Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-mkpzs Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-27T00:26:56.020Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Nepotism in the Arab World: An Institutional Theory Perspective

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 January 2015

Yusuf M. Sidani  and
Jon Thornberry
Yusuf M. Sidani
Affiliation:
American University of Beirut
Jon Thornberry
Affiliation:
American University of Beirut
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract:

We examine the practice of nepotism in the Arab World and analyze how a rational-legal model of bureaucracy was never able to take hold. We draw upon ideas from institutional theory and related notions of legitimacy to provide an explanation of nepotism’s extraordinary persistence. Then we use arguments to speculate how the appearance of institutional entrepreneurs who are advocates for a new hybrid form of nepotism might begin to colonize a social space created by larger political and economic changes that are sweeping the Arab World. Those entrepreneurs must persuade other members of an extended family that the current practice of nepotism is typically destructive of a firm’s competitive performance. In addition, they will argue that nepotism as currently practiced violates teachings of Islam. This second argument is likely to be particularly effective with an audience that sees Islam as a source of universal notions of justice and fairness.

Keywords

nepotisminstitutional theorylegitimacyArab countriesIslammoral free space
Type
Articles
Information
Business Ethics Quarterly , Volume 23 , Issue 1 , January 2013 , pp. 69 - 96
Copyright
Copyright © Society for Business Ethics 2013

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Abdalla, H.F., Maghrabi, A.S., & Raggad, B.G. 1998. Assessing the perceptions of human resource managers toward nepotism: A cross-cultural study. International Journal of Manpower, 19: 554–70. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/01437729810242235.Google Scholar
AbdelSater-AbuSamra, N., & Bishara, N.D. 2006. The Lebanese Code of Corporate Governance. Beirut: The Lebanese Transparency Association.Google Scholar
Aguilera, R., & Cuervo-Cazura, A. 2004. Codes of good governance worldwide: What is the trigger?. Organizational Studies, 25: 415–43. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0170840604040669.Google Scholar
AHDR (Arab Human Development Report). 2003. Building a knowledge society. New York: United Nations Development Programme, Regional Bureau for Arab States.Google Scholar
AHDR (Arab Human Development Report). 2004. Towards freedom in the Arab world. New York: United Nations Development Programme, Regional Bureau for Arab States.Google Scholar
Al-Ali, J. 2008. Emiratisation: Drawing UAE nationals into their surging economy. International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy, 28: 365–79. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/01443330810900202.Google Scholar
Al-Khatib, J.A., Robertson, C.J., D’Auria Stanton, A., & Vitell, S.J. 2002. Business ethics in the Arab gulf states: A three-country study. International Business Review, 11: 97–111. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0969-5931(01)00049-X.Google Scholar
Al-Ramahi, A. 2008. Wasta in Jordan: A distinct feature of (and benefit for) Middle Eastern society. Arab Law Quarterly, 22(1): 35–62. http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/026805508X286794.Google Scholar
Alissa, S. 2007. The challenge of economic reform in the Arab world: Toward more productive economies. Washington DC: Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.Google Scholar
Anderson, R., & Reeb, D.M. 2004. Board composition: Balancing family influence in S&P 500 firms. Administrative Science Quarterly, 49: 209–37.Google Scholar
Arasli, H., Bavik, A., & Ekiz, E.H. 2006. The effects of nepotism on human resource management: The case of three, four and five star hotels in Northern Cyprus. International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy, 26: 295–308. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/01443330610680399.Google Scholar
Arasli, H., & Tumer, M. 2008. Nepotism, favoritism and cronyism: A study of their effects on job stress and job satisfaction in the banking industry of north Cyprus. Social Behavior and Personality, 36: 1237–50. http://dx.doi.org/10.2224/sbp.2008.36.9.1237.Google Scholar
Ayres, I., & Macey, J.R. 2005. Institutional and evolutionary failureand economicdevelopment in the Middle East. Faculty Scholarship Series. Paper 1230. http://digitalcommons.law.yale.edu/fss_papers/1230.Google Scholar
Barakat, H. 1993. The Arab world: Society, culture, and state. Berkeley: University of California Press.Google Scholar
