This study sets out to examine whether employee web usage patterns, attitudes toward web usage in the workplace, and organizational policies are more similar (convergence thesis) or less similar (divergence thesis) in three countries | 158 Simmers and Anandarajan ChapterIX Convergence or Divergence Web Usage in the Workplace in Nigeria Malaysia and the United States Claire A. Simmers Saint Joseph s University USA Murugan Anandarajan Drexel University USA ABSTRACT This study sets out to examine whether employee web usage patterns attitudes toward web usage in the workplace and organizational policies are more similar convergence thesis or less similar divergence thesis in three countries Nigeria n 224 Malaysia n 107 and the United States n 334 . Our results show general support for the divergence Copyright 2004 Idea Group Inc. Copying or distributing in print or electronic forms without written permission of Idea Group Inc. is prohibited. Web Usage in the Workplace in Nigeria Malaysia and the United States 159 thesis. We found strong differences in employee usage patterns by country even after controlling for differences in several demographic variables. However there is less support for the divergence thesis in attitudes and organizational policies. In half of the eight indicators of employee attitudes there were no differences among the three countries. Agreement that personal web usage at work is acceptable behavior is widespread. Other common perceptions are that companies tolerate personal web searches and that Internet usage policies are not enforced. INTRODUCTION Cross-cultural researchers and practitioners concur that there is a need to better understand and manage the tension between the durability of national cultures divergence and the closer more frequent interactions among nations convergence Adler 1997 Brodbeck et al. 2000 . National boundaries are increasingly permeable the number ofmultinational corporations is increasing many people are employed transnationally Hodgetts et al. 1999 and participation in cross-cultural teams is commonplace. There is an increasingly complex matrix of global interaction points in the workplace made possible by communication innovations particularly in
