Introduction
The organisation can work as a healthy organism when managers and employees understand each other perfectly and work together to achieve the concrete goal. However, the problem is in the fact that there is often a significant gap between managers and employees which prevents them from working effectively and contributing to the organisation’s performance (Alhwairini & Foley 2012, p. 187). This situation is also typical for organisations in Saudi Arabia, and additional extensive research on the topic is necessary.
Statement of the Problem
During the recent decades, the economy of Saudi Arabia develops actively, and the economic progress is associated with the active growth of many organisations and companies operating in different industries. In spite of differences in spheres for specialisation and operation, many employers, managers, and businessmen focus on the increasing gap between managers and employees in the organisations of Saudi Arabia (Ramlall, Al-Amri, & Abdulghaffar 2012, p. 1155). The gap is reflected in managers’ ignorance in relation to the employees’ suggestions; inadequate evaluation of the employees’ performance; the focus on ineffectively communicated goals and objectives; and avoidance of encouraging teamwork among other aspects.
Although this problem is characteristic for many organisations worldwide, the causes of the problem in Saudi Arabia are globalisation, the active implementation of the Western patterns in the Saudi Arabian working environment, and the role of the traditions in the country to regulate all the aspects of the people’s life, including the organisational culture (Alhwairini & Foley 2012, p. 187).
To understand the nature of the gap between managers and employees in Saudi Arabia, it is necessary to find the answers to the following question: What are the causes, aspects, and consequences of the gap for the development and profitability of Saudi Arabian organisations?
The Effects of the Gap on the Organisation’s Profitability
The gap between managers and employees leads to reducing the organisation’s profitability because the barriers in communication and the focus on strict hierarchical relations prevent employees from performing their tasks effectively. Mangers in the organisations of Saudi Arabia face the challenge to adapt to the active westernisation of the business world along with promoting the development of strict hierarchical relations (Qureshi, Ansari, & Sajjad 2013, p. 1205). As a result, employees pay attention to the obvious gap between management strategies and required results.
Possible Solutions to the Problem
Although there are several approaches to solve the problem, it is important to concentrate on the use of innovation and technologies in order to overcome the increasing gap in the work of managers and employees. Thus, such innovations as the use of management information systems can be discussed as the effective approach to improve the communication between managers and employees and to increase the organisation’s profitability. Computer-based systems are important to organise the work of employees and managers according to the modern approaches to management and decision-making processes (Nasseef 2014, p. 181).
Methods to Solve the Problem
The implementation of innovative technologies along with changing the management and leadership strategies is the effective method to solve the problem of the increasing gap between the managers and employees in the organisations of Saudi Arabia. Managers and employees should have the access to computer-based management systems in order to regulate their activities, plan the tasks efficiently, and implement the strategies effectively (Nasseef 2014, p. 181). To cope with the observed gap, it is necessary to use innovation in order to improve the communication between managers and employees as representatives of different lines of authority with help of online resources, modern devices, and organisational changes.
Reference List
Alhwairini, A & Foley, A 2012, ‘Working towards total quality management in Saudi Arabia’, Education, Business and Society: Contemporary Middle Eastern Issues, vol. 5, no. 3, pp. 187-199.
Nasseef, O 2014, ‘Linking Management Information Systems (MIS) Applications with high performance: A case study of business organizations in Saudi Arabia’, International Journal of Business and Social Science, vol. 5, no. 1, pp. 181-194.
Qureshi, M, Ansari, Z, & Sajjad, S 2013, ‘A study of the contemporary issues of human resource management in the retail sector of Saudi Arabia’, Interdisciplinary Journal of Contemporary Research in Business, vol. 4, no. 9, pp. 1205-1216.
Ramlall, S, Al-Amri, H, & Abdulghaffar, N 2012, ‘Human resource management in Saudi Arabia’, The International Business & Economics Research Journal, vol. 11, no. 10, pp. 1155-1162.