thesis
Influence of national culture on employee commitment forms : a case study of Saudi-Western IJVs vs. Saudi domestic companies
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Abstract
Saudi Arabia is experiencing a transformative period in its economic history, as its
market has been opened up for foreign investment. The last 5 years have seen a
dramatic increase in the amount of foreign investment into Saudi Arabia
particularly through International Joint Ventures. The managers in these IJVs
come from various cultures that can be categorised as collectivist or individualist
societies. This study to investigate the relationship between national culture and
employee commitment within Western-Saudi IJV environments in contrast to the
commitment forms found within domestic (monoculture) organisations. In this
study, Western and Saudi managers were compared as to their levels of
organisational commitment and professional commitment, while a second survey
focused on individualism/collectivism among respondents. This study found that
Western managers working in Saudi IJVs had significantly higher levels of
professional commitment than did their Saudi counterparts. Similarly, Saudi
managers working in Saudi IJVs had significantly higher levels of organisational
commitment than did their Western counterparts. This study also found that Saudi
managers working in Saudi IJVs experienced higher levels of professional
commitment than did their Saudi counterparts working in purely Saudi firms, and
that Western managers who had previously worked in collectivist cultures had
higher levels of organisational commitment than did Western managers who had
not previously worked in collectivist cultures. In addition, significant differences
were found between respondent groups with regard to individualism/collectivism.
The results support a correlation between individualism and professional
commitment, as well as between collectivism and organisational commitment. The
results found that an employee’s cultural orientation can be modified through
exposure to employees from other cultures. The knowledge contributed from the
study findings will enrich the existing scholarly theories of employee commitment
and individualism/collectivism values within IJVs setting in Saudi Arabia. Also,
this knowledge will contribute to facilitate foreign investors and HRM
practitioners in developing strategies to maximise the benefits from different
forms of employee commitment