How can culture affect employee performance?

The answer to this depends on whether you are talking
about organizational (or corporate) culture or about the broader culture of the society
that the employee is part of.  Both can have important impacts on employee
performance.

The culture of a corporation can impact
employee performance.  If management creates a culture of fear in a work place,
innovation can be stifled.  Employees will try only to avoid making mistakes.  They will
not try to take chances in hopes of improving the firm.  By contrast, an undisciplined
culture can result in employees who are not careful about their
work.

The broader culture can also impact work
performance.  Employees might not be punctual if they come from a culture that does not
value that.  They might be likely to miss work for multiple days to attend to duties
that their culture thinks important but their employers do not.  A culture that is not
yet attuned to the needs of modern industry can lead to these types of
problems.