NihalFathima-DCCollegehonor's-Analysing Innovation...

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I�hereby�grant�to�Carnegie�Mellon�University�the�perpetual,�royaltyͲfree�nonͲexclusive�right,�for�educational�purposes,�to�reproduce�and�distribute�or�display�(in�electronic�format�or�hard�copy)�my�Dietrich�College�Senior�Honors�Thesis.�I�understand�that�this�does�not�prevent�me�from�

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________________________________________________��_______________________�Student’s�Signature��Date��

_______________________________________________�Student’s�Name,�Printed��

______________________________________________________________________________Thesis�Title�and�Semester�Completed�

Nihal Fathima

21/04/2015

Nihal Fathima

Analyzing Innovation Entrepreneurship in the Arab World, Spring 2015

Nihal Fathima

Nihal Fathima

CarnegieMellonUniversityinQatar

AnalysisofInnovationEntrepreneurshipintheArabWorld

Advisedby:MaherHakim

NihalFathimaCarnegieMellonUniversityinQatarP.Box:24866Doha,[email protected]

Fathima Analyzing Innovation Entrepreneurship in Arab world

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TABLEOFCONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS..........................................................................................................................................................2ABSTRACT..................................................................................................................................................................................3Keywords...............................................................................................................................................................................3

INTRODUCTION......................................................................................................................................................................4LITERATUREREVIEW..........................................................................................................................................................5RESEARCHQUESTION........................................................................................................................................................12RESEARCHMODELANDHYPOTHESIS.......................................................................................................................13METHODOLOGY....................................................................................................................................................................14RESULTS...................................................................................................................................................................................16GRAPHICALMODELWITHACCEPTEDHYPOTHESIS..........................................................................................30CONCLUSION..........................................................................................................................................................................31REFERENCES*........................................................................................................................................................................33APPENDIX................................................................................................................................................................................36SURVEYQUESTIONS**.......................................................................................................................................................36


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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I would like to extendmy gratitude to my advisor Professor Maher Hakim for his undeniable

supportandmotivation formy thesis.His ideasandguidancehavemade this researchpossible

andsuccessful.

This research wouldn’t have been possible without the contributions of Professor Selma,

ProfessorDanielPhelpsandProfessorBenCollier for their advicesand ideas.Special thanks to

Professor Susan Hagan, Silvia Pessoa, and Alex Cheek for their commitments in organizing

researchworkshops.IwouldliketoextendmythankstotheResearchofficeatCMUQnamelyMeg

RogersandMahaKhanso,fortheirassistanceandcooperation.

I would also like to thank the authors for their work in this field who have made this study

possible.

Lastbutnottheleast;Isincerelythankmyfriendsandfamily,speciallymyparentsSyedKhadri

andAfsarKhadri,whohavehelpedmethroughouttheresearch.


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ABSTRACT

TheneedtosurviveinthiscompetitiveworldmadeArabgovernmentsrealizetheimportanceand

need for innovation and entrepreneurship for economic stability and development.They

implemented various initiatives such as developments in technology and the education sector.

However, there is still a dearth of an innovation driven entrepreneurship hub in the

region.Previous research conducted in this realm found that culture affects or rather defines

innovation initiation.However, no research has been conducted on howcultural factorsaffect

thebehavioral and cognitive skillsrequired for innovationentrepreneurship.Thispaper intends

tostudyifandwhatrelationexistsbetweenthetwo. Inadditionthispaperseekstoanswerthe

impactofArabcultureonentrepreneurship.TheresearchusesClayton’sInnovator’sDNAmodel

andHofstede’s5dimensionalculturaltheoriesonasampleofpeoplefromdifferentcultures.The

resultsshowedthatculturedoesindeedaffecttheskillsrequiredforentrepreneurship.Thepower

distance culture factor negatively affects questioning, observation and networking behavioral

skills. On the other hand Uncertainty Avoidance Culture factor negatively affects Questioning

Behavioralskill. InadditionUncertaintyAvoidancenegativelyaffectsaperson’scourage to take

risks.Governmentsneedtodevelopandmonitoreducationalprogramstoencourageindividuals

oninnovationentrepreneurship.

KeywordsInnovation Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Culture, Innovation Behavior in Individuals,

InnovationinArabworld,InformationTechnology


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INTRODUCTION

The purpose of the study is to understand the effect, if any, of cultural factors on Innovation

entrepreneurshipintheArabworld.TheresearchwillbebaseduponClayton’sInnovator’sDNA

model (Dyer,GregersenandChristensen,2011)aswellas theHofstede’s5CulturalDimensions

theory(Geerthofstede.com,2015).Theformerwillhelpinidentifyingandtestingthebehavioral

and cognitive skills of people in terms of Innovation whereas the latter would help analyze a

person’srelativecultureindex.

Thisempiricalstudywillprimarilyfocusonfindingifthereisanysignificantcorrelationbetween

theculturalfactorssuchasPowerDistance,UncertaintyAvoidanceandIndividualismprevalentin

acultureandthebehavioralandassociationalskillsinanIndividual.

This studywill involve surveying individuals about their individual behavioral skills leading to

innovation on one hand and cultural factors affecting their behaviors on the other hand. The

sampleofthisresearchwillconsistofindividualsfromQatarandUnitedStates,morespecifically

studentsfromCarnegieMellonUniversityPittsburghandCarnegieMellonUniversityQatar.This

willensurethatthesampleconsistofstudentsrepresentingdiverseculturesandethnicities.


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LITERATUREREVIEW

Toexploreandconductthisresearch,weneedtounderstandtheconceptsofculture,innovation

andtherelationshipbetweenthem.

