Organizational policies and diversity management in Saudi Arabia
| Pages | 454-474 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/ER-05-2017-0104 |
| Date | 01 April 2019 |
| Published date | 01 April 2019 |
| Author | Mohamed-Osman Shereif Mahdi Abaker,Omar Ahmad Khalid Al-Titi,Natheer Shawqi Al-Nasr |
| Subject Matter | HR & organizational behaviour,Industrial/labour relations,Employment law |
Organizational policies and
diversity management in
Saudi Arabia
Mohamed-Osman Shereif Mahdi Abaker
Department of Management, School of Business,
American University of Ras Al Khaimah, Ras Al Khaimah,
United Arab Emirates, and
Omar Ahmad Khalid Al-Titi and Natheer Shawqi Al-Nasr
King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals College of Industrial Management,
Dhahran, Saudi Arabia
Abstract
Purpose –The purpose of this paper is to report empirical research conducted in Saudi Arabia on the
impacts of organizational policies and practices on the diversity management of the Saudi private sector.
To this end, the Saudization policy and views of key respondents have been tested and discussed.
Design/methodology/approach –Primary data were collected through questionnaire surveys from the
largest 11 private sector organizations listed on the Saudi Stock Market in the financial/banking, oil and gas,
petrochemical, private higher education and private health service sectors. Statistical tools such as means and
standard deviations and one-sample t-tests were used for analysis.
Findings –The findings suggest that Saudization, retention, pay with benefits and health insurance policies
significantly affect the diversity management in the Saudi private sector. Therefore, there is a need to develop
organizational policies that support the existence of foreign employees for private businesses in Saudi Arabia.
Considering differences as strengths that can be utilized to enhance performance, a diverse workforce might
better be able to serve diverse markets.
Research limitations/implications –Collecting data from a closed environment such as Saudi Arabia is
constrained by access difficulties, as well as inadequate literature on relevant diversity issues. However, the
convenience sampling method and snowballing approach adopted in this study generated reliable data. As a
result, this study has implications for both the multinational corporations operating in Saudi Arabia and
Saudi owned companies operating in the West and intending to adopt and implement diversity management
initiatives for branches in different countries. As such, further research on the gulf countries’diversity
management issues would be critical.
Originality/value –The current study is a first survey-based research endeavor on the topic of diversity
management in the Saudi context. The findings contribute to the limited knowledge base on middle eastern
countries, thus presenting new empirical evidence on the organizational policies and practices of Saudization,
retention, pay and benefits and health insurance policies. The study of the Saudi case, thus adds value to the
existing knowledge on diversity management.
Keywords Middle east, Saudi Arabia, Diversity management, Foreign employees, Gulf countries, Saudization
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
This paper investigates the effects of organizational policies and practices on diversity
management in the Saudi private sector as, in today’s business environment, managing
diversity among theworkforce is critical to the success of business organizations (Rice, 1994;
Robinson, and Dechant, 1997; Davis et al., 2016). Therefore, diversity creates a competitive
advantage by helping organizations attract and retainthe best employees, increase creativity
and improve decision making (Foster and Harris, 2005). Nonetheless, if diversity is not
properly managed, it can be a source of conflict, which leads to inefficiency, poor quality, lack
of creativity and innovation, as well as increased labor turnover (Farrer, 2004). Managing
diversityis more than recruiting diverse employeesand also means learning to appreciate and
respondproperly to the needs, attitudes and valuesdiverse employeesbring to an organization
and finding the most effective ways to utilize the skills and talents of a diverse workforce.
Employee Relations:
The International Journal
Vol. 41 No. 3, 2019
pp. 454-474
© Emerald PublishingLimited
0142-5455
DOI 10.1108/ER-05-2017-0104
Received 7 May 2017
Revised 3 October 2017
24 April 2018
Accepted 11 June 2018
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
www.emeraldinsight.com/0142-5455.htm
454
ER
41,3
As such, it has become a key issue for the top management of organizations worldwide
(Ng and Burke, 2005). However, Acar (2010) pointed out that the insufficient research on
diversity focused almost entirely on affirmative action (Kravitz, 2008). Further, an initial
examination reveals a paucity of research in the field of diversity management for the
middle eastern and gulf economies, particularly limited information in the diversity
management in gulf organizations, including Saudi Arabia. Previous studies, such as Madhi
and Barrientos (2003), examined Saudization and employment. Further, Forstenlechner
(2009, 2010) presented findings on workforce nationalization in the United Arab Emirates
(UAE), on both expats and citizens in terms of managing diverse teams in the middle east.
Neal (2010) examined when Arab-expatriate relations work well by analyzing the diversity
and discourse in the Gulf Arab workplace in a public-sector organization in Oman,
while Khan et al. (2010) investigated diversity management in the multicultural settings of
the UAE.
This paper draws o n quantitative data colle cted from the Saudi Arabia n private
sector, thus contributing to knowledge on diversity management and particularly to the
impacts of organizational policies and practices on diversity management including th e
Saudization of private sector organizations in the gulf. Generally, gulf organizations
operate in diverse work settings, whereby they are heavily dependent on an expatriate
workforce at the different levels. As such, the Saudi private sector organizations have
been selected as they represent the largest business sector in the gulf region, which
plays a vital role in the economic development of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, as well as
provide a vast range of job opportunities to both local Saudi natives and worldwide
expatriates. Recently, Saudi private business organizations experienced a high pressure to
recruit and replace foreign employees with Saudis. To this end, Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of
Labor and Social Development (MLSD) launched a program called “Nitaqat”to encourage
Saudi private companies to hire more Saudis under the recent legal requirements of
Saudization (MLSD, 2013, 2016, 2017). This was made possible because, in Saudi Arabia,
there is no equal employment opportunity law and regulations such as in western
countries to control employment issues (Manshor et al., 2003; Al-Jenaibi, 2012, Yaghi and
Yaghi, 2013).
In sum, this paper investigates the effects of organizational policies and practices on
diversity management in the Saudi private sector as it attempts to enhance the
understanding of this under-researched area. To this end, the paper examines the diversity
programs and initiatives for the private sector and draws implications of the different
aspects of the diversity program affecting the recruitment of a diverse workforce in
Saudi Arabia. Further, the study presents findings on the impacts of organizational policies
and practices, including Saudization, on the diversity management of Saudi private sector
business organizations.
Research objectives
The research objectives examine the impact of organizational policies and practices on
diversity management in Saudi Arabia considering that the organizational policies and
practices adopted in the Saudi private sector are significantly affecting the recruitment of a
diverse workforce in Saudi private organizations. The main research objectives are:
•examine the diversedemographic characteristicsof Saudi private sector organizations;
•examine the organizational policies and practices affecting the recruitment of diverse
employees in Saudi private sector organizations; and
•identify problems and critical issues for diversity management implementation in
Saudi private sector organizations.
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Diversity
management
in Saudi
Arabia
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