Question:
Discuss about the Theoretical Perspectives in Industrial Sociology.
There exist ample of differences between two countries in regards to varied factors such as the culture, the human resource management, the political scenarios, the ethicalities and many others like such. The differences do also affect the working practices of employees and the higher management. There are hundreds of countries across the globe where many countries differ to each other in the mentioned regards or many other factors like such. The differences can be accredited to the policies of the local government of the respective countries or the citizens who are living in such countries. Human resource management does also play a very important role in such differences. The differences are expected; however, it appears to be problematic because it makes thing challenging for people living across the different cultures. They find this problematic because they face challenge to communicate with the people from different cultures (Patrick & Kumar, 2012).
In this paper, it shows a comparison between the two countries India and Saudi Arabia in regards to different factors such as human resource management, infrastructure, local government policies, economic capability etc. The assignment progresses on the interview taken with a site head of a construction company based in India. The HOD has served the company for seven long years. Now, the HOD Mr. Rehab Kazim is working in a construction company Al Fouzan Trading & General Construction Co. based in Saudi Arabia. It has been three years ever since the person has joined the company. Mr. Rehab Kazim used to supervise the proceedings at the sites. The HOD used to take care of a team of 100 members. The company where Mr. Kazim is working takes care of the building construction works. The HOD has also handled many popular projects in the country. Their customers were the clients looking for constructing the buildings across the Makkah. Mr. Rehab Kazim is a successful man who has vast experience behind him. The 7 years working experience in India and now in Saudi Arabia speak the volume of the experience. The vast experience of the HOD has attracted me towards him for knowing something about the two countries through an interview. Interestingly, I found him very cooperative as the HOD responded to my queries with sufficient information. The interview conducted with the site head at the construction company in Saudi Arabia did provide ample of information regarding the basic differences in the two countries.
The main purpose of this assignment is to frame the discussion held with the site head at a construction company in Saudi Arabia into understandable information, so that, it could convey some interesting facts about the two countries.
There are significant differences in between India and Saudi Arabia. The countries differed not only in terms of population and the surface area but have also differed significantly in different factors such as HRM as confirmed by the site head who were interviewed at a construction company in Saudi Arabia. The answers to questions that were devised are as followed, the questions are attached in the appendix.
In Saudi Arabia, they pay different pay scales to both the local and the international workers. However, in India, both the local and the international employees receive the same salary structure.
Mr. Kazim said that there is a variation in salaries based on skill sets only. Apart from salary structure, there are differences in weekly off as well. Friday is a fixed off in the entire Saudi Arabia whereas Sunday is a fixed off in the entire public sector and the most part of the private sectors. Some sectors have a rotational format to offer the weekly offs, which mean that employees can avail their weekly off on any of their choice of day in a particular week. There is racial discrimination at the workplace in Saudi Arabia. The country prefers the Muslim employees in particular. The HOD has supplied the information with a very sad tone. He wondered what has made the difference. However, he proceeded by saying that in nowadays, there are few non-Muslim workers are also working (Fnais et al., 2013).
The site head has supplied some useful information about both the countries. The information is helpful in understanding the behavioral differences in the customers of both the countries. India is a far big nation that the KSA. It is after China in terms of population. It has a significant mix up of different groups of customers such as Millennial, Baby Boomers and Boomers. In contrast to this fact, Saudi Arabia is vastly occupied with the youth audience. Furthermore, this means that the customers in the country are more educated than those in India. It does not at all mean that India does not have educated customers but it actually means that the percentage of such customers is more in Saudi Arabia. Moreover, most of the customers in the country have measurable approach towards any product or service. However, they are not expressive as the customers are in India.
Mr. Rehab Kazim surprisingly said that they are bound with the Islamic rules and regulations, which compels them to use such thing only those are permissible under Islamic policies (Johnson & Vriens, 2013).