3.1Culture

Paul Herbig defines culture as an “Inclusive system of communicationswhich incorporates the

biological and technical behavior of human beingswith their verbal and nonverbal systems of

expressivebehavior”(Herbig,Dunphy1998).Insimplerterms,itisthewayoflivinglife.Culture

forces people to view and value social interactions differently. (Herbig, Dunphy 1998). For ex;

Indiansmaypreferremovingtheirshoesbeforeenteringanyhouse,Americansmaynot.

3.2CultureModels

There are various cultural models in use today; For ex: ‐ The seven dimensions of culture

(Trompenaars and Hampden‐Turner, 1998), Patterns of cross cultural business behavior

(Gesteland,1999) and Hall’s cultural compass (Hall,1998). However, for the purpose of this

research,wewillbeusingtheHofstede’s5CulturalDimensionsandTheory(Geerthofstede.com,

2015).AlthoughHofstede’sculturalmodel(Hofstede,1980)hasattractedmuchcriticism,itisstill

oneofthemostwidelyusedmodelsandresearchworks(Yoo,DonthuandLenartowicsz,2011).


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Figure1:DiagramdepictingHofstede’s5culturaldimensiontheory(Geerthofstede.com,2015).

TheHofstede’s5 culturaldimension theory isa frameworkused foranalyzingandstudying the

effectsofcultureonthevaluesoftheindividualsandconsequentiallytheirbehavior.Thetheory

statesthatthereareessentially5factorswhichdifferentiatesoneculturefromtheother.

Power Distance: “Power distance is the extent to which the less powerful members of

organizationsandinstitutions(likefamily)acceptandexpectthatpowerisdistributedunequally.

This represents inequality (more versus less), but defined from below, not from above.”

(Geerthofstede.com,2015)

GCCCountriessuchasUAE,andKingdomofSaudiArabiahavehighpowerdistanceintherangeof

90‐95whichisrelativelyhigh(Geert‐hofstede.com,2015).CountriessuchastheUnitedStatesand

theUnitedKingdomwhosepowerdistanceindexis35‐40(geert‐hofstede.com,2015).Countries

suchasIran,Lebanon,Syria,Iraqhavepowerdistanceindexesrangingfromaboveaverage(58‐

Iran)tohigh(75‐Lebanon),(80‐Syria),(95‐Iraq) This indicatesthatthere ismoredisparity in


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powerdistribution, intheArabcultureandthisreflectsthehierarchicalstructureaswellasthe

strongandrigidrulesandbeliefs.

Long‐TermOrientation:“Long‐termorientedsocietiesfosterpragmaticvirtuesorientedtowards

futurerewards, inparticularsaving,persistence,andadaptingtochangingcircumstances.Short‐

term oriented societies foster virtues related to the past and present such as national pride,

respectfortradition,preservationof"face",andfulfillingsocialobligations.”(Geerthofstede.com,

2015)

There is not much data available for long‐term orientation for the Arab countries (geert‐

hofstede.com,2015).Thisfactorwillnotbeanalyzedindetailforthescopeofthisresearch.

Masculinity/Femininity:Asocietyreflectinghighonmasculinityreflectsitsneedtobedrivenby

individualswhoareaggressive,assertiveandcompetitiveratherthatit’soppositewhichreflects

individualswithqualitiessuchaspeace,care,empathyandsucharepreferred.

GCCCountries suchas Jordan,UAE,KSA lean just a bit towards femininity,with scores ranging

from40‐50on themasculinity scale.However, this trenddoesn’t apply to all countries such as

Iraq and Lebanonwhich have scores ranging from 65‐70, putting them towards themasculine

side.CountriessuchastheUnitedStatesandtheUnitedKingdomrankhigheronthemasculinity

scalei.e.60‐65(geert‐hofstede.com,2015)

Individualism/Collectivism:Cultureseithergiveapreference to IndividualismorCollectivism.

Cultures encouraging individualismemphasizeonan individual’sneedofpersonal achievement

and taking care of their immediate family. However, cultures emphasizing on collectivism

encourage community bonding and take into consideration community interests. Individuals in

the former culture do not generally see themselves affiliated with a community or a group


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whereasindividualsinthelattertakedecisionsbytakingcommunityinterestintoconsideration.

Arabworld countries rankmore on collectivism (scores ranging from25‐40 for individualism)

compared to countries such as the United States, Australia and the United Kingdom (89‐91)

(Geerthofstede.com,2015)

Uncertainty Avoidance: Uncertainty avoidance is the degree to which uncertainness and

ambiguityistoleratedbythemembersofsociety.

Arabcountrieshavehigheruncertaintyavoidance(80‐85),moresothanthatofthewest(35‐50)

(Geerthofstede.com,2015).ExceptionsareLebanonandSyriawhoseuncertaintyavoidanceis50

and60respectively.

3.3CulturescalesforIndividuals

Although Hofstede’smodel has been reliable for studying and identifying cultures through the

years,itisveryinefficienttomeasureindividuals(Yoo,DonthuandLenartowicsz,2011).Thiswas

reflected in the disappointing results of psychometric scales (Triandis, 1982). In fact, when

Hofstede(Hofstedecited inYoo,DonthuandLenartowicsz,2011)triedtodo itonan individual

levelitwasfoundtobeinconsistent.Howeveritworkedonacountrylevel.Furthermore,several

psychometric scales have been devised which measure a single dimension of Hofstde’s 5

Dimensional cultural theory (Hofstede, 1980). ex: Collectivism (Triandis,1995) and long‐term

orientation (Bearden,Money et al 2006). But, these are inefficient since theymeasure each of

Hofstede’sculturaldimensions(Hofstede,1980)independently.However,therecentlydeveloped

CVSCALE (Yoo, Donthu and Lenartowicsz, 2011) provides a holistic approach in measuring

Hofstede’s dimensions (Hofstede,1980) at an individual level. It analyses Hofstede’s survey


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questionnaireswhicharefocusedonnationallevelcultureandaccordinglyrelevantquestionnaire

weredevelopedreflectingHofstede’sculturaldimensiontheory(Geerthofstede.com,2015).