Barnett, M.L. 1960. Kinship as a factor affecting Cantonese economic adaptation in the United States. Human Organization, 19: 40–46.Google Scholar
Barnett, T., & Kellermanns, F.W. 2006. Are we family and are we treated as family? Nonfamily employees’ perceptions of justice in the family firm. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 30: 837–54. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-6520.2006.00155.x.Google Scholar
Barry, B. 1989. The development of organization in structure in the family firm. Family Business Review, 2: 291–315. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1741-6248.1989.00293.x.Google Scholar
Battilana, J., Leca, B., & Boxenbaum, E. 2009. How actors change institutions: Towards a theory of institutional entrepreneurship. The Academy of Management Annals, 3: 65–107. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/19416520903053598.Google Scholar
Baumol, W.J., Litan, R.E., & Schramm, C.J. 2007. Good capitalism, bad capitalism, and the economics of growth and prosperity. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.Google Scholar
Bellow, A. 2003. In praise of nepotism: A natural history. New York: Doubleday.Google Scholar
Berenbeim, R.E. 1990. How business families manage the transition from owner to professional management. Family Business Review, 3: 69–110. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1741-6248.1990.00069.x.Google Scholar
Bertrand, M., & Schoar, A. 2006. The role of family in family firms. Journal of Economic Perspectives, 20(2): 73–96. http://dx.doi.org/10.1257/jep.20.2.73.Google Scholar
Bettinelli, C. 2011. Boards of directors in family firms: An exploratory study of structure and group process. Family Business Review, 24: 151–69. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0894486511402196.Google Scholar
Binzel, C., & Fehr, D. 2010. Social relationships and trust. Berlin: DIW BerlinDiscussion Paper No. 1007.Google Scholar
Booth, A. 1999. Initial conditions and miraculous growth: Why is South East Asia different from Taiwan and South Korea? World Development, 27: 301–21. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0305-750X(98)00126-0.Google Scholar
Boutilier, R. 2009. Globalization and the careers of Mexican knowledge workers: An exploratory study of employer and worker adaptations. Journal of Business Ethics, 88: 319–33. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10551-009-0284-9.Google Scholar
Boxenbaum, E. 2006. Lost in translation: The making of Danish diversity management. American Behavioral Scientist, 49: 939–48. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0002764205285173.Google Scholar
Cabrera-Suárez, K. 2005. Leadership transfer and the successor’s development in the family firm. Leadership Quarterly, 16: 71–96. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.leaqua.2004.09.010.Google Scholar
Chahine, S., & Tohme, N.S. 2005. Is CEO duality always negative? An exploration of CEO duality and ownership structure in the Arab IPO context. Corporate Governance: An International Review, 17: 123–41. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8683.2008.00724.x.Google Scholar
Chaker, M.N., & Jabnoun, N. 2010. Barriers to service quality in Islamic banks in Qatar. International Journal of Commerce and Management, 20: 296–307. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/10569211011094622.Google Scholar
Chrisman, J.J., Chua, J.H., & Sharma, P. 1998. Important attributes of successors in family businesses: An exploratory study. Family Business Review, 11: 35–47. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1741-6248.1998.00035.x.Google Scholar
Chua, R., Morris, M., & Ingram, P. 2009. Guanxi vs. networking: Distinctive configurations of affect- and cognition-based trust in the networks of Chinese vs. American managers. Journal of International Business Studies, 40: 490–508. http://dx.doi.org/10.1057/palgrave.jibs.8400422.Google Scholar
CIPE 2008. Corporate Governance Initiatives in the Middle East and North Africa. Washington, DC: Center for International Private Enterprise.Google Scholar
CIPE 2011. Advancing Corporate Governance in the Middle East and North Africa: Stories and Solutions. Washington, DC: International Finance Corporation & Center for International Private Enterprise.Google Scholar
Ciulla, J.B. 2005. In praise of nepotism?. Business Ethics Quarterly, 15: 153–60. http://dx.doi.org/10.5840/beq20051518.Google Scholar
Colomy, P. 1998. Neofunctionalism and neoinstitutionalism: Human agency and interest in institutional change. Sociological Forum, 13: 265–300. http://dx.doi.org/10.1023/A:1022193816858.Google Scholar
Crone, P. 1999. Weber, Islamic law, and the rise of capitalism. In Huff, T.E. & Schluchter, W.(Eds.), Max Weber and Islam: 247–72. London: Transaction Publishers.Google Scholar
