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Exploring the impact of national context in the role and work of managers in Libya

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El Gareidi, Adel A. (2015) Exploring the impact of national context in the role and work of managers in Libya. PhD thesis, University of Gloucestershire.

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Abstract

This study examines the nature of Libyan managerial work and the effects of external environment factors on it. It is interested in understanding managers’ work and behaviour, and in exploring and investigating the impact of national context on the role and work of managers. The study adopts an interpretive approach and uses qualitative methods to collect data on the perceptions of Libyan managers with regard to their work and behaviour. It seeks to understand the effect of the external environment on the work of these managers, which was considered to consist of economic, legal, political and regulatory constraints as well as cultural and social obligations and responsibilities. The oil and banking industries were chosen based on a number of factors: these two sectors are the backbone of the Libyan economy and represent the nation’s main source of income and the means of its disbursement; they are both affected by foreign partners and competitors; they provided ease of access for the researcher. In the pilot study, a questionnaire survey of 111 Libyan executives as well as five interviews with key individuals within the banking and oil sectors were carried out in Libya in order to elicit their views about the main issues affecting the nature of Libyan managerial work in general and the influences of external environment on their work in particular. The existing literature and the findings from the first phase (the pilot study) informed the second stage of the empirical work of this thesis (the main study) examining the managerial work of Libyan executive managers in four different organisations in Libya: two banks and two oil companies. The research collected qualitative data from 25 Libyan managers based on semi-structured interviews designed to investigate their attitudes to their managerial work. These data were supported by observations made by the interviewer during the data collection and by analysis of documentary evidence. Initially, grounded analysis of the individual interview data collected from the main study established 24 constructs of managerial work in Libya, which the researcher divided into five categories. Grounded analysis was adopted due to the shared cultural and language background of the researcher and interviewees, and because it enabled the organisation of large quantities of data into emerging constructs. Then, case study analysis was undertaken on and within each of the four companies and the constructs. The most important findings of the study include: the work of Libyan managers is strongly affected by the external environment; these effects result in a division in Libyan managerial work between functions that fulfil the formal requirements of their roles and others that fulfil their informal (tribal, familial and social) obligations; managers devise individual strategies to balance their divided responsibilities; in terms of managerial work and job roles there is a lack of vii structural clarity and designated responsibility within Libyan organisations that results in confused and inefficient allocation of workloads and resources. The key contributions of the study lie in the findings outlined in the paragraph above; these findings are discussed in chapter 8 and result in a diagram of Libyan managerial work (see figure 8.2) that reflects the data captured in the study, and builds on previous models of managerial work derived from the literature, particularly that of Mintzberg (1973). This diagram reflects the findings that in Libya the external environment influences managers’ work not only at a formal but at an informal level, and this has the effect of shaping managers’ work activities in ways that may be at odds with the aims and intentions of their employers. As a further theoretical contribution, a diagram illustrating the impacts of the external environment upon the work of Libyan managers has been developed (see figure 8.3), which will enable Libyan managers to better understand the forces and constraints they operate under, and help other researchers to take account of the forces at work in their own national contexts and develop culturally sensitive management practices as a result.

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Thesis (PhD)

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