Proceedings of the 6th Business & Management Conference, Geneva

UNDERSTANDING ARAB MANAGER S MINDSETS

SAAD YASEEN

Abstract:

This research is devoted to understand Arab managers’ mindsets and to conceptualize their perceived implicit theories from cultural perspective .It assumes that Arab managers have simultaneously two different mindsets, growth mindset and a fixed mindset. That is, Arab managers have different mindsets because they do belong to more than one culture; espoused Islam and Islam-in-use. This inconsistency of the mindsets constitutes a main feature of the Arab mind. The synthesizing implicit process of the Arab mind enfolded both espoused Islam and Islam-in-use integrating some basic values and principles and allowing the rest, especially, perceived capabilities and time orientation as inconsistent and even contradictory mindsets. However, the Arab managers mindsets are rarely cultivated with espoused Islam even though they would operate as the fulcrum between ideal Islamic values and traditional norms depending on which is cued in the organizational context. Consequently, this conceptualization of the Arab mindsets is very meaningful to western partners regarding how they should cultivate and express their own preferences and do business in the Arab world. An understanding of the Arab manager mindsets is valuable for international business players from west or other cultural contexts

Keywords: implicit theories, Mindsets, Espoused Islam, Islam-in-use, Arab manager Mindset

DOI: 10.20472/BMC.2017.006.020

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