Corruption is one of the major issues in the ethical front that organizations face these days. These include bribing of the officials, forging of documents some of the companies are also being accused of having malpractices in the salary and remuneration system as well.
According to the site head, people living in Saudi Arabia are more ethical than those in India. The head of the department has cited one very interesting reason for the fact, which is the adherence to the Islamic shariah. Muslims living in Saudi Arabia find this bad to go against the Islamic rules and regulations even if they desire something, which shariah does not permit. On the other hand, India is a secular country with no such effects of shariah on the Muslims living in the country. Additionally, India is a country of multiple religions that means every religion has their rights to practice their religion until and unless it does not hamper the sentiments of the common people (Azeem & Akhtar, 2014).
Politically, India is very unstable and unsupportive in certain instances. The opposition party tends to oppose any of the government projects. It never at all cares to analyze whether the propose project is advantageous. This is for such reasons many big projects are delayed here.
Mr. Kazim was really upset with the facts that the political scenarios in India are really concerning. The site head also added that the same opposition once it steps down in the crown of the local government, it supports the same project that it once opposed. On the other hand, the political scenarios in Saudi Arabia are very different. This might be because of the fact that the country has one single king that heads the entire process. Every single thing is under the power of the king, which is why it is comparatively easier to plan and implement a project in the country (Brown, 2013).
Both India and Saudi Arabia are economically developing countries; however, there are differences in the economy of both the country. The major contributor in the economy of KSA is the oil reservoir. It is the largest exporter of oil in the world. The GDP per capita of the country is far bigger than India.
According to the site head, the power of one king has an influential role in the economy of the country; however, the political regime in India is headed by a complex hierarchy that significantly opposes the projects. This is one such factor that has kept on affecting the economy of the country. The recent demonetization has further affected it significantly. Mr. Kazim was really had deep concerns for the political circumstances in India as it has also affected the economy significantly (Bonne, 2013).
Culturally, Saudi Arabia is very conservative in nature. They make friends at the workplace but they rarely take their friends to their home. It does not matter whether they are working together for the last 20 years.
Mr. Rehab Kazim has expressed his desire as well by stating the fact that he is not enjoying his job here in this country because of few reasons. A conservative cultural circumstance in the country is tough for anybody who has spent a significant time of his or her career being in some other parts of world. However, the circumstances in India are entirely different. The different workforce at the different workplace such as at the construction sites or at the official premise they have a good bonding between them. They share good relationships with each other. They also visit each other’s home. In other words, the workplace in India is comparatively much social than in Saudi Arabia. The site head has admitted that the person felt this very comfortable while working in India. However, it is comparatively challenging to work in Saudi Arabia as people there are very reserved (Goldschmidt Jr & Boum, 2015).
Organizational behavior is an integral part of the daily operation of a business unit. Work culture, work environment heavily depends upon the job satisfaction of a person and his commitment towards the company.
The site head when asked about the social atmosphere at the workplace, the person had confirmed that workplace in India is much friendly than it is in Saudi Arabia. Mr. Kazim is actually missing India as it can be observed in his emotions. There can be reasons behind the fact; however, people there in the KSA are very reserved with their matter. They make friendship but they rarely visits to one another home. The circumstances in India are majorly different as employees develop friendship atmosphere at the workplace and do also visit one another’s home (Al-Thani et al., 2014).
India has improved its capability to invest in the infrastructure related growth during the five year span of 2008-12. India has really progressed in this five year span and has proved its potentiality in the infrastructure related growth.
Mr. Kazim was comparatively more satisfied with the infrastructure in India as it looked from his way of answering to the question. Saudi Arabia needs to follow the footsteps of India in order to enhance its capability and improve the infrastructure. Nevertheless, an improved infrastructure would only support the flourishing growth in other than the oil industry (Alshahrani & Alsadiq, 2014).
