netrashetty
Netra Shetty
Infor Global Solutions is a privately held U.S. software company that specializes in enterprise software ranging from financial systems and resource planning (ERP) to supply chain and customer relationships.
Culture exerts a profound influence on HRM practices. The cultural values and social attitudes to management and work in Saudi Arabia are very different from those found in the rest of the world (Badawy 1980, Yavas and Yasin 1999). The major contemporary cultural and social features of Saudi Arabia that have influenced the practices of HRM can be attributed to two inter-related main factors; the influence of religion, and the influence of tribal and family traditions.
Islamic laws and values influence management practices in Saudi Arabia. The principles and prophetic prescriptions derived from the Koran serve as guides for managers in conducting their business affairs. The influence of Islam can be observed in there areas. These are:
§ Employment of Women – Despite the high investment in the education and training of women which resulted in increase of women in schools and universities in Saudi Arabia, the participation of women in the formal economic and social sectors is still modest. Saudi Arabian women’s share of the labor force is one of the lowest in the world. This is due to the moral and religious belief among the vast majority of people on Saudi Arabia that marriage and child-bearing remain the principal objectives for women (Doumato 1999).
§ Managerial Attitudes – Managerial attitudes and practices in Saudi Arabia are shaped by Islamic values. Islamic values and teaching put string emphasis on obedience to leaders. The authority of the leader or manager is thus accepted as right and proper and subordinates are expected to show respect and obedience to superiors. According to Atiyyah (1999) Arab and Islamic values emphasize harmony, cooperation and brotherly relationships. Conflicts are avoided and suppressed.
§ Manager-Employee Interactions – The Islamic teachings and values also affect how superiors and inferiors interact. At least twice a day managers and workers meet and pray together side by side regardless of managerial positions and influence.
The human relations and human factors approaches were absorbed into a broad behavioral science movement in the 1950's and 1960's. This period produced some influential theories on the motivation of human performance. For example, Maslow's hierarchy of needs provided an individual focus on the reasons why people work. He argued that people satisfied an ascending series of needs from survival, through security to eventual 'self-actualization'.
In the same period, concepts of job design such as job enrichment and job enlargement were investigated. It was felt that people would give more to an organization if they gained satisfaction from their jobs. Jobs should be designed to be interesting and challenging to gain the commitment of workers - a central theme of HRM.
By the 1970s most managers participating in formal management training were aware of: Theory X and Theory Y (McGregor, 1960); of Maslow and Herzberg's motivation theories; and knew where they should be in terms of the managerial grid (Blake and Mouton, 1964). These theorists advocated participative, 'soft' approaches to management. However, only a minority of managers in the USA received such training, with even fewer in other countries. Most operational managers
Recruitment - advertising for new employees and liaising with employment agencies.
Selection - determining the best candidates from those who apply, arranging interviews, tests and references.
Promotion - running similar selection procedures to determine progression within the organization.
Pay - a minor or major role in pay negotiation, determination and administration.
Performance assessment - coordinating staff appraisal and counseling systems to evaluate individual employee performance.
Grading structures - as a basis for pay or development, comparing the relative difficulty and importance of functions.
Training and development - coordinating or delivering programmes to fit people for the roles required by the organisation now and in the future.
Welfare - providing or liaising with specialists in a staff care or counseling role for people with personal or domestic problems affecting their work.
Communication - providing an internal information service, perhaps in the form of staff newspapers or magazines, handouts, booklets, videos.
Employee Relations - handling disputes, grievances and industrial action, often dealing with unions or staff representatives.
Dismissal - on an individual basis as a result of failure to meet requirements or as part of a redundancy, downsizing or closure exercise, perhaps involving large numbers of people.
Personnel administration - record-keeping and monitoring of legislative requirements related to equal opportunities and possibly pensions and tax.
Culture exerts a profound influence on HRM practices. The cultural values and social attitudes to management and work in Saudi Arabia are very different from those found in the rest of the world (Badawy 1980, Yavas and Yasin 1999). The major contemporary cultural and social features of Saudi Arabia that have influenced the practices of HRM can be attributed to two inter-related main factors; the influence of religion, and the influence of tribal and family traditions.
Islamic laws and values influence management practices in Saudi Arabia. The principles and prophetic prescriptions derived from the Koran serve as guides for managers in conducting their business affairs. The influence of Islam can be observed in there areas. These are:
§ Employment of Women – Despite the high investment in the education and training of women which resulted in increase of women in schools and universities in Saudi Arabia, the participation of women in the formal economic and social sectors is still modest. Saudi Arabian women’s share of the labor force is one of the lowest in the world. This is due to the moral and religious belief among the vast majority of people on Saudi Arabia that marriage and child-bearing remain the principal objectives for women (Doumato 1999).
§ Managerial Attitudes – Managerial attitudes and practices in Saudi Arabia are shaped by Islamic values. Islamic values and teaching put string emphasis on obedience to leaders. The authority of the leader or manager is thus accepted as right and proper and subordinates are expected to show respect and obedience to superiors. According to Atiyyah (1999) Arab and Islamic values emphasize harmony, cooperation and brotherly relationships. Conflicts are avoided and suppressed.
§ Manager-Employee Interactions – The Islamic teachings and values also affect how superiors and inferiors interact. At least twice a day managers and workers meet and pray together side by side regardless of managerial positions and influence.
The human relations and human factors approaches were absorbed into a broad behavioral science movement in the 1950's and 1960's. This period produced some influential theories on the motivation of human performance. For example, Maslow's hierarchy of needs provided an individual focus on the reasons why people work. He argued that people satisfied an ascending series of needs from survival, through security to eventual 'self-actualization'.
In the same period, concepts of job design such as job enrichment and job enlargement were investigated. It was felt that people would give more to an organization if they gained satisfaction from their jobs. Jobs should be designed to be interesting and challenging to gain the commitment of workers - a central theme of HRM.
By the 1970s most managers participating in formal management training were aware of: Theory X and Theory Y (McGregor, 1960); of Maslow and Herzberg's motivation theories; and knew where they should be in terms of the managerial grid (Blake and Mouton, 1964). These theorists advocated participative, 'soft' approaches to management. However, only a minority of managers in the USA received such training, with even fewer in other countries. Most operational managers
Recruitment - advertising for new employees and liaising with employment agencies.
Selection - determining the best candidates from those who apply, arranging interviews, tests and references.
Promotion - running similar selection procedures to determine progression within the organization.
Pay - a minor or major role in pay negotiation, determination and administration.
Performance assessment - coordinating staff appraisal and counseling systems to evaluate individual employee performance.
Grading structures - as a basis for pay or development, comparing the relative difficulty and importance of functions.
Training and development - coordinating or delivering programmes to fit people for the roles required by the organisation now and in the future.
Welfare - providing or liaising with specialists in a staff care or counseling role for people with personal or domestic problems affecting their work.
Communication - providing an internal information service, perhaps in the form of staff newspapers or magazines, handouts, booklets, videos.
Employee Relations - handling disputes, grievances and industrial action, often dealing with unions or staff representatives.
Dismissal - on an individual basis as a result of failure to meet requirements or as part of a redundancy, downsizing or closure exercise, perhaps involving large numbers of people.
Personnel administration - record-keeping and monitoring of legislative requirements related to equal opportunities and possibly pensions and tax.