Thesurveyquestionsusedforthepurposeofthisresearchhavebeeninspiredfrombutnotreliant

ontheCVSCALE(Yoo,DonthuandLenartowicsz,2011).

3.4Innovation

There isnosetdefinition for Innovationand itsdefinitionvaries frompersontoperson.People

generally think creativity and innovation are the same, but they are not. Creativity is about

generatingideaswhichareabstractandmayormaynotbeusable.Innovationontheotherhand,

isacontinuouslyevolvingprocessorchangewhichleadstovaluecreation.Inotherwords,itisthe

processofchannelingcreativityorideagenerationtofulfillunmetcustomerdemandswhichleads

to value creation. Innovation is both a process and anoutcome. It is basically actionproducing

whereascreativityisideageneration.Inrelativeterms,creativityleadstoinnovation.Creativityis

theback‐endandInnovationisthefrontend(Venkat,2010).Innovationcanbeeithersuccessful

or a failure. The chances of success and failure depends on several factors such as time,

competition,complexitiesetc(More,2011).Successfulinnovationisdeterminedbyits(Returnon

Index )ROI,positive cash flowsetc. Inotherwords its ability togenerate income (More,2011)

(Anon,2014).Successfulinnovationiswhatcontributestothecountry’seconomyinameaningful

waytherebypushinggovernmentstoinvestinit.Thisdefinitionofsuccessfulinnovationiswhat

we will be using in our research. Innovative entrepreneurs create and sustain successful

innovations.

3.5InnovationModelsinIndividuals

Forthebasisofthisresearch,wewillbeusingClayton’sInnovator’sDNAModel(figure2).


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Figure2:DiagramdepictingClayton’sInnovator’sDNAmodel(Dyer,GregersenandChristensen,

2011)

ClaytonChristenenanalyzesthebehaviorsofentrepreneurstoseewhatsetsthemapartfromthe

rest.

CouragetoInnovate: Asuccessfulinnovatorpossessestheabilityandcouragetochallengethe

status quo and take risks. Innovation requires one to dealwith ambiguity, take huge risks and

questiontheauthorityandthehierarchicalnatureofsociety.

Behavioralskills:Claytonidentifies5coreskillsaninnovatorpossesses:Questioning,Observing,

NetworkingandExperimenting.Thesearecrucial for innovatorsas theseallowthemto identify

innovative ideas by challenging the natural order of things. Questioning and Observing allows

themto identify theenvironmentaround themand theneedsof individuals.Networkingallows

them to gather more information and knowledge from sources outside their own whereas

Experimentingallowstestouttheirtheories.


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Cognitiveskills:Havingjustthecouragetoinnovatealongwithbehavioralskillsisnotenoughto

becomeaninnovator.Oneneedstobeabletosynthesizetheinformationandknowledgegathered

to be able to become a successful innovator. Clayton has identified this to be Associational

thinking.

3.6InnovationandCulture

Various research conducted in this fieldhasproved that there is a strong relationshipbetween

InnovationandCulture.“Culturehasaprofoundinfluenceontheinnovativecapacityofasociety.

Asociety’svaluesprovidesocialdirectiontotheprocessoftechnologicaldevelopment”.(Williams

andMcGuire,2008).Inadditiontothis,Kaasasuggestedinhis2008work,thatalthoughculture

unifiespeople, itmayalsoactasabarrier for innovationdevelopment sincepeople’sbelief can

“contributeorblocktheprocessofdevelopingandimplementingnewideas”(Kaasa,Vadi,2008).

Althoughpreviousresearchworkssuchas(WilliamsandMcGuire,2008), (Ahmad,2012),

(Herbig,Dunphy1998),(Kaasa, Vadi, 2008), agree on the effect of culture on innovation, there

havebeendifferentapproachesforstudyingtherelation.Severalauthors(Herbig&Dunphycited

in (Ahmad,2012)), (Kaasa & Vadi, cited in (Ahmad, 2012)) have used the direct application of

Hofstede’sDimensionaltheory(Hofstede,1980)tocountriestostudythenation‐wideeffectson

InnovationInitiation.(Ahmed,2012).Williamsconsidersthatcultureaffectseconomiccreativity

whichinturnaffectsinnovationinitiation(WilliamsandMcGuire,2008)whereasKaasaconsiders

that culture affects Innovation specifically measured through patent application (Kaasa, Vadi,

2008).

Howeverasmentionedintheprevioussection,wewillbeconsideringsuccessfulinnovatorsand

their innovation as the basis for conducting research rather than relying on other values of


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innovation, such as, patents. Patents are one dimensional statistic measures for innovation.

Although, patents areunique anddifferent, theymightnot be tangible or cater touser’sneeds.

Moreover, the number of patent applications by a country may not directly correlate to its

economicdevelopmentandthereforethismeasurewasnotconsideredforthisresearch.

3.7InnovationandCultureinMENAregion

Traditionally,entrepreneursorArabprivateownersintheOilproducingstatessuchastheUAE

and Saudi Arabia preferred investing in zero risk and non‐innovative activities. They refrained

frominvestinginindustrialactivitieswhichinvolvedhighriskandvasttechnicalknowledgeand

innovation(Oukil,M,2011).Howeverthishaschanged. InternalandExternalgroupshavebeen

pressuring these countries to allow formore liberalization and diversification (Oukil,M, 2011).

