Management Dimension

Middle Eastern Management

Western Management

Leadership

Highly authoritarian tone, rigid instructions. Too many management directives.

Less emphasis on leader’s personality, considerable weight on leader’s style and performance.

Organizational structures

Highly bureaucratic, overcentralized, with power and authority at the top. Vague relationships. Ambiguous and unpredictable organization environments.

Less bureaucratic, more delegation of authority. Relatively decentralized structure.

Decision making

Ad hoc planning, decisions made at the highest level of management. Unwillingness to take high risk inherent in decision making.

Sophisticated planning techniques, modern tools of decision making, elaborate management information systems.

Performance evaluation and control

Informal control mechanisms, routine checks on performance. Lack of vigorous performance evaluation systems.

Fairly advanced control systems focusing on cost reduction and organizational effectiveness.

Personnel policies

Heavy reliance on personal contacts and getting individuals from the “right social origin” to fill major positions.

Sound personnel management policies. Candidates’ qualifications are usually the basis for selection decisions.

Communication

The tone depends on the communicants. Social position, power, and family influence are ever-present factors. Chain of command must be followed rigidly. People relate to each other tightly and specifically. Friendships are intense and binding.

Stress usually on equality and a minimization of difference. People relate to each other loosely and generally. Friendships not intense and binding.