Human Resource Management Practice in the Public Sector in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia - Dissertation Example

?DISSERTATION PROPOSAL Dissertation Topic: “The Level Of Skills In Contributing To The Development Of Human Resource Management (HRM) Practice In Public Sector In The Kingdom Of Saudi Arabia” BACKGROUND Human Resource Management is an emerging field around the world. Small, medium and large companies are designing effective human resource practices in order to attract, motivate and retain qualified pool of employees that helps the firm in achieving the overall organizational mission, vision and objectives. Companies are actively providing training and development opportunities to their employees so that they can upgrade their knowledge, skills and abilities. Saudi Arabia is one of the biggest countries of Middle East earning mainly from the export of petroleum products (Ramady, 2010). Despite being rich in natural resources the country is facing a paradox of high wealth and a human resource base that is challenged in terms of skills. Saudi Arabia is facing significant shortage of skilled, semi-skilled and unskilled labor (Ramady, 2010). Part of the reason is the influence of religious and cultural values resulting in an educational system that focuses less on a structured vocational or professional training who can meet the demands of the thriving economy (Oxford Business Group, 2008). Moreover, female population constitutes a minor portion of the total workforce due to which the country has to rely on the foreign/overseas employees to fill the demand & supply gap of the workforce (Oxford Business Group, 2008). According to a study by Al-Masnad in 1999, about sixty percent of the population of Saudi Arabia is under the age of eighteen. The youth is living under social stereotypes due to which they refuse to accept technical and manual jobs and prefer working in managerial positions. As a result, the country is depending on expatriates and third country nationals especially in the fields of engineering and information technology. Apart from this, there is a weak connection between the Saudi educational system output and the requirement of the industry. The system of education is inadequate for the training and development of the future employees in technical and managerial skills needed for the development of human resource management. The country is producing more graduates in the fields of religious studies and humanities (Achoui, 2009). According to a report by World Economic Forum in 2007, the major obstacle in the development of human resources in Arab countries is the uneducated local workforce. Human Resource Management (HRM) is an emerging field in Saudi Arabia (Ali, 2008). Therefore, it is important to see that impact of employee skills of the HR practices of public sector so that companies can gain a clear image of the contribution of their employees in the achievement of their organizational goals. Clearly, the level of skills of the Saudi people affect and are affected by the practice of human resource management in the Kingdom. This is because it is apparent that every HRM system must work hand-in-hand with the people in the area within which it is to operate. Thus, the state of the Saudi human resource base will definitely have an effect on the human resource management system. On the other hand, the human resource management system will attempt to modify the human resource base through events like appraisal, promotion and motivation. Thus the push and pull factors shape and define the human resource system of the country. The purpose of this research proposal is to find out the influence of the changes in the level of skills the public sector of Saudi Arabia on the development of HRM practices and policies. The importance of this research is that it is an unprecedented exercise that seeks to build the foundation for for future research and development of human resource management in Saudi Arabia. LITERATURE REVIEW: Fitzsimons (1999) stated that education and training are fundamental elements of the concept of human capital which determines the economy of a given nation. In terms of education, the human capital theory suggests that the collective education and training of individuals in organizations enables them to increase productivity in organization which enables them to earn more money through promotion and also increase returns for their employers (Xiao, 2001). It is therefore conclusive that the level of education and the training of the human resource base of a given nation is a vital tool in the development of the nation. This is because the human capital base of a nation plays a definitive role in determining the gross domestic product of the nation at every point in time. “The number of the employees in the government sector of KSA is no more than 783.3 thousands while their number in the private sector is 5.4 million” (SAMA, 2006). The government sector is mostly represented by Saudi nationals due to high salaries, prestige and job stability in those sectors. On the other hand, private sector is highly dominated by oversees/ expatriates constituting a portion of 88.4% of the private sector (SAMA, 2006). The reason behind this is that; Saudis are less qualified in technical skills and English language. They don’t show a professional attitude while expatriate are more disciplined. High salary expenditure on Saudi Nationals. Negative stereotypes about manual and less paying jobs. In order to bridge the gaps between the education system and the workforce it is very important to train employees about the technical and human resource management skills so that economic growth and sustainability can be ensured (Alsahlawi, Aziz, Gardener & Edward 2004). The development of any country is depended on both financial and human resources. Saudi Arabia on one hand is a wealthy country and has enough resources needed for development of the industrial sector. But on the other hand, education and training of human resources is one of the biggest hindrances that country is facing right now. Combine with this, the small population and labor shortage of Saudi Arabia and their luxurious lifestyle has resulted in the import of labor for carrying out the operations of the major sectors of the country; namely; petroleum, mechanical, health care, technological, telecommunication and agricultural sectors; while Saudi nationals restrict themselves to service sector or managerial positions. “Human resource management policies and the practices of Saudi Arabia are shaped by the following: the structure of the economy, the political structure, the labor market, the national HRD strategy, and the national culture” (Mellahi & Wood 2001). Saudi government has initiated several education programs due to which the enrollment of students in universities has increased by 4.4 percent (Alsahlawi, Aziz, Gardener & Edward 2004). Yet, long term strategic decisions are needed to be taken to teach necessary skills needed for the development of new fields of specialization and HRM practices in private and public sector, both. The objectives of this research will aim at identifying the level of skills in contributing to the development of Human Resource Management Practice in the Public Sector of Saudi Arabia by: 1. Critically evaluating the human capital base of the Saudi Public Sector. 