Arab countries realized the importance of technology development and innovation as part of

economicdevelopmentaswellastostrengthencompetitiveness.However,eventhoughthereisa

lot of investment given in entrepreneurship training, there is still aweakness in creating Saudi

entrepeurs(AhmadZ,2012).Somebelievethatthereasonmaybebecauseoflackofresearchon

Innovation and Entrepreneurship (Oukil M 2011) while others believes the Middle Eastern

Cultureisahindranceinthiscauseasallculturalfactorsareoppositetoanidealentrepreneurship

culture(AhmadZ,2012).

RESEARCHQUESTIONIndividual’sbehaviorsandthinkingareconstantlyaffectedordeterminedbytheculturetheylive

in,buttowhatextent?Andhowdoesitaffecttheinitiationof“InnovationEntrepreneurship”?This

researchaimstounderstandindividualbehaviorwithregardstoinnovationentrepreneurshipand

culture. Itwill answer the leadingquestionofwhat is the impactofArabcultureon innovation


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entrepreneurship by incorporating Clayton’s Innovator’s DNA model (Dyer, Gregersen and

Christensen,2011)andHofstede’s5dimensionalculturaltheory(Geerthofstede.com,2015).

RESEARCHMODELANDHYPOTHESIS

Figure3:HypothesistestingresearchmodelcomprisingHofstede’sculturaltheory

(Geerthofstede.com,2015)andClayton’sInnovator’sDNAmodel(Dyer,GregersenandChristensen,

2011)

Figure3demonstratesthehypothesiswhichwillbetestedbelow.

1. PowerdistancenegativelyaffectscouragetochallengethestatusQuo

HighpowerdistanceLowCouragetoInnovate

2. Uncertaintyavoidancenegativelyaffectscourageofpeoplemakingriskydecisions.

HighUncertaintyavoidanceLowchanceoftakingrisks


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3. Culturalfactors(powerdistance,uncertaintyavoidanceandindividualism/collectivism)

affectbehavioralskills(Questioning,Observing,NetworkingandExperimenting)and

associationalcognitiveskills.

To test theabovehypotheses,weconducteda studywhich tookstudents fromCarnegieMellon

University Pittsburgh and Qatar. This allowed us to study students of varied cultures aged

between 18 and 24, thereby giving us a diverse sample populationwhile reducing any skewed

error.

METHODOLOGY4.1SurveyandSurveyscale

A surveywas administered toparticipants.The first part of the surveyhadquestionsbasedon

cultural dimensions or cultural factors which assessed the individual's understanding of the

normsprevalent intheirculture.Thesecondpartofthesurveywasadaptedfromtheinnovator

(Dyer,GregersenandChristensen,2011)whohadquestionsbasedontheindividual'sbehaviors.

Thissectionassessedtheindividual'smotivational,behavioralandcognitiveskills.Itcontained36

questions. The firstsectionconsistedof17questionsrelatedtocultural factorsandthesecond

section consisted of 19 questions related to individual behavior. Asmentioned earlier, the first

sectionofthesurveyisinspiredfromtheCVSCALE(Yoo,DonthuandLenartowicsz,2011)andthe

secondsectionis inspiredfromthequestionsusedintheinnovator’sDNA(Dyer,Gregersenand

Christensen, 2011). The survey questions were developed by considering the student samples

fromCMUQandCMUP.


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A popular and trusted survey tool (SurveyMonkey®) was used for survey building and data

collection.This allowedusers to take the survey at their ownconvenience.Thedurationof the

surveywasaround5minutes.

4.2Participants

AsmentionedbeforethesurveytargetedtowardsstudentsatCarnegieMellonUniversityinQatar

as well as Students at Carnegie Mellon University Pittsburgh. The survey will target only

undergraduate students of majors in Information systems, Computer Science and Business

Administration.Both thegroups share similar interestsof technologyand innovation.However,

even though their interests and education are the same, both the groups contain studentswith

different cultures,backgroundsandethnicities.Thiswill thereforedeterminewhethera culture

influencesanindividual'sspiritofinnovationentrepreneurship

4.3Participantrecruitment

Students from CMUQ and CMUPwere recruited through their respectivemailing list. Thiswas

doneonlyafter receivingpermission forusing themailing lists from the respectivedepartment

heads.

Furthermore,onlypeopleof18yearsandaboveof thetargetpopulationwererecruitedtotake

thesurvey.Thestudywasconductedduringthespringsemesterof2015.

4.4DataAnalysis

The data, taken through survey monkey, was organized in an excel sheet. As shown in the

appendix,eachsurveyquestionhasoptionsrangingfrom1‐5,1beingthelowestto5beingthe

highest. Some questions were positive while others were negative. This was done to ensure


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consistencyofanswersthroughthesurvey.Thescalesofthenegativequestionshadtobereverted

backtoensureuniformity.

Dataanalysiswasdonewiththehelpofregressiontools.Forexample,tostudyHypothesis2,the

average values for ‘courage to Innovate’ was taken as the dependent value and was plotted

againstaveragevaluesfor ‘powerdistanceindex’.Thecoefficientvalue’b’thusobtainedimplied

whethertherewasapositiveornegativerelationandthecorrelationbetweenthet‐valueandthe

p‐value determined if the study conducted was significant and reliable. This method of data

analysiswasrepeatedlikewiseforHypothesis1and3.

RESULTS5.1Participantscharacteristics

Therewerearound120responsesfromCMUQandCMUPstudents.Aftercleaningoutthedata,it

wasfoundthattherewere89completeresponses.Belowwerethegeneralcharacteristicsofthe

participants.