Cunningham, R., & Sarayrah, Y. 1993. Wasta: The hidden force in Middle Eastern societies. London: Prager.Google Scholar
Dacin, M.T., Goodstein, J., & Scott, W.R. 2002. Institutional theory and institutional change: Introduction to the special research forum. The Academy of Management Journal, 45: 45–56. http://dx.doi.org/10.5465/AMJ.2002.6283388.Google Scholar
Dahlström, C., Lapuente, V., & Teorell, J. 2011. The merit of meritocratization: Politics, bureaucracy, and the institutional deterrents of corruption. Political Research Quarterly, published online 16 June 2011. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1065912911408109.Google Scholar
Davis, J.A., Pitts, E.L., & Cormier, K. 2000. Challenges facing family companies in the gulf region. Family Business Review, 13: 217–37. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1741-6248.2000.00217.x.Google Scholar
De Holan, P.M., & Phillips, N. 2002. Managing in transition: A case study of institutional management and organizational change. Journal of Management Inquiry, 11: 68–83. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1056492602111022.Google Scholar
DiMaggio, P.J. 1988. Interest and agency in institutional theory. In Zucker, L.G. (Ed.), Institutional patterns and organizations: Culture and environment: 3–32. Cambridge, MA: Ballinger.Google Scholar
DiMaggio, P.J., & Powell, W.W. 1983. The iron cage revisited: Institutional isomorphism and collective rationality in organizational fields. American Sociological Review, 48: 147–60. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/2095101.Google Scholar
Donaldson, T. 1989. The ethics of international business. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Donaldson, T. 1996. Values in tension: Ethics away from home. Harvard Business Review, 74(5): 48–62.Google Scholar
Donaldson, T., & Dunfee, T. 1994. Toward a unified conception of business ethics: Integrative social contracts theory. Academy of Management Review, 19: 252–84.Google Scholar
Dyer, W.G. Jr., 2006. Examining the “family effect” on firm performance. Family Business Review, 19: 253–73. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1741-6248.2006.00074.x.Google Scholar
Dyer, W.G. Jr., 2010. Are you the right type of family business? Organizational Dynamics, 39: 269–78. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016Zj.orgdyn.2010.03.001.Google Scholar
El-Hadi, A. 2000. The Muslim community: Beliefs and practices. In Lau, A. (Ed.), South Asian children and adolescents in Britain: 83–106. London: Whurr Publishers.Google Scholar
El-Safty, E. 2004. Women in Egypt: Islamic rights versus cultural practice. Sex Roles, 51: 273–81. http://dx.doi.org/10.1023/B:SERS.0000046611.31760.04.Google Scholar
Esmaeili, H. 2009. On a slow boat towards the rule of law: The nature of law in the Saudi Arabian legal system. Arizona Journal of International & Comparative Law, 26(1): 1–47.Google Scholar
Ezzat, K. 2009. The rights of relatives in Islam. Islamic Cultural Center. http://www.iccuk.org/media/khutbas/The%20Rights%20of%20Relatives%20in%20Islam%20_03-04-09_.pdf. United Kingdom. Accessed January 41, 2011.Google Scholar
Ford, R., & McLaughlin, F. 1986. Nepotism: boon or bane. Personnel Administrator, 31(11): 78–89.Google Scholar
Fukuyama, F., 1996. Trust: The social virtues and the creation of prosperity. New York: The Free Press.Google Scholar
Gallo, M.A. 1998. Ethics in personal behavior in family business. Family Business Review, 11: 325–36. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1741-6248.1998.00325.x.Google Scholar
Garud, R., Hardy, C., & Maguire, S. 2007. Institutional entrepreneurship as embedded agency: An introduction to the special issue. Organization Studies, 28: 957–69. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0170840607078958.Google Scholar
Ghanemi, S. 2006. ala’sbiah walhkmah; kra’aah fi flsfah altarikh a’nd ebn khldoun (Asabiya and wisdom in Ibn Khaldun's philosophy of history). Beirut: The Arab Institute for Studies and Publications.Google Scholar
Gilding, M. 2000. Family business and family change: individual autonomy, democratization, and the new family business institutions. Family Business Review, 13: 239–49. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1741-6248.2000.00239.x.Google Scholar
Gill, I., & Kharas, H. 2007. An East Asian renaissance: Ideas for economic growth. Washington, DC: The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, The World Bank.Google Scholar
Gomez-Mejia, L.R., Nuñez-Nickel, M., & Gutierrez, I. 2001. The role of family ties in agency contracts. Academy of Management Journal, 44: 81–95. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/3069338.Google Scholar
