IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/worbus/v50y2015i3p454-464.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Analyzing business-to-business relationships in an Arab context

Author

Listed:
  • Berger, Ron
  • Silbiger, Avi
  • Herstein, Ram
  • Barnes, Bradley R.

Abstract

With a population in excess of 370 million, the Arab nations constitute a significant and growing region of the world. In an attempt to broaden our understanding of the business culture in this region, this study develops and tests a measurement scale to examine social networks in an Arab context (Wasta). Three relational constructs: Mojamala, Hamola and Somah are used to capture Wasta and examine their influence on relationship satisfaction and performance. The study has managerial implications for Western firms doing business in an Arab context, offers academics with a scale for further investigation and provides directions for future research.

Suggested Citation

  • Berger, Ron & Silbiger, Avi & Herstein, Ram & Barnes, Bradley R., 2015. "Analyzing business-to-business relationships in an Arab context," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 50(3), pages 454-464.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:worbus:v:50:y:2015:i:3:p:454-464
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jwb.2014.08.004
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1090951614000534
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.jwb.2014.08.004?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Hala Abdulqader Sabri, 2011. "Beyond Arab Spring: Societal Context and Prospects for a New Paradigm of Arab Management," Journal of Social and Development Sciences, AMH International, vol. 2(5), pages 214-222.
    2. Abosag, Ibrahim & Lee, Joong-Woo, 2013. "The formation of trust and commitment in business relationships in the Middle East: Understanding Et-Moone relationships," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 22(3), pages 602-614.
    3. Barnett, Andy & Yandle, Bruce & Naufal, George, 2013. "Regulation, trust, and cronyism in Middle Eastern societies: The simple economics of “wasta”," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 41-46.
    4. Alexandre Ardichvili & Douglas Jondle & Brenda Kowske & Edgard Cornachione & Jessica Li & Thomas Thakadipuram, 2012. "Ethical Cultures in Large Business Organizations in Brazil, Russia, India, and China," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 105(4), pages 415-428, February.
    5. Ron Berger & Chong Choi & Jai Kim, 2011. "Responsible Leadership for Multinational Enterprises in Bottom of Pyramid Countries: The Knowledge of Local Managers," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 101(4), pages 553-561, July.
    6. ,, 2000. "Problems And Solutions," Econometric Theory, Cambridge University Press, vol. 16(2), pages 287-299, April.
    7. El-Said, Hamed & Harrigan, Jane, 2009. ""You Reap What You Plant": Social Networks in the Arab World--The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 37(7), pages 1235-1249, July.
    8. Khakhar, Priyan & Rammal, Hussain Gulzar, 2013. "Culture and business networks: International business negotiations with Arab managers," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 22(3), pages 578-590.
    9. Sidani, Yusuf M. & Thornberry, Jon, 2013. "Nepotism in the Arab World: An Institutional Theory Perspective," Business Ethics Quarterly, Cambridge University Press, vol. 23(1), pages 69-96, January.
    10. Douglas M. Gibler, 2010. "Outside-In: The Effects of External Threat on State Centralization," Journal of Conflict Resolution, Peace Science Society (International), vol. 54(4), pages 519-542, August.
    11. Kabasakal, Hayat & Bodur, Muzaffer, 2002. "Arabic cluster: a bridge between East and West," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 37(1), pages 40-54, April.
    12. 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, Elsevier, vol. 11(1), pages 97-111, February.
    13. Daniel McCarthy & Sheila Puffer & Denise Dunlap & Alfred Jaeger, 2012. "A Stakeholder Approach to the Ethicality of BRIC-firm Managers’ Use of Favors," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 109(1), pages 27-38, August.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Ron Berger & Ram Herstein & Avi Silbiger & Bradley R. Barnes, 2017. "Developing International Business Relationships in a Russian Context," Management International Review, Springer, vol. 57(3), pages 441-471, June.
