Islamic Management Style and the Effects of Islam Religion on Human Resources Management - Research Proposal Example

Islamic Management Style and the Effects of Islam Religion on HR Management Introduction Effective management in any given organization makes an important part of the various operations within the organization (Woodall 2005). Having good management within requires that different factors be put into consideration. Such factors include the social, economic, cultural, political as well as religious factors. By considering these factors managers are then able to make strategic decisions that address the various needs that each of this factor demands. Lack of optimization of the positive effects of management practices that are culture based has been reported to cause flaws in a number of different organizations. Realizing the many benefits that practicing a culture based form of management would lead to calls for the knowledge of mental and spiritual factors that are inclusive of tools, techniques and systems (Bjork & Al-Meer 1993). Religion has been seen as being a major determinant in influencing a company’s style of management. A society’s spiritual beliefs have been found to be very powerful such that they surpass other aspects of culture. Religion is a common determinant of economic and moral norms within an organization. In countries within the Middle East, Islam, which is the main religion, has highly affected operations in the work places, job behaviors and the daily business transactions. Saudi Arabia is one such country whereby Islamic law and religion has taken huge control over the processes of management (Hofstede 2001). According to Smith & Meiksin (1995), the development of human capital is highly dependent on the corporate culture related to value based system of management. This entails what defines the main purpose of the kind of civilization that seeks to understand the values of human beings. Islamic societies need to be in line with all the Islamic worldviews. The modern form of management is facing different issues in terms of human resource issues such as recruitment, fair schemes of remuneration among both genders and equal opportunities. These issues that cut across civilizations will in turn bring about normative standards within companies as away of ensuring that there is good corporate-governance that is based on the key values and purpose (Mellahi & Budhwar 2006). Conducted researches in relation to Islam and management have focused on providing a description for the contents and nature of management in Saudi Arabia and other Islamic nations with very few focusing on Islam and human resource management. There is also little evidence on the existing gap between the required form of leadership and management and what is actually practiced in real management in Saudi Arabia (Ali 1995; Bjork & Al-Meer 1993). It is for this reason and with the need to fill this gap that this paper seeks to explore on the Islamic style of management and the effects of the religion on human resource management with focus being on Saudi Arabia. Research Aim This research study will aim at to exploring the Islamic style of management and the effects of the religion on human resource management. The specific objectives for the research include: To evaluate the various Islamic principles that guide organizational management To assess the difference between management systems in Islamic countries with those of the non Islamic countries To investigate on the impact that Islamic religion has on human resource management Research Questions Which are the various Islamic principles that guide organizational management in Islamic countries? What differences exists between management systems in Islamic countries with those of the non Islamic countries? What impact does the Islamic religion have on human resource management in the Islamic countries? Significance of the study Though this study will be done in Saudi Arabia, the findings will be generalized to represent all the other Islamic countries in the Middle East. Undertaking this research study will be an important undertaking in creating a better understanding of the various management principles in Islam and therefore help in undersigning the basics in the system of Islamic management. It is also from this research that existing gaps in undertaken researches to investigate on the role of Islam in management within the Islamic countries will be filled. Other than this, the study findings will help fill the gap between the required form of leadership and management and what is actually practiced in real management in not just in Saudi Arabia but in other Islamic countries as well. The study will also help in examining the various significant effects that religion has on the practices and policies of human resource management as well as on work culture. This factor has in past researches not received much attention despite the argument that religion directly impacts on the behavior of human beings, their social relations and interactions (Abuznaid 2006). Obtained findings and recommendations developed will be effective in analyzing if the system of Islamic management is more effective than the non Islamic one and if some lessons could be learnt from their various practices and principles to be implemented within the non Islamic organizations. Findings obtained from the study will help in creating a base under which more research studies can be undertaken. By identifying the various gaps within the research then more research studies can be organized with a bid to fill the identified