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JOURNAL OFMANAGERIAL ISSUESVol. XIX Number 2 Summ er 2007: 271-287

An Analysis of Saudi Arabian and U .S. ManagerialCoaching Behaviors

David M. NoerEran k S, Holtjr, Professor of Business Leadership

Elon UniversityChristopher R. LeupoldAssistant Professor of Psycho logy

Elon UniversityM atthew Valle

Associate Professor of Business Adm inistrationElon UniversityThe use of coaching as a way to en-hance performance and bone lead-ersbip skills is a popular and growingmanagement development strategy(Goldsmitb and Lyons, 2005). As withany emerging field, there is consid-erable ambiguity as to what consd-tutes effective coaching, tbe relation-ship of coaching to other disciplinesand tbe relative value of using exter-nal versus internal coacbes (Lyons,2005; Sherman and Freas, 2004). Th econcept of executive coaching ap-pears to be orien ted to the udlizationof external coaches helping individ-ual executive clients (Feldman andLankau, 2005; Stober, 2005), while

managerial coaching focuses on theutilization of managers witbin organ-

sbips witb their fellow employees(Kouzes and Posner, 2005; Noer,2005). This exploratory researcb fo-cused on managerial coacbing usingpardcipants from Saudi Arabian andU.S. organizations.Regardless of its orientadon, tbefoundadons of coacbing seem to berooted in tbe modern Western (pri-marily U.S.) managerial values of par-dcipadon, accountability, and i reecboice (Hargrove , 1995; Witwortb etal, 1998). However, tbere has beenlitde empirical research or cridcalanalysis of the specific behaviors in-volved in the process (Campbell,1989; Day, 2001; Kilburg, 1996).From a global perspective, there hasbeen no research tbat bas examined

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272 NOER, LEUPOLD AND VALLEand culturally defined values andnorms outside tbe U.S. or WesternEurope.

In tbis study, we describe and testa model of managerial coacbing witba sample of Saudi Arabian and U.S.managers and examine cultural influ-ences on coacbing bebaviors. Follow-ing a brief explanation of tbe radon-ale for tbe study, we review tbeliterature on coaching and compara-tive studies of Saudi managem ent cul-ture, and present our bypotheses.The study methodology details tbecomposition of tbe two samples andtbe researcb instruments employed.The analysis and results secdons focuson describing tbe observed differ-ences in coacbing bebaviors betweentbe two subject groups. Finally, tbediscussion secdon presents lessonslearned from tbe researcb and in-sights about limitations and possiblefuture directions for continued re-searcb in this area.

RATIONALE FOR THE STUDYSaudi Arabia is an increasingly im-portant economic and political ally ofthe United States. The Saudi organi-zadon witbin wbicb tbis researcb was

conducted is large, multi-faceted, andcontrols, wbat bas been estimated, asa quarter of all the known oil reservesin the world (Ray, 2005). As manag-ers from the Saudi and U.S. culturescontinue to interact, an understand-ing of cultural similarities and differ-ences can facilitate cross-culturalcommunications and boundary span-ning. Recendy, Golden and Veiga(2005) developed a cross-culturalboundary spanning model based on

ganizadons necessitates an under-standing of tbese dimensions. Tbisstudy uses a similar framework to un-derstand coacbing bebaviors in Saudiand U.S. organizations.Tbe Saudi organizadon wbere tbisstudy took place was facing tbe needto increase efficiency due to risingcosts and global competidon, man-age a growing number of interna-donal joint ventures requiring cross-cultural und erstanding , and deal witba significant reducdon of U.S., Brit-ish, and Canadian expatriate manag-ers due to a government mandatedreducdon in tbe number of non-Sa-udi employees. From a talent man-agement standpoint, tbe exisdng per-formance appraisal, professionaldevelopment, and succession plan-ning systems were not seen by topmanagement as adequately preparingthe organization and its people forthese imminent challenges. Seekingto quickly remedy this situadon, theorganizadon turned to managerialcoaching as an intervention andmeans to facilitate the necessary em-ployee development in order to con-tend with the new business climate.We were un able to discover any ev-idence of coaching as a managementdevelopm ent strategy within otb er or-ganizations in the Kingdom of SaudiArabia and, altbough our host organ-izadon is widely recognized as themost modern and progressive em-ployer in the Kingdom, tbere was nohistory of a coaching strategy.Through a consuldng reladonshipwith the top execudve of tbisfirm,webad tbe unique opportunity to belp

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SAUDI AND U.S. COA GH ING BEHAVIORS 273COACHING AS A HELPING

RELATIONSHIP

Coacbing has been generally de-scribed as a one-on-one approacb tofacilitate individual learning and be-havioral change (Day, 2001; Hall etal, 1999). It involves the use of a widevariety of bebavioral metbods andtechn iques to assist a client to achievepersonal and/or professional goals(Kilburg, 1996). Some of tbe morecommon activities include develop-ing self-awareness, learn ing and prac-ticing new skills, in-deptb role-play-ing, behavior modeling and intensivefeedback. In addidon to improvingpersonal performance, Katz and Mil-ler (1996) suggested that coachingcould be used to understand and af-fect any number of important organ-izadonal changes, thus improving or-ganizadonal performance. For anycoaching to be effective, it is impor-tant that the coach have the ability toestablish an authentic connectionwith the person being coached, or asPeterson and Hicks describe, "forgea pa rtners hip " (1996: 29). Quick an dMacik-Frey (2004) describe tbecoacbing relationsbip as one tbat re-quires mutual trust and respect, and,from the coach's perspecdve, a deepinsight into the needs and values ofthe other pe rson. Kilburg (2000) ecb-oed tbis sentiment by conceptualiz-ing coacbing as a belping relation-ship, and Witworth, Kimsey-Houseand Sandahl (1998) suggested thatcoaching would be most effecdvewben tbe agend a of the person beingcoached was the sole focus of thecoaching reladonship. For the pur-poses of this research, we conceptu-alize coaching as a client-centered

COMPARATIVE STUDIES OF THESAUDI MANAGEMENT CULTURE

Compared to other geographicregions, there has been reladvely lit-de management researcb in Arabcoun tries in general, and witbin Arabcountries, even less in Saudi Arabia(Dedoussis, 2004; Robertson et al,2001). A review of tbe hterature pro-duced no studies on tbe relationsbipof tbe Saudi management culture tocoacbing behaviors. Given tbe scantliterature base from which to build,we sought to support the relation-ships between coaching and Saudiculture posited by this study by ex-tending the literature base availablefrom other Saudi managerial studies.Hofstede's (1980) oft-cited classicalcomparadve study provides a usefulframe of reference. However, it didnot single out Saudi Arabia, butrather bundled it with a group of sixotber "Arab countries." As Robert-son et al (2001) pointed out, tbereare a number of differences amongthe management cultures of Middle-Eastern and Arab countries. Bjerkeand Al-Meer (1993) attempted to rec-tify this gap by applying Hofstede's di-mensions to a study of Saudi MBA stu-dents and managers.Table 1 compares Bjerke and Al-M eer's results for Saudi Arabian man-agers with Hofstede's (1997) updatedresults for U.S. managers. Tbe resultsindicate tbat Saudi managers scorebigb on pow er-distance (comfort andpreference for a social distance be-tween hierarchical levels), high onuncertainty-avoidance (need andpreference for structure and predict-

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