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In this study, 365 employees from three Middle Eastern countries (Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Oman) are queried about their cultural values and work-related beliefs. This analysis is unique both in its sample and its focus on the relationship between individual cultural values and beliefs about work. Results suggest that the cultural value dimensions individualism (p < .001) and masculinity (p <. 001) are related to both an individual's beliefs about organizational commitment and work ethic. Additional findings reveal patterns between cultural values and humanistic and political beliefs. Future research directions and managerial implications are also discussed. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
The study of cultural and managerial values has made a major contribution to the body of literature on worker behavior in an organizational setting (Schwartz, 1999). Organizational scholars have also studied work beliefs from a variety of angles, which include gender, age, and ethics (e.g., Buchholz, 1978; Fritzsche, 1995; Gibson, 1995; Schlegelmilch & Robertson, 1995). Research has indicated that individual values are related to the collective values of the larger culture in which work beliefs are shaped (see Conner & Becker, 1994). While this research stream has been extended internationally to explore different cultural perceptions of various work-related issues (Geletkanycz, 1997; Hofstede, 1997; Puffer, McCarthy, & Naumov, 1997; Ronen & Shenkar, 1985; Trornpenaars, 1994), little has been done by researchers to tap into the psyche and worldview of workers from the Middle East (Ali, 1999).
The Middle East has "the potential to be a formidable international economic player. The vast natural and human resources and its strategic geographical position place the Middle East at the center of the global stage, an attractive theater for competing global powers" (Ali, 1999, p. 102). As trade continues to surge between industrialized countries and Middle Eastern nations-U.S. exports to Saudi Arabia alone totaled $10.5 billion in 1998-the significance of attaining a better understanding of these complex and diverse people will become dramatically more important (U.S. Department of Commerce, 1999). Moreover, despite the firm steps toward privatization and burgeoning policies geared toward the diversification of economies away from the traditional cash cow of oil, organizational and cross-cultural researchers have continued to avoid the people from this dynamic and growing region of the world.
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