Ethical Leadership in Saudi Arabia - Case Study Example

Literature review Name Institution Name Date The section presents information about ethical leadership in Saudi Arabia. In addition, the discussions incorporate ethical leadership performance and the link between ethical leadership and employee performance. The aim is to appreciate the previously studied areas, which provides the foundation to understand the ethical leadership component in employee performance. Ethical Leadership in Saudi Arabia In the last few years, the focus has turned into integrity and ethics in the leadership field. Ethical leaders are required to engage in a manner that appreciates and respects dignity and rights of their members. Ciulla (1995) states that good leadership does not only affect the leader but how the leader advances the ethical principles. In Saudi Arabia, numerous factors are associated with effective leaders integrated into the ethical requirements (Randeree & Ghaffar, 2012). Some of the factors highlighting ethical leadership include the ability to inspire, competence, foresight and honesty. Okoro (2012) carried out a study in analyzing the ethical variables influencing university employees and employers. Okoro found out that the importance work ethics include judgmental values, diligence at work, discretionary, creativity and promptness in completing assignments and tasks. Saudi Arabia attracts different industries and persons with different experiences and skills (Alharbi & Yusoff, 2012). It means that ethical leadership is required to balance the requirements and address the needs of these different individuals (Brown & Treviño, 2006). It means a leader should embrace ethical approaches in ensuring the decisions made does not cause conflicts and misunderstandings. The aim is to bring together the diverse population, and this is possible through encouraging ethical leadership (Randeree & Ghaffar, 2012). Since ethical leadership incorporates trustworthiness, leading by example, and dignity means that the employees will appreciate working with the company or organization, and can engage the organization in operational and performance requirements. Saudi Arabia has a different culture which is similar to the Middle East culture and different from Western culture. The Western culture encourages individualism, does not incorporate the wider views of the community, and other assumptions of advancing development and operational requirements (Abualrub & Alghamdi, 2012). People working in Saudi Arabia comes from different backgrounds meaning ethical leadership is crucial to creating harmony and advance teamwork (Brown & Treviño, 2006). However, leaders in Saudi Arabia lacks skills and techniques to inculcate ethical leadership. Continuous training and development are required to inform the leaders on appropriate ethical leadership skills and strategies (Alharbi & Yusoff, 2012). The purpose is to ensure the leaders embraces newer approaches of ethical leadership to address the dynamism in the business environment and society. The Ethical Leadership Performance The working conditions and labor regulations in Saudi Arabia is changing. The dynamics are associated with globalization and internationalization of businesses (Alharbi & Yusoff, 2012). Increased diversity forces the leaders to embrace newer formats to uphold ethical requirements, which sometimes can create challenges (Brown & Treviño, 2006). The ethical approach should surpass dissimilarities due to the diversity of the employees, demonstrate respect for different cultures, treat the employees equally, and appreciates the national backgrounds of the individuals (Randeree & Ghaffar, 2012). Leaders upholding ethical philosophy have to incorporate global ethical standards that are grouped into the freedom of expression, equality of opportunity for promotions and job assignments, equality in hiring and worker safety (Morrison, 2006). These fundamentals are important in a diverse community such as in Saudi Arabia. It is imperative to note diversity is an asset to an organization (Abualrub & Alghamdi, 2012). For example, an organization that has employees from different backgrounds and are treated ethically, these employees can engage the customers easily because of the ideological aspect of association and grouping (Brown & Treviño, 2006). For instance, an establishment with Chinese, African Americans, and Latin Americans individuals working in an organization and a Chinese customer enters, the Chinese customer may tend to seek assistance from the Chinese employee. Such processes increase productivity, which translates to an improvement of performance. Teylor and Strickland (2002) carried out an experimental study on ethical leadership perceptions and enumerated important behaviors that ethical leaders have to uphold. Some of the important behaviors include fairness, competence, reliability, honesty, and integrity (Alharbi & Yusoff, 2012). Ethical leadership requires employees and leaders to advance rational influence through approaches such as trustworthiness, which are tied with cultural obligations. Saudi Arabia is premised on collectivism aspect of management and upbringing in which the wider impact of decisions on the society and community carries more weight (Abualrub & Alghamdi, 2012). It includes taking decisions that are viewed ethical and positive in nature since each individual is tasked with taking care of the next individual (Brown & Treviño, 2006). It means ethical leaders have to appreciate the collectivism aspect, and encouraging people from different background to appreciate the ethical approach of doing things (Randeree & Ghaffar, 2012). It is tied with the aim of advancing fairness whereby the leaders are able to appreciate the dynamism in human resource environment and other working obligations and expectations. Ethical Leadership and Employee Performance Kanungo (2001) comments that ethical leadership champions selfless. It means that ethical leaders have to be directed and inspired by concern for others and it can be achieved in two ways. One of the approaches is encouraging the