Nepotism in the Arab World: An Institutional Theory Perspective

Sidani, Yusuf; Thornberry, Jon

doi:10.5840/beq20132313

Cited by 95 publications

(106 citation statements)

References 96 publications

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“…Those findings add evidence to the literature that stress the negative effects of nepotistic hiring policies in other kind of organizations, mainly family firms (Arasli et al, 2006;Arasli & Tumer, 2008;Ford & McLaughlin, 1986;Laker & Williams, 2003;Miller and Le Breton-Miller, 2015;Neacsu et al, 2017;Sidany & Thornberry, 2013 Another contribution to the literature on HRM in worker cooperatives is the evidence of strong worker resistance to labor flexibility measures adopted in response to a crisis. Those measures also generate negative HR outcomes.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 67%

“…Some researchers show that, in family businesses, nepotism has a positive effect on performance, especially when generalized social exchanges are critical to firm performance (Firfiray, Cruz, Neacsu, & Gomez-Mejia, 2018;Jaskiewicz, Uhlenbruck, Balkin, & Reay, 2013). Nevertheless, the literature describes more negative than positive effects of nepotism on several aspects of people management, including adverse selection, with less-qualified workers receiving preference, lower job satisfaction, intention to quit, negative word of mouth, job stress, dysfunctional conservatism, and strategic involution (Arasli, Bavik, & Erdogan, 2006;Arasli & Tumer, 2008;Ford & McLaughlin, 1986;Le Breton-Miller & Miller, 2015;Neacsu, Gómez-Mejía, & Martin, 2017;Sidany & Thornberry, 2013). Nepotism can lead to perceptions of favoritism and inequity as well as job stress (Arasli & Tumer, 2008;Laker & Williams, 2003).…”

Section: Literature Review and Research Questionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Can employee ownership and human resource management policies clash in worker cooperatives? Lessons from a defunct cooperative

Basterretxea

Saizarbitoria

Lertxundi

2019

Human Resource Management

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The article analyzes the interaction between employee ownership, HRM policies and practices, and HRM outcomes in what was the world's biggest industrial worker cooperative for decades, and now defunct, Fagor Electrodomésticos. Using longitudinal internal data and detailed interviews with key stakeholders, this paper sheds light on how employee ownership conditioned HRM policies. HRM outcomes—such as job satisfaction and absenteeism—are also analyzed over a long period of time. Chronic nepotism when recruiting new members, failures in the training policy, impoverished and Taylorist working systems, and reverse dominance hierarchies are analyzed as factors that increased free riding and caused low satisfaction and the disengagement of working members. This case study contributes to the literature on HRM and worker cooperatives as it provides some insights that are rarely found in that literature. It also provides guidance to worker cooperatives about increasing the fit between employee ownership and HRM policies and outcomes.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 67%

Section: Literature Review and Research Questionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Can employee ownership and human resource management policies clash in worker cooperatives? Lessons from a defunct cooperative

Basterretxea

Saizarbitoria

Lertxundi

2019

Human Resource Management

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…Nepotistic practices have led to poor performance in many Arab firms (Al-Hussan et al, 2014). Nepotism works contrary to hiring skilled management, thus limiting the size and complexity of the firm and the ability to manage it effectively (Sidani & Thornberry, 2013). Nepotism is also a mechanism for families to hoard power and resources over time (Steier et al, 2004).…”

Section: Wasta In Arab Countriesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…We point out that some so-called low-trust societies are in part misnamed and are better characterized as exhibiting high levels of context-related particularistic trust. Throughout much of the Arab Middle East, general social trust is severely limited (Sidani & Thornberry, 2013).…”

Section: Somah: Low General Trust -Trust Componentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Doing favors in the Arab world

Berger

Herstein

McCarthy

et al. 2019

IJOEM

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This qualitative study analyzes the role of Wasta, a culturally based system of social networks of exchange among in-group members in the Arab world, as exemplified by three groups of Arabs in the Palestinian Authority, and then compares it to Guanxi (China), Sviazi (Russia), and Jaan-Pechaan (India). The use of social networks is a common business model around the world to accomplish business objectives and is especially relied upon in emerging economies where formal institutions are weak. It is important to understand the commonalities and differences in the use of reciprocity in various cultural contexts in order to conduct business effectively. Little research, however, has focused on the use of Wasta in the Arab world, a gap which this article addresses. We do so by analyzing the views of Wasta held by three important groups -leaders, business people, and students. While each type of reciprocity has its own unique characteristics, we focus on three interrelated constructs that have been found to underlie the use of reciprocity in various cultures. In the Arab world, these are Hamola, which incorporates reciprocity; Somah, that incorporates trust; and Mojamala, which incorporates empathy through social business networks. The aim of the paper is to illustrate the structure of Wasta and how it is perceived and constructed among three Arab social groups, and then compare and contrast it with social business models in three other high context cultures.

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“…Reasons may also include corruption, mismanagement, cronyism, nepotism, [32] and waste and misuse of public resources. The reasons behind such misconduct might be due to internal, external, societal, or contextual factors [33,34] …”

Section: Root Causes Of Ethical Issues In the Arab Worldmentioning

confidence: 99%