Figure4:Distributionofparticipants

Distributionofparticipantsbyvariousfactors

Gender Countryofresidence Majors

Males:45% UnitedStates:55% BusinessAdministration:

40%

Females:55% Qatar:43% InformationSystems18%

Other:2% ComputerScience:43%


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As reflected in the figure above the male to female ratio was 9: 11. There were 48 female

respondentscomparedto40malerespondents.Thissuggeststhatthesampleintermsofgender

compositionisbalanced.

Furthermore,therewere40respondentsfromQatarand48respondentsfromUnitedStates.As

forthepeoplechoosingthe‘Other’option,itisassumedthatthestudentswereeitherfromCMU‐P

or CMUQ but not currently spending the semester on campus. This is because the participants

wereonlyrecruitedthroughtheirrespectivedegreespecificmailinglists.

In termsofmajordistribution,we can see that there are student responses fromall 3 targeted

majors. There are 35 student responses from Business Administration students, 15 student

responsesfromInformationSystemsstudentsand39responsesfromComputerSciencestudents.

5.2HypothesisTesting

To test the relations between the different variables, the research primarily used a regression

analysis.

Hypothesis1:PowerdistancenegativelyaffectsthecouragetochallengethestatusQuo


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Figure5:RegressionmodelofPowerDistanceandChallengingstatusquo

Theaveragevaluesfromeachquestionforboththevariableswerecalculated.Thedependentor

the y variable in this regression analysis is ‘Challenging the status Quo’ and the independent

variableisthe‘PowerDistance’.Asseeninfigure5,thereisaninverserelationbetweenboththe

variables i.e. an increase in power distance of any culture leads to a 0.14 decrease in the

individual’sabilitytochallengethestatusquowhichinturnaffectsInnovationInitiation.This is

synonymous with previous research work expressed byWilliams (Williams & McQuire, 2005)

whosuggestedthatthegreaterthefreedomoftheindividualtoexploreandexpressopinions,the

greater the likelihood of new ideas coming into being. Therefore societies where freedom of

expression is low, i.e. high power index, innovation tends to suffer. In addition to this, other

research work also emphasized on how high power distance restricted creativity (Herbig &

Dunphycitedin(Ahmad,2012)),(Kaasa&Vadi,citedin(Ahmad,2012))


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Furthermore,asreflectedintheregressionmodelsincethet‐statvalueof|1.34|islesserthanthe

recommended‘|2|’andp‐valuebeing.17>0.05,therelationbetweenboththevariablesisweak

andnotsignificant.Therefore,wecansaythattheHypothesisisrejected.

Hypothesis 2: Uncertainty avoidance negatively affects courage of peoplemaking risky

decisions.

Figure6:RegressionmodelofUncertaintyAvoidanceandTakingrisks


the y variable in this regression analysis is ‘Taking risks’ and the independent variable is

‘Uncertainty Avoidance’. As seen in figure 6, there is an inverse relation between the two. An

increase in uncertainty avoidance leads to a 0.38 decrease in a person’s choice to make risky

decisions. This is synonymous with previous research work on the topic. Hofstede (Hofstede,


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1980) cited in (Mohammed,Ahmed,2012)) found that since cultures with high uncertainty

avoidancehave fearof failure, they tendtohavea lowinclinationto takerisks.Thisresearch is

supportedbyShane(Shane,citedin(Mohammed,Ahmed,2012))whosuggestedthatthecultural

valueofuncertaintyavoidancehasastrongrelationwithinnovationrates.

Comingbacktotheregressionmodel,therelationbetweenUncertaintyavoidanceandtakingrisks

is further strengthenedby the t‐statvalue |2.94|> |2| andp‐value .004<0.005which suggests

that the relationbetweenboth thevariables isverystrongandsignificant.Therefore,we can

concludebysayingthatUncertaintyAvoidancenegativelyaffectscourageofpeoplemakingrisky

decisions.Inotherwords,Hypothesisisconfirmed.

Hypothesis 3: Cultural factors (Power distance, uncertainty avoidance, and

individualism/collectivism)affectbehavioralandcognitiveskills.

Theaveragevaluesfromeachquestionforallthevariableswerecalculated.Thismainhypothesis

wasbrokendownintoseveralsub‐hypotheses.

Hypothesis3.1:PowerDistanceaffectsquestioningbehavioralskill


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Figure7:Regressionmodelofuncertaintyavoidance,powerdistanceandcollectivismand

questioning


the y‐variable in this regression analysis is ‘Questioning behavioral skill’ and the independent

variableis‘Powerdistance’.AsseeninFigure7,thereisaninverserelationbetweenthetwo.An

increaseinpowerdistanceleadstoadecreaseinquestioningbehavioralskills.Thesignificantt‐

valuewhichis|4.99|>|2|andp‐value3.26e‐06<0.05suggeststhattherelationbetweenthetwois

verystrong.Therefore,wecanconcludethatPowerDistancehasastrongnegativeinfluenceon

aperson’squestioningbehavioralskill.Inotherwords,thehypothesisisconfirmed.

Hypothesis3.2:Uncertaintyavoidanceaffectsquestioningbehavioralskills


the y‐variable in this regression analysis is ‘Questioning behavioral skills’ and the independent


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variable is ‘Uncertaintyavoidance’.Asseen inFigure7, there isan inverserelationbetweenthe

two.Anincreaseinuncertaintyavoidanceleadstoa.24decreaseinquestioningbehavioralskill.

Lookingatthehight‐valueandlowp‐valuesuggeststhattherelationissignificant.Therefore,we

can conclude that uncertainty avoidance has a strong negative influence on a person’s

questioningbehavioralskills.Inotherwords,thehypothesisisconfirmed.

