Global Economic Leadership

Decision - making

There is no centralized system of delegation of authority of decision-making in the middle level management. Nigerians cling to authority and are dependent on supervision. A Nigerian manager may feel obligated to find jobs for his family and will not hesitate to employ them. There is nothing, a foreign businessperson can do about this because the decision making process is based on this system.

Conducting Meetings and Appointments

Early breakfast meetings are out. Business starts only after breakfast. Do not use telephones to discuss details. Once you are in Nigeria, make local appointments in person or use hand delivered notes. Be punctual, even though they lack this quality themselves, they will respect you for it. Besides, the insane traffic and teeming and undisciplined pedestrian crowd in Lagos will certainly delay you. Do inform your Nigerian counterpart what time you expect to reach him and if he's coming in to meet you tell him till when you will be available. He will generally arrive just as you've given up hope of seeing him. Important business is conducted at face-to-face meetings. On the first meeting with a business contact, be patient and expect almost interminable greetings. The conversation might veer to the personal, as Nigerians like to know with whom they are doing business. Make sure you bring several packs of business cards as you'll find people, to whom you have given cards, queuing up to get another one because they'd have lost the first one. If you need to write, a block of company letterheads is advisable because, like us, they were a British colony and they like to get everything down on paper after a meeting. Be prepared for several follow up meetings. To close important deals you must contact top management, lower management might like to give you the impression that they can take momentous decisions. If you are `doing' lunch with a business acquaintance, make sure you always use your right hand (or both hands) to pass and accept dishes. The left hand is taboo, and is rarely used for interpersonal transaction. Left-handers