gaps. Methodology This chapter needs to give a presentation of the methodology used for the study. The chapter should be inclusive of elements such as research design, sampling framework and technique, data collection and recording, research analysis, study imitations and ethical considerations. Research Design This research is a descriptive research which seeks to evaluate on Islamic management style and the effects of Islam religion on human resource management. Both quantitative and qualitative designs will be used to help in creating a deeper understanding of the research topic. The study will be carried out using face to face interviews. Percentages and numbers of the various responses obtained from the respondents are going to be calculated and then presented in tabular form to ensure ease in computation. Qualitatively, interview guides are going to be created for the key informants. Questionnaires are also going to be provided to the various respondents. Sampling Technique Information and data for this research will be collected from a sample of 20 respondents. Four companies from the city of Riyadh which is the capital city of Saudi Arabia will randomly selected. The respondents will include a manager and four staff members from each of the selected business enterprises. Data Collection This research study will use secondary and primary data. Collection of primary data will be done using questionnaires and face to face interviews while the collection of secondary data will be done through the analysis of documents in form of books, reports, manuals, journals, newspapers and internet sources. This will allow for the reduction of data errors. Primary and Secondary Researches Primary data will be used for this study and will be collected using face to face interviews. Reduction of data error will be done by ensuring that the questionnaires are effectively and efficiently prepare, are easy to hear and simple to understand. The Prepared questionnaires will also be those that do not use value laden or leading works to ensure that there is no internal bias. The interviewers will also be impartial and professionally conducted. The used secondary data sources will include peer reviewed journals, books, reports as well as other publications in the internet. Data Recording The collected data and obtained information will be recorded using audio tapes, information sheets and write ups for further referencing in the subsequent stages of the project. Research Analysis Obtained findings for this research will be analyzed using bar graphs and charts for quantitative data. The analysis of qualitative data will be done using comparative analysis of the real data information collected with the expected outcomes developed before the actual research undertakings. a statistical software package such as SPSS can also be used to do the analysis with the inclusion of both descriptive and inferential statistical procedures . The importance of the descriptive statistics is to ensure that there are provisions that can be used to make a summary of the data sets. The answering of the research questions will be done by making use of inferential statistics. Research Analysis Resources For large amount of data, the analysis process will require the use of computer aided tools such as excel, spread sheets, SPSS, inferences and measures of central tendency such as mean, median. Ethical Considerations The undertaking of any research study requires that the researcher maintain a set of ethical standards. It is for this reason that this research study will be conducted with the various ethical considerations in mind. One major consideration that thus research will need to uphold is ensuring that all information collected from the respondents remains confidential and private. Another consideration of the research is that of informed consent that requires the researcher to ensure that respondents and stakeholders have all the necessary requirements relate to the study. Such information includes the aim of the study, research benefits and the various risks involved. Other important considerations that the researcher will need to make relate to anonymity and responsibility. Anonymity requires that the respondents remain anonymous. The study will be executed in such a way that it maintains the highest of standards and that these standard are strictly followed. It is important that the researcher ensure that he remains responsible of issues related to the various firms and the concerned individuals or respondents. References Abuznaid, S. (2006). ‘Islam and management: What can be learned?’ Thunderbird International Business Review, 48 (1):125 – 139. Ali, A. (1995). ‘Cultural determinants and Arab management thought’, International Studies of Management and Organizations, 28 (3):7- 30 Bjork, B. and Al-Meer, A. (1993), ‘Cultures consequences: Management in Saudi Arabia’, Leadership and Organization Development Journal, 14 (2): 30-45. Hofstede, G. (2001). Culture's Consequences: Comparing Values Behaviors, Institutions and Organizations across Nations. London, Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Mellahi, K. & Budhwar, P. (2006). Human resource management in the Middle East: emerging HRM models and future challenges for research and policy. London: Routledge. Smith, C. & Meiksin, P. (1995). System, society and dominance effects in cross-national organizational analysis. Work, Employment and Society, 9(2): 241-267. Woodall, J. (2005). Editorial: theoretical framework for comparing HRD in an international context. Human Resource Development International, 8(4), 399-402. Read More