Hypothesis3.3:Individualism/Collectivismaffectsquestioningbehavioralskills


the y‐variable in this regression analysis is ‘Questioning behavioral skills’ and the independent

variable is ‘Collectivism’.AsseenintheaboveFigure7, there isan inverserelationbetweenthe

two.An increase in collectivism leads to adecrease inquestioningbehavioral skill.However as

suggestedbythelowt‐valueandhighp‐value,therelationisnotsignificant.Inotherwords,the

hypothesisisrejected.


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networking

Hypothesis3.4:Powerdistanceaffectsnetworkingbehavioralskill


the y‐variable in this regression analysis is ‘Networking behavioral skills’ and the independent


increaseinpowerdistanceleadstoa0.6decreaseinnetworkingskills.Thet‐valueof3.45andp‐

value of 0.0008 suggests that this relation is very strong and significant. Therefore, we can

conclude that power distance has a strong negative influence on networking skill. In other

words,thehypothesisisconfirmed.

Hypothesis3.5:Uncertaintyavoidanceaffectsnetworkingbehavioralskills


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two.Anincreaseinuncertaintyavoidanceleadstoa0.086decreaseinnetworkingskills.However,

thelowt‐valueandhighp‐valuesuggeststhatthisrelationisnotsignificant.Therefore,wecan

concludethatthehypothesisisrejected.

Hypothesis3.6:Individualism/Collectivismaffectsnetworkingbehavioralskills



variable is ‘Collectivism’. As seen in Figure 8, there is a direct relation between the two. An

increaseincollectivismleadstoa0.16increaseinnetworkingskills.However,thelowt‐valueand

high p‐value suggests that this relation isnot significant.Therefore,we can conclude that the



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observation

Hypothesis3.7:Powerdistanceaffectsobservationalbehavioralskill


they‐variableinthisregressionanalysisis ‘Observationalbehavioralskills’andtheindependent


increase inpowerdistance leadstoa0.61decrease inobservationalbehavioralskill.Lookingat

the high t‐value (|‐3.45|) and low p‐value (.00086) suggests that the relation is significant.

Therefore,wecanconclude thatpowerdistancehasastrongnegative influenceonaperson’s

observationalbehavioralskills.Inotherwords,thehypothesisisconfirmed.

Hypothesis3.8:Uncertaintyavoidanceaffectsobservationalbehavioralskills


the y‐variable in this regression analysis is ‘Observation behavioral skills’ and the independent


26


two. An increase in uncertainty avoidance leads to a 0.12 decrease in observational skills.

However,thelowt‐valueandhighp‐valuesuggeststhatthisrelationisnotsignificant.Therefore,

wecanconcludethatthehypothesisisrejected.

Hypothesis3.9:Individualism/collectivismaffectsobservationalbehavioralskills


they‐variableinthisregressionanalysisis ‘Observationalbehavioralskills’andtheindependent

variableis‘Collectivism’.AsseeninFigure9,thereisaproportionalrelationbetweenthetwo.An

increaseincollectivismleadstoa0.33increaseinnetworkingskills.However,thelowt‐valueand




27


experimentalbehavior

Hypothesis3.10:Powerdistanceaffectsexperimentalbehavioralskill


they‐variable inthisregressionanalysis is ‘Experimentalbehavioralskills’andthe independent


increase in powerdistance leads to a 0.14decrease in experimental skills.However, the low t‐

valueandhighp‐valuesuggeststhatthisrelationisnotsignificant.Therefore,wecanconclude

thatthehypothesisisrejected.

Hypothesis3.11:Uncertaintyavoidanceaffectsexperimentalbehavioralskills



variableis‘Uncertaintyavoidance’.AsseeninFigure10,thereisaninverserelationbetweenthe


28

two. An increase in uncertainty avoidance leads to a 0.08 decrease in experimental skills.

However,thelowt‐valueandhighp‐valuesuggeststhatthisrelationisnotsignificant.Therefore,

wecanconcludethatthehypothesisisrejected.

Hypothesis3.12:Individualismaffectsexperimentalbehavioralskills



variable is ‘Collectivism’.As seen inFigure10, there isan inverse relationbetween the two.An

increaseincollectivismleadstoa0.04decreaseinexperimentalskills.However,thelowt‐value

andhighp‐valuesuggeststhatthisrelationisnotsignificant.Therefore,wecanconcludethatthe



29


associationalcognitiveskill

Hypothesis3.13:PowerdistanceaffectsAssociationalcognitiveskill


the y‐variable in this regression analysis is ‘Associational cognitive skills’ and the independent


increaseinpowerdistanceleadstoa0.02decreaseinassociationalcognitiveskills.However,the

low t‐value and high p‐value suggests that this relation is not significant. Therefore, we can


Hypothesis3.14:Uncertaintyavoidanceaffectsassociationalcognitiveskills


30



variableis‘Uncertaintyavoidance’.AsseeninFigure11,thereisaninverserelationbetweenthe

two.Anincreaseinuncertaintyavoidanceleadstoa0.1decreaseinassociationalskills.However,

thelowt‐valueandhighp‐valuesuggeststhatthisrelationisnotsignificant.Therefore,wecan


Hypothesis3.15:Individualismaffectsassociationalcognitiveskills



variable is ‘Collectivism’. As seen in Figure 11, there is a direct relation between the two. An

increaseincollectivismleadstoa0.1increaseinassociationalskills.However,thelowt‐valueand



GRAPHICALMODELWITHACCEPTEDHYPOTHESISThebelowfigureshowstheacceptedhypothesiswithrelationsreflectedintheHofstede’smodel

andClayton’sInnovatorDNA’smodel(Dyer,GregersenandChristensen,2011).


