Indigenous – foreign culture fit and public employee performance: the case of Ghana

PurposeThe study examines the relationship between the interaction of indigenous–foreign cultures and public employee performance (PEP) in the Ghanaian public sector due to the perceived unproductive cultures in the public sector.Design/methodology/approachThe study employs a quantitative approach, where cross-sectional survey design is used to collect the data from Ghanaian public employees. The analysis is done using correlation and hierarchical regression techniques.FindingsThe results reveal that both indigenous and foreign cultures are pervasive in the Ghanaian public sector, with high power distance and individualism being dominant cultures. Furthermore, while the indigenous cultures have negative significant relationship with PEP, the foreign cultures have positive significant relationship with PEP. The foreign cultures effectively control the relationship between the indigenous cultures and PEP but insignificantly moderate such relationship.Practical implicationsThe findings imply that deliberate attempts should be made to encourage the foreign cultures with attractive reward packages to induce workers. This will indirectly control the practice of the inimical cultures and ultimately reduce their negative effect on PEP.Originality/valueThe study contributes significantly to the extant literature by providing empirical evidence of the indigenous–foreign culture fit and PEP from a developing country, Ghana.