Management and Decision Making in Saudi Business

NB: We do not resell your papers. Upon ordering, we do an original paper exclusively for you.

NB: All your data is kept safe from the public.

Table of Contents

Introduction
Problem Identification
Problem Analysis
Development and Implementation of the Action Plan
Conclusion
References

Introduction

The purpose of this case study is to assess the managerial decision making styles that exist among Saudi executives in companies and businesses. Decision-making activities are important for managers since they are charged with the responsibility of planning, organizing, controlling and directing the organizations activities to achieve optimum results.

Decision making can be both a simple and complex task based on the type of decision that the manager is faced with. The study of the various decision making styles that exist is, therefore, essential to ensure that managers are fully equipped and knowledgeable when they are making important decisions.

There are various decision-making styles that exist which are based on the management styles that are practiced by managers in various organizations. Management researchers argue that decision-making styles should be in tandem with the type of leadership that is demonstrated by the managers. The focus of this study will, therefore, be on the management and decision making styles of Saudi Executives.

Problem Identification

The problem under study is the low productivity that exists in some Saudi Arabian organizations, which is a major concern for both small and large organizations. The key problems that have contributed to low productivity include ineffective human resource management practices by most Saudi executives, lack of congruity between the executives and poor decision-making style practices.

Ineffective management practices contribute largely to low productivity amongst employees within organizations which makes it difficult for the organization to achieve the optimum utilization of its resources.

The key problems that therefore lead to low productivity amongst Saudi Arabian companies and employees identified in this case study include mismanagement and ineffective management of employees, poor human resource training programs and systems, cultural, religious and custom problems that affect how the executives relate with their employees who are non-Saudis (Boussif 2010).

Problem Analysis

The cause of low productivity in both the small and large organizations in Saudi Arabia has been identified to be the ineffective management and decision making styles of Saudi Arabian executives. Management research and studies have shown that management practices differ in various countries around the world.

Management and decision making styles that work in one organization or country might not work in another state, which therefore makes it difficult to develop one decision-making style that will be used by all managers around the world.

The differences that exist in management and decision making styles are mostly attributed to the diversity of cultural values and beliefs that are especially predominant in Middle Eastern countries such as Saudi Arabia (Boussif 2010).

As explained in the problem identification section, the people that are most affected by the ineffective management practices of the executives are the employees who are unable to perform their duties properly. This, in turn, has led to low motivation and productivity amongst the employees leading to an overall poor performance of the company in its business and production operations.

The rewards that support the low productivity of the employees include health coverage, paid sick days and extended leave days with pay for employees that work for large Saudi Arabian companies that are also multinational corporations.

These rewards have continued to support the low productivity within most of the organizations as employees are not motivated to perform their duties because of the existing problem of poor management.

The major environmental factor that has contributed to low productivity amongst Saudi Arabian and non-Saudi Arabian workers is the socio-cultural factor where cultural differences, religion, customs and beliefs have affected how employees perform their work.

Employees who are non-Saudi Arabian are affected by cultural differences that exist within the country, which make it difficult for the executives to effectively manage these employees (Boussif 2010).

The representational framework of the problem under study will be based on the management and decision making styles that exist in Saudi Arabia. The primary management styles that are used by many Saudi Arabian executives and managers are the autocratic and pseudo consultative management and decision making styles (Boussif 2010).

The reason why these styles are predominant in both the large and small-sized companies in the country is because they meet the cultural and religious values and belief systems that exist in the country. The managers mostly follow the belief of what is widely accepted as right within the country when conducting business operations which means that they mostly practice autocratic decision making.

The authoritative and autocratic style of leadership is also common in the country as most business executives rely on their own experience and expertise to make critical business decisions that are going to affect employees within organizations (Ashwi 2006).

The beneficial factors that are important to the problem under study include the reward systems incorporated by most Saudi Arabian companies which when accompanied with effective management styles will improve the productivity levels of most companies and businesses within the country.

This reward systems will, therefore, be beneficial when developing suitable action plans to deal with the low productivity that exists amongst Saudi and non-Saudi employees.

Development and Implementation of the Action Plan

The purpose of this case study is to research on the decision-making styles that are used by most Saudi Arabian executives. As identified in the problem analysis section of the case study, the most common decision-making styles that are used by business executives include authoritative and pseudo consultative decision making.

To deal with the general problem of low productivity amongst employees, an action plan needs to be developed to ensure effective management and decision-making styles are adopted.

The objectives for the action plan will therefore be to identify decision making preferences and practices that will be suitable for Saudi Arabian executives, to relate the decision making styles to the value and belief systems that exist in Saudi Arabia and to determine which decision making styles that most employees prefer and to identify whether reward systems can be used to effectively improve employee productivity.

