HR Development in Saudi Public Universities: The Role of
Organizational Culture and Communication
ALI AL NASSER, JURAIFA JAIS
College of Business Management and Accounting,
Universiti Tenaga Nasional,
MALAYSIA
Abstract: - Universities in Saudi Arabia are expected to improve their quality, standard, effectiveness, and
efficiency to achieve their objective of becoming world-class universities. Moreover, organizational
communication tends to affect human resources development performance. This study seeks to examine the
organizational culture and communication influence on HRD performance among academicians. A total of 425
academicians at institutions of higher learning in Saudi Arabia responded to a questionnaire survey. The result
indicated that organizational culture and communication positively impact HRD performance. Decision makers
in higher education have to focus more in implementing effective communication and organizational culture to
improve the HRD performance of universities.
Keywords: Organizational culture, communication, HRD performance, human resource development
Received: August 14, 2021. Revised: June 15, 2022. Accepted: July 4, 2022. Published: August 29, 2022.
1 Introduction
In 2016, Saudi Arabia had adopted a new vision for
Saudi Arabia that aims at making Saudi Arabia one
of the world’s most advanced economies with a
developed educational sector. The Government has
taken few incentives to establish some of the world's
leading universities, including the disbursement of
King Abdullah’s Scholarship [1], which aims to
send students to study abroad to meet the increasing
need of the job market and the demand for higher
education. Since the concept of a world-class
university symbolizes the universities’ research
productivity and the quality of learning, the
universities are expected to be exceptional in
educating their students, to show excellence in
research, to excel in in development and
dissemination of knowledge, and great in
contributing towards the cultural, scientific and
civic life of society [1]; [2]. The goal of a world-
class university requires outstanding faculty, high-
quality teaching, and up-to-date facilities.
University leaders in Saudi Arabia are expected to
respond to this vision by becoming world-class
universities and internationalizing their higher
education resources and facilities [3].
Furthermore, there is a considerable demand for
additional manpower for the country because of the
Kingdom's many public universities, with nearly
twenty-five of them showing a prodding for
workforce expansion, and numerous opportunities
for skilled human resources (HR). In order to ensure
the effectiveness of the higher education system,
academic institutions must ensure proper
organizational culture (OC) which ensures proper
academic as well as human resource development
(HRD) processes [4], [5]. OC is a vital element of
effective management practices in universities.
Lately, researchers are motivated to study the
organizational concept to provide managerial
effectiveness in the universities through HRD
initiatives. It is expected that the Saudi higher
education system to have the expertise in
confirming the best of HRD practices integrating
such policies in the vision and mission of the
organization. Issues like skill-shortage thus need to
be addressed with the vision towards the higher
education system safeguarding the national interest.
Hence in this context, it is necessary to analyze the
effect of OC in higher education institutions of
Saudi Arabia, to understand the organizational
behaviors in higher education institutions. The
objective of this study is to explore the concept of
current OC at Saudi Arabian universities so
effective management strategies can be developed.
Thus, lecturers’ performance should be
emphasized, as well as organization. In light of the
university's dependency on its lecturers [3]. Since
the performance of the lecturers is affected by all
the aspects of the organization, it is necessary to
measure factors that can impact it [6]. Moreover,
Study by [1] noted that the problems associated with
Saudi influence scientific and technological
research, along with decreased access to published
results and lack of backing.
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Previous literature also indicated that
organizational communication tends to play a
crucial role in the relationship between OC and
HRD performance [7]. Frequent discussions,
interaction between organizational team members,
and the usage of social media platforms to reach
consensus and to eradicate disagreement will
enhance the climate of communication within the
organization [8]. The equivalence between beliefs
and practices will definitely facilitate the exchange
of information and the ability to carry out
coordinated activities [9], [10] at all levels. Hence, it
is of great importance to study how both variables
namely the OC and the communication will impact
HRD. Besides, prior studies had highlighted the
need for higher education to improve the quality of
education and to produce successful outcomes [3].
Thus, it is crucial to give intentions on Saudi
university HRD in their effort to become a world-
class university. Therefore, this study explores
further the HRD performance in Saudi universities.
It examines the impact of OC and communication
in HRD at Saudi universities. The study will take a
quantitative approach by using a survey as a data
collection technique to answer the study objectives.
2 Literature Review
2.1 Theoretical Framework
Researcher combines Human Capital Theory with
the variables like organization culture,
communication, capability, and strategic alignment
with human capital [11]. The connection between
human capital and productivity or performance is
based on two concepts [12]. The primary view is a
resource-based perspective of the firm. The
importance of human capital has been highly
correlated with explaining the individual differences
in earnings [13]. Most of the success in every
enterprise depends on having employees who are
skilled and knowledgeable. Another theory that is
used in this study is the stakeholder theory.
According to [14] managers are to engage different
stakeholders and act on their needs. The study
proposes various stakeholders participating in
quality higher education delivery in Saudi Arabia. In
addition, a model developed by [15] called a
training and human resource development process
model that demonstrates how HRD interventions
should be designed and implemented in four stages
that include needs assessment, design,
implementation, and evaluation. Commmunicaiton
is essential part of HRD process model [16].