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Figure12:RevisedresearchmodelcomprisingofHofstede’sculturaltheory(Geerthofstede.com,

2015)andClayton’sInnovator’sDNAmodel(Dyer,GregersenandChristensen,2011)

CONCLUSIONTheresults fromthethesisaswellas findings fromthe literaturereviewthrewlightonspecific

realities.

First, previous research work found that Arab Countries rank from above average to high

(Geerthofstede.com,2015)ontheuncertaintyavoidancescale.Combiningthiswiththeresultsof

ourresearchsuggeststhatuncertaintyavoidancehasaninverserelationwithtakingrisks;wecan

conclude that people who have an Arab culture have a high tendency to avoid taking risks.

Furthermore,sinceresultsoftheresearchalsoprovedthatuncertaintyavoidancehasaninverse

relationwithaperson’squestioningskills,wecansuccessfully conclude thatahighuncertainty

avoidancefactorinArabculturerestrictspeople’squestioningskillswhichmayhinderthemtobe

asuccessfulinnovator.


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Second,previousresearches inthisrealmhavesuggestedArabCountriesrankaboveaverageto

highonthepowerdistancescale(Geerthofstede.com,2015).Theresultsfromresearchexpounded

on an inverse relation between power distance and questioning skills, observational skills and

networkingskill. Wecan thereforeconclude that thepowerdistance factor in theArabculture

negativelyaffectsthedevelopmentofbehavioralskillsrequiredforInnovation.

7.1Limitations

Fewresultsfromthesurveyshowthatthereisaweakrelationbetweenlowt‐valueandhighp

value.Wethinkthatthismaybeduetothesmallsamplesize.Thesizeofthesamplemayhave

preventedusfromobtaininghigherdataconfidence.Theaccuracyandreliabilityofthisresearch

canbeincreasedbytargetingmorestudents.Furthermore,sinceonlyuniversitystudents

weretargetedfortheresearch,theresultsmightbedifferentifpopulationatalllevelsintermsof

educationlevel,ageetc.wouldhavebeensurveyed.

7.2FutureWork

All in all, Arab culture has detrimental effects on innovation entrepreneurship behavior in

individuals.Inorderforthegovernmentstodevelopaninnovativeentrepreneurshipculture,they

need to focusondevelopmentofbehavioral skills to counter thenegativeeffectsof theculture.

Theycandothisbycreatingeducationalprogramsbothatuniversity levelandschool levelthat

specifically target on developing these behavioral skills in students. Furthermore, in order to

determine the success of these programs at university level, governments can survey incoming

freshmen and compare those responses with the responses they would have 4 years later as

seniors.Thiswillgivegovernmentsavaluetheycanbaseagainstfutureinitiatives.


33

REFERENCES*Anon,(2014).1sted.[ebook]Availableat:

http://balancedscorecard.org/portals/0/pdf/Howtomeasureinnovation.pdf[Accessed20Sep.

2014].

Bearden,W.,Money,R.andNevins,J.(2006).Multidimensionalversusunidimensionalmeasures

inassessingnationalculturevalues:TheHofstedeVSM94example.JournalofBusinessResearch,

59(2),pp.195‐203.

CNBC,(2011).DevelopingYourInnerInnovator.[online]Availableat:

http://www.cnbc.com/id/44934190[Accessed20Apr.2015].

Dyer,J.,Gregersen,H.andChristensen,C.(2011).Theinnovator'sDNA.Boston,Mass.:Harvard

BusinessPress.

Geerthofstede.com,(2015).GeertHofstede|Home.[online]Availableat:

http://www.geerthofstede.com/[Accessed20Jan.2015].

Gestelan,R.(1999).Cross‐culturalbusinessbehavior:marketing,negotiating,andmanagingacross

cultures.(p.180).Copenhagen:CopenhagenBusinessSchoolPress.

Govindarajan,V.andGovindarajan,V.(2010).InnovationisNotCreativity.[online]Harvard

BusinessReview.Availableat:http://blogs.hbr.org/2010/08/innovation‐is‐not‐creativity/

[Accessed20Sep.2014].

Hall,J.(1998).PrivateOpportunity,PublicBenefit,FiscalStudies,19(2),pp.121‐140.

Herbig,P.andDunphy,S.(1998).Cultureandinnovation.CrossCulturalManagement,5(4),pp.13‐

21.


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ReviewArticle:GeertHofstede:Culture'sConsequences:InternationalDifferencesinWork

RelatedValues:1980,BeverlyHills/London:Sage.474pages.(1983).OrganizationStudies,4(4),

pp.390‐391.

Iveybusinessjournal.com,(2014).Whatissuccessininnovation?‐IveyBusinessJournal.[online]

Availableat:http://iveybusinessjournal.com/topics/innovation/what‐is‐success‐in‐

innovation#.VB2zi_mSwpV[Accessed20Sep.2014].

Kaasa,A.andVadi,M.(2008).HowDoesCultureContributeToInnovation?Evidencefrom

EuropeanCountries.SSRNJournal.

Mohammad,K.andAhmad,Z.(2012).THEROLEOFCULTUREONENTREPRENEURSHIP

DEVELOPMENTINSAUDIARABIA.JOURNALOFGLOBALENTREPRENEURSHIP.

Oukil,M.andothers,(2011).Adevelopmentperspectiveoftechnology‐basedentrepreneurshipin

theArabworldandNorthAfrica.AnnalsofInnovation\&Entrepreneurship,2(1).