    2. Aykol, Bilge & Leonidou, Leonidas C., 2018. "Exporter-importer business relationships: Past empirical research and future directions," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 27(5), pages 1007-1021.
    3. Orrensalo, Thao & Nikou, Shahrokh, 2021. "Digital Source Adoption and Information-Seeking Behaviours of Entrepreneurs: A Systematic Literature Review," 23rd ITS Biennial Conference, Online Conference / Gothenburg 2021. Digital societies and industrial transformations: Policies, markets, and technologies in a post-Covid world 238044, International Telecommunications Society (ITS).
    4. Roudaina Houjeir & Ross Brennan, 2016. "Trust in cross-cultural b2b financial service relationships: The role of shared values," Journal of Financial Services Marketing, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 21(2), pages 90-102, June.
    5. Hearn, Bruce & Filatotchev, Igor, 2019. "Founder retention as CEO at IPO in emerging economies: The role of private equity owners and national institutions," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 34(3), pages 418-438.
    6. Hearn, Bruce & Oxelheim, Lars & Randøy, Trond, 2020. "The Impact of Indigenous Culture and Business Group Affiliation on Corporate Governance of African Firms," Working Paper Series 1360, Research Institute of Industrial Economics.
    7. Hearn, Bruce & Oxelheim, Lars & Randøy, Trond, 2021. "The Impact of Founders on Information Asymmetry vis-à-vis Outside Investors: Evidence from Caribbean Offshore Tax Havens," Working Paper Series 1419, Research Institute of Industrial Economics.
    8. Fainshmidt, Stav & Judge, William Q. & Aguilera, Ruth V. & Smith, Adam, 2018. "Varieties of institutional systems: A contextual taxonomy of understudied countries," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 53(3), pages 307-322.
    9. Mahmoud Ibrahim Fallatah, 2021. "Innovating in the Desert: a Network Perspective on Knowledge Creation in Developing Countries," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 12(3), pages 1533-1551, September.
    10. Jean-Michel Sahut & Luca Iandoli & Frédéric Teulon, 2021. "The age of digital entrepreneurship," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 56(3), pages 1159-1169, February.
    11. Elbanna, Said & Abdelzaher, Dina M. & Ramadan, Nora, 2020. "Management research in the Arab World: What is now and what is next?," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 26(2).
    12. Hearn, Bruce & Strange, Roger & Piesse, Jenifer, 2017. "Social elites on the board and executive pay in developing countries: Evidence from Africa," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 52(2), pages 230-243.
    13. Shaikha Khalfan, 2024. "Wasta in business management: a critical review of recent developments and future trends in the tourism sector," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 11(1), pages 1-10, December.
    14. Saad Yaseen, 2017. "Understanding Arab Manager s Mindsets," Proceedings of Business and Management Conferences 5607629, International Institute of Social and Economic Sciences.
    15. Zhang, Man & Hartley, Janet L. & AL-Husan, Faten Baddar & ALHussan, Fawaz Baddar, 2021. "Informal interorganizational business relationships and customer loyalty: Comparing Guanxi, Yongo, and Wasta," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 30(3).
    16. Dowling, Michael & Vanwalleghem, Dieter, 2018. "Gulf Cooperation Council cross-border M&A: Institutional determinants of target nation selection," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 471-489.
    17. Hearn, Bruce & Oxelheim, Lars & Randøy, Trond, 2023. "The influence of business groups on board composition in offshore financial multinational enterprises," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 32(3).
    18. Abosag, Ibrahim & Yen, Dorothy Ai-wan & Barnes, Bradley R. & Gadalla, Eman, 2021. "Rethinking guanxi and performance: Understanding the dark side of Sino–U.S. business relationships," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 30(4).
    19. G. Tomas M. Hult & Forrest V. Morgeson III & Udit Sharma & Claes Fornell, 2022. "Customer satisfaction and international business: A multidisciplinary review and avenues for research," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 53(8), pages 1695-1733, October.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Ibrahim A. Elsaher, 2024. "WASTA in Arab Societies: Optimizing or Worsening Quality of Life? The Role of Religiosity," Societies, MDPI, vol. 14(7), pages 1-16, June.
