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FINES will be charged if book is returned after the date stamped below. “Psi: 4. 3W" i THE EFFECT OF CONTROL ON PUBLIC SERVICE EMPLOYEES: AN EXPLORATORY STUDY FOR CLIENTS' ATTITUDES TOWARD SAUDI ARABIAN PUBLIC SERVICE EMPLOYEES BY Khalid Al-Awwad A THESIS Submitted to Michigan State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER or ARTS Department of Sociology 1988 .37/3 - ’74’¢?;.2 ABSTRACT THE EFFECT OF CONTROL ON PUBLIC SERVICE EMPLOYEES: AN EXPLORATORY STUDY FOR CLIENTS' ATTITUDES TOWARD SAUDI ARABIAN PUBLIC SERVICE EMPLOYEES BY Khalid Al-Awwad The purpose of this study is to examine views of Saudi students studying in the United States of their experiences as clients of public service organizations in Saudi Arabia. A sample of 125 students was randomly selected from 2,300 Saudi students in the United States. The data, collected by questionnaires, were analyzed by using frequencies and percentages. Hypotheses were tested by correlation coefficients. The main research question of this study was, "What are the Saudi students' attitudes toward practicing control on Saudi public service employees?" The findings indicate that the Saudi students believe that selecting a person appropriate to the nature of the public service organization will lead to high public service employee performance, as will training public service employees before and during Al-Awwad their employment. Respondents also believe that public service organizations should enforce a reward and discipline system to increase their performance. Finally, having a complaint program in public service organizations will increase their employees' performance. DEDICATION To my wonderful mother My father (may his soul rest in peace) who died during my studies in the U.S My brothers and sisters and all Saudi public service organizations iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to express my thanks and great appreciation to my academic advisor, Dr. Jay Artis, who served as chairman of my thesis, for his guidance, direction, and continual encouragement. I am indebteded to the other committee members, Dr. H.K. Schwarzweller and Dr. Marilyn Aronoff, for their recommendations, criticisms, and encouragement through this study. My humble and deep appreciation to my mother, Norah, for her outstanding support, encouragement, and prayers. Many thanks and respect go to my dear wife, Mona, for her support and patience during my study. Finally, special thanks are extended to all Saudi Arabian students in the United States who participated as subjects of this study. TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF TABLES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . LIST OF FIGURES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . Statement of the Problem . . . . . . Importance of the Study . . . . . . . Limitations of the Study . . . . . . Definitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . II. REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE . . . . . . . Performance . . . . . . . . . . . . . Courtesy . . . . . . . . . . . . . Efficiency . . . . . . . . . . . . Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Criteria of Selection . . . . . . . Training . . . . . . . . . . . . . Reward and Discipline . . . . . . . Complaint Program . . . . . . . . . Saudi Arabian Fourth Development Plan Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . III. METHODOLOGY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Population . . . . . . . . . . . . . Sample Procedure . . . . . . . . . . Instrument and Data Gathering . . . . Statistical Analysis . . . . . . . . Hypotheses . . . . . . . . . . . . . Dependent and Independent Variables . IV. FINDINGS O O O O O O O O O O O O O O 0 Characteristics of the Sample . . . . Discussion Concerning Research Questions Selecting Public Service Employees Training Public Service Employees . vi Page viii ll 13 l4 16 19 22 24 26 28 29 29 30 3O 32 32 36 36 43 43 47 Reward and Disciplinary System . . . Complaint Program in Public Service Organizations . . . . . . . . . . . Efficiency . . . . . . . . . . . . . Courtesy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Reliability Test . . . . . . . . . . Relationship Between the Subjects' Job Type and Their Responses . . . . . . Relationship Between Subjects' Length of Stay in the United States and the Research Variables . . . . . . . . . Correlation Between variables . . . . . V. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS . . . . . . . Discussion of Findings . . . . . . . . Summary and Conclusions . . . . . . . . Further StUdies O O O O O O O O O O O 0 APPENDIX 0 O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O 0 REFERENCES 0 O O O O O O O O O O O O O O I O 0 vii Page 51 56 6O 64 68 73 76 79 9O 90 104 106 108 114 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. Age of LIST OF TABLES the subjects . . . . . . . . . . . . Marital status of the subjects . . . . . . . Education level of the subjects . . . . . . Living place in Saudi Arabia . . . . . . . Distribution of whether subjects dealt with the public in their job in Saudi Arabia . Length Number last Length Number of stay in the United States . . . . of months in the United States since visit to Saudi Arabia . . . . . . . . of last visit to Saudi Arabia . . . . of visits to Saudi Arabia . . . . . . Selecting Public Service Employees . . . . . Training Public Service Employees . . . . . Rewarding and Disciplining Public Service Employees . . . . . . . . . . . . Importance of Complaint Programs in Public Service Organizations . . . . . . . Frequency of subjects' attitudes toward public service employees' efficiency . . . Frequency of subjects' attitudes toward public service employees' courtesy . . . . Reliability test for items representing the selection of public service employees . . Reliability test for items representing the training of public service employees . . . viii page 37 37 38 38 39 39 41 42 43 45 48 52 57 61 65 69 70 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. Page Reliability test for items representing the reward and disciplining of public service employees . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71 Reliability test for items representing the complaint program in public service organizations 0 O O O O O O O O O O O O O 7]. Reliability test for items representing the efficiency of public service employees . . 72 Reliability test for items representing the courtesy of public service employees . . . 73 T-test of subjects' job type on the research variables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75 T-test of subjects‘ length of stay in the United States on the research variables . 78 Correlation between efficiency and courtesy of public service employees and the independent variables . . . . . . . . . . 80 ix LIST OF FIGURES Page Regression line showing the relationship between selecting public service employees and their efficiency . . . . . . . . . . . . 82 Regression line showing the relationship between selecting public service employees and their courtesy . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83 Regression line showing the relationship between training public service employees and their efficiency . . . . . . . . . . . . 84 Regression line showing the relationship between training public service employees and their courtesy . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84 Regression line showing the relationship between rewarding or disciplining public service employees and their efficiency . . . 86 Regression line showing the relationship between rewarding or disciplining public service employees and their courtesy . . . . 86 Regression line showing the relationship between having a complaint program and public service employee efficiency . . . . . 88 Regression line showing the relationship between having a complaint program and public service employee courtesy . . . . . . 88 CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION Statement of the Problem Public service organizations are established to serve the public; their aim is to satisfy their clients by providing good services. In some countries, there is a problem in this respect, in that clients are not satisfied with public service organizations. Saudi Arabia is one such country where problems of this type exist. In all of Saudi Arabia's development plans, the prime objective of the government is to satisfy its citizens. The government has spent much money on the public sector, but the services are not of high quality, especially when compared to countries such as the United States. The question is, why are some of the public service organizations in Saudi Arabia inefficient and not satisfying their clients? (It should be mentioned that not all public service organizations function poorly.) Clients should be able to have their needs met by the public service organizations in a proper way, at a proper time, and with proper quality. In Saudi Arabia, 2 much time can be spent trying to obtain the services of these organizations, and often it could be done more quickly. Sometimes a great deal of effort also has to be expended to obtain the services. Public employees should be courteous and polite with their clients, even if the client is not, because the employee is being paid to do a job. However, in Saudi Arabia, the opposite is true. The client has to be polite and courteous to the employee, and patient if the employee says something wrong, otherwise the client may spend much time and receive little or nothing in the way of service. From a review of the constitution with regard to the public sector in Saudi Arabia, there does not appear to be stated any special criteria for selecting those employees who must deal directly with the public, yet the organizations themselves select some of their employees for this type of job. In addition, most of these employees are from the lower ranks. From my experience in Saudi Arabia, most public employees are not courteous with clients, and some are without any merit. I feel that some public employees are not qualified to do this type of work. Even the performance appraisal in this sector is inaccurate. There are no special evaluation methods for these employees; they are evaluated in the same way as other 3 employees in the bureaucracy, including those who do not deal directly with the public. In this case, discretion is not practiced as it should be because of the absence of the supervisor and self-control. As a matter of fact, an employee can decide whatever he or she needs. Indeed, because of the absence of control, public employees in Saudi Arabia do not act in an appropriate way. It is rare to see an employee fired because of something done to a client. Finally, most of the public organizations do not listen to the public‘s voice but just organize their organization in a way they feel is best. In summary, the researcher assumes that the situation of public service employees in Saudi Arabia is not good; i.e., their performance in terms of efficiency and courtesy with their clients is inadequate. In this study, we refer to this problem as an aspect of what is so-called "control." Control is defined in this study- by the following: finding a certain way of selecting public service employees, providing training proper to the nature of the work performed and during the work, practicing reward and negative reinforcement and having a complaint system in public service organizations. Generally, the greater the control, the higher the performance. 4 Importance of the Study By studying this problem, the researcher will try to improve the strong effect of supervision control in public organizations. The primary aim of most organizations is self-control, but it is difficult to attain and most organizations do not reach it. Therefore, supervision control is an alternative that these organizations can practice. Studying the orientation of the public to government organizations has not been included in the scope of most researches. Even organizations themselves do not take this problem seriously in order to deliver goods and services to the public. "The neglect of this aspect of organizational research means that a one—sided picture of the official—client relation has been constructed: we are beginning to know something about the orientations of officials to clients, whereas we know little of the orientations of clients to officials and organizations" (Blau and Scott, 1962). In addition, by conducting this research we may have some contribution to make in solving this problem in Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia has a serious problem with the relationship between its public services and its clients, and it has spent much money in order to develop good services for its citizens. However, public service employees do not properly carry out their role. 5 In fact, many problems come about as a result of "unsolving" this problem. For example, if there is an organization that does not deliver its services in a good way, many people will be crowded in the organiza- tion and many of them may be employees in another government organization. As a result, they will not be able to go back to their organization to do their job, and some of them may be public service employees also. Another consequence is that if there is a traffic problem, e.g., if you go to some cities in Saudi Arabia during the work hour, you will see many cars and people on the streets, especially around the public service organizations. The government will thus lose money, effort, and time. Limitations of the Study The examination was limited to an investigation of the views of a specific segment of Saudi male students studying in the United States and involved in the Saudi Educational Mission. In addition, findings and discussion generated by the study's data are exclusive to the population stated above. Definitions Public Service Organization — that type of organization in the public sector which is an agency of the government and which is designed to address the needs of the public. Examples are the postal service, 6 the agency that supplies public utilities, and direct services to individuals such as relief, education, recreation, and services relating to health and safety. Public Service Employee — an employee who works in a public service organization and who interacts directly with citizens in the course of his/her job. Examples include teachers, social workers, postal clerks, police, and government employees who deliver services to citizens. Courtesy — the politeness and kindness with clients that public service employees are expected to exhibit, as is stated in their work descriptions. The employee should respect and be polite to all clients even if the client is not. It is the relationship that is desired to exist between public employees and clients. Efficiency - the employee's ability to achieve objectives that the organization has assigned to him/her within an acceptable amount of time, effort, and cost. Criteria of Selection - the standard of judgment that organizations specify in selecting employees who will interact with clients. Standards can be set in several ways: by education, seniority, background and interview. The characteristics selected should enable new employees to deal with clients in a successful way. Training - the effort that an organization makes to teach its employees the nature of their jobs. It can be internal or external to the organization. 