2. Assessing the development of Human Resource Management Practice in the Saudi public sector and 3. Identifying the relationship between the skill level and the development of the human resource management practice in the Saudi public sector. METHODOLOGY: The purpose of this research will be to find out the impact of higher level of skills on the development of HRM practices and to explore the obstacles in Human Resource Development (HRD). For this purpose, cause and effect analysis will be used examine the impact of education system on the level of skills possessed by the Saudi Nationals resulting in the development of HR practices in public sector. It will examine the human resource base by identifying the education and skills of members of the Saudi public sector. It will do this by examining the kind of training structure that Saudi public sector workers go through before gaining employment and how these workers get to gain more education and training whilst they are in employment. This will be done by examining secondary sources and interviewing authorities in the Saudi public sector. The research will be mainly based on the data collected from the secondary sources. The research will examine the statistics of employment rate, education system, trends of HRD, impact of cultural and religious ideologies & skills required for the development of HR sector. The second objective will involve the assessment of human resource management in the Saudi public sector. It will look at the human resource management structures of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. It will critically assess the model of Human Resource Management often employed in Saudi Arabia and then try to trace the evolution of these HRM practice. This will be done by the collection of primary data like surveys from the various Saudi public sector organizations about their Human Resource Management systems and structures. Samples will be taken from the various sectors of the Saudi public sector. Notable information to be collected will include the skill level of HRM staff as well as the policies and strategies used for the important HR decisions ranging from Recruitment & Selection, Motivation, Leadership as well as Training and Development. There will be trend as well as inter-sector analysis to get an understanding of how the public sector human resource management practice has been developing over the past 10 years. When data and information are collected from the human capital base and the HRM practice, there will be detailed examination of some important factors relating to the level of skills amongst Saudi Public Sector Employees and the HR staff members. The relationship between the changes in the skills level of Saudi public sector employees and the human resource management systems will be established on the basis of the effects of the changes in that occurred in both variables. In other words, the trend of the relationship between changes in skill levels amongst workers of the Saudi public sector will be compared with the corresponding changes in the HRM system and structures of the Kingdom. This will form the basis for the formation of theories on the link between the level of skills in the Saudi public sector and the HRM practices of the Kingdom's public sector. LIMITATIONS The main limitation of the research is that, it will be based on sampling. This is because the research team cannot cover the whole Saudi public sector for the completion of this study. It is therefore necessary for the research team to study a section of the Saudi public sector. This will mean that the generalization of the findings could be potentially inaccurate or uneven when compared to the actual picture on the ground. Another issue relates to the definition of the variables. Since there will be the comparison of different public sector institutions, it might be difficult to define a blanket set of variables that can be scientifically used to measure the different elements of HRM and Human Capital across the different units of the Saudi public sector. RESEARCH TIMETABLE: In the completion of this doctoral dissertation, I have divided the time into ten equal units (based on the period that will be assigned to me) S.NO TASKS TIME PERIOD) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 Preliminary research 2 Operationalization of Research 3 Literature review 4 Definition of Variables 5 Field Work 6 Collation of findings 7 Conclusions and Theorization UNITS OF THE RESEARCH The research will be completed in 8 Chapters. This will be grouped as follows: Chapter 1: Introduction: This will give full insights into the problem statement, motivation for the research as well as the research objectives and other matters relevant to the the whole dissertation. Chapter 2: Background Information: This will attempt to discuss previous research and other activities that have been conducted in the past about the matter. It will present information that will describe the realities of the public sector of Saudi Arabia and the Human Resource Management issues. Chapter 3: Literature Review: This will involve information about the relevant variables of the research. It will include but will not be limited to the information of about human capital in Saudi Arabia, the Saudi public sector, Human resource management in Saudi Arabia and the relationship betwee human capital and HR policies. Chapter 4: Methodology: This will outline the research design. It will lay emphasis on the research methods that will be employed throughout the process and the scope of the research Chapter 5: Human Capital in Saudi Arabian Public Sector: This chapter of the PhD Thesis will look at the human capital base and its findings in the Saudi public sector. It will include issues realized from the research and findings. Chapter 6: Human Resource Management in the Saudi Public Sector: This chapter will focus on the human resource management system findings that were made in the field work Chapter 7: Analysis of the Relationship: This will focus on the relationship between changes in the human capital in the Saudi Arabian public sector and the effects of HRM practices in the Saudi public sector. Chapter 8: Conclusion: This chapter will focus on the formulation of a theory o the relationship between the two variables under the research. REFERENCES: Achoui, MM. 2008, “Human resource development in Gulf countries: an analysis of the trends and challenges facing Saudi Arabia”, Journal of Human Resource Development International, Vol. 12, No. 1. Ali, Abass (2008) Business & Management Environment in Saudi Arabia London: Routledge Taylor & Francis Alsahlawi, Aziz, K.A., Gardener, Edward, P.M. 2004. “Human Resources and Economic Development: The Case of Saudi Arabia”: Journal of Third World Studies [online]. 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Xiao, J. 2001. “Determinants of salary growth in Shenzhen, China: An analysis of formal education, on-the-job training, and adult education with a three-level model” Chinese University of Hong Kong. Department of Education. Available online at: http://www.tc.columbia.edu/centers/coce/pdf_files/d4.pdf Accessed: 19th July, 2011. Read More