The primary solution to ineffective management will be to change the current management practices and systems that are in use to ensure that there is effective management of human resources which will, in turn, improve employee performance and productivity.

Such an undertaking would require a five to ten-year timeline as it will involve conducting a significant overhaul of the management styles being practiced by managers and executives in the country. The five to ten-year timeline will also be suitable because of the complex nature of the process where management and decision-making styles have to be developed with a basis on the belief system of the country.

The alternative that exists to changing the management styles and practices is the adoption of effective management styles within Saudi organizations which include delegatory decision-making styles where the managers delegate decision making activities to their employees (Project Management for Development 2007).

The strength of this type of management style is that the productivity levels of the employees will improve and there will be higher levels of job satisfaction. Delegating activities to the employees will also ensure that there is a high quality of work performance. The downside of delegating is that coming to a consensus is usually tricky as many employees want their views heard.

The process of decision-making is also slowed down considerably, especially when the employees fail to come to an agreement. Another management style that can be adopted by Saudi executives is to incorporate the use of the laissez-faire management style where the employees are given the authority to manage their own areas of business.

This style of management delegates management activities to the employees allowing them to make significant decisions on their own without any influence from managers and executives (Project Management for Development 2007).

The laissez-faire decision-making style ensures that there is horizontal rather than vertical communication within the organization. The major strength of this decision-making style is that it ensures employees who are professional and creative within the organization are able to bring out their ideas which can be used to better the performance and productivity of the organization.

The major weakness of laissez-faire is that it is an indicator of the poor management practices that exist within the organization. It also leads to a lack of focus and direction within the organization as there is no unifying voice amongst the managers.

This, in turn, leads to employee dissatisfaction with their work leading to poor work performance and motivation (Project Management for Development 2007). The most suitable alternative to the chosen solution will be to incorporate the delegatory style of decision making, as it will ensures that both employees and managers are involved in the decision-making process.

Once the suitable solutions to the problem of low productivity have been identified, the next stage will involve developing suitable action plans that will be used to deal with the problem. A suitable theoretical model that can be used to develop the action plan will be the occupational performance process model that was developed by Fearing et al. in 1997 (Cited by Davis 2006).

The occupational model is suitable for the identified problem as it places a lot of emphasis on the manager, the employees, their work environment and their occupations. The occupational process model ensures that the values and belief systems that are practiced by Saudi Arabian executives have been incorporated into the action plans (Davis 2006).

The action plans for dealing with the problem according to the occupational performance process model will include the development of suitable leadership and management training programs that will effectively deal with mismanagement. This will involve the managers working with the human resources department to develop a suitable program that will focus on the manager’s management style training.

The training program should be focused on better decision-making processes and styles, good leadership and management practices within the Saudi Arabian cultural context and better human resource management.

Once the program is drawn up, the next step of the plan will involve drawing up a time plan for the executive training programs to determine how much time will be needed to equip the managers with the appropriate decision making styles to reduce low productivity levels within their companies.

Once the timeline has been drawn up the managers and executives for the program will be identified for training after which the organizational systems that are in need for change will be identified and determined (Davis 2006).

The major constraint and risk of the action plan will be that most of the Saudi executives might not be willing to change their styles of decision making as they are mostly reliant on the belief system that exists in the country and other Middle Eastern countries.

A minor constraint will be the amount of time and money that will be needed to complete the plan given the 5 to 10-year time frame that is needed to change the current management practices of Saudi Arabian executives.

The time frame for the plan is, however realistic as it will ensure appropriate systems have been put in place to deal with ineffective management within most companies in the country. The opportunities that are presented by the action plan are that productivity within most companies will improve as more employees will be involved in the decision-making process.

Conclusion

The case study has dealt with the decision-making styles that are used by most Saudi Arabian executives. The case study has identified the problems that arise as a result of poor decision-making styles and the solutions that can be incorporated to deal with the identified problems to ensure that the problems have been effectively dealt with in the respective organizations.

References

Ashwi, M. M., (2006) Decision making styles: a Saudi managerial context. 8^th Congress of the International Association for Cross-Cultural Psychology, Isle of Spetses, July 11-15, Greece.

Boussif, D., (2010) Decision-making styles of Arab executives: insights from Tunisia. Merseyside, UK: IBIMA Publishing. Web.

Davis, S., (2006) Rehabilitation: the use of theories and models in practice. Philadelphia, US: Elsevier Health Sciences.

Project Management for Development (2007) Fundamentals of project management. New York, US: PM4DEV.

Click Here To Order Now!