Greenwood, R., Oliver, C., Sahlin, K., & Suddaby, R. 2008. The Sage handbook of organizational institutionalism. London: Sage Publications.Google Scholar
Guler, I., Guillen, M.F., Macpherson, J.M. 2002. Global competition, institutions, and the diffusion of organizational practices: The international spread of ISO 9000 quality certificates. Administrative Science Quarterly, 47: 207–32. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/3094804.Google Scholar
Harrigan, J., & Wang, C. 2006. The economic and political determinants of IMF and World Bank lending in the Middle East and North Africa. World Development, 34: 247–70. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2005.07.016.Google Scholar
Hartel, C.E.J., Bozer, G., & Levin, L. 2009. Family business leadership transition: How an adaptation of executive coaching may help. Journal of Management & Organization, 15: 378–91.Google Scholar
Hawkamah. 2011. Hawkamah. Dubai, UAE: The Institute for Corporate Governance.Google Scholar
Hayajenh, A.F., Maghrabi, A.S., & Al-Dabbagh, T.H. 1994. Research note: Assessing the effect of nepotism on human resource managers. International Journal of Manpower, 15: 60–67. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/EUM0000000003933.Google Scholar
Herreros, F., & Criado, H. 2008. The state and the development of social trust. International Political Science Review, 29: 53–71. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0192512107083447.Google Scholar
Hofstede, G. 2001. Culture’s consequences: Comparing values, behaviors, institutions, and organizations across nations. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.Google Scholar
Hooker, J. 2009. Corruption from a cross-cultural perspective. Cross Cultural Management: An International Journal, 16: 251–67. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/13527600910977346.Google Scholar
Huff, T.E., & Schluchter, W. 1999. Max Weber & Islam. New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Publishers.Google Scholar
Hutchings, K., & Weir, D. 2006. Guanxi and wasta: A comparison. Thunderbird International Business Review, 48: 141–56. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/tie.20090.Google Scholar
Irmen, A. 2005. Extensive and intensive growth in a neoclassical framework. Journal of Economic Dynamics & Control, 29: 1427–48. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jedc.2004.08.006.Google Scholar
Islamweb 2002. Religious Opinion (Fatwa) #18722, Nepotism in employment http://www.islamweb.net/ver2/Fatwa/ShowFatwa.php?lang=A&Id=18722&Option=FatwaId.Google Scholar
Izraeli, D. 1997. Business ethics in the Middle East. Journal of Business Ethics, 16: 1555–60. http://dx.doi.org/10.1023/A:1005863031132.Google Scholar
Jabra, J.G., & Jreisat, J.E. 2009. Administration of the Arab state: Synthesizing diverse traditions. In Pagaza, I.P. & Argyriades, D. (Eds.), Winning the needed change: saving our planet Earth: A global public service: 112–26. Amsterdam: IOS Press.Google Scholar
Joseph, S. 2008. Familism and critical Arab family studies. In Yount, K. and Rashad, H. (Eds.), Family in the Middle East: Ideational change in Egypt, Iran, and Tunisia: 25–39. New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
Kabasakal, H., & Bodur, M. 2002. Arabic cluster: A bridge between east and west. Journal of World Business, 37: 40–54. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S1090-9516(01)00073-6.Google Scholar
Kafaji, T. 2011. The psychology of the Arab: The influences that shape an Arab life. Bloomington, IN: AuthorHouse.Google Scholar
Kalliny, M., Cruthirds, K.W., & Minor, M.S. 2006. Differences between American, Egyptian and Lebanese humor styles: Implications for international management. International Journal of Cross Cultural Management, 6: 121–34. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1470595806062354.Google Scholar
Kets de Vries, M.F.R. 1993. The dynamics of family controlled firms: The good and the bad news. Organizational Dynamics, 21(3): 59–71. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/0090-2616(93)90071-8.Google Scholar
Khalaf, S., & Khalaf, R.S. 2008. Arab society and culture: An essential reader. London: Saqi.Google Scholar
Kuran, T. 2001. The provision of public goods under Islamic Law: Origins, impact, and limitations of the waqf system. Law & Society Review, 35: 841–98. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/3185418.Google Scholar
Kuran, T. 2003. The Islamic commercial crisis: Institutional roots of economic under-development in the Middle East. The Journal of Economic History, 63: 414–46. Google Scholar
Kuran, T. 2004. Why the Middle East is economically underdeveloped: Historical mechanisms of institutional stagnation. The Journal of Economic Perspectives, 18(3): 71–90. http://dx.doi.org/10.1257/0895330042162421.Google Scholar
