Search results

The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between localization (Omanization) practices and financial performance in Oman.

Firms listed in the Muscat Securities Market were surveyed. Data were obtained from 73 firms. Financial performance data (average ratio of market value to book value) were obtained from published records.

Results indicated that localization practices were related to financial performance after controlling for size, type of firm, average price earnings ratio of the industry and Omanization levels.

The measure of localization did not specify the level at which Omanization practices are focused on. This is a limitation of this study, and future research must measure localization practices for different levels in the organization.

From a practical perspective, the results of this study suggest that organizations in the Arabian Gulf can enhance their performance by implementing systematic localization human resource management practices. The authors believe that this study makes a significant preliminary contribution to the understanding of localization practices and financial performance in the Arabian Gulf region.

These results are encouraging for managers who argue for integrating locals into the workforce rather than engaging in localization practices for public relations purposes. Sincere localization efforts develop local human capital.

Study was conducted in the Sultanate of Oman, an Arabian Gulf country. To the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study of localization practices and financial performance in the Arabian Gulf. This study therefore contributes to and extends the growing literature on localization practices in the Arabian Gulf in general and Oman in particular.

The purpose of this paper was to explore the relationship among liking, social exchange and supervisor-directed organizational citizenship behavior (OCB).

Employees and their supervisors were surveyed to obtain data from 202 subordinates and 33 supervisors.

Results indicated that liking is positively related to social exchange and supervisor-directed OCB. Contrary to expectations, social exchange did not partially mediate the relationship between liking and citizenship.

A limitation of the study is that it was correlational. The lack of support for mediating effect of social exchange suggests the need for further research with data collected from different sources.

Liking has positive effects on both social exchange relationship and supervisor-directed OCB. Trust is an important element of social exchange. Liking may be an independent source of influence on supervisor-directed OCB.

Liking, an affective variable, may be an important influence in organizational behavior. It represents positive organizational behavior which is currently generating significant scholarly attention.

This study was conducted in the Sultanate of Oman, an Arabian Gulf country. To the authors’ knowledge, this is the first such study done in the region. In this study, the authors include trust as a representative of the quality of relationship between supervisor and subordinates. Unlike leader–member exchange (LMX), trust has rarely been related to liking in previous studies. Study tests for social exchange (including supervisory trust) as a mediator of the relationship between liking and supervisor-directed OCB.

Using a sample of 103 Indian supervisor‐pharmaceutical sales representative dyads, this study hypothesized that procedural justice, distributive justice, perceived organizational support, and communication satisfaction with supervisor would have a stronger positive relationship to organizational citizenship behavior than to in‐role behavior. Supportive result was found for one variable, i.e., communication satisfaction with supervisor had a stronger relationship to organizational citizenship behavior.

This paper replicates with a unionized, Indian sample, the well‐established finding that managerial evaluations of employee performance are affected by both objective productivity and organizational citizenship behavior. Data from the managers of 104 Indian pharmaceutical sales representatives and company records replicated the findings of previous research. While objective productivity alone accounted for 9 percent of the variance in subjective performance, objective productivity and organizational citizenship behavior together accounted for 41 percent of the variance. Implications of the findings for future research and managerial practice are discussed.

The purpose of this paper is to test the relationship between high‐involvement human resource management practices and organizational performance in the Sultanate of Oman, an Arabian Gulf country.

Companies listed in the Muscat Securities Market in the Sultanate of Oman were surveyed. The final sample consisted of 87 companies. Survey responses were subjected to statistical analysis. Financial measures of organizational performance were also used in the analysis for a subset of the sample for which these data were available.

Results of the statistical analysis indicated that, after controlling for size, type of firm (publicly traded or closely held) and average industry price‐earnings ratio, high involvement human resource management practices were positively related to subjective organizational performance and an objective measure of performance, ratio of market value to book value.

Research limitations include measuring high‐involvement HRM practices and subjective organizational performance from the same source, assuming that HRM practices are uniform across organizational levels and using a composite measure of high‐involvement HRM practices. Future research should address these limitations.

The results of the study suggest that organizations in the Arabian Gulf can enhance their performance by implementing high‐involvement HRM practices in spite of the unique national culture and special features of the labour market in the region.

To the best of one's knowledge, this is the first study of high‐involvement HRM practices and organizational performance in the Arabian Gulf using both subjective and objective measures of organizational performance. Unlike other studies on HRM in Oman, this study was based on data collected from private‐sector organizations.

The purpose of this study is to test for the distinctiveness of organizational versus occupational sportsmanship behavior, and then to investigate the relationship of leader‐member exchange (LMX) to each.

A sample of 223 matched nurse‐supervisor dyads working for a hospital in Oman was surveyed. Analytic methods included factor analysis and regression.

Organizational sportsmanship behavior was distinguishable from occupational sportsmanship behavior. LMX or the quality of relationship with the supervisor was a significant positive correlate to both types of sportsmanship. Hierarchical regression results showed that LMX significantly contributed to explaining both types of sportsmanship behavior beyond the controlled‐for correlates.

Sportsmanship, or the willingness to tolerate the minor inconveniences of organizational and occupational life without complaint, is important for the effective functioning of any healthcare institution. Only one dimension of citizenship behavior, i.e. sportsmanship, was distinguished, so it remains to be seen whether other citizenship behavior dimensions can show distinct organization versus occupation referents. How well will LMX correlate to these additional citizenship referents? The sample of nurses from an Omani hospital is also unique, so the generalizability of these results to other samples awaits testing.

To the authors' knowledge, the study is the first to explore different work foci, organization versus occupation, for citizenship behavior, and test for the impact of LMX on both.