‘Ellen Moore: Enduring the Perils of Gender Discrimination’
...ed the country to diversify its economy. To help reestablish their economy, they established the following industries: aluminum processing, shipbuilding, iron and steel processing, and furniture and door manufacturing. In addition to manufacturing and processing, Bahrain tapped into the offshore banking industry in 1975. By the 1980’s, the country was a major business and financial center. Because the Bahraini’s had limited expertise in this industry, expatriates were encouraged to conduct business in Bahrain. To make sure that they had enough jobs for Bahraini nationals, resident permits were issued only for specialized positions that could not be filled by qualified Bahraini citizens. Bahrain quickly received a large amount of expatriates – mostly from Western Europe and North America. All of the expatriates created a large amount of diversity in Bahrain. This diversity still did not change the way that Bahraini’s managed the operations. The Middle Eastern culture affected the way that businesses were managed in Bahrain. Some examples of the culture differences that took place are the meaning of ‘time’ and ‘deadlines’. These culture differences, among others, made Ellen’s role as a manager in Bahrain difficult. Culture differences affecting religion and traditional attitudes towards women took Ellen by surprise. Islamic cultures greatly affected Ellen’s management style. Rules concerning daily prayer, time differences and religious rights of employees made Ellen intimidated about the role she served. Some differences in the Islamic culture included; female washrooms had standing water in floor so that women could wash there feet and legs before prayer, prayer rituals that took place up to five times a day and lack of concern for deadlines and schedules. Because Islamic culture does not embrace a separate church and state attitude, as an expatriate, Ellen must understand and accept the different structure of the Bahraini society. Another issue of great concern for Ellen was the way Bahraini traditionalists regarded women. Bahraini women had to ‘ask permission’ before visiting or phoning friends. Although some Bahraini women did seek higher education, the notion of ‘pink’ and ‘blue’ degrees was prevalent in Bahrain. Women with degrees were still not considered for management positions and Bahrain nationals had the notion that schools were segregated for males and females. As the only female manager, Ellen had to help facilitate Bahraini women’s positions in the office. Culturally, Bahrain embraces a traditional authority based on Weber’s Theory of Leadership. Weber’s Theory of Leadership explains the understanding of the legitimacy of leaders and what conditions are required for people to obey authority. In a traditional authority males are regarded as authoritative figures. A rational authority has a more bureaucratic style that is based on hierarchies and red tape, while employees in a charismatic authority feel that the leader has special gifts or talents. Bahraini operations embraced a traditional authority and Ellen had to break into that traditional role. Ellen had to use an ‘ambivalent’ leadership style; this allowed her to deal with the conflicting ideals of the Bahraini society. Ellen held numerous positions in Bahrain, ultimately outfitting herself for bigger and better opportunities every time. Some of Ellen’s roles included special projects coordinator and manager of business planning and development. One day Ellen’s manager came to her with a proposition. She was offered two positions, one, a manager of accounts control, overseeing staff and traveling frequently to visit clients, and another, manager of customer services, new accounts and establishment services, overseeing a staff of about 30 with less travel. After considering her options, Ellen decided to take the manager of accounts control position. When Ellen went to present this to her manager, she was told that she could not have that position because she would have to travel to an Arab culture, he did not feel that she would be respected in that position, simply on the basis that...