Yes, absolutely. Its by no means scientific (at least I’m not aware of any research on the subject), but I have worked with colleagues from Mumbai for years and I have experienced many situations in which socials norms -especially adherence to hierarchy- strongly hampered results.

In fact, this is by no means an issue limited to the Third world. In my experience this issue also pops up a lot in sectors of Western economies, such as banking, hospitals or construction. Companies that strongly value hierarchy tend to have persistent problems with things like workplace safety, compliance and innovation.

In fact, we have an unique example of how values and beliefs can hamper effectiveness and results in the form of the Trump administration. Trump blatantly favors loyalty and obedience over competence. He has effectively purged nearly all offices of government of political opponents, but in doing so he has filled the ranks with unapologetic yes-men who are utterly incompetent at their assigned task. The speed with which this has degraded the US economy, military power, political influence etc. is absolutely astounding and is very similar to countries considered ‘Third World’.