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1. Introduction
Ghana, a developing country, is experiencing the influx of foreign direct investments (FDIs) mainly from China and India (Akorsu and Cooke, 2011). The sustenance of such FDIs' depends largely on the performance of the employees. Although it is without a doubt that motivation impacts employee performance, culture plays a significant role in such relationship (Haggar et al., 2014). Cultural values play a crucial role in organizing behavior in daily life and are seen to influence the content and salience of personal goals and desires. As cultural values have a great influence on human behavior, they provide the framework within which motivational factors work.
In organizations, cultural values often complicate the implementation of organizational citizenship behaviors. Disregard for cultural values and differences have been the cause of many business failures (Ricks, 2003). Previous reviews on cross-cultural management (e.g. Kirkman et al., 2006; Tsui et al., 2007) have shown that individually held cultural beliefs and values play significant roles in employees' reaction to aspects of their work. Such reviews have also demonstrated that the level of cultural influences, country or individual, still remains an open area of study in many substantive areas.
Due to globalization, technological advances, workplace demographic changes (e.g. millennials) and worldwide mobility of the labor force, there is a need for employee motivation to be given a constant study. Additionally, the constant economic struggles, coupled with the global financial crisis have necessitated the need for employers to devise nonmonetary ways of motivating the workforce. Previous studies (Day et al., 2014; Haggar et al., 2014; Contiu et al., 2012) investigated employee motivations in workplaces and clearly demonstrated that people wanted more from work than money and that employees are motivated by factors that are linked to their values, attitudes and behaviors. The current study approaches work motivation using nonmonetary means and from a cultural-based perspective taking into accounts the cultural values that serve for assessing the meaning of the techniques of motivation. As a result of the present economic downturn and the absence of financial resources necessary to uphold monetary incentive programs, nonmonetary motives have been receiving recognition. Not only do nonmonetary motives benefit employees by escalating their motivation and engagement but also of immense benefit to...