Williams,L.andMcGuire,S.(2008).Economiccreativityandinnovationimplementation:the

entrepreneurialdriversofgrowth?Evidencefrom63countries.SmallBusEcon,34(4),pp.391‐

412.

Triandas,H.(1982).ReviewofCulture'sConsequences:InternationalDifferencesinWork‐Related

Values.HumanOrganization,41(1),pp.86‐90.

Triandis,H.(1995).Individualism&collectivism.Newdirectionsinsocialpsychology.American

PsychologicalAssociation,p.259.

Trompenaars,A.andHampden‐Turner,C.(1998).Ridingthewavesofculture.NewYork:McGraw

Hill.


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Yoo,B.,Donthu,N.andLenartowicsz,T.(2011).MeasuringHofstede'sfivedimensionsofcultural

valuesattheIndividualLevel:DevelopmentandvalidationofCVSCALE.JournalofInternational

ConsumerMarketing,23(3‐4),pp.193‐210.

*Harvardcitationused.


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APPENDIX

SURVEYQUESTIONS**This research is part ofNihal Fathima’s honors thesis.Nihal is supervised by ProfessorMaherHakim. For any enquiries regarding the survey, please feel free to contactNihal([email protected])orProfessorMaher([email protected])

Yourparticipationinthissurveyistotallyvoluntary.Youarefreetoendyourparticipationatanypoint.

Areyou18yearsorolder?*Yes[]No[]

Whatisyourmajor?______________

SelectYourGender*Female[]Male[]

Selectyourcurrentagegroup*18‐24years[]25‐35years[]36yearsandabove[]SelectYourCurrentplaceofResidence*Qatar[]UnitedStates[]Other:pleasespecify[__]

CULTURALFACTORSPleaseRatethefollowingquestionsonascale1–5(where1representsStronglyDISAGREEand5stronglyAGREE).PleaseselecttheanswerthatBESTdescribesyouASYOUREALLYARE.

MeasuringPowerdistance

1. InatypicalmeetingwithmyupperclassmenIamabletogiveacontrarymethod/opinion2. Myadvisorsfreelyaskmeformyinputtohelpmakedecisions3. Inatask,myworkcultureencouragescontrarybehavioralskills4. InadinnertableIamabletoopenlychallengemyparentsinaviewextremelyopposedto

theirs.5. Inmysocietytheacceptednormistoacceptthestatusquo.6. Myparentsareabletoacceptfullyacceptmyviewnomatterhowopposeditis.7. Inateam,myupperclassmen,TA’spaycarefulattentiontomysuggestions.

MeasuringUncertaintyAvoidance

1. Inthiscountry/cultureIamencouragedtoinventnewwaystodothings2. Ibelieveitisimportantforhigherupstogivemeinstructionsforanytaskstobecarried

out3. Ibelievefollowingrulesandregulationsaregood.4. Itisimportanttocloselyfollowinstructionsandprocedures.


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MeasuringIndividualism

1. Thereisaspiritofteamworkatyourcampus.2. Individualinitiativeisencouragedinmyculture3. Iamexpectedtosacrificemyself‐interestbasedonthegroup’sinterest4. Iconsidermysuccesstobemoreimportantthangroupsuccess.5. GrouployaltyshouldbeencouragedevenifIndividualgoalssuffer**

INDIVIDUALBEHAVIOURPleaseRatethefollowingquestionsonascale1–5(where1representsStronglyDISAGREEand5stronglyAGREE).PleaseselecttheanswerthatBESTdescribesyouASYOUREALLYARE.

Takingrisks:

1. Iconstantlycreatedetailedplanstogetworkdone.2. Ipaycarefulattentiontodetailsatwork.3. Icarefullythinkthroughalltheissuesbeforestartingnewprojectsandventures.4. Iaimtolearnfrommyfailuresevenifitmeansfailing.

ChallengingStatusQuo:

1. Iholdmyselfandothersstrictlyaccountableforgettingresults*2. Iregularlyaskquestionstochallengethestatusquo3. Imusthaveeverythingfinished‘justright’whencompletingaworkassignment4. IhavetoacceptthestatusQuoevenifIdon’tlikeit.

MeasuringQuestioningskills

1. Iattendconferences(onmyareasofexpertiseaswellasunrelatedareas)tomeetnewpeopleandunderstandtheirissues.

2. Ifrequentlyask‘whatif’questionssothatIcanexplorenewareas.3. Myideasfrequentlydivergefromothers.

MeasuringNetworkingSkills

1. Igenerallytalktoadiversesetofpeople(example:differentorganizations,geographies,differentculturesetc.)tofindandrefinenewideas

2. Iliketoconnectandlistentoideasofpeoplewhodon’thavethesamebackgroundasme


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3. Mybestfriendshavesimilarbackgrounds(intermsofmajors/nationalityetc.)asme.

MeasuringObservationalSkills

1Iactivelyseektounderstandemergingtrendsbyreadingarticles,magazines,blogsetc.

MeasuringExperimentalSkills1.OftenIexperimenttocreatenewwaystodothings.2. I regularlyobserve theactivitiesof customers, suppliersorotherorganization togetnewideas.3.Toaccomplishatask,Istartwithdetailedplanandclearmilestones

MeasuringAssociationalSkills

1. Ioftenfindsolutionstoproblemsbydrawingonsolutionsorideasdevelopedinotherindustries,fieldsordisciplines

2. Myexperiences/workareallrelatedtothemajorIstudied3. Idoworklimitedtoonly1scopeofindustry/major/discipline

*Retrievedfrom(cnbc.com,2011).Innovator’sDNAmodel(Dyer,GregersenandChristensen,2011)ReferencetoCVScale(Yoo,DonthuandLenartowicsz,2011)

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