Theoretical perspective would be really helpful to understand the teachings, which the interview has taught me. There are many theories such as theories of performance, which is helpful in understanding the importance of planning, organizing, leading and controlling. These four things are very important as far as a progressive workplace is concerned. This does not only improve the operational performance but it also betters the workplace environment, which is very important for keeping the employees intact with the organization for a significant time span. These four things emphasize on the importance of different factors such as the role of HRM, the infrastructure and the ethical considerations (Brown, 2013). The information that has been supplied during the interview has understandably covered the few important factors, which affect the experience of working in two different countries. The information has encouraged me more to work in India than in Saudi Arabia. The workplace in India is friendlier than in the KSA. Like other Millennial I also like such a workplace that is both educative and friendly. The workplace in Saudi Arabia is also educative; however, it is not as friendly as it is in India. Additionally, the opportunity to grow in India is much better than in Saudi Arabia. I personally feel that I would be happier to be in India as an improved infrastructure in the country would help me come across the different opportunities needed to enrich the skills to another level. The exploration is higher in the country, which would provide me ample of time to grow.
The interview has also educated me on the different challenges and the opportunities, which would come across while working at the global platform. There are opportunities at the global platform such as it gives real chances to come across wider exploration opportunities. On the other hand, it also has ample of challenges such as the political scenario in the target country. Additionally, the human resource system might also be challenging such as for someone who has worked in Saudi Arabia and now willing to work in India. I find myself very excited for the opportunities that are there in some other parts of world. However, I am also worried for a fact that the workplace nature can be different at the target place. It may not be the same like where I have spent a significant time span. I also worry for other factors such as the nature of people there, the food culture in the target country, the local government policies etc. The interview has taught me many important lessons, which all were unknown facts to me before I interviewed the site head.
Conclusion
It is an interview report that focuses on the different factors in the two different countries India and Saudi Arabia. The paper has supplied some important information on the political, economic and many such factors of the two countries in comparison. The assignment has helped to understand that there are challenges as well as opportunities while working at the global platform. Different workplace at the different locations is different to each other in many respects such as the cultural, social and behavioral factors. Working at the global platform is full of challenges because of very basic reasons such as the HRM policies, workforce of different cultures and the nature of business operation. The interview conducted with the site head of one Construction Company in Saudi Arabia has taught me many important lessons. It taught me that I need to be more realistic while making the selection on the workplace location that interests me.
References
Alshahrani, M. S. A., & Alsadiq, M. A. J. (2014). Economic growth and government spending in Saudi Arabia: An empirical investigation. International Monetary Fund.
Al-Thani, H., El-Menyar, A., Abdelrahman, H., Zarour, A., Consunji, R., Peralta, R., … & Latifi, R. (2014). Workplace-related traumatic injuries: insights from a rapidly developing Middle Eastern country. Journal of environmental and public health, 2014.
Azeem, S. M., & Akhtar, N. (2014). PERSONAL ETHICS AND ORGANIZATIONAL CITIZENSHIP BEHAVIOR AMONG DOCTORS IN THE KINGDOM OF SAUDI ARABIA. International Journal of Academic Research, 6(4).
Bonne, A. (2013). State and Economics in the Middle East: With Special Refernce to Conditions in Western Asia & India. Routledge.
Brown, R. (2013). Understanding industrial organizations: Theoretical perspectives in industrial sociology. Routledge.
Fnais, N., al-Nasser, M., Zamakhshary, M., Abuznadah, W., Al Dhukair, S., Saadeh, M., … & BinAhmedi, A. (2013). Prevalence of harassment and discrimination among residents in three training hospitals in Saudi Arabia. Annals of Saudi medicine, 33(2), 134.
Goldschmidt Jr, A., & Boum, A. (2015). A concise history of the Middle East. Hachette UK.
Johnson, T., & Vriens, L. (2013). Islam: governing under Sharia. Council on Foreign Relations, 9.
Patrick, H. A., & Kumar, V. R. (2012). Managing workplace diversity: Issues and challenges. Sage Open, 2(2), 2158244012444615.
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