Propensity for participative decision-making, job satisfaction, organizational commitment, organizational citizenship behavior, and intentions to leave among Egyptian managers

Multinational Business Review, Spring 2003 by Parnell, John A, Crandall, William (Rick)

ABSTRACT: Relationships among job satisfaction, organizational commitment, organizational citizenship behavior, propensity for participative decision-making (PPDM), and intentions to leave have been assessed in a number of studies of Western managers. However, there is a dearth of such research in non-Western organizations. This study examines these relationships among Egyptian managers and suggests prospective directions for additional research in the field.

INTRODUCTION

Only a century ago, the exchange between employer and employee was relatively uncomplicated. Today, in addition to wages, Western employees often place high values on employer-provided health care, insurance, retirement, family services, and the like. Most scholars have found that the influence of benefits on outcome variables such as productivity, satisfaction and commitment differs from that of a relationship based solely on wages. As such, the need to examine the relationships among a variety of latent constructs has become more critical to achieving the goals of employers and employees, especially in the United States and other developed nations (Guzzo, Noonan, & Elron, 1992, 1994).

Although numerous empirical tests of management relationships appear in the literature, relatively little is known about these relationships in emerging countries (Honeycutt, Karade, Attia, & Maurer, 2001). Many elements of the present consensus developed from studies of Western firms may be directly applicable to developing countries. However, it is likely that differences in macroenvironmental factors-namely national culture-may render the commonly accepted notions of behavioral management philosophy inappropriate in many emerging nations (Guzzo, Noonan, & Elron, 1994).

The present study explores relationships among several key constructs-propensity for participative decision-making (PPDM), job satisfaction, organizational commitment, organizational citizenship behavior, and intentions to leave-among Egyptian managers. Special emphasis is given to differences between Egyptian managers and those typically found in studies of their Western counterparts.

The remainder of this paper is divided into five sections. First, an overview of the Egyptian management environment is presented. Second, brief Western literature reviews of the five constructs are elaborated. Although the present study is exploratory in nature, propositions are developed in this section that consider relationships in the Egyptian environment. Third, the sample and statistical methods are discussed. Fourth, findings are presented and their implications discussed. Finally, conclusions and prospects for future research are elaborated.

MANAGEMENT IN EGYPT

The management environment in Egypt differs markedly from that in the West (Akande, 1991; Zoubir, 2000). Management in Egypt, like that in many other developing countries such as Taiwan, Singapore, and Thailand, is highly dependent on government allocations of resources (Steinberg, 1989). Hence, Egyptian management practice is difficult to investigate, since it cannot be explained solely in terms of individual firm conduct, but must also include the role of the nation-state (Braham, 1994; Ring, Lenway, & Govekar, 1990).

There appears to exist a serious lack of management research in the Middle East (Kozan, 1992). At least five factors may help explain this dearth. First, government restrictions often create barriers that add time and effort to the research process (Hatem, 1994). Studies in Egypt that involve primary data collection through field surveys, interviews, and opinion polls often, depending on their nature, require special and tedious governmental permission. Specifically, researchers must follow certain steps as specified by a myriad of government regulations. Cultural differences are often manifested in the differences in indicators used in scales designed to measure the same constructs. Thus, researchers in Egypt, as well as in those in other developing nations, must develop the sensitivity to avoid questions on a survey or in an interview that may offend, confuse or embarrass respondents (Atiyyah, 1992, 1993).

Second, few Westerners understand or are willing to learn fundamentals of the colloquial Egyptian Arabic and Arabic script. Third, recent problems with terrorism in the Middle East have discouraged potential researchers from traveling to or working in Egypt. Fourth, the lack of a substantial visible immigration to the United States-unlike China and India-has limited the number of trained Egyptian researchers working in progressive Western research environments. Finally, there is a serious lack of comprehension of Egypt's identity, one that is in many ways distinct of other Middle Eastern countries, as well as other African nations (Savvas, Ghada, & Sadler-Smith, 2001).

Research problems in Egypt are not limited to primary data collection. Those who seek secondary data must consider the frequent lack of availability of accurate and current data. As such, published management research is limited, although present opportunities for research exist. One of the major emerging areas of concern is management and employee development (Hatem, 1994). Although sound research encourages one to maintain methodological consistency, typical Western approaches to primary data collection often must be modified to fit the distinctive cultural attributes of the country in which the research takes place. Such changes invariably present judgmental decisions that must be made by the researcher. Punnett and Shenkar (1994) warned against interviews, experiments, and observational approaches where great religious differences exist between the researcher's home culture and that being studied. In addition, survey research is feasible when any language barriers are overcome, but less reliable when educational differences are also highly pronounced. Further, one's values can influence item interpretation and create response bias (Adler, 1983).