    2. Zhang, Man & Hartley, Janet L. & AL-Husan, Faten Baddar & ALHussan, Fawaz Baddar, 2021. "Informal interorganizational business relationships and customer loyalty: Comparing Guanxi, Yongo, and Wasta," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 30(3).
    3. Elbanna, Said & Abdelzaher, Dina M. & Ramadan, Nora, 2020. "Management research in the Arab World: What is now and what is next?," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 26(2).
    4. Dowling, Michael & Vanwalleghem, Dieter, 2018. "Gulf Cooperation Council cross-border M&A: Institutional determinants of target nation selection," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 471-489.
    5. Ron Berger & Ram Herstein & Avi Silbiger & Bradley R. Barnes, 2017. "Developing International Business Relationships in a Russian Context," Management International Review, Springer, vol. 57(3), pages 441-471, June.
    6. Shaikha Khalfan, 2024. "Wasta in business management: a critical review of recent developments and future trends in the tourism sector," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 11(1), pages 1-10, December.
    7. Elsahn, Ziad & Earl, Anna, 2022. "Alternative ways of studying time in qualitative international business research: A review and future agenda," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 28(3).
    8. Naeem A. Albihany & Abdullah M. Aljarodi, 2024. "The role of personal connections Wasta on early-stage entrepreneurial orientations: empirical evidence from Saudi Arabia," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 11(1), pages 1-12, December.
    9. Bénédicte Coestier, 2015. "Jordan and the Middle-Income Growth Trap: Arab Springs and Institutional Changes," EconomiX Working Papers 2015-8, University of Paris Nanterre, EconomiX.
    10. Richardson, Christopher & Rammal, Hussain Gulzar, 2018. "Religious belief and international business negotiations: Does faith influence negotiator behaviour?," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 27(2), pages 401-409.
    11. Stevanovic Dalibor, 2016. "Common time variation of parameters in reduced-form macroeconomic models," Studies in Nonlinear Dynamics & Econometrics, De Gruyter, vol. 20(2), pages 159-183, April.
    12. Wenqing Chen & Melvyn Sim & Jie Sun & Chung-Piaw Teo, 2010. "From CVaR to Uncertainty Set: Implications in Joint Chance-Constrained Optimization," Operations Research, INFORMS, vol. 58(2), pages 470-485, April.
    13. A. Fadlelmawla & M. Al-Otaibi, 2005. "Analysis of the Water Resources Status in Kuwait," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 19(5), pages 555-570, October.
    14. Stefan Mišković, 2017. "A VNS-LP algorithm for the robust dynamic maximal covering location problem," OR Spectrum: Quantitative Approaches in Management, Springer;Gesellschaft für Operations Research e.V., vol. 39(4), pages 1011-1033, October.
    15. Duan, Jinyun & Li, Chenwei & Xu, Yue & Wu, Chia-Huei, 2017. "Transformational leadership and employee voice behavior: a Pygmalion mechanism," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 68035, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    16. Hota, Monali & Bartsch, Fabian, 2019. "Consumer socialization in childhood and adolescence: Impact of psychological development and family structure," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 105(C), pages 11-20.
    17. Obeidat, Zaid Mohammad & Xiao, Sarah Hong & Qasem, Zainah al & dweeri, Rami al & Obeidat, Ahmad, 2018. "Social media revenge: A typology of online consumer revenge," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 239-255.
    18. Abernethy, Margaret A. & Vagnoni, Emidia, 2004. "Power, organization design and managerial behaviour," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 29(3-4), pages 207-225.
    19. Minjiao Zhang & Simge Küçükyavuz & Saumya Goel, 2014. "A Branch-and-Cut Method for Dynamic Decision Making Under Joint Chance Constraints," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 60(5), pages 1317-1333, May.
    20. Peter Burnell, 2008. "From Evaluating Democracy Assistance to Appraising Democracy Promotion," Political Studies, Political Studies Association, vol. 56(2), pages 414-434, June.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:worbus:v:50:y:2015:i:3:p:454-464. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/620401/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.