Recovering from conflict and uncertainty post Arab Spring

Abstract

Purpose The wave of revolutions referred to as the Arab Spring has significantly impacted organizations and contributed to market turbulence. Focusing on spiritual leadership and employee religious values as key determinants of organizational survival in Muslim-majority markets, this paper aims to provide a conceptual framework that can offset consequences of turbulence by leveraging employees’ spiritual foundations to provide a sense of optimism and collective thinking that is vital in times of uncertainty. Design/methodology/approach The paper reviews the state of turbulence post the Arab Spring and its impact on organizations. It discusses the literature on uncertainty and spiritual leadership, and draws from Islamic human resource literature to identify specific religious values engrained in the local culture. Findings A multi-staged conceptual model is presented that draws from Islamic principles of Sabr (perseverance), Tawakkul (reliance on God), Ihsan (excelling in work), Reda (acceptance of outcomes) and Al-Amal Al-Jemae’e (teamwork). The multi-staged model can help firms react effectively to turbulence while building their connection to their employee base in Muslim-majority markets. Originality/value The paper also advances theoretical work on organizational responses to turbulence, focusing on markets that have received significantly less scholarly attention. Drawing from local spiritual values in a part of the world where religious teachings influence both social and economic aspects of life is an untapped opportunity. It highlights an innovative and important application of religious values in a post-conflict context, and explores a conceptual model that is embedded in the local context rather than borrowing from Western-based models.

Employee well-being and turnover intention

“…In many developing and transitional economies, work ethic is significantly associated with an individual's religious faith as this determines the extent to which he/she feels obligated to society (Garg, 2017;Gupta et al, 2014). While legal and market systems may not be robust enough to protect employees' well-being in such contexts, religious conviction and ancient social customs are very likely to play a crucial role in influencing employees' perception of well-being (Abdelzaher et al, 2017). We will explore the synergy of Muslim religious belief and organisational embeddedness on the well-being-turnover relations in this study.…”

Rethinking survival, renewal, and growth strategies of SMEs in Bangladesh: the role of spiritual leadership in crisis situation

“…In this notion, Al Eid and Arnout (2020) suggest that spiritual leaders with Islamic concepts must have the capacity to transcend beyond materialism, enhance everyday working life experiences, helping all adherents to appreciate their relationships. There is no question that these features are core aspects of crisis management (Abdelzaher et al, 2017). Based on the above discussions, we predict that the consistency of Islamic foundation-based spiritual leadership has the capacity to serve as a significant strategic resource that provides complex importance for the unpredictable survival, renewal and growth cycles of SMEs.…”

Organisational performance and the use of multiple performance measures in an emerging market

“…The results show that MPMs have widespread use; however, a comparison of the mean scores among performance measures indicates, as expected, that the extent of the use of FPMs is greater (mean = 3.88) than for NFPMs and MPMs, which have mean values of 3.52 and 3.62 respectively. Most prior studies conducted in emerging market contexts have found that many companies use MPMs (financial and non-financial) but to different extents (Abdelzaher et al, 2017;Upadhaya et al, 2014;Al Sawalqa, 2011;Fakhri, 2010;Ismail, 2007;Youssef, 2007 andHutaibat, 2005). Fakhri (2010) found that although Libyan banks used FPMs more extensively, they use a variety of NFPMs to ensure the accuracy and validity of their outputs.…”

“…Elnihewi et al (2018) also highlighted the importance of using MPMs in the Libyan service industry. Abdelzaher et al, (2017) stated that employee engagement is significantly associated with organisations' survival in Muslimmajority markets.…”