CROSS-CULTURAL ISSUES IN EMPLOYEE PERFORMANCE AND TALENT MANAGEMENT IN THE MIDDLE EAST

Abstract

Organisations are moving to overseas markets at an ever-increasing pace. This research explores the linkages between culture, employee performance, and talent management in the cross-border management context of the Middle East. Senior business executives of a multinational business process outsourcing conglomerate with branches in Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Turkey and Egypt were interviewed on the cultural dimension of internationalisation. The results suggest that organisational values reflect national culture. Also, employee performance is positively influenced by the cultural factors. Cultural diversity among the staff can result in many favourable benefits to an organisation: these include lower absenteeism and employee turnover.