| Summary: | This thesis explores how HRD is conducted in the under-researched context of the Arab Middle East, specifically in Saudi Arabian public organisations. Four research questions are addressed: how HRD is conceptualized by practitioners; what systems, processes and approaches are currently prevalent in these organisations, to what extent the HRD function in these organisations is strategic and what are the main challenges facing HRD now and in the future in Saudi public organisations. A mixed – methods approach was adopted, grounded on a pragmatic rationale. Quantitative data were collected from a questionnaire survey of HRD managers in all 158 public organisations; 115 usable responses were returned. Issues emerging from the survey were then explored in depth via semi – structured interviews with a non- random sample of 23 managers. Findings revealed a conceptualization of HRD similar that in the West, reflecting notions of human capital, whole – person development, improved productivity and keeping pace with environmental change. However, participants were caught in competing dynamics of tradition versus modernization and centralizations versus decentralization, which undermined their efforts and left them frustrated. With regard to the strategic role of HRD, again, reality did not match the rhetoric. HRD was often relegated to an administrative role and practitioners excluded from decision-making. Long-term benefits were commonly sacrificed to short – term cost concerns. It is concluded that the main challenges facing HRD now and in the future in Saudi Arabia are the need for practitioners to be creative and proactive in asserting their influence and developing the professional status of HRD; the struggle to balance competing cultural assumptions and to develop a culturally appropriate model of HRD; and the need for greater clarity in the governmental HRD strategy by which the public organisations‟ HRD efforts are both encouraged and constrained.
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