Kurdi, A. 2010. Work effectiveness from an Islamic perspective. http://kenanaonline.com/users/ahmedkordy/topics/68416/posts/153011.Google Scholar
Kuznar, L.A., & Frederick, W. 2007. Simulating the effect of nepotism on political risk taking and social unrest. Computational & Mathematical Organization, 13: 29–37. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10588-006-9008-1.Google Scholar
Lee, K.S., Lim, G.H., & Lim, W.S. 2003. Family business succession: Appropriation risk and choice of successor. Academy of Management Review, 28: 657–66.Google Scholar
Loewe, M., Blume, J., Schönleber, V., Seibert, S., Speer, J., & Voss, C. 2007. The impact of favouritism on the business climate: A study on wasta in Jordan. Bonn: Studies / Deutsches Institut für Entwicklungspolitik.Google Scholar
Lounsbury, M., & Crumley, E.T. 2007. New practice creation: An institutional perspective on innovation. Organization Studies, 28: 993–1012. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0170840607078111.Google Scholar
Lovett, S., Simmons, L.C., & Kali, R. 1999. Guanxi versus the market: Ethics and efficiency. Journal of International Business Studies, 30: 231–48. http://dx.doi.org/10.1057/palgrave.jibs.8490068.Google Scholar
Michailova, S., & Worm, V. 2003. Personal networking in Russia and China: Blat and guanxi. European Management Journal, 21: 509–19. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0263-2373(03)00077-X.Google Scholar
Niblock, T. 1982. State, society, and economy in Saudi Arabia. London: Croom Helm.Google Scholar
Oliver, C. 1992. The antecedents of deinstitutionalization. Organization Studies, 13: 563–88. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/017084069201300403.Google Scholar
Osipian, A.L. 2010. Corrupt organizational hierarchies in the former soviet bloc. Transition Studies Review, 17: 822–36. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11300-010-0174-y.Google Scholar
Palliam, R., Cader, H.A., & Chiemeke, C. 2011. Succession issues among family entrepreneurs in countries of the gulf. International Journal of Business Administration, 2(2): 25–34.Google Scholar
Perez-Gonzalez, F. 2006. Inherited control and firm performance. The American Economic Review, 96: 1559–88. http://dx.doi.org/10.1257/aer.96.5.1559.Google Scholar
Powers, D.S. 1993. The Islamic inheritance laws: A socio-historical approach. Arab Law Quarterly, 8: 13–29. http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/157302593X00285.Google Scholar
Poza, E., Johnson, S., & Alfred, T. 1998. Changing the family business through action research. Family Business Review, 11: 311–23. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1741-6248.1998.00311.x.Google Scholar
Puffer, S.M., McCarthy, D.J., & Boisot, M. 2010. Entrepreneurship in Russia and China: The impact of formal institutional voids. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 34: 441–67. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-6520.2009.00353.x.Google Scholar
Rabi, M.M. 1967, The political theory of Ibn Khaldun. Leiden: Brill.Google Scholar
Raissouni, A. 2001. Islamic waqf endowment. Rabat: ISESCO.Google Scholar
Redfern, K., & Crawford, J. 2010. Regional differences in business ethics in the People’s Republic of China: A multi-dimensional approach to the effects of modernization. Asia Pacific Journal of Management, 27: 215–23. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10490-008-9097-0.Google Scholar
Rees, C.J., & Althakhri, R. 2008. Organizational change strategies in the Arab Region: A review of critical factors. Journal of Business Economics and Management, 9: 123–32. http://dx.doi.org/10.3846/1611-1699.2008.9.123-132.Google Scholar
Rice, G. 1999. Islamic ethics and the implications for business. Journal of Business Ethics, 18: 345–58. http://dx.doi.org/10.1023/A:1005711414306.Google Scholar
Saidi, N. 2011. Corporate governance in the GCC: What has been done and what remains. Qatar Business Review: 11–13.Google Scholar
Salarzehi, H., Armesh, H., & Nikbin, D. 2010. Waqf as a social entrepreneurship model in Islam. International Journal of Business and Management, 5(7): 179–86.Google Scholar
Salvato, C., & Melin, L. 2008. Creating value across generations in family-controlled businesses: The role of family social capital. Family Business Review, 21: 259–76.Google Scholar
Savola Company. 2011. Our ethical principles: The balanced way. http://www.savola.com/savolae/The_Balanced_Way.php.Google Scholar
Scheuer, S. 2008. Theoretical perspectives. In Scheuer, J. & Scheuer, J.D. (Eds.), The anatomy of change: A neo-institutionalist perspective: 299–320. Copenhagen: Copenhagen Business School Press.Google Scholar
Schluchter, W. 1999. Hindrances to modernity: Max Weber on Islam. In Huff, T. & Schluchter, W. (Eds.), Max Weber & Islam: 53–138, New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Publishers.Google Scholar
