Sex Stereotyping Managerial Positions

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to examine how men and women sex stereotype managerial positions and how they view women in managerial roles in Egypt and the USA, in order to provide meaningful cross-cultural comparisons. Design/methodology/approach - The study uses surveys that utilize the Schein descriptive index and the women as managers scale (WAMS) to compare perceptions on women in managerial positions in Egypt and the USA. The sample consists of 553 Egyptian and 324 American management students. Findings - The results show that in the Egyptian sample both males and females held negative views of women managers. However, in the US sample, women held more favourable views of women managers than did their male counterparts. In the Egyptian sample the English section female students had a more positive perception of female managers than their Arabic section counterparts. Research limitations/implications - The sample is limited to management students in Egypt and the USA. The Middle East includes countries with different cultures, such as Israel. About 10 percent of Egypt\u27s population are Christians who do not necessarily share the same cultural beliefs as the country\u27s Muslim majority. Practical implications - The paper helps donor countries better direct their aid programs when it comes to promoting gender equality and championing women\u27s rights in the Middle East. Originality/value - Our contribution was to study the perceptions of female leaders in Egypt, an Arab, Muslim, Middle Eastern country. The gender research on countries with conservative cultures, such as Egypt, is an area that remains mostly unexamined. Our study aims to provide researchers and practitioners with a better understanding of the position of Egyptian women in management

Culture and leadership: Comparing Egypt to the GLOBE study of 62 societies

The purpose of this paper is to improve our understanding of the western conceptions of leadership in competition with emerging leadership paradigms in non-western societies. We examine the societal culture in Egypt using GLOBE’s nine cultural attributes and dimensions. Paired sample t-tests were used to test for differences in the Egyptian data that was collected. The data was collected from 142 Egyptian middle managers from 19 organizations from 2008 to 2011. It was compared to the data collected as part of the GLOBE research project. The results showed that Egyptians are most interested in reducing the power distance and increasing the future orientation aspects of their societal culture

How Knowledge Management Implementation Affects the Performance of Egyptian Construction Companies

This study examines the effectiveness of knowledge management systems within the construction industry in Egypt from the perspective of knowledge infrastructure capability (KIC), knowledge process capability (KPC) and their impact on business performance (BP) from the financial, consumer, learning and growth, supplier and internal perspectives. The sample consists of 75 first class Egyptian construction companies. The authors used a questionnaire that was modified from the questionnaire previously used by Gold et al., (2001) and Smith (2006). The authors used one-way ANOVA, t-tests and OLS regressions. The results indicated that both knowledge infrastructure capability (KIC) and knowledge process capability (KPC) have a positive effect on business performance (BP). The results also indicate that organizations with well-developed training and development plans have significantly higher KIC and KPC scores compared to those that do not have such plans

The Impact of Dynamic Capabilities on Sustainable Competitive Advantage in the Pharmaceutical Sector in Egypt

This study examines the relationship between dynamic capabilities (experience, routine, skills, firm characteristics, knowledge and technology) and competitive advantage sustainability in the Egyptian pharmaceutical sector. The data was collected using primary and secondary data sources. Primary data was collected from questionnaires distributed to 160 top managers in 20 pharmaceutical firms. The secondary data about pharmaceutical firms like rankings, revenues and market share was collected from external sources such as Intercontinental Marketing Service (IMS). The questionnaires examine six independent variables based on a five-scale Likert scale. The methodology used in the study is non-probability sampling (judgmental sampling), Cronbach’s alpha reliability coefficient and Chi-square tests. The results support the notion that there is a significant relationship between four of the six dynamic capabilities (experience, skills, firm characteristics and knowledge) and the competitive advantage sustainability for pharmaceutical firms in Egypt. Designing the questionnaire and formulating the questions to target the required field was challenging, given that the topic is dynamic and the business scene in Egypt has witnessed drastic political changes since January 2011. The study should assist pharmaceutical companies in Egypt in directing their investments properly and in determining the weaknesses in their dynamic capabilities that need to be addressed

The Effects of Cross Cultural Work Force Diversity on Employee Performance in Egyptian Pharmaceutical Organizations

Abstract In today's increasingly rapid changing business environment, countries such as Egypt have changed drastically to accommodate the increasingly diverse work force in most, if not all, of its organizations. The diversity of the work force in Egypt is quite admirable and has been taking an ever increasing trend in the past couple of decades. Nowadays, it is very common to find business professionals whom are simultaneously fluent in several languages, such as English, French, German, and of course Arabic while coming from a highly diverse training and education backgrounds. This study explores the impact of gender, age, and education background on employee performance in the Egyptian Pharmaceutical industry which is renowned to employ highly diversified workforce. The study sample was 300 middle level management positions. Data was collected via self-administered questionnaires methodology. The results indicated that only two variables, gender and education background, were significant in explaining the variance in employee performance when different work force work together, while surprisingly, age diversity does not

Transformational Leadership In Hierarchical Context: A Study Of Gender Differences In The Mobile Communication Sector In Egypt

This paper empirically studies leaders’ gender differences in transformational leadership among both lower and middle level managers while examining the difference between lower and middle level mangers regarding transformational leadership behaviors. A sample of 122 managers from all three Mobile service providers (Mobinil, Vodafone, and Etisalat) currently operating in Egypt are studied. Transformational leadership was measured through five behaviors using the Bass and Avolio (1997) Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire. Leaders self-rated their transformational leadership behaviors. Results showed that there is no significant difference between lower and middle managerial levels in all transformational leadership behaviors. Female lower level managers did not excel significantly in all transformational leadership behaviors. However they exceled only in the idealized attribute dimension while no significant difference between male and female middle level managers was found