2.2 Organizational Culture
Harvard Business Review stated that OC is the
result of mutual individual views, behaviors, and
values within an organization. OC is largely
determined by the values of its founders [17].
According to Groysberg et al. (2018), OC is the
result of shared beliefs, behaviors, and values
among organization members that reflect their
cooperation, performance, and commitments. As an
organization grows, it is believed that the OC will
also expand, requiring organizations to adapt to new
industry changes. According to [18] new hires
acquire culture through socialization within
organizations [19]. In this study, OC is considered
as an important variable that can affect the HRD
performance.
2.3 Communication
Communication may be defined as a process by
which a person, group, or organization (sender)
transmits a piece of information (message) to
another person, group, or organization (recipient)
[20]. Communication is necessary for the
organizational process and continues throughout the
life of the organization [(21]. [22] stated that
communication is an essential aspect that
determined the success of all organizations. [23]
believed organizational communication is a
fundamental interaction between the organization to
create a common understanding of information. In
this study, communication is considered as a critical
factor for the HRD performance.
2.4 Conceptual Framework and Hypotheses
Development
Based on the above discussed literature as well as
theories, the conceptual framework of this study is
proposed that OC and communication influence
HRD performance. The causal relations between
construct are shown in Figure 1.
Fig. 1: Proposed research model
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2.4.1 Organizational Culture and HRD
Performance
The establishment of culture achieved the strategic
advantage of an organisation. The culture of the
organization helps to measure the weaknesses for
assessing major success [24]. The organization's job
performance is greatly influenced by a good
organisational culture, which contributes greatly to
improve its efficiency, and which will increase the
organization's productivity [25]. Given the
importance of OC in influencing nearly every aspect
of an organization, whether its employees,
communication style, or performance, it is critical to
understand the concept and how it affects strategic
human resource practices in organizations.
Numerous studies emphasize the importance of
strategic HRM actions that can increase employee
trust and thus foster an environment of trust and
innovation. Consequently, organizational standards
and values which are based on different cultures
have an impact on the management of the
workforce, which enables effective and efficient
management of the workforce, as suggested in the
following hypothesis.
H1:OC is a significant influence on HRD
performance.
2.4.2 Communication and HRD Performance
[26] believed that effective communication can
affect the ability of strategic management to engage
with their employees and towards achieving its
organizational goals. According to [23]
communication is used as a medium to identify and
informing corporate strategies and goals of
organizations which gathers every member in the
organization to share the common vision and
mission that could lead to organizational benefits.
[22] believed that organizational communication is
the fundamental interaction between the
organization creating a common understanding of
information. In the communication theory,
according to [26], there are three different
perspectives in viewing the communication process
which is communication as a one-way process of
meaning construction, communications as a two-
way process of meaning construction, and
communication as an omnidirectional diachronic
process of meaning constructions. Besides, the
increasing of the complex global issues and the
digital era has challenged the capability of the
organization to engage in the long-term strategic
planning in which Usman (2019) urged the need for
more effective communication strategies. Thus, in
this study, communication is defined as creating
understanding throughout the organization about the
strategy, how it is developed and the way it is
implemented is crucial for developing and
implementing a strategy. There should be a clear
definition of the purpose, values, and behaviors to
guide the implementation process. A poor or unclear
strategy makes it difficult to successfully conducting
a strategy which makes it a killer of strategy
implementation. Thus, the following hypotheses
have been developed.
H2: Communication is a significant influence on
HRD performance
3 Research Methodology
This research is a quantitative study that uses a
cross-sectional data technique. The questionnaires
were mostly administered face-to-face. A
questionnaire for the estimation of variables in this
study has been conducted and self-administered.
425 academics at institutions of higher learning in
Saudi Arabia gathered data and distributed stratified
random sampling techniques [27]. The findings
from this analysis were obtained using the Smart-
PLS 3.0 supported method IBM SPSS Version 23.0
and partial least square-structural equation modeling
in this study.
4 Data Analysis
Because of the measurement theory and the purpose
of the analyses (i.e., predicting instead of
confirming), PLS-SEM is selected over CB-SEM
(covariance dependent SEM), in line with the
proposal of [28]. By testing the measurement model
and the structural model, the PLS-SEM approach
was introduced.
4.1 Measurement Model
The internal consistency reliability, convergent
validity, and discriminant validity of the construct
measures in the measurement model were
examined. The reliability of the constructs was
inspected using Cronbach's alpha and composite
reliability. Table 1 shows the readings of Cronbach's
alpha for construct OC (0.836), communication
(0.834), and HRD performance (0.939) which all
surpassed the boundary of 0.70 [29], signifying
strong reliability among the measures. Figure 2
shows the measurement model.
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Fig. 2: Measurement Model
The converging validity, composite reliability, and
average variance was verified by factor loadings
(AVE). Table 1, the validity of convergent elements
as the loading factor exceeds 0.60, the composting
reliability exceeds 0.70 and the AVE exceeds 0.50
in this analysis [30]. The prerequisite for convergent
validity is satisfied in this analysis.
