manufacturing SMEs, from which a sample size of 400 was drawn using Taro Yamane's formula, with 380 copies of the questionnaire (95.00%) properly completed and returned. The three hypotheses were tested using simple regression analysis with the aid of SPSS Version 20/27 at 5% level of significance. Findings revealed that clan culture has a significant positive effect on employee performance (t = 10.887, p = 0.002), adhocracy culture has a significant positive effect on employee performance (t = 15.879, p = 0.001), and risk-taking culture has a significant positive effect on employee performance (t = 15.879, p = 0.001) of SMEs in Anambra State. The study concluded that clan culture, adhocracy culture and risk-taking culture significantly and positively drive employee performance in SMEs. It was recommended, among others, that SME managers should implement clan culture strategies that highlight a family-like environment, that top management should emphasise organisational elements that encourage creativity and innovation to engender a strong adhocracy culture, and that managers should create a conducive environment for employees to propose and implement new ideas after careful evaluation of potential benefits and risks.