Influence of National Culture on Employee Commitment Forms - Essay Example

This study sought to investigate the relationship between national culture and employee commitment within Western-Saudi IJV’s environments in contrast to the commitment forms found within domestic (monoculture) organizations. In this study, Western and Saudi managers were empirically compared (n=567) as to their levels of organizational commitment and professional commitment. This study found that Western managers working in Saudi IJVs had significantly higher levels of professional commitment than their Saudi counterparts. Similarly, Saudi managers working in Saudi IJVs had significantly higher levels of organizational commitment than their Western counterparts. This study also found that Saudi managers working in Saudi IJVs experienced higher levels of professional commitment than did their Saudi counterparts working in purely Saudi firms, and that Western managers who had previously worked in collectivist cultures had higher levels of organizational commitment than did Western managers who had not previously worked in collectivist cultures. However, Saudi managers who had previously worked in individual cultures had no difference in levels of professional commitment than did Saudi managers who had not previously worked in Western cultures. The results support a correlation between individualism and professional commitment, as well as between collectivism and organizational commitment. The results explored that an employee’s cultural orientation can be modified through exposure to employees from other cultures. The knowledge contributed from the study will enrich the existing scholarly theories of employee commitment and facilitate foreign investors and HRM practitioners in developing strategies to maximize the benefits of different forms of employee commitment.

With globalization taking business across cultures, the creation and management of cross-cultural business operations have accelerated steeply over the past decades (Wagner, 2007; Yan &Zeng, 1999). Along with the increase in cross-cultural business operations comes the need for the effective management of employees from different cultural backgrounds. 

What has been true globally is true for Saudi Arabia as well.