Table 1. Reliability and validity analysis
Factors
Items
Item
loadings
CA
CR
AVE
Communication
COMM1
0.77
0.83
0.88
0.60
COMM2
0.72
COMM3
0.81
COMM4
0.85
COMM5
0.70
HRD
Performance
Career
Development
0.95
0.93
0.96
0.89
Performance
Appraisal
0.94
Training &
Development
0.93
Organizational
Culture
Family
Orientation
0.77
0.83
0.89
0.67
Knowledge
Manager
0.85
Open
Communication
0.85
Team Approach
0.77
The validity of discrimination was tested with
0.85 thresholds accepted for the Fornell-Larcker
criterion [31], [32]. Table 2 indicates that the
interaction reading between all variables does
not surpass the critical value of 0.85. All
constructions also showed that the discriminant
validity was satisfactory.
Table 2. Discriminant validity
Communication
HRD
OC
Communication
0.776
HRD Performance
0.429
0.944
OC
0.297
0.416
0.819
Structural Model
During 95% bias correction and accelerated
bootstrap confidence intervals with 5000 new
samples, the significance of path coefficients in the
structural model was evaluated. The process of
bootstrapping shows the direct effects on the
relationship between constructs of OC and
communication on HRD performance (Table 3).
Figure 3 shows the structural model.
Fig. 3: Structural Model
The result shows that this study supported two study
hypotheses. In particular, the results revealed that
OC positively significantly influenced HRD
performance (β =0.316, t=6.616, p = 0.000) and this
indicates support for the first hypothesis.
Table 3. Bootstrapping result
Beta
T -
Value
P Value
H1: Organizational culture
HRD performance
0.316
6.616
0.000
H2: Communication HRD
performance
0.335
6.883
0.000
Next, the results showed a significant
relationship between communication and HRD
performance (β = 0.335, t=6.883, p = 0.00) and this
shows support for the second hypothesis. Thus, two
hypotheses for this study are supported.
5 Discussion
The study aimed to examine the OC and
communication influence on HRD performance.
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The first research question in this study addresses
the OC which influences the HRD performance
among academicians. The results show that the
organization's culture significantly influences HRD
performances. This result is consistent with the
previous study done by [32] where it was proved
that OC is an important determinant of business
performance. The essence and reach of culture were
interrelated with the employees’ performance [33].
A good partnership and the growth of culture will
achieve the strategic advantage of a company. The
culture of the company helps to calculate limits for
the calculation of organizational productivity [34].
[35] mentioned that the organization's job output has
a direct effect on a healthy OC that results in
improved efficiency and helps to increase the
organization's productivity, performance, and
culture. This concept is consistent with past studies
which prove that corporate expectations and
principles based on different cultures affect
managing, employees which making it easier to
handle the employees effectively and efficiently.
The second research question in this study is to
identify the communication influence of HRD
performance among academicians. The result shows
that communication significantly influences e HRD
performance among academicians. This result is
consistent with past studies that were done by [23]
and [26]. Communication is an essential element
during the assessment of all organization's
performance. Contact is used to define and
communicate to inform the organizations' strategic,
corporate, and management priorities bringing
together every member of the organization to shared
objectives that contribute to their competitive
advantages [23]. The organization is considered
efficient, according to [22], because of its effective
communication techniques. [26] mentioned that the
capacity of strategic management is to collaborate
with employees and to achieve organizational
objectives, which could be influenced by excellent
communication.
6 Conclusion
As a conclusion, OC, and communication towards
HRD performance play an important role in
ensuring the performance of the organization.
Understanding these factors and having a strategic
framework, will help the organization succeed in
implementing HRD strategies. Good OC and
communication within the organization are good
indicators of organizational growth. The present
study was inspired by a wide interest in
understanding the academician's view of the factors
that influence HRD performance to develop a
detailed theoretical basis and to realize the
framework for HRD performance environments. By
enhancing the strategies and processes by which
they are applied through HRD performance, this
study will allow educators and researchers to better
understand how an academician can react to
communication and OC and increase HRD
performance.
Moreover, the current study extends better
insight into the challenges of Human Resource
Development Performance in the Higher education
system in the Saudi Arabian context. The study
covers practical and theoretical significance. The
last decade has heralded major shifts in the
Saudi Arabian higher education landscape,
which has, in turn, forced HR processes to adapt
in step to these changes. The Saudi government
supports enhancing the skills and reducing the
shortage of skilled manpower. Examining the
OC in detail provides the current status as well
as the required effort from educational
leadership to ensure strong work culture within
the organization which supports better human
resource performance. Further, analyzing the
capabilities of academic institutions provides
better insight into the resource inadequacies in
human resource performance which would be
beneficial in enhancing human resource
performance in the future.
Lastly, following the cultural theories and
strategic management theories this study will be
significant as it will provide empirical evidence on
how the alignment of higher education goals would
mitigate human resource development challenges.
Furthermore, the importance of the co-integration of
actors in the alignment of goals in higher education
will be understood. At the practical level, the
importance of strategic partnerships in higher
education performance will also be understood. HR
practitioners that can understand and streamline
the HR trends and leverage the context to
enhance the employee knowledge, skills and
experience, that will be well-placed to weather
any future challenges
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