Schulze, W.G., Lubatkin, M.H., Dino, R.N., & Buchholtz, A.K. 2001. Agency relationships in family firms: theory and evidence. Organization Science, 12: 99–116. http://dx.doi.org/10.1287/orsc.12.2.99.10114.Google Scholar
Scoppa, V. 2009. Intergenerational transfers of public sector jobs: A shred of evidence on nepotism. Public Choice, 141: 167–88. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11127-009-9444-9.Google Scholar
Scott, W.R. 2008. Institutions and organizations: Ideas and interests. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.Google Scholar
Sharabi, H. 1988, Neopatriarchy: A theory of distorted change in Arab society. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Sidani, Y., & Thornberry, J. 2010. The current Arab work ethic: Antecedents, implications, and potential remedies. Journal of Business Ethics, 91: 35–49. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10551-009-0066-4.Google Scholar
Silverman, I., & Case, D. 2001. The role of ethnic nepotism vs. economic pragmatism in inter-group conflict: Data on the Yugoslavian civil war. Journal of Bioeconomics, 3: 91–98. http://dx.doi.org/10.1023/A:1020555712864.Google Scholar
Solberg, C.A. 2002. Culture and industrial buyer behavior: The Arab experience. Paper presented at the 18th IMP Conference, Dijon, France.Google Scholar
Steier, L.P., Chrisman, J.J., Chua, J.H. 2004. Entrepreneurial management and governance in family firms: An introduction. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 28: 295–303. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-6520.2004.00046.x.Google Scholar
Stewart, A. 2003. Help one another, use one another: Toward an anthropology of family business. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 27: 383–96. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/1540-8520.00016.Google Scholar
Stewart, A., & Hitt, M.A. 2012. Why can't a family business be more like a non-family business? Modes of professionalization in family firms. Family Business Review, 25: 58–86. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0894486511421665.Google Scholar
Styhre, A. 2008. Management control in bureaucratic and postbureaucratic organizations: A Lacanian perspective. Group & Organization Management, 33: 635–56. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1059601108325697.Google Scholar
Suchman, M.C. 1995. Managing legitimacy: Strategic and institutional approaches. The Academy of Management Review, 20: 571–610.Google Scholar
Sundaramurthy, C. 2008. Sustaining trust within family businesses. Family Business Review, 21: 89–102. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1741-6248.2007.00110.x.Google Scholar
Tlaiss, H., & Kauser, S. 2011. The importance of wasta in the career success of Middle Eastern managers. Journal of European Industrial Training, 35: 467–86. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/03090591111138026.Google Scholar
Turner, B.S. 1978. Islam, capitalism and the Weber theses. The British Journal of Sociology, 25: 230–43. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/589314.Google Scholar
Turner, B.S. 1998. Weber and Islam. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Vinton, K.L. 1998. Nepotism: An interdisciplinary model. Family Business Review, 11: 297–304. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1741-6248.1998.00297.x.Google Scholar
Weber, M. 1978. Economy and Society. Edited by Roth, G. and Wittich, C.. Berkeley: University of California Press.Google Scholar
Whitaker, B. 2009. What’s really wrong with the Middle East. London: Saqi.Google Scholar
Windsor, D. 2004. The development of international business norms. Business Ethics Quarterly, 14: 729–54. http://dx.doi.org/10.5840/beq200414444.Google Scholar
Xin, K.R., & Pearce, J.L. 1996. Guanxi: Connections as substitutes for formal institutional support. The Academy of Management Journal, 39: 1641–58. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/257072.Google Scholar
Yeh, Y., Lee, T., & Woidtke, T. 2001. Family control and corporate governance: Evidence from Taiwan. International Review of Finance, 2: 21–48. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/1468-2443.00014.Google Scholar
Yeung, H.W. 2000. Limits to the growth of family-owned business? The case of Chinese transnational corporations from Hong Kong. Family Business Review, 13: 55–70. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1741-6248.2000.00055.x.Google Scholar
Yip, A.K.T. 2004. Negotiating space with family and kin in identity construction: The narratives of British non-heterosexual Muslims. The Sociological Review, 52: 336–50. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-954X.2004.00483.x.Google Scholar