Beliefs about work in the Middle East and the convergence versus divergence of values

https://doi.org/10.1016/S1090-9516(01)00053-0Get rights and content

Abstract

In this paper, 365 managers and employees from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Oman are queried about their work-related beliefs to determine the extent to which any of these countries may be experiencing a shift in cultural values. Results from the testing of various convergence versus divergence based hypotheses suggest that Saudi Arabia is more steadfast in its work beliefs while Kuwait and Oman appear to be more susceptible to influences by external forces.

Section snippets

Work beliefs and values

While our focus is primarily on work beliefs it is also important to discuss values and how they relate to work beliefs. It is also essential to emphasize that a true distinction exists between beliefs and values. According to Buchholz (1977: 570), “beliefs define the world for an individual and constitute an information system to which a person looks for answers.” This differs from values that have been defined as (Rokeach, 1968: 124), “abstract ideals, not tied to any specific object or

Convergence, divergence, and crossvergence

Have international business practices become more similar or more different as we enter 21st Century? A number of polycentric, comparative and geocentric studies have endeavored to address this important question (Adler, 1983b). As early as 1969 Webber argued that a homogenizing effect will occur because of the spreading of industrialization from developed to developing countries. Supporters of this convergence approach contend that managers in industrialized countries will exhibit common

Middle Eastern work values

The managerial values of the people of the Middle East are truly distinctive when compared to the rest of the world. Nevertheless, Arab management thought has been depicted as fragmented and directionless Ali 1990, Ali 1995. Moreover, the rapid shift toward industrialization without the creation of a modernized managerial model has led to a number of problems in the Arab world such as cultural discontinuity which is currently impeding management thought in this region (Ali, 1990). The influence

Beliefs about work

To better understand the state of the convergence versus divergence dilemma in the Middle East we have elected to analyze beliefs about work in more depth. In the study of worker beliefs the concept of belief systems must be employed to differentiate among the many interrelated elements of a worker’s beliefs (Buchholz, 1977). Thus we employ the notion of a belief system as defined by Rokeach (1960: 33): “the belief system is conceived to represent all the beliefs, sets, expectancies, or

Sample and data collection

Individuals from Saudi Arabia, Oman, and Kuwait were selected for participation in the study. The individuals were selected from a wide variety of organizations and every attempt was made to have a broad distribution across the demographic categories of gender, management level, age, and education. In each country individuals were sampled from numerous locations and a representative sample of industries, such as banking, insurance, oil, travel/tourism, and manufacturing, was obtained.

Results

In Table 3 the means, standard deviations, and results from one-way analysis of variance procedures for the overall sample are provided. For the group as a whole, humanistic beliefs were the strongest (mean = 4.34) followed by organizational beliefs (3.99). Although this is consistent with the top two beliefs for Russian managers (Puffer et al., 1998); U.S. managers ranked humanistic beliefs the highest and leisure beliefs second (Buchholz, 1977).

To test Hypothesis 1, that Saudi Arabian work

Discussion

The results of this study appear to identify some interesting patterns both across and within the three sampled countries from the Middle East. While earlier comparative studies in the Middle East have focused on countries with a number of perceived differences (i.e., Iraq vs. Saudi Arabia, Ali & Al-Shakhis, 1989) the focus of this study was on three countries that have traditionally been considered quite similar. The specific objectives of this study were (1) to examine the extent to which

Implications

International managers may find the results of this study intriguing for a number of reasons. First, scant information is available on work beliefs in the Middle East and the findings presented here may help in cultural and sensitivity training for potential expatriates. Second, firms that anticipate commerce in this region may want to consider altering their policies to incorporate some of the demographic differences that have been revealed (such as the facilitation of a participative decision

Acknowledgements

The authors would also like to thank the international business faculties of Northeastern University in Boston and Sultan Qaboos University in Oman for guidance and support.

References (53)

  • M. Bond et al.

    Coping with the threat of westernization in Honk Kong

    International Journal of Intercultural Relations

    (1985)
  • S. Puffer et al.

    Russian managers’ beliefs about workBeyond the stereotypes

    Journal of World Business

    (1997)
  • S. Shane et al.

    Cultural differences in innovation championing strategies

    Journal of Management

    (1995)
  • N. Adler

    Cross-cultural management researchThe ostrich and the trend

    Academy of Management Review

    (1983)
  • N. Adler

    A typology of management studies involving culture

    Journal of International Business Studies

    (1983)
  • A. Al-Kazemi et al.

    Ethical sensitivity and awareness within organizations in KuwaitAn empirical exploration of espoused theory and theory-in-use

    Journal of Business Ethics

    (1999)
  • A. Ali

    Political ideology and social classtheir impact on managerial belief systems in a developing nation

    International Social Science Review

    (1984)
  • A. Ali

    Management theory in a transitional societythe Arab’s experience

    International Studies of Management and Organization

    (1990)
  • A. Ali

    Cultural discontinuity and Arab management thought

    International Studies of Management and Organization

    (1995)
  • A. Ali

    Middle East competitiveness in the 21st century’s global market

    The Academy of Management Executive

    (1999)
  • A. Ali et al.

    Managerial beliefs about work in two Arab states

    Organization Studies

    (1989)
  • A. Ali et al.

    Changing managerial values in Saudi Arabia

    Advances in International Comparative Management

    (1991)
  • A. Ali et al.

    Managerial value systems in Morocco

    International Studies of Management and Organization

    (1995)
  • P. Alreck et al.

    The survey research handbook

    (1995)
  • George Barswell

    IslamIts prophet, peoples, politics and power

    (1996)
  • M. Boisot et al.

    From fiefs to clans and network capitalismExplaining China’s emerging economic order

    Administrative Science Quarterly

    (1996)
  • R.A. Buchholz

    The belief structure of managers relative to work concepts measured by a factor analytical model

    Personnel Psychology

    (1977)
  • R.A. Buchholz

    An empirical study of contemporary beliefs about work in American society

    Journal of Applied Psychology

    (1978)
  • J. Child et al.

    Managerial learning in the transformation of Eastern EuropeSome key issues

    Organization Studies

    (1996)
  • CIA Publications. (1997). C.I.A. Factbook. U.S. Government Documents, Washington,...
  • P. Conner et al.

    Personal values and managementWhat do we know and why don’t we know more?

    Journal of Management Inquiry

    (1994)
  • Country Commercial Guides. (1999). Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, U.S. Department of State, Washington, DC,...
  • J. Dickson et al.

    Managerial beliefs about work in Scotland and the USA

    Journal of Management Studies

    (1977)
  • J. Dickson et al.

    Differences in beliefs about work between managers and blue-collar workers

    Journal of Management Studies

    (1979)
  • Economist. (1999). How women beat the rules. October, 2nd:...
  • C. Gibson

    An investigation of gender differences in leadership across four countries

    Journal of International Business Studies

    (1995)
  • Cited by (96)

    View all citing articles on Scopus
    View full text