Western Management Concept - Case Study Example

Running Head: EDUCATION MANAGEMENT Education management Name Course Tutor Date Education management in Qatar The idea that the western academic management has negated the importance of incorporating cross-cultural spiritual and shared needs is thriving especially in the borderless world today (Triantis 2000, pp. 210). Western management concept are the practices, beliefs and processes in business, organizations and learning institutions management and leadership that have been adopted in the developed countries particularly in Europe and North America. Although these management practices do no recognize the other countries culture and wants to dominate them, the education management in Qatar has fitted to this western culture, most students and more so, the citizen’s belief that the government through the ministry of education has compromise its home made curriculum, which supports the culture of the country. Statement of problem Due to lack of border boundary in all nations, it is important that, all spiritual, cultures, believes and norms existing in every country be respected and maintained without spreading mere propaganda and dehumanizing them. The western academic management has failed to recognize the different cultures in different countries especially in Qatar (Leithwood & Riehl 2003, pp. 50). People should not be imposed or forced to accept western academic management and leadership styles at the expense of their cultural values, norms, and beliefs. The education system introduced by the western nations is taught using English yet most of the students understand Arabic in Qatar (Triandis 2000, pp. 214). This is seen in Master of Business Administration (MBA) in Business School where US business curriculum is used instead of the Qatar’s curriculum. This shows how the Qatar culture and curriculum is not respected; hence undermining the education system and management of learning institutions. Most students from other countries do not pursue courses under Qatar curriculum but they mostly pursue those of western countries especially for the United Kingdom (UK) and United States of America (USA). MBA attracts a small number of students from neighboring United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Gulf States Bahrain because most of them do not understand English language, which has dominated Qatar colleges and universities. Most expatriate workers in Qatar come mostly from Jordan, Pakistan, Philippines, Oman, Lebanon, Syria and Iran (Hofstede & Hofstede 2005, 86). The academic management system should have benefited the Qatari citizens but the foreigners take advantage due to lack of respect to the Qatar cultural beliefs especially in the education sector. The Leadership style of management introduced by the western countries negates the culture and what Qatar citizens want (Triandis 2000, pp. 216). The dedication, loyalty, and commitment of the staff in Qatar are encouraging. This has been driving force because of the government support; but because of the western culture and their mode of teaching has demoralized the Qatar staff and management due to inadequate resources. There is high job security in the government than in the western schools because they contract teachers and not in permanent basis as the government do through the ministry of education (Leithwood & Riehl 2003, pp. 55). The culture of cohesion and empowerment is not there in the western culture where the students and management interact and share ideas on the way forward on educational matters. The earlier notion and belief that payment and association with the western culture; would improve education performance and quality in Qatar has been disapproved (Triandis 2000, pp. 219). To show that the culture of academic management in Qatar has been affected negatively, there are currently hundreds of private and international schools in the country. Most people Qatari has and expatriates choose to send students to these schools and neglect the Qatar local schools and any other learning institution. This shows how people have diverted from their culture by the western academic management and leadership style (Triandis 2000, pp. 221). These schools do not adopt the Qatar curriculum but the country it originates. These schools are owned by foreigners and they include: Doha College (United Kingdom Curriculum), Qatar Academy (IB World School), American School of Doha, The Gulf English School (UK/ IB curriculum), Doha Academy, Doha English Speaking School (United Kingdom primary curriculum), Qatar International School (National Curriculum for England), International School of Choueifat and many more. These foreign curriculums erode the local programs in favor of the foreign culture. Universities and colleges from United States and Canada have been opening satellite campuses to offer their curriculum. To me these campuses should be forced by the government to adopt and offer Qatar curriculum. These schools do not follow the Qatar’s management styles; hence creating more conflicts and misunderstanding (Marzano & McNulty 2005, pp. 125). Due to globalization, other people’s culture must be respected because by promoting foreign languages and culture in Qatar at the expense of Arabic language and culture is not fair. Though Qatar has embarked on modernizing and integrating with the rest of the world, it does not mean that, the dominant western culture on education should dominate the country’s curriculum, leadership, and management. There was need for change in leadership and management of learning institutions in the country and they decided to adopt an open door policy. This policy was to allow western