Gulf Leadership Style is Example for Leaders Worldwide
Based on studies in GCC countries, the Gulf Leadership Style is an example for leaders worldwide, Professor tells International Management Conference in Oxford.
Professor William Scott-Jackson and his team at Oxford Strategic Consulting have found that the Gulf Arab Leadership Style has significant advantages in engaging and enthusing teams, due to its focus on loyalty, relationships and family-like respect and obligations. Engagement is arguably the most important factor in organizational success, as teams rely more and more on the discretionary effort of their members. The Professor says that the Gulf Arab Leadership style has important lessons for leaders worldwide and should be clearly defined, promoted and taught.
“It is sad that a young Gulf national may have to turn to the US or UK to learn about leadership when there are great examples in his or her own country. Up to now, the Gulf Leadership Style has not been written down, so a young national could not even read about it! Of course, in times past, the young national would have learned by working with their father or mother but times have changed. We passionately believe that young Gulf nationals should have the chance to demonstrate leadership consistent with their own national identity and culture and we call on leaders of commerce and government sectors to support this new and important project.”
Professor William Scott-Jackson of Oxford Strategic Consulting and Professor Jonathan Michie of the University of Oxford will present their paper titled “The Gulf Arab Leadership Style: A case for contingent HRM” at the 2014 International Conference of the Association of Global Management Studies at the University of Oxford. The conference will be held at the Said Business School from May 20-21.
The professors’ paper explores the differences in approach between the “universal”, most commonly taught models of human resource management (HRM), mostly based on Western culture and practices, and a more contingent HRM predicated on the leadership culture present in GCC countries. According to Scott-Jackson, the Gulf Arab Leadership Style provides a viable alternative to the more traditional, Western approaches to HRM.
“Many companies operating in the GCC seek to replicate best-practice HRM built on Western conceptions of leadership management, but these practices may not be compatible with the organizational culture in their country.”
“Our Gulf Arab Leadership Style allows senior HR leaders to assess their organizations’ strengths and weaknesses through a matrix that is compatible with their employees’ culture and attitudes,” explains Professor Scott-Jackson.
Professor Scott-Jackson is working with leading figures in each GCC country to produce a major volume on the Gulf Arab Leadership Style, which will incorporate extensive interviews with private and public sector leaders in the GCC. The professor believes that each country in the GCC practices a variation of the Gulf Arab Leadership Style, and for this reason he decided to divide the research volume into smaller, country-specific editions. Professor Scott-Jackson hopes that companies in the GCC can use these editions as leadership guides.
Professor William calls on the leaders of the Gulf states to support this great work to promote their own leadership style, support national identity and demonstrate the GCC states’ great contribution to leadership world-wide.
Anyone interested in the project should contact Robert Mogielnicki at robert.mogielnicki@oxfordstrategicconsulting.com for more information.