Culture and Organizational Structure in the Middle East: a Comparative Analysis of Iran, Jordan and the USA.

The article presents a comparative analysis of culture and organizational structure in the Middle East. Does culture influence organizational structure? Specifically, what influences do national cultures have on the structure of organizations? For many years researchers have studied the impact of culture on organizational structure. To the management, organizational structure represents the blueprint for arranging activities of organizations and the way in which organizations are tied together. It is, therefore, useful to the managers to know about the structures particularly those who are expatriates. The most common features of organizations are their size, hierarchy and centralization. Despite the vast number of such comparative studies, few have been undertaken in the Middle East. Whereas both Iran and Jordan are part of the larger Middle East culture, they differ from each other insignificant ways. Although the dominant religion of both countries is Islam, they follow different sects. The dominant sect in Iran is Shiah whereas the dominant sect in Jordan is Sunni. Both countries thus represent the broad Middle-East culture but there are differences among them due to differences in religious practices, historical traditions and languages.