universities and colleges to be established in the country but they must adopt the country’s management and leadership styles in accordance to the culture of the country (Hofstede & Hofstede 2005, 70). The training offered by the western countries curriculum is of high quality but the students lack the basic societal cultural beliefs, rules, and norms, which govern the society. This is the reason as to why I oppose this statement because it has neglected our culture as citizens of Qatar. There is a gap between Qatar and western countries not only in science and technology but also in the culture, norms, attitudes, beliefs, and perception in the country at the verge of modernization. Past years of propaganda and socio-cultural suppression should not allow the adoption of western culture by schools and institutions management at the expense of our own Qatar education management and leadership even in our local institutions (Leithwood & Riehl 2003, pp. 60). As a student the ministry of education and the supreme council of education must come up with strategies to deal with this Qatar’s education curriculum being undermined by the western countries. In 1984, there were attempts by the government to collaborate on government-to-government basis so as to introduce western management training in Qatar, which is socially acceptable. This collaboration expanded rapidly and later evolved into Masters of Business Administration (MBA) programs for the top executives in the country in the mid 1980’s. Since then, the western training has dominated and the use of English a foreign language instead of the Arabic language, which most people understand, has been neglected. Most overseas undergraduate and postgraduate degrees have been preferred by most students than the country’s recommended programs (Triandis 2000, pp. 225). Most of the managers have been attracted to further their studies in these foreign learning institutions instead of the local ones. This is because of the notion and propaganda that, the western management education programs are more effective in improving the management of Qatar businesses; that is of importance to education and management researchers and practitioners in the education sector. As a student, I believe there is no difference between the education system of Qatar and western country’s (Triandis 2000, pp. 210). This is because, the lecturers in the Qatar’s universities and colleges and the same ones who teach and lecture in the western universities which have dominated the country. We use the same facilities such as laboratory, textbooks and other learning materials and equipment. This paper explores the development of Qatar’s management education and examines how the western education system has been tempered by the cross-cultural differences leading to gaps, which have negatively ruined the country’s education system. This was established by quantitative analysis method and research conducted by researchers and educationists (Hofstede & Hofstede 2005, 90). Culture is defined as the collective mental or mind set of the people in certain environment, which has been programmed, and people have adopted it. Culture is commonly shared by all people living in that society for their own common well. It is building in all structures, from individuals in the families to governments to associations and from spiritual denominations to religions to work organizations. It can also be reflected in buildings, scientific theories, and even literature in the learning institutions (Marzano & McNulty 2005, pp. 123). The proposed framework for studying and analyzing different national cultures are divided into four dimensions (Leithwood & Riehl 2003, pp. 66). These are uncertainty avoidance, masculinity, power distance, and individualism collectivism. Forty countries were classified on eight different cultural backgrounds where Qatar and all countries in Asia shared the high-powered distance, low uncertainty, low individualism, and medium masculinity. This is in contrast with western countries, which include United States of America (USA), Great Britain, Ireland, Australia, and Canada where their culture according to the four components score high; especially on individualism and masculinity. This is the reason as to why most students in Qatar and other countries in the world prefer western education management than their country’s education system. The four dimensions distinguish the different national cultures and they depict how western nations should consider other nation’s culture by not dehumanizing and dominating them (Leithwood & Riehl 2003, pp. 71). The early research in leadership theories focus on behaviors and character traits of leaders as universal. However, they fail to understand that, there is a possibility that leadership traits and behaviors vary from one culture to another or from one country to another. In the subsequent years, other authors realized that leadership styles also vary from one situation to another; this is according to contingency theory, which was developed though this theory is paid little attention yet there are various cultural variables and differences (Triandis 2000, pp. 229). In Qatar, it has been criticized and scrutinized for introducing international management practices, which are unacceptable according to the education culture of this country. It has led to poor governance in the education and learning institutions. Managers or leaders in a high and medium avoidance culture must give clear instructions on what should be done so as not to erode the culture of my country (Leithwood & Riehl 2003, pp. 78). Educational management practices are becoming global by going beyond the