The Incorporation of Local Culture Into Organizational Culture and its Impact on Employee Performance; A Case Study of Southeast Asia and The Middle East

Abstract

The notion of organisational culture and its impact on the performance of employees in an organisation has served as a heated debated for decades. The literature regarding national culture, organisational culture, and the relationship between both is further reviewed and analysed. This research aims to understand the relationship between organisational culture and national culture in the context of Asia with the research posing the question of ‘does the incorporation of local culture into organisational culture have an impact on the performance of organisations and the economy of the country?’.

A case study has been conducted on three countries across Asia from Southeast Asia (Vietnam and Indonesia) to the Middle East (Saudi Arabia), primary data was collected from official government documents as well as credible global business sources while secondary information was collected through studies and research done on the topic of organisational culture in the aforementioned countries. The results of this case study suggest that the incorporation of local culture into organisational culture does have a positive impact on the productivity of businesses and the economy of the three countries. Furthermore, results imply that the collectivist approach to culture in the case of the Vietnam, Indonesia, and Saudi Arabia does have an effect on the structure of organisational culture and safeguarding the rights of employees as well as national social traditions within the organisation.