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The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of organizational culture on trust in top management and career satisfaction. The concept of culture was split into four types: “clan,” “adhocracy,” “hierarchy” and “market.”

A self-administered questionnaire was used to collect data from 128 mid-level managers in ten public sector organizations in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The questionnaire included demographic questions and three established scales to measure culture type, trust in top management and career satisfaction. Correlation and regression analysis were used to examine relationships between variables.

Respondents from “clan” and “adhocracy”-type organizations tended to have more trust in top managers than those from other culture types. Respondents from “clan”-type organizations also had greater career satisfaction. Only a clan-type organizational culture significantly predicted career satisfaction.

The study is based on a small number of mid-level managers working in ten public sector organizations. This limits the generalizability of the results. Future studies should examine both public and private sector organizations operating in various industries across the UAE, to increase the generalizability of the findings. The study results will assist organizational policy makers who wish to transform their organizational culture to one that will increase the career satisfaction of managerial staff and their trust in senior managers.

The study contributes to the literature on organizational culture, particularly on the relationship between trust and career satisfaction in the public sector in the UAE.

Human resources (compensation, total rewards, employee engagement, training and development), strategy.

Undergraduate HRM majors and postgraduate business and management.

This case highlights the strong growth and expansion of a former small to medium-sized enterprise (SME) in the United Arab Emirates, Tips & Toes. The company is a leader in the beauty and fitness service industry, and much of its growth and success is attributable to the leadership of its general manager and her implementation of a differentiation strategy, a market innovator in concepts, products and services, and a total rewards system for engaging and retaining employees. Tips & Toes is planning for continued, aggressive growth and expansion over the next five years. This case also highlights an underrepresented area of focus for case studies: women-led businesses, SMEs, and entrepreneurship and innovation.

The main focus of this case is for students to examine the beneftts of using a total rewards strategy to engage and retain employees, and more importantly to see the links between such a strategy and business and revenue growth. This is particularly a salient learning point for students in emerging markets, where more traditional types of compensation and views of the employment contract tend to prevail. In addition, this case could be used as a supplementary learning experience regarding strategy and strategic focus of an organization (i.e. the Treacy and Wiersema model of product leadership, customer intimacy, or operational excellence as a strategic discipline for a firm). And finally, this case provides an example of a woman-led organization which grew out of SME status into a market leader; this example provides students with insight into workable entrepreneur opportunities to which they might not see a direct linkage when reading case studies of large multinational organizations or conglomerates.

Teaching notes are available; please consult your librarian for access.

This study focusses on exploring the little-researched adjustment experiences of those expatriates who self-initiate (SIE) their employment in foreign countries. The Black et al. (1991) model of expatriate adjustment is the theoretical foundation used for this study.

An online survey was administered to expatriate academics in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Quantitative data analysis was subsequently performed to include factor analysis, Pearson correlation, regression modeling, ANOVA, and Tukey HSD analysis.

Hypotheses regarding correlation of previous overseas work experience and culture novelty with adjustment for this SIE population were supported, whereas hypotheses regarding foreign language ability were not supported. In addition, exploratory analysis through the use of regression models and ANOVA determined an influence on SIE adjustment by factors such as age, gender, length of employment, and location.

The results indicate that further research into this area is warranted, particularly given the dearth of information currently available on the adjustment experiences of SIEs. In addition, this research is limited by its narrow focus on academics in the UAE; therefore it should be replicated in other locations with different types of SIEs to ensure generalizability.

This paper provides suggestions for practical HRM implications, particularly with regards to recruitment and selection stages for organizations that target SIEs as potential employees.

This paper provides suggestions for practical HRM implications, particularly with regards to recruitment and selection stages for organizations that target SIEs as potential employees.

This study provides new evidence regarding factors which influence SIE sociocultural adjustment and, through exploratory analysis, highlights factors which may need to be explored further in order to develop a more thorough understanding of SIE sociocultural adjustment.