7 Client — the person who goes to a public service organization and asks for service. Reward - an instrument that can be used by an organization to motivate employees to accomplish his/her job. It could be a tangible reward, such as bonus pay, or an intangible reward, such as praise, security, or promotion. Since this type of employee interacts directly with clients, they should differ from other employees. Discipline — another instrument used by an organization to motivate employee behavior. It can be tangible, in the form of a salary reduction or suspension, or intangible, in the form of negative criticism or demotion. Complaint Program - a program where organizations listen to clients as well as workers about organizational activities, whether the comments are good or bad. It can be implemented in a number of ways, such as a suggestion box or an open-door policy for clients who feel unsatisfied with their service. CHAPTER II REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE Performance It is assumed that performance would be affected by the method of controlling public service employees. In fact, it is difficult to measure the productivity of a public service employee. Comparison to good productivity, for example, can be made by measuring the output of the workers, i.e., the quantity of the worker's performance or anything that can be seen or measured. But in public service organizations this is difficult to do, especially with those who deal with clients. It is not necessary to say that a particular employee has high productivity if he or she accomplishes a high number of clients‘ needs, or that an employee who accomplishes less than the former has a lower perform— ance, because each client is a special case and the clients are different every day. Even though this prob- lem can be faced by the organization, there should be a certain way of measuring the employee's performance. We will discuss the public service employee in two ways: first, to recognize the relationship between 9 clients and employees and how this relationship must be polite and "courteous"; second, to recognize the "efficiency" of the public service employee which leads to high performance. Courtesy Lovrich (1981) talks about the importance of dealing with the public (clients) in a proper way. He emphasizes the concept of "public interest" in order to obtain a high level of dealing with clients. He concluded that "most students arrive at the conclusion that whatever else may be appropriate conduct for the public servant with respect to values, norms and rules beyond the self, only behavior consistent with the 'public good‘—-somehow defined--can be allowed" (p. 87). He raises the question of administrative discretion, how public servants ought to use discretion in an appropriate fashion. Lovrich points out that "discretion--whenever encountered by the public administration--was to be used in the direction indicated by the judicious determination of the common good" (p. 88). Lovrich (1981:87) also describes the contending perspectives on the public interest: There are at least four perspectives on how civil servants might properly conceive of the public interest. The first and perhaps the most pervasive perspective holds that the administrator's proper role is one guided by the ethic of "duty of neutral service" to higher IO authority. . . . A second perspective administra- tive ethics views is the pursuit of agency/program self-interest as the most appropriate orientation. . . . A third perspective--of comparatively recent origin-—holds that the public interest can be conceptualized in relatively great detail, largely because the evil face of social inequity makes the need for government action so obvious. . . . Finally-—also of recent origin-~is that the public servant is duty—bound to follow directives not of his/her making, as with neutral service ethic, but instead the advocates of "public choice theory" argue that the source of those directives should be public preferences. Sabagh (1985) talks about the ethical issue in the public organizations. He says (in translation from the Arabic) that in most public organizations, clients are not satisfied and clients do not trust public employees. Clients inherit this feeling as a result of public employees' behavior in the government organization when dealing with clients. Sabagh defines administrative behavior in public organizations: "It is the deviated behavior from the general norms in public organizations or if the employee does not do his/her job as it should be done, or if he/she does not follow the supervisor's orders, within the rules." Given the absence of control, some employees will deviate from the rules to get what they want, even if it is illegal. Sabagh mentions that since control in most Arabic countries is not accurate, many employees deviate from the rules. If the superior in the organization does not effectively remove the discourtesy to the clients, there will be corruption in the organization. 11 Because discipline in the organization is weak, according to Sabagh, there is much administrative corruption in the Arabian world. The government should be very serious about this problem in order to gain client trust, not only of public organizations but of the government itself. In Sabagh's view, training is one of the best solutions for facing the ethical problem in public organizations. Efficiency Mills, Chase and Margulies (1983) discuss the difficulty in measuring the performance of public service workers. The commonly employed technique of measuring productivity in terms of output per employee hour is problematic in service organizations. Measuring the output of goods in a factory, for example, is easier than in public services. Longest has observed that the quality control notion of services depends on three fundamental aspects. First, the quality of the service may be determined by the structure of the organization. The second aspect entails the actual interaction between the service employee and the client/customer. This includes what is and what is not done for the client/ customer. The third aspect of service quality is the consequences of the service administered. (Mills et al., 1983:303) According to Kotler, "one of the characteristics sought by buyers of most services is satisfaction with the service experience. It is possible to factor 12 customer satisfaction into the output control measure by measuring the customer's perceived quality of the service" (Mills et al., 1983:304) Here can be seen the importance of the client to the public organization in terms of measuring public employee performance in order to know the employees' efficiencies and merits. Public organizations should seek to know whether clients are satisfied because the measure of clients' satisfaction is one of the most important factors in measuring the output of the public organization. Mills and his colleagues (1983:304) discuss motivating and controlling productive behavior: Many productivity problems of service organizations can be traced to the motivation and control of service employees. As Stecks and Pointer (1975) point out, the person must first be willing to perform. Although this is necessary, performance can be ensured only when the individual has the requisite abilities, skills, and training, as well as thorough understanding of what the job entails and what is expected. . . . When viewing service with high client contact, there is compelling evidence that employee motivation should be considered in the context of self-control. Mills et a1. (1983) point out the importance of cohesiveness between clients and public employees when they discuss motivating the employee—client unit. They assumed that "cohesiveness can be attained by the degree of attractiveness the group appears to hold for the member." And the cohesiveness between clients and 13 employees depends on several factors. One of the factors is the degree to which the skills of the service employee are perceived by the client as matching his/her need. . . . The greater the service employee's perceived credibility, the more satisfying the client/customer will find the transaction (Evans, 1963). . . . Indeed, the more closely matched the personality characteristics of the client/customer with employee, the more likely the service will be optimized (Robertson and Chase, 1968)(p. 305). In general, the efficiency of public employees which is appropriate to the nature of the organization will strongly affect the performance of the public organization. Conversely, if the employees are unqualified and inefficient, clients will be unhappy and unsatisfied. Therefore, public service organizations should attempt to have some control over their employees in order to provide good services to the public. Control We assume that control will lead public service organizations to obtain high levels of employee performance when such employees deal directly with clients. This is highly evident in Third World countries, including Saudi Arabia. Neugeboren argued for the need for authority and control, quoting Etzioni's statement that "The need for authority and control in organizations is related to the lack of congruity between staff goals and organizational goals" (1985:129). He assumed that 14 the higher the level, the greater the congruence. . . . Those who view conflict as legitimate and functional can accept the use of authority and control as a method for conflict resolution. In contrast, those who believe that conflict can have only negative consequences will fail to perceive the need for authority and control. However, the researcher believes that control in public organizations "in the Third Wbrld" is very useful. Neugeboren summarized his argument by saying that the need for authority and control derives from the need to integrate individual and organizational goals. "Various specific mechanisms may be used to obtain staff compliance. These are (a) selection and recruitment, (b) socialization and training, (c) reward systems, (d) role structure, and (e) psychological versus impersonal control. Criteria of Selection Elected or appointed public service employees need special criteria appropriate to the nature of the public sector. In addition, since each public organization has its own nature, officials in charge of administering public employees should elect proper people to their organizations. Since measuring performance of public service employees is not easy, where there is discretion and difficulty of control, election of the proper persons in this sector is very important. Neugeboren (1985:130) notes the importance of selecting public employees: 15 The success of personal recruitment and selection depends on two conditions: (a) the ability of the organization to be clear as to its objectives, and (b) the kinds of individual characteristics required of prospective employees in order for them to perform the tasks appropriate for achieving these organizational goals. He emphasizes the idea of selecting persons who understand the community as a system and selecting those who are interested primarily in the job. Finally, he discusses the importance of interviewing the applicant, even though they know the organizational goal. More than before there is an emphasis on selecting certain people to be public servants in the development of public service organizations in terms of facilities and types of services provided to the citizens. They would now have very advanced facilities and systems in everything and public service organizations are one of the sectors that utilize these modern materials and modern systems. Therefore, there should be a compromise between the services provided to the client and the new innovations. Weiner (1982:480) discusses traditional and modern personnel administration in human organizations. He