followers to achieve a collective interest and the second aspect is self-concern that actions should result with something valuable, which is similar to the original actions (Abualrub & Alghamdi, 2012). The leaders have to be equitable in the entire operations, and the followers have to perceive the aspects of fairness. The equitability targets assigning of duties, engaging with different employees and advancing workplace actions that encourage inclusion and support for each other (Brown & Treviño, 2006). Even though there are numerous processes and factors associated with ethical leadership tied with motivation, effective implementation of ethical principles contributes to a positive outcome at the workplace (Randeree & Ghaffar, 2012). The employees feel they are included in the operation of the business, and provides mechanisms and approaches to improve performance. Motivated and effectively engaged employed through ethical leadership contributes to improvement in performance. Brown and Trevino (2006c) studied a theoretical study and argued that individuals working for ethical leaders are more motivated and better placed to improve the performance. The argument is premised on the satisfaction of these employees because they appreciate the role and responsibility that their leaders play, and tend to embrace the effectiveness of the processes through embracing ethical principles and values (Brown & Treviño, 2006). These employees also work harder and are comfortable with reporting any problems that they may experience during working on their respective assignments. The reverse is also possible because if the leaders employ unethical leadership, the followers will borrow the bad behavior and affects the entire business operation, which translates to a reduction in productivity and performance. Zhu, May, and Avolio (2004) analyzed the impact of ethical leadership in improving work performance and overall relations at the workplace. Leaders are a role model and leaders embracing ethical principles and frameworks provides effective backgrounds in which the employees bases their decisions. Ethical leaders generate an ethical culture, and such cultures promote ethical behavior improvement. In addition, ethical leadership behavior correlates with work performance, employee compliance and employee trust in leaders (Abualrub & Alghamdi, 2012). Therefore, ethical leadership improves the employee performance because of the trust and guide that the leaders provide. De Hoogh and Den Hartog (2008) collected information from 73 small and medium sized organizations operating in Netherlands regarding the role of ethical leadership behavior. The variables of ethical leadership behavior analyzed included power sharing, role clarification, fairness and morality (Alharbi & Yusoff, 2012). The authors found that there is direct like between leaders advancing ethical leadership with effectiveness in operations and performances. Moreover, the employees were motivated and optimistic in organization operations, and have a bright future about the organization (Brown & Treviño, 2006). Such process also contributed to cohesion at the workplace and effective teamwork, which contributes to improvement in performance and overall operations. Summary Ethical leadership is integral in determining the direction of an organization because it brings together the employees and supports the employees. Ethical leadership fosters support and motivation to the employees, ensuring the employees are committed to the achievement of organizational goals and objectives. Employee performance is directly linked to the leadership styles and strategies, and ethical leadership behavior is important. Therefore, leaders in Saudi Arabia should embrace ethical leadership because it contributes to employee performance since it is linked with motivation and other factors that influence the behavior and expectations of the employees. References Abualrub, R. F., & Alghamdi, M. G. (2012). The impact of leadership styles on nurses’ satisfaction and intention to stay among Saudi nurses. Journal of Nursing Management, 20(5), 668-678. Alharbi, M., & Yusoff, R. Z. (2012). Leadership styles, and their relationship with quality management practices in public hospitals in Saudi Arabia. International Journal of Economics & Management Sciences, 1(10), 59-67. Alzoman, M. (2012). Effective leadership of culturally diverse workforce in Saudi Arabia Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC). Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy of the University of Portsmouth, Business School. Retrieved from http://eprints.port.ac.uk/9890/1/Moudhi_final_doc_CR_Ret2.pdf Brown, M. E., and Treviño, L. K. (2006). Ethical leadership: A review and future directions. The Leadership Quarterly, 17, 595–616. Brown, M. E., & Treviño, L. K. (2006). Ethical leadership: A review and future directions. The Leadership Quarterly, 17(6), 595-616. Ciulla, J. B. (2005b). Integrating leadership with Ethics: is good leadership contrary to human nature? In D. Jonathan, S. Stumpf (Eds.), Handbook on Responsible leadership and Governance in Global Business (pp.159-179). UK: Edward Elgar Publishing Limited. Kanungo, R. N., and Mendonca, M. (1996). Ethical dimensions of leadership. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications. Morrison, A. (2006). Ethical Standards and Global Leadership. In: M. William., and W. Elizabeth (Eds.). Advances in Global Leadership (Vol. 4, pp. 265-180). U.K: Emerald Group. Okoro, J. (2012). Employers’ assessment of work ethics required of university business education graduates in South-South Nigeria. College Student Journal, 437-444. Randeree, K., & Ghaffar, A. (2012). Leadership-style, satisfaction and commitment: An exploration in the United Arab Emirates' construction sector. Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management, 19(1), 61-85. Zhu, W., May, D. R., and Avolio, B. J. (2004). The impact of ethical leadership behavior on employee outcomes: The roles of psychological empowerment and authenticity. Journal of Leadership & Organizational Studies, 11, 16–26. Read More