Wasta, the Impact of Preferment on Organizational Culture and Human Resource Management

Abstract

Organizations must continuously monitor their processes. They should make significant changes to retain talent and improve productivity. One way to recognize the need to achieve change is through improving their organizational culture. This article details the investigation of a phenomenon of organizational culture in the Middle East. Wasta is a Middle Eastern system of preferment operating in many institutions in the region affecting employee engagement, advancement, and influence within an organization. Interviews, observations and social network analysis were employed to investigate the degree to which this phenomenon occurs in four universities in Lebanon and its negative effects on employee relationships. The data was input into NVivo to obtain statistical information to support the hypothesis of wasta's negative role. The research process culminated in the development of the wasta organizational culture model (WOC), highlights the impact of wasta on employee relationships supporting further research and collaborative initiatives to improve HR practices in the Middle East.