From Autocracy to Democracy: The Impact of Social Media on the Transformation Process in North Africa and Middle East

How Does Social Media Affect the Behaviours of Managers and Employees in Non-Democratic Countries?

“…Social media have had a particularly sharp impact on the Middle East and North Africa (Danju et al, 2013;Ghannam, 2011;Kneissl, 2011), where citizens have been able to circumvent censorship (Danju et al, 2013), to build communities of dissent (Ghannam, 2011) and build a new identity (Kneissl, 2011). Social media networks contributed significantly to the wave of uprisings known as Arab Spring (Danju et al, 2013;Ghannam, 2011;Taki & Coretti, 2013). In a short period of time, a number of North African and Middle Eastern countries have moved from authoritarian regimes as a starting point though a democratic change (Danju et al, 2013;Poorkarimi et al, 2013).…”

“…Social media is considered as an effective tool which enables stakeholders and external and internal entities to communicate and collaborate to create governance (Georgescu & Popescul, 2015). Organizations in developing countries faced challenges with the rise of social media use (Danju, Maasoglu, & Maasoglu, 2013;Ghannam, 2011;Kneissl, 2011). They encountered a transforming society and surroundings where employees have used social media networks on a massive scale (Gil de Zúñiga, Jung, & Valenzuela, 2012;Taki & Coretti, 2013).…”

“…Country culture is stronger than an organizational one in non-democratic countries Hofstede (1994); Silverthorne (2004); however, the advent of social media inside of organizations and recent uprisings in countries located in the Middle East and North Africa recruited managers to redefine their organizational culture based on new forms of management context (MacIntosh & Doherty, 2010;Silverthorne, 2004;Taki & Coretti, 2013). Organizational resistance towards the use of social media increases in organizations by leaders and managers in such countries while social media tools become more popular among employees to share their ideas and knowledge (Burke, 1994;Danju et al, 2013). By the way, the culture capability of such countries to accept these changes, impacts on organizational goals (Ghannam, 2011;Gil de Zúñiga et al, 2012).…”

“…Johns, 2014;Parveen et al, 2014;Razmerita et al, 2014), but there few studies to understand how and why these tools impact society and companies in developing countries. For many years, social media was just considered by Western countries to carry on their business strategies (Danju et al, 2013). However, recent uprisings in Arab countries have been transforming the adoption of social media in different areas of society in the Middle East and North Africa.…”

“…However, recent uprisings in Arab countries have been transforming the adoption of social media in different areas of society in the Middle East and North Africa. This fact has accelerated the democratization in autocratic countries (Auger, 2013;Danju et al, 2013;Ghannam, 2011;Kneissl, 2011).…”