Leadership Development in the Middle East

Citation

Yeo, R.K. (2012), "Leadership Development in the Middle East", European Journal of Training and Development, Vol. 36 No. 8, pp. 850-854. https://doi.org/10.1108/03090591211263585

Book synopsis

This edited book begins with the premise that Western leadership ideology may not be adequate to account for the unique leadership behaviour of the Arab world. Metcalfe and Mimouni (2012) amalgamate a variety of conceptual and empirical perspectives from 18 other authors to describe in 14 chapters the influences of socio‐cultural, economic, political and religious backgrounds on leadership practices in the Middle East. Islam has been found to be a dominant factor, which contributes to the theorizing of leadership thinking and behaviour in significant ways. Not only is the Islamic influence a philosophy in guiding how one perceives the world, it is also critical in motivating thoughtful and meaningful socialization. The book thus acknowledges that leadership should not be “marginalized in a global business culture dominated by Western thinking” (p. 61).

Although the book draws on the infamous Global Leadership and Organizational Behaviour (GLOBE) research to provide the conceptual and empirical backdrop for the discourse, it also raises issues pertaining to the differentiation of norms and values from both the ideological and institutional perspectives that are not adequately captured in the GLOBE study. These values, as evident in the rapid political and economic developments of the Arab world, evolve over time and are constantly shaped by the internalization of religious philosophy and the external response to global pressures for change and competitiveness. The GLOBE study therefore triggers an indirect research question to explore other cultural factors affecting leadership and its impact on organizational processes.

Another feature of the book is the discussion of women in leadership roles. It is noted that the rapid socio‐historical reforms as well as changing political and economic agendas have elevated women's social identity and involvements in the business arena. As found, Saudi Arabia, seen as one of the most conservative countries in the Middle East, is one of the strongest advocates of women participation in leadership. Other studies have also found that people are now more accepting of women in leadership roles, particularly in countries like Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The trend of women in power has been attributed to a better understanding of women's rights, the dialectical and religious rationalisation of leadership roles, and a wider response to the fundamentalist views of the society.

Nepotism, a phenomenon known to be prevalent in high‐context societies, is consistently discussed as a practice well tolerated by leaders in the Middle East but in great need of attention as organisations internationalise. Nepotism hinges on wider ethical issues and calls for a better governance system to allow leaders to recognise individual competence and performance as opposed to personal favours. Returning to the theme of Islamic influence, leaders are expected to utilise a consultative and participative orientation towards managing people, reinforcing the humanistic view of leadership in the Arab world.

Other challenges that inhibit leadership development are also identified. For instance, UAE is in pressing need to identify and train local leaders as most of the upper managerial positions are filled by expatriates. Oman, on the other hand, is constrained by the lack of a developed market sector to provide opportunities for young Omanis to develop their leadership skills. In Jordan, authority relationships are vague due to ambiguous organisational structures and practices, a condition representative of the Middle East to some extent. Leaders in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Qatar generally adopt a conformist approach to maintaining policies and work duties but require greater charismatic leadership capability.

The discourse finally points to the acceptance that governmental influences in the Middle East are not comparable to that of Western democracies in style and policy. With rapid economic developments in the region, the private sector appears to offer more autonomy to better support leadership development than the public sector. A critical challenge is that best practices from the West may not necessarily augur well for local organisations; hence, the book ends with new directions for leadership research in the Middle East through the lenses of social reform and the reinterpretation of ethics.

Evaluation

This is a much needed book written for and about the Middle East on a topic that has not been extensively researched in the region. The geopolitical and cultural backdrop of the Arab world has provided the chapter authors with the motivation to argue for a distinct theory of leadership, one that is perceived to be uniquely different from Western conceptualisation. As such, the book attempts to provide a theoretical, empirical and practical rationalisation of leadership development by drawing on the multifaceted contextual elements that characterise the way leaders view and respond to their surroundings. The book offers rich descriptions of these elements and is likely to appeal to those interested in having an in‐depth understanding of the Middle East and how context shapes managerial thinking and action. The book is therefore probably most useful for research students but less so for practitioners and established researchers.

The outside‐in approach to understanding leadership development, i.e. how the macro environment influences behaviour, to some extent ignores the individual aspects of social interaction. The book also recognises wider internationalisation efforts in the region attracting greater foreign talent but does not provide further explanation on the diverse workforce that may have contributed to leadership development in other ways. The shift in the socio‐cultural orientation of the workforce, constituted of a mixture of expatriates, has led to increasing intergroup tensions (Dalton and Chrobot‐Mason, 2007). For instance, leaders in demographically‐diverse contexts often have difficulty managing interpersonal conflicts due to a mismatch in society identity, an area not given due attention to. Thus, researchers seeking new perspectives on leadership are likely to be disappointed by the lack of in‐depth empirical contribution in a number of studies reported.