emphasizes human resources as a vehicle for innovating human organizations. One of the principals he talks about is the selection of employees. He points out that The position classification plan is the basis of the selection process. Qualified people must be found to fill each position. Since the education/ experiential/skill requirement is set forth in each position description, selection is l6 essentially a process of examining and interviewing people who show an interest in the p051t1on. Ghosheh (1983) has discussed the importance of rules which are used as criteria to accept public employees. Public organizations should have certain rules for hiring public employees. It should also be obvious that planners can characterize the jobs based upon the nature of the work. In addition, employing the appropriate employee in the appropriate job would help this person understand the needs of the job. As a matter of fact, the person qualified for public work will help the organization avoid many problems, especially problems related to the clients. According to Ghosheh, since many countries in the Third World do not employ qualified people in appropriate jobs, public organizations face problems of ethics because those who are not qualified do not perform their job as it should be performed; they do not know the proper way to conduct their work as a public employee. Finally, he mentions that this is one of biggest problems in the Arabian countries. Training Selecting the proper person for a public service job is not sufficient to insure a high level of perform— ance. Rather, training and socialization are important instruments that public organizations should use. 17 Neugeboren (1985:131) writes that Training employees to understand organizational purposes and the particular techniques that these require is a function of supervisory and staff development personnel. It is an important function, as training can to some extent lessen the need for control: 'Training prepares the organization member to reach satisfactory decisions himself without the need for the constant exercise of authority . . . Training procedures are alternatives to the exercise of authority or advice as a means of control over the subordinate's decision [Simon, 1957:15—16]. He also mentions that training "is aimed at changing attitudes and behavior of staff. . . . Training can occur either within the agency or extramurally . . . Higher levels of professionalization are associated with lower levels of bureaucratization. Therefore, profes— sionally trained staff will generally require less supervision" (p. 131). Worthley (1981), in his article "Ethics and Public Management: Education and Training," demonstrates the importance of public employee training. His article responds to that phenomenon of high interest input considerable frustration with ethics education and training. The article outlines an approach to ethics education and training that has been developed, tested, and successfully implemented. Worthley also discusses administrative power as a source of the ethical dimension in the macro and micro levels: The ethical dimension of public administration is real both at the individual and macro levels. 18 Every public employee makes decisions that have ethical implications. Developing awareness of and sensitivity to these implications is the task of education and training in public sector ethics. In the final analysis, perhaps that ethical dimension of public management cannot be 'taught,‘ but it can be discovered through efforts that induce reflection and contemplation, and that provide perspective on the power of the public employee and the environmental values that he/she must confront. Prottas (1979) talks about the environment of street—level bureaucrats in terms of the context in which they work. He says that in order to understand the treatment of clients by street—level bureaucrats, it is necessary to understand their behavior. Even though they have rules directing them to collect certain information and to use that information in certain ways, the demands made on the street—level bureaucrat by these rules are often so numerous and ambiguous that they are poor clues for practical action. Prottas continues: The most obvious and pressing street—level goal is minimizing the demands others effectively make. Unless the SLB can gain control over the order and pacing of work he is certain to fail in the job by the standards of all interested parties, including his own. . . . Because the SLB routinely deals with nonbureaucratic actors, his work environment is inherently unpredictable. . . . The street- level bureaucrat can onlynnaintain a such reserve by developing techniques for avoiding or minimizing the demands placed on his time and energies. . . . Street—level bureaucrats have more positive preferences than simply decreasing the demands on them. They wish to do their job in ways that seem to them proper and constructive. Therefore many street-level bureaucrats respond to clients in ways calculated to provide opportunities for them to actualize these images of proper work. (p. 9) 19 Thus, street—level bureaucrats have a different nature, and controlling them is not easy because they deal with clients in situations where the leaders, sometimes, cannot know exactly what is occurring. Therefore, training in the apprOpriate discretion is an important element for the street-level bureaucrat. They need special training appropriate to the nature of the street-level bureaucrat in such an organization. Reward and Discipline Reward is an important instrument for gaining employee satisfaction which leads to high levels of performance. It is part of the motivational theory so many organizations' leaders practice rewards as a means to motivate the enployee to perform well. A public service employee is one of those workers who would be affected by the reward system. However, public employees are a special case, in that they deal directly with clients face—to-face and dealing with the public is not easy because clients want their needs to be quickly dealt with and because clients have different backgrounds, varied behaviors, different treatments, and so on. Therefore, public employees face situations that other employees in the bureaucracy do not face, and thus need special treatment. In some countries, public service employees receive extra wages because of the nature of their job. In most studies, money is the 20 strongest motivational instrument; economic need is the strongest motivation for the employee. Moore's (1977) research investigates the relationship between rewards and public employees' concern about client service. He did his research in the placement and insurance departments of the Texas Employment Commission. Specifically, he hypothesized that as the perceived utility of client service of the attainment of desired rewards increases, employees' concern about client service will increase. Moore uses Victor Vroom's theory for his methodology: It is a theory of motivation in the work environment. Vroom theorizes that the employee's motivation to perform a job action, such as outstanding performance, is a function of his or her perceived utility of the job action (expec- tancy, in Vroom's terminology) in obtaining a reward, such as pay or a promotion, multiplied by the value of the reward. Both the utility of the job action and the reward must have positive values before the employee would be motivated to perform the job action. In addition, the higher the valence of one job action compared to another, the higher the probability that an employee will perform that job action. Therefore, it is not only the reward but also the valence of the one job action that will lead to higher performance. (P. 99) He describes four steps that public managers who are concerned about client service can take to focus efforts. Also, if one is concerned about client service, the critical area that must be investigated is the utility of client service in obtaining desired rewards. 21 Gibson, Ivancevich and Donnelly (1973) discuss the relationship between satisfaction and performance direction. They stated the March and Simon hypothesis, that Motivation to produce stems from a present or anticipated state of discontent and a perception of a direct connection between individual production and a new state of satisfaction. They also said that the performance—satisfaction linkage is mediated by rewards (job content and job context) and the perceived equity of rewards. When performance leads to rewards that are perceived as equitable the employee enjoys a higher level of satisfaction. (PP. 234-35) In addition, they presented three theories. The Maslow, Herzberg, and Vroom theories have provoked thought in that they have been used as the theoretical backdrop of such programs as incentive plans, job enrichment, and management by objectives. A reward system is not sufficient to obtain high performance from public service employees. Indeed, the opposite side of rewards is needed at the same time. A discipline system is an instrument to motivate employees to work hard and increase their output as it should be. Employees should know that if they work hard and accomplish their jobs in a suitable way, they will be rewarded. At the same time, if they do not work hard or are not dealing with clients in a courteous way, they will be disciplined. Ghosheh (1983) raised the importance of establishing a disciplinary system in public service 22 organizations. He mentions that as the public organization needs the reward system to encourage its employees to strive for good performance, it is also important to have a disciplinary system in the public organization. It is necessary to discipline those who do not follow the rules or act properly with clients. In addition, it is essential to all public employees to realize that there is a penalty for those who do not act as they should act. Ghosheh suggests that the public organization should have these rules which are related to the discipline and reward system given to all employees in written form. By using this method, the employee will know how he/she should act and work. Complaint Progran Supervisors and leaders in public service organizations cannot be aware of everything that a public service employee does. The employee could be doing his job in an inappropriate way or at an inappropriate time, or could be dealing with clients in an improper way. The employee might not be following the organization's rules or might have goals differing from those of the organization. Therefore, supervisors and leaders in public service organizations should listen to what clients have to say about their service. In fact, public service 23 organizations should aim at obtaining public interest and satisfaction. Sometimes leaders think that their organization is dealing with clients very well, whereas the clients feel dissatisfied. In summary, the organization should listen to the clients' viewpoint of the organization's ability to satisfy their clients. It is also important to listen to public service employees themselves. Public employees should share in the organization in terms of its organization and deliver these obenian to their supervisors. From their experiences they can determine the best way of dealing with clients. As a matter of fact, if superiors do not listen to those who are dealing directly with clients, they will not, of course, know the right way to treat the public. Consequently, they will not satisfy clients. Ziegenfuss (1985), in his book Patient/Client/ Employee Complaint Programs, assumes that participation in the workplace can increase organizational effectiveness by hnproving an array of work-related attitudes and behaviors such as feelings of personal control and trust of management, perception of job satisfaction and organization commitment, knowledge about the organization's activities, job performance, and acceptance of organization change. These programs allow organizations to effectively listen to their clients and employees and to create an interactive sense 24 of organizational participation. According to Ziegenfuss, The complaint programs commonly have seven purposes: (1) to identify organization problems at the individual—case system—wide level; (2) to resolve complaints both individual and system in nature; (3) to aid management by identifying organizational change; (4) to decrease the incidence of particular complaints; (5) to increase satisfaction of employees and consumers; (6) to increase the quality of working life; and (7) to increase organizational performance (efficiency and effectiveness). (p. 6) Saudi Arabian Fourth Development Plan Finally, as part of this literature review, it is important to examine how the government of Saudi Arabia, where the behavior examined in this research takes place, views public service organizations and how it supports these organizations. The government has spent much money developing the country and satisfying the needs of its citizens. Because Saudi Arabia is a developing country, there is an important need to have formal development plans. The Saudi Arabian government has issued several such development plans. Each plan covers five years; the entire set of plans covers twenty years. On September 7, 1970, the plan was approved by the Council of Ministers. Saudi Arabia is now in the fourth development plan (1985-1990). Two of the objectives of the development plan are: 3. To form productive citizen—workers by providing them with education and health service, ensuring their livelihood, and rewarding them on the basis of their work; 25 4. To develop human resources, thus ensuring a constant supply of manpower, and to upgrade and improve its efficiency to serve all sectors. (Saudi Arabia, 1985:41) In order to improve public service organizations, the government of Saudi Arabia emphasizes Saudiization of the work force, so the fourth plan offers excellent opportunities to change the pattern of employment in the Kingdom and to strengthen the position of Saudis in it. It is more appropriate for Saudi citizens to work in public service organizations because they know more about the Saudi culture and will therefore deal with clients in a good way. In other words, the government that needs to provide good service to its citizens should try to use its citizens in public service organizations, especially in position where employees deal directly with clients. The Saudi government is devoting more attention to developing the manpower sector through schooling and training employees to achieve high productivity: The long-term strategic goals clearly reflect the crucial importance of the development of human resources. The primary strategic goal is to form productive citizen—workers, by ensuring opportunities to earn their livelihood and rewarding them on the basis of their work. The related wider goal is to develop human resources so as to ensure a constant supply of manpower, while upgrading and improving their efficiency to serve all sectors. Broad goals concerned with personal development and individual fulfillment are also implicit in the strategic policies requiring universal primary education, strengthening the dedication to Islamic principles, and increasing the appreciation of cultural values. . . . 