Summary Quan. Resuts.xlsx

Tribe has long been part of human societies and remains relevant today across Africa as a form of social identity. In this study, we explored the role of tribe and tribal affiliations in Nigeria’s private sector organizations. The Social Identity Theory was employed to examine the issues in a two-phase, exploratory sequential mixed methods approach. In the first phase, qualitative interviews involving 32 managers and senior executives were used to identify the role and influence of tribe in organizational decisions such as recruitment, choice of suppliers and market location amongst others. Elicitations from phase one were used to design a quantitative survey for phase two. The questionnaire was then administered on to a sample of 319 private sector employees. Findings revealed that Nigerians have a strong sense of belonging to their tribe and its impact on organization is visible. Tribe plays a role in hiring, promotion, job security, and loyalty. However, the need for business success motivates firms to transcend the limits of tribe and embrace meritocracy from diversity.