MACMILLAN Employee Motivation in Saudi Arabia: An Investigation into the Higher Education Sector

Review “Research and management theories uncovered in the West are often thought of as universally applicable. Fallatah and Syed explore how individual motivations in collectivistic societies such as Saudi Arabia may be different from those in individualistic Western societies.  They demonstrate one such theory, the widely accepted Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, is bounded by cultures, religion, and tradition, and have limited generalizability outside the West.” (Eddy Ng, Professor and F.C. Manning Chair in Economics and Business, Dalhousie University) "This book investigates the relevance of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs in the context of the higher education sector in Saudi Arabia. It is a welcome contribution as Maslow’s needs theory has been criticised not only for being overly relying on Western concepts and cultural heritage, but also for not being empirically tested. This book contributes to motivation scholarship by putting the theory to test in an under‐researched cultural context. Such an endeavour is more than welcome and highly topical in a context where people of Islamic faith and/or from the Middle East are all too often caricatured in the media and political arena, with li le empirical knowledge available on which to base analysis." (Alain Klarsfeld, Professor of Human Resource Management, Toulouse Business School, University of Toulouse)“The strength of the book is the breadth of the study of human motivation, critically evaluating a Western-centric theorisation of motivation, based on indigenous insights of employees in Saudi Arabia. In the USA, motivation is addressed in a universal way whereas this book considers religious and gender dimensions of motivation. Another important aspect is the context of education and human motivation for the study. This is a key dimension that is relevant to the Middle East, as universities are very much partners of government who are aiming to develop human skills and create work opportunities. Understanding human motivation in educational settings is central to employment policy.” (Extract from Foreword by Beverly Dawn Metcalfe, Professor in International Management and Development, Olayan School of Business, American University of Beirut) Product Description This book investigates the relevance of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs as a theory of motivation, whilst taking into account variances in culture and individual experiences and perspectives. Focussing on higher education, the book responds to the call for providing alternative conceptual models, other than those originating from the Anglo-Saxon world. The authors take a contextual approach and use the case of Saudi Arabia to understand motivation in a collectivist, highly religious and conservative society of the Middle East. Providing empirical findings from a study carried out at two Saudi universities differing in their religious outlook, this book reveals a hierarchy of needs that is significantly different from the theory proposed by Maslow. Religion, culture and gender are explored in detail as the authors investigate the relevance of Maslow’s theory in a region that is of growing interest to policy-makers and practitioners in North America and Europe, offering a truly insightful read to an international audience. From the Back Cover ‘The authors explore how individual motivations in collectivistic societies such as Saudi Arabia may be different from those in individualistic Western societies.  They demonstrate how one such theory, the widely accepted Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, is bounded by culture, religion, and tradition, and has limited generalizability outside the West.’―Eddy Ng, Professor and F.C. Manning Chair in Economics and Business, Dalhousie University‘This book contributes to motivation scholarship by putting the theory to test in an under-researched cultural context. Such an endeavour is more than welcome and highly topical in a context where people of Islamic faith and/or from th