26 During the Fourth Plan, the total expenditures on human resources will be SR 136,174 million, which is about 20 percent of the total planned Civilian expenditures, reflecting the great importance attached to these sectors. (Saudi Arabia, 1985:124-25) The Civil Service Bureau is one of the sectors in charge of developing manpower. It provides services for a civilian public sector work force: The Civil Service Bureau, Deputy Ministry of Labor Affairs and Supreme Manpower Council, together with other concerned agencies, will seek the devel- opment of human resources to improve productivity, quality, and efficiency of operations through the Fourth Plan period. . . . Fourth Plan objectives for the Civil Service Bureau, the Deputy Ministry of Labor Affairs, and the Supreme Manpower Council all share the common goal of fulfilling their designated governmental responsibilities. For the Civil Service Bureau, this means: - ensuring that the Civil Service is appropriately staffed; - seeking greater efforts by Civil Service employees to increase their capabilities; — defining job specification and reward systems; — increasing Civil Service career opportuni— ties. (Saudi Arabia, 1985:310) My This chapter was devoted to a discussion of the related literature. The effect of control on public service employees has been viewed from several different studies. The researcher tried to combine many variables that are assumed to lead to high performance by public service employees. Those variables are as follows: (1) selecting criteria and proper persons to be public servants; (2) training those selected employees before 27 and during work activity; (3) practicing a reward and discipline system on public service employees; and (4) having a complaint program that clients can use to voice their feelings to authorities in public service organizations. Finally, we discussed some examples in the Saudi national development plan (fourth plan) related to our problem. CHAPTER III METHODOLOGY The research method selected for this study is a descriptive survey of Saudi clients who have some experience interacting with public service employees in Saudi Arabia. The research attempted to answer the following general questions: 1. Does the public conceive that selection of proper1 public service employees would lead to high public service employees' performance? 2. Does the public conceive that training public service employees would contribute to high public service employees' performance? 3. Does the public conceive that enforcing the reward and discipline system would lead to high public service employees' performance? 4. Does the public conceive that having a complaint program in public service organizations would lead to high public service employees' performance? lProper employee means, in this research, that the person has more than a high school education, is Saudi, is tolerant and realizes the organizational goals. 28 29 W The researcher selected Saudi students in the United States who are listed with the Saudi Arabian Educational Mission. There are approximately 2300 male students studying in the United States. The population consists entirely of male students because females in Saudi Arabia rarely interact with public organizations; this is a characteristic of Saudi culture. The reason for choosing the population from the United States and utilizing their ideas is because these individuals have experienced a system of these organizations which differ from their native culture. In addition, if the study were conducted in Saudi Arabia, the responses would be weaker because some citizens are sensitive about saying negative things about government organizations. Some citizens may also feel the organization is doing well simply because they have not seen a different system. Sample Procedure Out of 2300 male Saudi students studying in the United States and enrolled in the Saudi Educational Mission for winter, 1988, 250 students were randomly selected to be subjects of this research. The Saudi Mission selected the sample by the Systematic Sampling method on March 3, 1988. The researcher could not select the sample because, in order to maintain 30 confidentiality, the student lists are not made available. April 1, 1988 was the deadline for receiving the responses; 128 questionnaires were received by this date. Only 125 questionnaires were utilized for the study; the other three were not excluded because many items were missing. Instrument and Data Gathering The instrument used in this research was a questionnaire. The questions were written in a simple sentence structure and word order because English is a second language for the subjects. A scale from 1 ("strongly disagree") to 7 ("strongly agree") was used to solicit responses. A pre—test of the questionnaire was performed before sending the questionnaires to the actual subjects in order to test the effectiveness and accuracy of the questionnaire. Fifteen students were chosen as the sample for the pre—test. After obtaining their responses, the SPSS/PC+ computer program was used to analyze the data. Finally, some minor corrections were made to the questionnaire based on the results of the pre—test. Statistical Analysis As previously mentioned, the objective of this study is to collect descriptive data concerning the 31 views of Saudi students studying in the United States toward their role as clients. After the data were collected, the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) computer program was used for analyzing the data. In order to answer the research questions, description of frequency distribution and percentage were used. The t—test was used to investigate the effect of job type of the subjects before coming to the United States, and whether or not they dealt with the public. Hence, a difference in means as well as the significant value of t were discussed. In addition, in order to recognize the effect of the length of stay in the United States on the subjects toward the situation of Saudi public service employees, the t-test was also utilized to test the significance of differences in the means between the subjects. Pearson correlations are the most logical method of analysis that might be used in this investigation. Therefore the researcher selected this test to measure the relationship between the dependent and independent variables and to see whether the hypotheses conformed or not. For a clearer picture of the relationship between the variables, scattergrams of the leaner regression were given. 32 Hypotheses The following hypotheses have been formulated for this research: 1. Saudi students who are studying in the United States, reflecting on their experiences as clients of Saudi public service agencies, believe that selecting the proper public service employees will increase their efficiency and courtesy. 2. Saudi students who are studying in the United States, reflecting on their experiences as clients of Saudi public service agencies, believe that training public employees will increase their efficiency and courtesy. 3. Saudi students who are studying in the United States, reflecting on their experiences as clients of Saudi public service agencies, believe that enforcing the reward and discipline system will increase public service employees' efficiency and courtesy. 4. Saudi students who are studying in the United States, reflecting on their experiences as clients of Saudi public service agencies, believe that having a complaint program in public service organizations will increase public service employees' efficiency and courtesy. Dependent and Independent Variables Four independent variables and two dependent variables, formulated upon the related literature and the operational way of treating these variables, were designed for this study. The independent variables are: (l) selecting public service employees; (2) training public service employees; (3) rewarding and disciplining public service employees; and (4) having a complaint program in public service organizations. The dependent 33 variables are: (1) efficiency of public service employ— ees; and (2) courtesy of public service employees. Each variable was represented by items in the questionnaire. Efficiency of public service employees can be predicted from the four independent variables. By asking the subjects about their attitudes toward how public service employee efficiency is related to the selection of public service employees, we assume that efficiency is an outcome of selecting public service employees. As discussed in the literature related to this notion, we found that selecting proper people to be public servants in a certain way will lead to high efficiency in public service employees. In addition, high public service employee efficiency can be obtained by training the selected employees based upon the nature of the job they are in charge of. Thus, training public service employees, as an independent variable, will lead to high efficiency public employees. The previously discussed literature supports the direction of the effectiveness of this variable on public service employee efficiency. Further, we can say that when efficiency is realized, good training must be the reason. According to the motivational theory, rewarding or disciplining employees will lead to high efficiency among employees. Therefore, efficiency was treated in this research as a dependent variable and its outcome of 34 enforcing the reward and discipline system upon the employees. Finally, having a complaint program in the organization will lead to high quality performance. Hence, efficiency of the employee could be predicted by such a program. Thus, efficiency is supposed to be a dependent variable since it is an outcome of having a complaint program. Ziegenfuss supports this viewpoint, as mentioned previously. The second outcome or dependent variable is courtesy of public service employees. In general, courtesy could be a personal characteristic. However, in public service organizations, which deal with many people with different backgrounds, mood, culture, etc., there soon develops the need for special criteria for courtesy. Therefore, this special type of courtesy, which was measured by a number of items in the questionnaire instrument, should be predicted in a certain way. This certain way is the four independent variables under investigation. First, selecting special people to be public servants in a certain way would lead to high courtesy by public service employees. Thus, courtesy as a dependent variable could be predicted by selecting proper persons to be public service employees. Second, we can obtain high public service employee courtesy by training them. Employees should have 35 special training related to the type of job they are going to do. One of the most important ways in which they should be trained is how to deal with the public in a courteous way. They should have enough information and background about their jobs, which can also be accomplished through training. That is, some people are very nice and courteous but cannot perform some jobs properly because they are not trained in the nature of these jobs. Third, some employees may need some motivation in order to properly accomplish their tasks. Thus, enforcing a reward/discipline system for public service employees would result in higher public service employee courtesy. Therefore we used public service employee courtesy as a dependent variable that can be predicted from enforcing a reward and discipline program. Fourth, when authorities in public service organizations do not listen to comments and suggestions from their clients, courtesy of public service employees might not result since the employees do their jobs in the way they need to. Thus, when courtesy is realized, practicing such programs could be the reason. Hence, we assume that by testing the consistency between items presented for each variable as well as statistically testing the relationship between dependent and independent variables, the classification between the variables would be clear to the reader. CHAPTER IV FINDINGS This chapter presents the research findings obtained from this study of Saudi students studying in the United States. The findings are presented in three sections: (1) a description of the sample's characteris— tics; (2) a description of questionnaire statements based on the selected scale (1-7); and (3) a description of the findings pertinent to the research hypotheses. Characteristics of the Sample Nine questions were used in the questionnaire instrument to furnish the characteristics of the sample, which consisted of 125 Saudi Arabian students in the United States. By asking the subjects about their age, which was classified into one of six categories (less than 20, 20—25, 26—30, 31—35, 36—40, and over 40), and after collapsing these categories, it was found that 42 (34%) of the subjects were under 25 years of age, 59 (47%) were between 26 and 30 years of age, and 24 (19%) were more than 31 years old. These results are shown in Table l. 36 37 Table 1-—Age of the subjects. Age Frequency Percent less than 25 42 34 26-30 59 47 more than 31 24 19 Total 125 100 In the sample, as shown in Table 2, 43 (34%) of the students were single. Eighty-one (65%) were married and only one respondent did not answer the question. Table 2—-Marital status of the subjects. Marital Status Frequency Percent single ' 43 35 married 81 65 no response 1 Total 125 100 Respondents were asked to identify the level of education they are studying at now. Eighteen (15%) were studying at the undergraduate level; 101 (82%) were studying at the graduate (Masters or Ph.D.) level, as shown in Table 3. Five respondents (4%) chose the "other" category, specifying that they were studying English. Only one (1%) subject of the sample did not respond to this question. 