A Cultural Theory of Post-Consolidation Behaviour in the Nigerian Banking Industry

This paper presents organisational culture as an important determinant of performance, especially as it pertains to banks in the post-consolidation era in Nigeria. Its main objective is to encourage bank management, and by extension, company executives, to officially recognise the relevance of culture to organisational effectiveness and to take positive steps to develop the culture that will benefit the work force and its dominant coalitions such as top executives, stockholders and valued customers. The paper underscores the management of organisational culture in banks, especially from 2006 to 2012 in Nigeria. Here, it dwells on the conditions necessary for its effective management and the methodology for its implementation. From empirical studies carried out in ten of the banks involved in the consolidation exercise, it was discovered that staff across the organisational hierarchy hold differing views regarding the strength of their organisational culture. However, the study revealed that a tendency exists for majority of staff to reflect the dominant cultural position of their firm. A test of the relationship between organisational culture and performance shows a very high positive correlation in the Nigerian banking industry: the higher the strength of corporate culture, the higher the bank’s performance is likely to be. The paper recommends, inter alia, a re-statement of the performance function of Nigerian banks to include organisational culture. Keywords: Organisational Culture, Performance, Post-Consolidation, Nigerian Banking Industry