borders. As a result of this globalization, many countries around the world including Qatar are working on implementing reforms in accordance to the European and American practices though cultural implications may be severe. Cultural issues have arisen recently in Qatar and other nations concerning educational leadership and management from the western nations. There are some foreign established schools in the country, which all students must follow certain religion beliefs no matter the religion the students ascribe to. For instance, in catholic schools, all students even if you are a Muslim, protestant or apostolic; they all have to do as per the catholic beliefs within the school environment. This is unfair and discriminating by forcing students to accept the culture, which is seen as foreign or western to adopt it in the learning institutions (Marzano & McNulty 2005, pp. 128). Many authors and educationists find out that, the rapid growing awareness and interest in globalization has affected education management in Qatar in which as a student, I concur. This is because; the national leadership policies, practices and guidelines have been compromised in favor of the western culture management and leadership practices. This has called for the development of an international branch and a comparative educational management and leadership that suits a country, but it must meet international standards. For it to be adopted faster, documentation of differences among various cultures in different countries would be easy towards perception of bad leadership and management introduced by the western culture (Hofstede & Hofstede 2005, 60). However, if there is no conceptual framework and the guiding principles, then simple observation created by the differences may not describe the culture disparities in general. Therefore, there would be no importance in predicting the management and leadership preferences of different cultures and social affiliations (Marzano & McNulty 2005, pp. 132). This has become a major problem to many students in Qatar because the spiritual affiliations of western countries and Qatar are different. Christianity is the dominant religion while in Qatar there are Muslims and Christians. There has been no thorough research on the area of cross-cultural differences in education sector in Qatar so as to address the issue. I therefore recommend that, the government through the ministry of education to conduct a comprehensive research so as to handle these cultural issues. Though educational leadership and management have improved slightly in Qatar over the last four decades, the comparative field has failed to emerge as expected (Marzano & McNulty 2005, pp. 136). Qatar’s education ministry has developed a conceptual framework and guidelines, which are instrumental and are of great importance if they are to keep abreast the globalization of education policy and practice. It is important to approach the cross-cultural educational leadership theory from a theoretical framework and guidelines that aims at solving the differences in culture (Triandis 2000, pp. 222). According to the research conducted in Qatar, cultures have been measured and ranked according to their importance and how people perceive of that culture. It is therefore important for Qatar educationists and administrators to keenly and carefully study educational leadership and management in the light of the four paradigms. This will help them come up with the appropriate modifications in order to maintain the culture of a country based on facts and what people like (Marzano & McNulty 2005, pp. 138). The four dimensions should become the pillars that will help to distinguish the different national cultures and to reflect the values that have become societal norms, which must be adhered to. The culture determines to a large extend the political, organizational and institutional solutions, which are seen within that particular national culture. Leadership and management across the borders may not be valid and acceptable in other cultures due to different backgrounds and beliefs (Bryan 2001, pp. 490). Some people especially in the academic field tend to belief that, research done by Hofstede, which is applied in business management, should also be used in educational administration, leadership, and management education system. If this would be the case, then there could be no need to conduct further research into cross-cultural leadership and management in education, since it has already been done in the discipline of business management. This shows that, business management and educational leadership and management are two different fields (Marzano & McNulty 2005, pp. 140). Research conducted in Qatar, Cambodia, Zepp and Hong shows that, there is variability among cultures, subgroups and nations. However, contingency and situational theories of leadership have proven that, leadership styles vary among various groups and nations. Comparison of perceptions of leadership traits among teachers, farmers, and students of different nations shows that there is a great difference and disparity (Marzano & McNulty 2005, pp. 143). This therefore can justify the fact that the western academic management culture, which has dominated Qatar education system, is bringing more harm than good. The spiritual or religious difference is an issue, which cannot be undermined. This is because; the western academic management culture dictates when religious events such as prayer that should be conducted without considering the people’s diversity in religious beliefs. This therefore means that, western culture should not dominate other countries culture, but they should consult