38 Table 3——Education level of the subjects. Education Level Frequency Percent Undergrad 18 15 Graduate 101 81 Other 5 4 no response 1 Total 125 100 Subjects were asked whether they lived in a small city or village, or in a large city in Saudi Arabia. Twenty—four (19%) responded that they lived in a small city or a village; 101 (81%) reported that they lived in a big city, as shown in Table 4. Table 4——Living place in Saudi Arabia. Living Place Frequency Percent Small city or village 24 19 Large city 101 81 Total 125 100 Table 5 shows the distribution of the nature of the respondents' jobs in Saudi Arabia, viz. whether they dealt with the public or not. Fifty—eight (48%) of the respondents reported that they dealt directly with the public, whereas 62 (52%) reported that they did not deal directly with the public. 39 Table 5—-Distribution of whether subjects dealt with the public in their job in Saudi Arabia. Dealt with Public Frequency Percent Yes 58 48 No 62 52 no response 5 Total 125 100 In order to determine if the subjects had gained some experience with American public service organizations, they were asked how long they had been in the United States. As shown in Table 6, 51 (41%) had been in the United States for less than six months; 74 (59%) had been in the country for more than one year. So the majority of the students had gained some experience in dealing with the American organization system, and their judgments will be of help in terms of making a comparison between their organizations back home and the American public service organizations. Table 6-—Length of stay in the United States Length of Stay Frequency Percent less than 1 year 51 41 more than one year 74 59 Total 125 100 40 Table 7 shows the distribution of respondents' length of stay in the United States since their last trip to Saudi Arabia. The aim of asking this question was to see whether the subjects had enough information about the current situation in Saudi Arabia. Only one subject (1%) had been in the United States for less than one month since his last visit to Saudi Arabia; six (5%) of them had been here for one month. Most of the subjects (30, or 25%) had been in the United States for two months since their last trip to Saudi Arabia, which was during the Christmas break of 1987. One respondent (1%) had been in the United States for three months; four (3%) for four months; nine (7%) for five months; 19 (15%) for six months. Ten respondents (8%) in the sample had been in the United States for seven months; fifteen (12%) for eight months; six (5%) for nine months. Only two subjects (2%) had been in the United States for ten months since their last visit to Saudi Arabia. Three subjects (3%) reported that it had been 11 months since their last visit to Saudi Arabia; another 3 (3%) for twelve months; 8 (7%) reported 13 months; 2 (2%) reported 14 months; 1 (1%) reported 18 months; and only one subject reported that he had been in the United States for 30 months since his last visit to Saudi Arabia. Four subjects (3%) did not answer the question. From Table 7 it can be seen that almost all of the subjects fall into the range of less than 41 Table 7——Number of months in the United States since last visit to Saudi Arabia. Number of Months Frequency Percent less than 1 1 1 l 6 5 2 30 25 3 l l 4 4 3 5 9 7 6 19 15 7 10 8 8 15 12 9 6 5 10 2 2 ll 3 3 12 3 3 13 8 7 l4 2 2 18 1 1 30 1 1 no response 4 3 Total 125 100 Note: All subjects received the questionnaire on March 1, 1988, so this was the date they used to calculate the number of months they had been in the United States since their last visit to Saudi Arabia. 42 fourteen months, and most of them had been in the United States for less than nine months since their last visit to Saudi Arabia. Therefore it can be concluded that most of the subjects have enough information and experience with public service organizations. Respondents were asked to report how long they were in Saudi Arabia during their last visit there. As indicated in Table 8, 22 (18%) had been in Saudi Arabia for less than one month; 28 (23%) were there for one month; and the majority (71, or 59%) were there for more than one month. Only four respondents (3%) did not answer this item. Table 8--Length of last visit to Saudi Arabia Length of Visit Frequency Percent less than 1 month 22 18 one month 28 23 two months 71 59 no response 4 Total 125 100 The respondents were also asked to state the number of times they are going to Saudi Arabia during their stay in the United States. Table 9 shows that 9 respondents (9%) go to Saudi Arabia more than once per year; 90 (87%) go once per year. Four respondents (4%) reported they will go to Saudi Arabia every two years, and 22 (18%) did not respond to this item. 43 Table 9-—Number of visits to Saudi Arabia Number of Visits Frequency Percent more than once/year 9 9 once/year 90 87 every 2 years 2 4 no response 22 missing Total 125 100 Discussion Concerning Research Questions The following tables and discussion will address the research questions, which are as follows: 1 Does the audi public conceive that selection of proper public service employees would lead to high public service employees' performance? N o Does.the Saudi public conceive that training public service employees would contribute to high public service employees' performance? 3. Does the Saudi public conceive that enforcing the reward and disciplinary system within the organization would lead to high public service employees' performance? 4. Does the Saudi public conceive that having a complaint program in public service organizations would lead to high performance by public service employees? Selecting Public Service Employees The variable "selecting public service employees" was created to see if selection as an independent variable would result in obtaining a high level of 1See note on page 28. 44 efficiency and courtesy from the public service employee. From the questionnaire instrument, respondents were asked to chose one number from the scale (1—7). Four questions (#10-#l3) were designed to obtain the subjects‘ attitudes toward this variable (see Appendix). This variable is designed to test Question No. 1, "Does the Saudi public conceive that selection of proper public service employees would lead to high public service employees' performance?" The results for this variable are shown in Table 10. Statement 10: "It seems that most public service employees in Saudi Arabia have less than a high school education." Seven (6%) of the respondents strongly disagreed with the statement; 18 (14%) chose number two on the scale; 25 (20%) Chose number three on the scale ("disagree"); 44 (18%) chose number 4 ("neutral"); 17 (14%) selected number 5; 23 (18%) selected number 6; and 13 (10%) selected number 7, that they strongly agreed with the statement that public service employees in Saudi Arabia have less than a high school education. Generally, only 40 percent of the sample were on the disagreement side and 42 percent at least agree. The mean is 4.16, which is in the neutral category. Thus this item, which is about the age of public service employees, has no strong effect upon the criterion of selecting public service employees. 45 Table 10——Selecting Public Service Employees Strongly Strongly Disagree Neutral Agree 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Itemf%f%f%f%f%f%f% ‘xSD 10 7 (6) 18 (14) 25 (20) 22 (l8) l7 (14) 23 (18) 13 (10) 4.16 1.76 11 7 (6) 15 (12) 24 (19) 23 (18) 34 (27) 16 (13) 6 (5) 4.08 1.55 12 ll (9) 5 (4) ll (9) 14 (ll) 13 (10) 3O (24) 41 (33) 5.14 1.95 13 4 (3) 13 (10) 27 (22) 35 (28) 22 (18) 15 (12) 9 (7) 4.12 1.49 Statement 11: "The age of public service employees does not correspond with the duties of the type of work they are involved in." As shown in Table 10, 7 (6%) subjects strongly disagreed with this statement; 15 (12%) chose number 2; 24 (19%) selected number 3 ("agree"); 23 (18%) chose number 4. The largest category of the subjects (34, or 27%) agreed with the statement that most of the public. service employees‘ ages do not correspond to the duties of their jobs. Sixteen (13%) chose number 6, and only 6 subjects (5%) selected number 7 ("strongly agree"). In general, the largest number of the respondents (45%) at least agreed with the statement and 37% were on the disagreement side. The mean of this criterion is 4.08, which is neutral compared to the other items. 46 Statement 12: "For me, Saudis are more appropriate for public service jobs than non—Saudis." As can be seen in Table 10, 11 subjects (9%) responded that they strongly disagreed with the statement; number 2 was chosen by five respondents (4%); ll (9%) disagreed with the statement; neutral was selected by 14 respondents (11%); 13 (10%) agreed with the statement; and 30 (24%) chose number 6. Thus the largest category of the subjects (41, or 33%) strongly agreed with this statement. Generally the majority (67%) of the respondents believed that Saudis are more appropriate for this type of job, while 22 percent disagreed. The mean (5.14), based on our distribution, is in the "agree" category, which illustrates the importance of this criteria for selecting public service employees. Statement 13: "Generally, the public service employees I encountered are not tolerant." As Table 10 indicates, only four respondents (3%) responded that they strongly disagreed with this statement, and 13 (10%) selected number 2. Twenty-seven (22%) disagreed with the statement that public service employees are not tolerant. By combining these three items, it can be seen that about 30 percent of the subjects believed that most public service employees are tolerant. In contrast, about 37 percent believed that public service employees are intolerant. Thus, the difference between these two groups is not significant. 47 In fact, 22 respondents (18%) agreed with the statement; 15 (12%) selected number 6; and 9 (7%) strongly agreed with the statement. The largest category (25, or 28%) of the respondents were neutral on this statement. This item had a mean of 4.12, which is neutral. Training Public Service Employees As was discussed in the literature review, it was concluded that training is a very important issue in obtaining high performance from public service employees. The variable "training public service employees" was designed to measure the second research question, "Does the Saudi public conceive that training public service employees would contribute to high public service employees' performance?" In order to answer this question, five items were presented in the questionnaire instrument (items #14— #l8). Subjects were asked to reply to one item from the scale (1—7) that most closely reflected the degree to which they agreed or disagreed with the statement. The results for this variable are presented in Table 11. Statement 14: "Most public service employees do not realize what their organizational goals or departmental goals are, or their responsibilities. In order to know the attitude of the subjects toward the notion of the importance of training the public service employees, the above statement was posed to the respondents. Table 11 demonstrates that eight 48 Table ll—-Training Public Service Employees Strongly Strongly Disagree Neutral Agree 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Iten f % f % f % f % f % f % f % i SD 14 8 (6) 9 (7) 20 (16) 16 (14) 18 (14) 32 (26) 22 (18) 4.69 1.83 15 6 (5) 14 (11) 17 (14) 16 (13) 23 (18) 26 (21) 23 (18) 4.65 1.82 16 11 (9) 20 (16) 16 (13) 29 (23) 17 (14) 19 (15) 13 (10) 4.04 1.81 17 3 (2) 6 (5) 11 (9) 4 (3) 16 (13) 37 (30) 48 (38) 5.62 1.64 18 5 (4) 6 (5) 7 (7) 27 (22) 32 (26) 26 (21) 20 (16) 4.86 1.56 subjects (6%) strongly disagreed with the statement; 9 (7%) selected number 2; and 20 (16%) disagreed with the statement. Sixteen (14%) of the respondents were neutral. If the three items 5-7 are added together, it can be seen that about 