Control, conflict, and motivation in socio-cultural context

• Main Author: Saleem, Ahmad Nadeem
• Published: Middlesex University 1998
• Subjects: 658
• Online Access: http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.548903

The central argument of this thesis is that unlike in the West, organizational behavior in the Middle East and the Indian sub-continent is, predominantly, not a function of work/task related imperatives but largely determined by the broader socio-cultural context, norms and values of the respective societies. Based on extensive interviews and participant and nonparticipant observation in the Middle East and sub-continent, and content analysis of media reports and lìterature, the effects of the respective socio-cultural contexts are documented in terms of three key determinants of organizational behavior, conflict, control and motivation. The thesis examines traditional and modern 'Western' sources of literature regarding control, conflict and motivation and the nature of culture itself and draws attention to the need for modification in certain 'Euroamerican' theories when applied to the strong social, familial and cultural structures, values, beliefs and assumptions present in the two other cultures investigated. Recommendations are put forward as to the kind of changes in the socio-cultural context of the Middle East and Indian sub-continent, if organizational behavior is to be transformed. In conclusion, a picture emerges of the stark differences between the cultures in terms of status, incomes, role of family and state, social control, family structure, population pressures and religious control - all of which are evidence of the predominance of the sociocultural context in determining organizational behavior. A theory is offered stating that organizational behavior is primarily a derivative of the structures and functions of broader socio-cultural institutions. A corollary of the said theory is that patterns of control, conflict, and motivation are strongly influenced by the structural-functional properties of a socio-cultural system, and hence, 'intrinsic motivation' is a rare phenomenon.