with the education officers so as to act and implement their curriculum in accordance to that nation’s culture. Other nations such as Qatar may have suffered because of over-generalization of national interests by neglecting local disparities and differences. This is an issue, which needs to be addressed in Qatar because most students have adopted the western culture due to the notion and perception that, western culture is superior and powerful than any other (Bryan 2001, pp. 470). The study has shown that, perception of the behaviors, traits and leadership styles of a good or a bad leader among the teachers and management officials vary widely among nations due to different cultures (Marzano & McNulty 2005, pp. 145). . It therefore means that, there is no single set of traits in schools management that can become universally dominant, as the western management has been; propagandize so as to be seen as more superior. According a well-known researcher in education systems, leadership, and management called Hofstede, he found out that, beliefs about leadership and management reflects a culture, which is dominant in a country. He was against the western countries culture, which is domineering in the whole world. He said it is unhealthy for most countries who value their culture and the most affected and crucial sector is education management. The management styles of these western cultures dictates what is to be done yet in most countries especially in my country Qatar; consultation on issues of schools management must be thorough so to satisfy the citizens and foreigner’s education needs (Bryan 2001, pp. 480). People emulate their leaders because they are heroes in their culture and they act as models for behavior. It is very difficult to predict the impact other cultures introduced in a country; but in Qatar, it has made many students prefer western curriculum to their country’s curriculum. Educational management and leadership is not the same culture as in business management; hence, for validity to be achieved, paradigm of categories of cultures must be recognized in every country. Global assessment is perhaps the only theoretical context that should be done so as to predict the results of a new culture in a country. The long term outlook and to some extent masculinity index can become the starting point for identifying and classifying cultural variables that enhances the perception that; western culture promote good leadership and management of institutions (Leithwood & Riehl 2003, pp. 80). In a highly feminine or masculine culture, certain traits and behaviors can predict the success of educational leaders based on their beliefs (Marzano & McNulty 2005, pp. 150). To avoid culture differences, disparities and conflicts from arising, the Qatar government through the ministry of education and the supreme council of education should identify the differences in education cultures of different nations. This is to harmonize and come up with a culture that will satisfy majority of the people without compromising ones culture (Bryan 2001, pp. 485). There is need for specific studies so as to come with education system that will be applicable beyond geographical borders of a country without causing discomfort to other people’s culture. This means that, a culture adopted in a certain country, for instance in Qatar should be arrived at after consultation so as to preserve and maintain the culture of the country. The government of Qatar through the ministry of education must not allow western countries to implement and offer their educational curriculum. Incase they want to establish schools in Qatar; they must be willing to comply with country’s curriculum, culture and beliefs. The government of Qatar must set a policy guideline that will promote its citizens culture. Rules and regulations governing education must be clear and all stakeholders must be consulted. This will avoid curriculum clash between the western and local one. All schools which have been established in the country by foreigners must use the countries harmonize and standard curriculum and management in accordance to the requirements of that country (Triandis 2000, pp. 230). Democratic and consultative leadership styles should be applied and not the authoritative leadership styles of management, which have been introduced in the country by western cultures. Forcing people and especially the leadership to adopt certain culture without considering its implications is dangerous to the culture of a country. Priority should be given to the locals to decide what they want in terms of school management, spiritual matters, and general welfare (Bryan 2001, pp. 486). References: Bryan, M. 2001. Levels of comparison in educational studies: Different insights from different literatures and the value of multilevel analysis. New York: MIT Publishers. pp. 470–490. Hofstede, G. H. & Hofstede, G. J. 2005. Cultures and Organisations: From cultural roots to Economic growth and Organizational Dynamics. London: McGraw Hill. Pp. 60-90. Leithwood, K. & Riehl, C. 2003. What do us Already Know about Successful School Leadership? AERA Division A Task Force on Developing Research in Educational Leadership. Lahore: Kinnaird College University. pp. 50-80. Marzano, R. J. & McNulty, M. 2005. School Leadership that Works: From Research to Results. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, pp. 120- 150. Triandis, H. C. 2000. Individualism and Collectivism. Boulder, CO: Westmore, pp. 210-230. Zepp, R. and Hong, H. 2007. Perceptions of Leadership in Three Professions: Studies in Cambodian and Qatar Leadership. Battambang, Cambodia: Australian Centres for Development, pp 80-100. Read More