The GLOBE study, although referred to in various parts of the book, in turn creates repetitions of information that could have been avoided to tighten the internal logic of the discourse. Undoubtedly, the various studies in the book extend the perspectives of the GLOBE study in some way. However, a number of these studies are not particularly grounded in primary research, undermining the purpose of inquiry that the book has set out to achieve. These studies largely rely on secondary research to develop related conceptual perspectives. That said, it must be acknowledged that some of the findings from secondary research are rather carefully analysed in tabular format delineating key themes and perspectives, while others are largely descriptive lacking an analytical dimension.

Another feature of the book is the scope of coverage, which focuses on a variety of countries in the Middle East. Although the use of context‐specific research is commendable, it does not illuminate the unique characteristics of each country to inform leadership theory in more meaningful ways. A number of case studies are reported but these are often overly descriptive where a more analytical approach would have been useful. Views developed from these studies are also somewhat generalised due to common cultural and religious considerations already reported elsewhere in the book. To some extent, the book struggles to integrate the wide range of perspectives to argue for a distinct leadership theory representative of the Middle East. Despite the shortcomings, several sections in the book do offer meaningful comparative analyses between Middle Eastern and Western management ideologies drawing on the extant literature.

What is worth celebrating is the call for more empirical exploration on the role of women in leadership providing a new agenda for leadership research in the region. Several examples of female Arab leaders are documented in the book and these project alternative perspectives to understanding wider leadership roles, functions and capabilities. The increasing trend of Arab women breaking out of their traditional role to serve in the business community opens up new pathways for researchers and practitioners to explore the contribution of female leaders to organisations and their impact on business success.

A more crucial aspect of the book is the recognition for more evidence‐based leadership research in the Middle East. It echoes the need for identifying competent and innovative leadership with a capacity for navigating institutional and societal change across the region. The importance of identifying potential leaders as they transition their institutions cannot be emphasised (Zahra, 2011). While a chapter in the book is dedicated to discussing leadership and organisational change, the types of leadership skills in transformational efforts are not profoundly documented.

On the whole, the book lacks a more micro‐level analysis of leadership development including the way leaders exercise their span of control and the way they handle routine activities. These involvements would probably reflect more accurately leaders' reliance on formal and informal rules, and the manner in which they handle their employees on a day‐to‐day basis (Smith et al., 2007). Also, communication styles and action patterns of Arab leaders could have been further considered, particularly unravelling the us‐versus‐them philosophy arisen from backgrounds of livestock raising (Minkov, 2009) which would have contributed to a more encompassing line of theoretical argument. With pressure from governments to promote nationalisation through the recognition and promotion of local leaders and the inevitable reliance on expatriates, leadership development in the Middle East may present itself in more fascinating ways than meets the eye. These issues are prevalent but not adequately captured in the book.

In summary, the book illuminates more of the constraints rather than opportunities that may have helped shape and identify leadership behaviour in the Middle East. Does it offer a distinct theoretical perspective of leadership in a unique context? Unfortunately, the circular approach to discussing leadership issues through some repetitive background description confines the scope of theorisation, preventing a much clearer identification of leadership typologies. Researchers are likely to exercise discretion in making sense of the research contribution by asking “What's really new?” and “How do I advance research from here?”. On the other hand, practitioners may find the information a little too dense to offer much practical value for implementation. Still, the book is worth a read, one that may be a useful resource for background reading on the changing landscape of the Middle East.

In the authors' own words

“An important common theme, introduced in the early stages of our analysis and which differentiates this study from Western perspectives, is that leadership dynamics in a Middle East context are largely concerned with emancipatory goals and aims. By this, we mean that underpinning leadership ontology is a concern to redress imbalances, knowledge injustices and foster negotiation and consultation through networks that represent community interests. This is a marked change from leadership activity in Western economies, which assumes strategic planning and corporate vested interests for an individual organisation or group of companies” (p. 396).

About the reviewer

Roland K. Yeo is currently a Management Learning Researcher based at the Professional Development Department of Saudi Aramco. He is also an Adjunct Senior Researcher with the International Graduate School of Business at the University of South Australia and has held academic positions in Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Singapore. He has researched and published widely in the areas of organisational learning, human resource development, change management, leadership, quality of work life and management development. His most recent book, co‐authored with Michael Marquardt from The George Washington University, Breakthrough Problem Solving with Action Learning: Concepts and Cases, is published by the Stanford University Press. Roland holds a PhD in Human Resource Management from the Leeds Business School in the UK and can be contacted at: yeokkr@yahoo.com