58 percent of the subjects fall within the categories of "agree" or "strongly agree;" i.e., 18 (14%) selected "agree"; 32 (26%) chose number 6; and 22 (18%) selected "strongly agree." But the disagreement category accounted for only 29%. The mean, 4.69, which is in the "agree" category that realizes the organizational goal as well as the departmental goal, reflects to what extent an employee is trained. Statement 15: "Most public service employees do not realize their duties and responsibilities toward the public." It can be seen from Table 11 that 6 (5%) respond- ents strongly disagreed with this statement; 14 (11%) 49 selected number 2; and 17 (14%) disagreed with the statement. Thirty percent of the respondents were on the disagreement side. For all of the sample, 16 were neutral. The explicit majority was within agree and strongly agree (58%); i.e., 23 (18%) agreed with the statement, 26 (21%) selected number 6, and 23 (18%) strongly agreed with the statement. The mean of this item is 4.64, which is in the "agree" category. Statement 16: "As I encounter public service employees, I think that the way they handle their tasks reflects well—designed training programs in their past (before they were assigned to their present position)." This question aims to see whether public service employees had a well—designed training program before they became involved in their jobs, as perceived by the subjects. Eleven (9%) of the respondents strongly disagreed with the statement; 20 (16%) selected number 2; 16 (13%) disagreed with the statement. Twenty—nine (23%) were neutral. On the agreement side, 17 (14%) selected "agree," 19 (15%) selected number 6, and 13 (10%) strongly agreed with the statement that most public service employees received a well-designed training program before becoming involved in their jobs. Generally, 38% were on the disagreement side and 39% at least agreed with the statement. The mean value of 4.04, which is neutral, shows that subjects may not have enough information about the training before becoming involved in such a job. 50 Statement 17: "In their present positions, I think that public service employees still have the opportunity to be involved in training programs for better quality of service." It is not enough to give the employees some training before involving them in the job; rather, it is essential that organizations provide continuing training programs appropriate to the nature of the job. with regard to this question, only three (2%) subjects strongly disagreed with the statement; 6 (5%) were between disagree and strongly disagree; ll (9%) strongly disagreed with the statement. Only four (3%) respondents were neutral concerning the statement. Overall, about 81% were in the "agree" to "strongly agree" category, compared to 16% in the disagreement categories. That is, 16 (13%) agree, 37 (30%) selected number 6, and 48 (38%) strongly disagree. The mean in this category is 5.64 ("agree"). Statement 18: "Because there is a lack of extensive training programs, public service employees spend more than the allocated amount of time to achieve a particular task for a client." Respondents were asked to express their opinion about the amount of time that most public service employees spend in achieving any service, whether it is sufficient or not, and if it is related to the training they received. The responses to this statement are shown in Table 11. Only 5 (4%) subjects strongly disagreed with this statement; 6 (5%) respondents selected number 2; and 7 (7%) respondents disagreed. 51 The largest category of the respondents were neutral (27, or 22%). As can be seen in Table 11, the biggest category of the subjects were on the agreement side; 32 (26%) agreed, 20 (16%) strongly agreed, and 26 (21%) were in the category between "agree" and "strongly agree." Thus, 63 percent of the sample at least agree about the lack of extensive training programs for public service employees, compared to 16% for the disagreement category. The mean of this item is 4.86 ("agree"). Reward and Disciplinary System Reward and discipline was selected as one of the independent variables. The researcher is trying to see how this variable would affect the dependent variables efficiency and courtesy. Respondents were asked to answer seven question (#19—#25) in order to obtain their attitudes toward the effect of practicing a reward and discipline system on public service employees' performance. This variable was represented by research question number three: "Does the Saudi public conceive that practicing a reward and disciplinary system within the organization would lead to high public service employees' performance?" The results for this variable are shown in Table 12. Statement 19: "The lack of enforcing the discipline system on public service employees contributes to the problem of employees not always being at their desks." 52 Table 12—-Rewarding and Disciplining Public Service Employees Strongly Strongly Disagree Neutral Agree 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Itemf%f%f%f%f%f%f% Rsn l9 2 (2) 7 (6) 10 (8) 24 (19) 28 (22) 30 (24) 24 (19) 5.04 1.52 20 3 (2) 7 (6) l6 (13) 19 (15) 16 (13) 34 (27) 30 (24) 5.08 1.67 21 5 (4) 3 (2) 9 (7) 17 (14) 21 (17) 29 (23) 41 (33) 5.38 1.64 22 22 (18) 31 (25) l7 (14) 18 (14) 7 (6) 17 (14) 13 (10) 3.48 2.00 23 5 (4) 5 (4) 10 (8) 12 (10) 20 (16) 23 (18) 50 (40) 5.45 1.74 24 6 (5) 7 (6) 4 (3) 15 (12) 19 (15) 35 (28) 39 (31) 5.36 1.72 25 20 (16) 20 (16) 32 (26) 14 (11) 14 (11) 14 (11) ll (9) 3.54 1.87 For public service employees, not being at the desk indicates, to the reseracher, a corruption; that is, there is no discipline system which would make these employees be at their desks most of the time. To see whether this statement is true or not, the subjects were asked to express their attitude by choosing one number from the scale. Their responses are shown in Table 12. Only two (2%) respondents strongly disagreed with this statement; 7 (6%) selected number 2; 10 (8%) disagreed; 24 (19%) selected number 4; 28 (22%) agreed with the statement; 30 (24%) selected number 6; and 24 (19%) strongly agreed with the statement. In fact, about 66 percent of the respondents at least agreed with the statement that because there are no discipline 53 system properly in place, many public service employees are consistently not at their jobs. In contrast, 16% disagreed. The mean, 5.04, is in the "agree" category, meaning that not being at the desk most of the time might be because of the lack of enforcing discipline on public service employees. Statement 20: "Because of the absence of direct supervision, public service employees do not provide effective services to the public. Supervision is an important issue for delivering a good service to the public, especially in the Third World. Students were asked to specify their opinions from the scale. There were only 21% of the sample on the disagreement side. On the opposite side, about 64% at least agreed with the statement. That is, three (2%) strongly disagreed; 7 (6%) selected number 2; and 16 (13%) selected "disagree." In contrast, 16 (13%) selected "agree"; 34 (27%) selected number 6; and 30 (24%) selected "strongly agree." Nineteen respondents (15%) were neutral on this question. The mean of this statement, 5.08 ("agree"), supports the idea of direct supervision on public service employees. Statement 21: "My observation is that most public service organizations do not have a display board in which they could honor their active employees." As mentioned above in the importance of practicing the discipline system, it is believed that rewards are very important with regard to obtaining high performance 54 from public service employees. Questions 21 and 22 test this statement. Five (4%) respondents strongly disagreed with this statement; three (2%) selected number 2; and 9 (7%) selected "disagree." The overall disagreement side was 13%. Seventeen (14%) respondents were neutral. As can be seen in Table 12, the majority (73%) lie within "agree" and "strongly agree." Twelve (17%) respondents selected "agree"; 29 (23%) selected number 6; and 41 (33%) selected "strongly agree." This statement lies in the "agree" category and has a mean of 5.38. Statement 22: "Since public service employees are not paid additional wages for dealing directly with clients, the actions of these employees are not as appropriate as they should be." As a type of reward, public service employees should be paid additional wages because of the nature of their jobs. Dealing with clients is not easy; indeed, it is preferrable for many employees not to deal with clients if the wages are the same as those who do not deal directly with clients. As shown in Table 12, the majority of the respondents disagreed with this statement; about 63 percent believed that paying extra wages would not affect the public service employees' performance. Twenty-two (18%) respondents strongly disagreed; 31 (25%) selected number 2; and 17 (14%) disagreed. Eighteen (14%) of the subjects were neutral. On the 55 other side, 7 (6%) agreed, 17 (14%) selected number 6, and 13 (10%) selected "strongly agree." The mean is 3.48 ("neutral"). Statement 23: "In my experience, if some of the public service employees are not helpful in the proper way, they will be punished if I complain about them.“ Only five (4%) respondents strongly disagreed with this statement; another five (4%) selected number 2; and 10 (8%) selected "disagree." The sum of this category is 16%. Twelve (10%) were neutral on this statement. The explicit majority (93, or 74%) were in the agreement category. Twenty (16%) agreed; 23 (18%) selected number 6; and 50 (40%) strongly agreed with this statement. This statement has a mean of 5.45 ("agree"), which is not expected. Statement 24: "Because most public service employees know that they will not be fired, the service they provide depends on their mood." Only 14 percent of the sample disagreed with this statement, while 74 percent at least agreed that the work should not depend on the public service employee's mood. From Table 12 it can be seen that only 6 (5%) respondents strongly disagreed with this statement; 7 (6%) selected number 2; 4 (3%) disagreed; 15 (12%) were neutral; 19 (15%) agreed; 35 (28%) selected number 6; and 39 (31%) strongly agreed with the statement. The mean is 5.36 ("agree"). 56 Statement 25: "Since there is no time limit for each type of service provided, the time needed to complete a service is determined by the employees themselves." Table 12 provides the findings regarding this statement. Twenty respondents (16%) strongly disagreed with the statement; 20 (16%) selected number 2; 32 (26%) disagreed; 14 (11%) were neutral; 14 (11%) agreed; 14 (11%) selected number 6; and 11 (9%) strongly agreed with the statement. In fact, the majority of the respondents disagreed with this statement (about 58 percent). On the other hand, 31% were in the agreement category. We obtain a mean of 3.54 (neutral) for this statement. Complaint Program in Public Service Organizations In order to ascertain whether complaint programs held in public service organizations affect the efficiency and courtesy of public service employees, five questions (#26-#30) were utilized in the questionnaire. It was assumed that having a complaint program in any public service organization would lead to high public service employee performance. This was indicated by two variables: efficiency and courtesy, as shown in Table 13 and stated by research question four: "Does the Saudi public conceive that having a complaint program in public service organizations would lead to high performance by public service employees?" 57 Table 13—-anortance of Omnplaint Programs in Public Service Organizations Strongly Strongly Disagree Neutral Agree 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Itenf%f%f%f%f%f%f93'(SD 26 18 (14) 30 (24) 23 (18) 14 (11) 19 (15) 16 (13) 5 (4) 3.43 1.78 27 18 (14) 30 (24) 23 (18) 14 (11) 19 (15) 16 (13) 5 (4) 3.43 1.78 28 8 (6) 6 (5) 9 (7) 16 (13) 18 (14) 30 (24) 38 (30) 5.18 1.82 29 31 (25) 23 (18) 16 (13) 15 (12) 18 (14) 5 (12) 7 (6) 3.31 1.94 30 18 (14) 33 (26) 21 (17) 22 (18) 19 (15) 9 (7) 3 (2) 3.24 1.62 Statement 26: "Authorities in public service organizations open their doors to the public's complaints and suggestions." As shown in Table 13, there were a total of 70 (57%) respondents in the disagreement category: 18 (14%) strongly disagreed; 3O (24%) selected number 2; and 23 (18%) selected "disagree." Fourteen (11%) respondents were neutral. On the agreement side, 19 (15%) selected "agree"; 16 (13%) selected number 6; and five (4%) strongly agreed with the statement. The total in this category is 32%. Hence, the majority disagreed with the statement that they see most authorities in public service organizations do not open their doors to the clients' complaints and suggestions. The mean is 3.43 (neutral). Statement 27: "Most public service organizations have complaint boxes which the public can see and use." 58 Having such a box in all organizations, especially those dealing with the public, should not be ignored. Sometimes it is hard for people to go to the authorities and express their ideas. Therefore, having such boxes would help organizations provide good service to the public. From Table 13 it is evident that the majority (about 59%) of the sample disagreed with the statement that the authorities do not welcome the public‘s ideas. Eighteen (14%) respondents strongly disagreed with this statement; 30 (24%) selected number 2; and 23 (18%) disagreed with the statement. Fourteen (11%) respond- ents were neutral. In the agreement area, there were 19 (15%) who selected "agreed"; 16 (13%) selected number 6; and 5 (4%) selected "strongly agree." The total is 32% in this category. For this item, as shown in Table 13, the mean is 3.43 (neutral). Statement 28: "Clients are always hesitant to express their suggestions and comments to the organization's authorities because they know that nobody will listen to them." As shown in Table 13, only about 18 percent of the sample disagreed with this statement, whereas the majority (about 69 percent) agreed with it. Eight (6%) respondents strongly disagreed; 6 (5%) selected number 2; 9 (7%) disagreed; 16 (13%) were neutral; 18 (14%) agreed; 30 (24%) selected number 6; and 38 (30%) strongly agreed with the statement that most of the 59 public are hesitant to express their suggestions to organizational authorities. Table 13 shows the mean of this item to be 5.18 ("agree"). Statement 29: "It is easy to express an opinion in the media about public service organizations and public service employees." About 56 percent of the sample at least disagreed that expressing opinions in the media is easy. Thirty— one (25%) strongly disagreed with Statement 29; 23 (18%) selected number 2; and 16 (13%) selected "disagree." Fifteen respondents (12%) were neutral. Over all 32% of the subjects, we found that eighteen (14%) agreed with this statement; 15 (12%) selected number 6; and 7 (6%) strongly agreed with the difficulty of expressing an opinion in the media. As shown in Table 13, the mean for this item is 3.31 ("disagree"). Statement 30: "Supervisors in the public service organizations are eager to listen to the public's comments and suggestions." It was obvious that the majority of the respond— ents disagreed with this statement. About 58 percent at least disagreed with the statement that supervisors in public service organizations are eager to listen to the public, while only 24% at least agreed. Eighteen (14%) strongly disagreed with this statement; 33 (26%) selected number 2; and 21 (17%) disagreed with the statement. Twenty-two subjects (18%) were neutral. On the agreement side, 19 (15%) agreed, 9 (7%) selected 60 number 6; and 3 (2%) strongly agreed with the statement. This item has a mean of 3.24 ("disagree"). Efficiency Efficiency was selected to be a dependent variable in this study. The researcher aimed to see if Saudi students studying in the United States "as Saudi clients" conceived that public service employees' performance would be affected by the independent variables "selection, training, reward and discipline system, and complaint program." Five questions were designed for this varible (#3l—#35). Respondents were asked to select the proper number that would be close to their opinions from the 1—7 scale. Table 14 illustrates the results for this variable. Statement 31: "The way public service employees handle their services seems to be very effective." As shown in Table 14, the explicit majority (about 59 percent) disagreed with this statement. Eighteen (14%) strongly disagreed with the statement; 22 (18%) selected number 2; and 27 (22%) disagreed. Twenty—eight (22%) were neutral. On the agreement side, a total of 23% we found that 18 (14%) agreed with the statement; 9 (7%) selected number 6; and 3 (2%) perceived that public service employees handled their services very effec— tively. Table 14 shows the mean of this item to be 3.36 ("disagree"). 61 Table l4--Frequency of subjects‘ attitudes toward public service enployees' efficiency. Strongly Strongly Disagree Neutral Agree 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Itemf%f%f%f%f%f%f% Rso 31 18 (14) 22 (18) 27 (22) 28 (22) 18 (14) 9 (7) 3 (2) 3.36 1.57 32 31 (25) 31 (25) 25 (20) 17 (14) 11 (9) 4 (3) 6 (5) 2.86 1.67 33 5 (4) 8 (6) 10 (8) 17 (14) 14 (11) 36 (29) 35 (28) 5.20 1.75 34 3 (2) 10 (8) 8 (6) 20 (16) 21 (17) 33 (26) 30 (24) 5.12 1.66 35 4 (3) 2 (2) 6 (5) 12 (10) 11 (9) 36 (29) 54 (43) 5.78 1.54 Statement 32: "The time allocated for public service employees to accomplish their jobs is less than ordinarily needed." Even though predicting specific times for certain types of service delivered to the public is not easy, subjects were asked to give a general idea about their attitude about the time allocated for public service employees to accomplish their jobs. As shown in Table 14, the majority of the sample (about 70 percent) disagreed with statement 32. Thirty—one (25%) strongly disagreed with the statement; 31 (25%) selected number 2; and 25 (20%) disagreed with the statement. Seventeen (14%) were neutral. The total in the agreement side was about 17 percent of the sample. Eleven (9%) respondents 62 agreed with the statement; only 4 (3%) selected number 6 and 6 (5%) strongly agreed. The mean for this item is 2.86 ("disagree"), as shown in Table 14. Statement 33: "The average efficiency of public service employees does not correspond with the fast rate of development in Saudi Arabia." Saudi Arabia is now undergoing a very rapid development plan. During this decade, it has gained many years compared with other countries. Moreover, the interest here is to predict whether the performance of its public service employees corresponds to the country's development. Table 14 shows that only 18 percent of the subjects do not agree with this statement. Five respondents (4%) strongly disagreed; 8 (6%) selected number 2; and 10 (8%) disagreed with the statement. Seventeen (14%) were neutral. On the agreement side, 14 (11%) agreed with the statement; 36 (29%) selected number 6; and 35 (25%) strongly agreed. Hence, the majority (68%) agreed with the statement. Table 14 shows the mean is 5.2 ("agree") for this item. Statement 34: "Public service organizations do not care about the weaknesses of public service employees (for example, they do not have evaluation procedures). The careless nature of the authorities of public service organizations would cause public service employees to be poor in terms of their efficiency and courtesy. Only 3 (2%) of the students strongly disagreed with this 63 statement; 10 (8%) selected number 2; and 8 (6%) disagreed with the statement, so the total in this category is 16%. Twenty respondents (16%) gave a neutral response. Sixty—seven percent at least agreed with this statement: 21 (17%) selected "agree"; 33 (26%) selected number 6; and 30 (24%) strongly agreed with the statement. The mean for this item is 5.12 ("agree"), as shown in Table 14. Statement 35: "Some citizens seek help from others whom they know to follow their services because it will take a long time to obtain their services." "Follow" in this case means a type of favoritism. This type of favoritism toward friends and relatives is one of the biggest problems which causes some corruption in Saudi Arabian public service organizations. Here we refer this issue to the public service employees's efficiency, because we assume that efficiency would be affected by deviation of the rules. From Table 14 it can be seen that about 9% of the students do not agree with Statement 35. But the great majority (81%) at least agree with this idea. Only four respondents (3%) strongly disagree; 2 (2%) selected number 2; 6 (5%) disagreed; 12 (10%) were neutral; ll (9%) agreed; 36 (29%) selected number 6; and 54 (43%) of the sample strongly agreed with the statement. Table 14 shows the mean for this item to be 5.78 ("agree"). 64 Courtesy Statement 36: Most public service employees do not respect clients. Ethically, respecting clients is a very important issue that each public service employee has to keep in mind. Table 15 illustrates this point. Fifty-five percent of the respondents at least agree with this statement; only 26 percent disagree with it. If this is broken down into individual percentages, it is found that 3 respondents (2%) strongly disagree; 14 (11%) selected number 2; 15 (12%) disagreed; 25 (20%) were neutral; 26 (21%) agreed; 27 (22%) selected number 6; and 15 (12%) strongly agreed with the statement that most public service employees do not respect their clients. The mean is 4.58 ("neutral"). Statement 37: Public service employees treat clients fairly regardless of any consideration (for example, without regard to any social position or address, and so on). Overall, about 69 percent of the sample disagreed with this statement, as shown in Table 15; in other words, a majority of the respondents perceived some discrimination with respect to social position, address, and family names while only 18% agreed. Thirty—nine respondents (31%) strongly disagreed with Statement 37; 27 (22%) selected number 2; 20 (16%) disagreed; 10 (8%) agreed; 8 (6%) selected number 6; and only 5 (4%) 65 Table 15——Frequency of subjects' attitudes toward public service enployees' courtesy. Strongly Strongly Disagree Neutral Agree 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Itemf%f%f%f%f%f%f% R 36 3 (2) 14 (11) 15 (12) 25 (20) 26 (21) 27 (22) 15 (12) 4.58 37 39 (31) 27 (22) 20 (16) 16 (13) 10 (8) 8 (6) 5 (4) 2.80 38 3 (2) 8 (6) 18 (14) 25 (20) 29 (23) 28 (22) 14 (11) 4.67 39 9 (7) 26 (21) 32 (26) 31 (25) 13 (10) 10 (8) 4 (3) 3.47 40 3 (2) 13 (10) 19 (15) 23 (18) 29 (23) 26 (21) 12 (10) 4.50 41 13 (10) 27 (22) 25 (20) 25 (20) 24 (19) 8 (6) 3 (2) 3.44 42 3 (2) 13 (10) 8 (6) 13 (10) 23 (18) 33 (26) 32 (26) 5.14 strongly agreed with the statement. Sixteen respondents (13%) were neutral on this statement. As shown in Table 15, the mean for this item is 2.8 ("disagree"). Statement 38: Most clients hesitate to seek service from public service organizations because of the way they will be treated by public service employees (for example, the slow way, the harsh way, etc.). Treating people in a nice way is one of the most important principals that all public service organiza- tions seek. Yet as Table 15 shows, most of the subjects (57%) agreed with Statement 38. Only 3 (2%) respondents strongly disagreed; 8 (6%) selected number 2; and 18 (14%) selected "disagree." The total in the disagreement category is 22%. Twenty—five respondents 66 (20%) respondents were neutral on this statement. A plurality of the respondents (29, or 23%) agreed with the statement; 28 (22%) selected number 6; and 14 (11%) strongly agreed that there are some biases for certain clients. The mean for this item is 4.67 ("agree"). Statement 39: Most public service employees are very courteous and polite with their clients. About 54% of the students disagreed with this statement. Indeed, the subjects conceived that clients are not treated very well. Nine respondents (7%) strongly agreed with the statement; 26 (21%) selected number 2; and 32 (26%), which was the most for any selection, indicated that they "disagreed" with the statement. In the agreement category, out of 21%, thirteen (10%) respondents agreed with the statement; 10 (8%) selected number 6; and only four (3%) strongly agreed with the idea that the public is treated courteously and politely. Thirty-one (25%) were neutral. The mean for this item is 3.47 ("neutral"). Statement 40: Most public service employees do not know how to deal with clients. Knowing how to deal with people in a proper way could be accepted part of an ethical issue, yet dealing with clients in public service organizations is more important because employees have to be nice and polite, and should know how to behave in such a way. From Table 15, it can be seen that only three (2%) respondents strongly disagreed with Statement 40; 13 67 (10%) selected number 2; and 19 (15%) selected "disagree." So the total here is 27%. Twenty—three respondents (18%) were neutral with respect to this statement. The majority (54%) of the students at least agreed with the statement. More specifically, 29 (23%) agreed; 26 (21%) selected number 6; and 12 (10%) strongly agreed that most public service employees do not know how to deal with clients. As shown in Table 15, the mean for this item is 4.50 ("neutral"). Statement 41: Most public service employees are sincerely interested in serving the public. It is not enough to simply hire employees to serve the public. These employees should also have an interest in serving the public, otherwise they will not be successful in their jobs. For the student sample, 13 (10%) strongly disagreed with Statement 41; 27 (22%) selected number 6; and 25 (20%) selected "disagree." Thus, a majority of the students (52%) thought that most public service employees have no interest in serving the public. Twenty—five (20%) respondents were neutral on the statement. On the agreement side, there was a total of only 28 percent: 24 (19%) selected "agree"; 8 (6%) selected number 6; and only 3 (2%) selected "strongly agree." For this item, the mean is 3.44 ("neutral"). Statement 42: People always talk negatively about the way public service employees treat them. When people in any society talk about any phenomenon in a negative way, it means there is 68 something wrong or some problem with the phenomenon. The respondents were asked whether people in Saudi Arabia are talking about public service employees negatively or positively. There was strong agreement (70%) with Statement 42, whereas only about 19 percent conceived that people in Saudi Arabia do not talk nega— tively about public service employees. Specifically, 3 (2%) selected "strongly disagree"; 13 (10%) selected number 2; 8 (6%) disagreed; 23 (18%) agreed with the statement; 33 (26%) selected number 6; 32 (26%) strongly agreed; and 13 (10%) were neutral. The mean for this item is 5.14 ("agree"). Reliability Test In order to determine the consistency between the items representing the six variables under investi— gation, a reliability test was performed for each variable. Further, we tested the relationship between each item and other items within the group of items that represent each variable. Operationally each item that is not consistent with the other group items will be eliminated; this will be done for all six variables. In addition, the Pearson correlation test will be done without these inconsistent items, and the other items will be assumed to strongly represent all the variables under study. 69 Table 16 shows the reliability test for items representing public service employee selection. The item is shown in the first column, the correlation between each item and the other items is shown in the second column, and the third column shows the alpha value if the item is deleted. Table 16-—Reliability test for items representing the selection of public service employees Item* Correlation Alpha if item is deleted 10 .342 .184 11 .268 .283 12 .039 .543 13 .274 .281 Overall alpha = .3983 *For the items, see the Appendix. From Table 16 it can be seen that item 12, concerning Saudi nationality as a criterion of selecting public service employees, should be deleted. Since the alpha obtained is .542, it means that if this item is eliminated, the reliability will increase. Thus item 12 will be omitted when the test is performed. Table 17 shows the reliability tests for items representing the second variable, training public service employees. As shown in Table 17, all items are consistent with each other except item 17, which is 70 Table 17—-Reliability test for items representing the training of public service employees - Item* Correlation Alpha if item is deleted 14 .401 .067 15 .493 .036 16 .104 .354 17 .182 .542 18 .118 .335 Overall alpha = .346 *For the items, see the Appendix. about the continuing training of public service employees. This item has a low correlation and the alpha will be increased to .542 if it is deleted. Thus this item will be omitted for the test. Table 18 demonstrates the reliability of the third independent variable, rewarding and disciplining public service employees. Two items will be deleted from this group of items. The first item is item 22 (about paying additional wages to public service employees), which has low correlation with other items and an alpha of .622 if it is omitted. The second item to be omitted is item 25 (about the determination of time needed for a service), which has low correlation and an alpha of .575. Table 19 shows the correlation between items 26—30, which represent the fourth variable in the study, having complaint programs in public service 71 Table 18——Reliability test for items representing the reward and disciplining of public service employees Item* Correlation Alpha if item is deleted 19 .428 .371 20 .480 .335 21 .321 .411 22 .138 .622 23 .399 .371 24 .411 .366 25 .047 .575 Overall alpha = .488 *For the items, see the Appendix. Table l9--Reliability test for items representing the complaint program in public service organizations Item* Correlation Alpha if item is deleted 26 .595 .520 27 .595 .520 28 .295 .663 29 .182 .718 30 .470 .586 Overall alpha = .660 *For the items, see the Appendix. 72 organizations. Item 24 will be omitted for the test since it has a low correlation with the other items and is not consistent with them. Hence the reliability will be increased to .718 if this item is deleted. Table 20 shows the reliability as well as correlation between six items representing the fifth variable (efficiency of public service employees) under investigation. Item 32, concerning the time allocated for public service employees to accomplish their tasks, will be omitted. The correlation between this item and the other items is very low. As a result of omitting this item, the alpha and reliability increases to .696 instead of .561. As shown in Table 21, the sixth variable, courtesy of public service employees, is represented by seven items in the questionnaire, all of which are very Table 20--Reliability test for items representing the efficiency of public service employees Item* Correlation Alpha if item is deleted 31 .308 .513 32 .044 .696 33 .484 .398 34 .487 .402 35 .452 .432 Overall alpha = .561 *For the items, see the Appendix. 73 Table 21——Reliability test for items representing the courtesy of public service employees Item* Correlation Alpha if item is deleted 36 .566 .771 37 .405 .803 38 .553 .774 39 .556 .773 40 .518 .780 41 .603 .765 42 .564 .771 Overall alpha = .802 *For the items, see the Appendix. reliable and consistent with each other. The overall alpha is very high (.807). In summary, in this section the reliabilities of the six variables under investigation have been tested. Six items were deleted from a total of 33 items in the questionnaire. Thus, we assume that the consistency between the items in each variable is very high and the items fully represent the variables. Relationship Between the Subjects' Job Type and Their Responses Respondents were asked whether they had an opportunity to deal with the public back home or not. The aim of this question is to see to what extent their experience affects their responses. We assume that 74 those who had this experience will give different responses from those who did not. Further, those who gave affirmative answers to this question may be biased to the situation of public service employees and give some information against the client's orientations. In addition, they may give different responses especially about the criteria for selecting public service employees, training public service emplOyees, and rewarding or disciplining them. In order to detect the difference in responses between these two groups, the t—test is used. Operationally, we are going to treat all the research variables as dependent variables, and the independent variable will be the type of job that subjects were performing before coming to the United States. Fifty-eight subjects responded that they had the opportunity to deal with clients; 62 did not. Only five respondents did not answert this question. In this test, we are going to concentrate on the differences of the means between the two groups as well as the significance of the t value. Table 22 shows the differences of the means between the two groups for each variable. Group one (who dealt with the public) had a mean score of 2.91 and group two (who did not deal with the public) also had a mean of 2.89, so there is no difference between the 75 Table 22—-T-test of subjects‘ job type on the research variables. N Research variable Job Type* Mean t—value sig. 1 selecting public 1 2.91 .11 .911 service employees 2 2.89 training public 1 2.73 —.34 .737 service employees 2 2.78 3 rewarding and l 1.95 .25 .807 disciplining public 2 1.91 service employees 4 having complaint 1 2.70 1.36 .176 programs in public 2 2.45 service organizations 5 efficiency of public 1 2.29 .80 .422 service employees 2 2.15 6 courtesy of public 1 3.11 —.95 .345 service employees 3.30 *job type 1 = subjects who dealt with the public job type 2 = subjects who did not deal with the public means for these two groups for their responses to the "selection of public service employees" variable. The second variable, "training public service employees," presents no difference between the means of the two groups, so there is no significant difference in their attitude toward training public service employees. Group one had a mean of 2.73 and group two had a mean of 2.78. There is no significant difference between the two groups in their attitudes toward rewarding and disciplining public service employees. The means are 1.95 and 1.91 for group one and group two, respectively. 76 In addition, the data indicate no significant difference between group one (mean of 2.70) and group two (mean of 2.45) with regard to subjects' attitudes toward having complaint programs in public service organizations. Data represented show no significant difference between group one, with a mean of 2.29, and group two, with a mean of 2.15, with regard to the respondents‘ attitudes toward the efficiency of public service employees. There is no significant difference between the means of group one and group two (3.11 and 3.30, respectively) in the attitude of the subjects toward the courtesy of public service employees. Therefore the supposition that there are differences between subjects who dealt with the public and subjects who did not deal with the public is rejected. In the researcher's opinion, the reason seems to be that respondents responded to the questionnaire as clients and not as public servants. Biases were thus avoided, which gave the study more significance. In addition, even though those who did not deal with clients after this job, they still experience this serious problem. Relationship Between Subjects' Length of Stay in the United States and the Research Variables We assume that the longer a Saudi student stays in the United States, the more critical is the student's attitude toward the situation of public service 77 employees. From the researcher's experience and observations, many Saudi students who return to Saudi Arabia from the United States or who are still studying in the United States have many complaints about some issues in Saudi Arabia, especially about the situation of public service employees they deal with. In this section, the relationship between the length of stay in the United States, as an independent variable, and all the research variables, as dependent variables, will be tested in order to determine the relationship between these variables. To test this relationship, the respondents are divided into two groups: those who have been in the United States for less than one year, and those who have been in the United States for more than one year. Table 23 indicates the correlation between length of stay in the United States and the six variables under investigation. The data show no significant difference between those who have been in the United States for less than one year (group one, with a mean of 2.93) and those who have been in the United States for more than one year (group two, with a mean of 2.90) regarding their attitude toward selecting public service employees. There is no significant difference between the groups with regard to the second variable, "training public service employees." Table 23 indicates that 78 Table 23-—T—test of subjects‘ length of stay in the United States on the research variables Length of N Research variable Stay in U.S.* Mean t-value sig. 1 selecting public 1 2.93 .18 .854 service employees 2 2.90 training public 1 2.84 .72 .470 service employees 2 2.72 3 rewarding and l 1.93 -.32 .752 disciplining public 2 1.98 service employees 4 having complaint 1 2.78 1.73 .086 programs in public 2 2.45 service organizations 5 efficiency of public 1 2.33 .77 .444 service employees 2 2.20 6 courtesy of public 1 3.39 1.20 .234 service employees 3.15 *group 1 = subjects who have been in the U.S. for less than one year group 2 = subjects who have been in the U.S. for more than one year group one had a mean of 2.84 and group two had a mean of 2.72. This table also indicates that there is no strong relationship between length of stay in the United States and subject responses toward rewarding and disciplining public service employees. The means for group one and group two were 1.93 and 1.98, respectively. There is no significant relationship between length of stay and the respondents‘ attitudes toward having a complaint program. The means for group one and group two are 2.78 and 2.45, respectively. Also, data 79 represented show no strong relationship between length of stay and the subjects' attitudes toward the efficiency of public service employees, with group one having a mean of 2.33 and group two having a mean of 2.20. Finally, there is no significant difference between group one (mean of 3.39) and group two (mean of 3.15) with regard to subjects' attitudes toward courtesy of public service employees. It can be concluded that the length of stay in the United States has no effect on respondents‘ responses. This outcome of the relationship between length of stay in the United States and attitude of the two groups would seem to give an indication that individuals can feel and realize the situation of the new culture and new system regardless of how long they has been in the United States, since they are always dealing with American public service employees. So this is why they share the same attitudes, in general, about Saudi public service employees. Correlation Between variables The correlation of the independent and dependent variables is given in Table 24. This table clusters the general correlation between all variables under study. Variables indicating statistical or directional support for the research hypotheses will be discussed in this part of the chapter. 80 Table 24——Correlation between efficiency and courtesy of public service employees and the independent variables Dependent variables -—> Correlations Independent variables X SD Efficieny Courtesy Selecting PSES 3.89 1.16 .365** .462** Training PSEs 3.46 1.14 .591** .655** Rewarding or disciplining PSEs 2.74 1.20 .662** .572** Having complaint program in PSOs 32.3 1.29 .489** .483** N = 125* **one—tailed significance atcx = .001 *By substituting a missing response of a subject with the mean value of other subjects having similar characteristics, we do not change the mean for the group. Hence, the subsequent analysis is not affected by the replaced response value. In the following section, the research hypotheses will be tested by the Pearson correlation between the independent and dependent variables. Note that the independent variables are: (l) selecting public service employees; (2) training public service employees; (3) rewarding and punishing public service employees; and (4) practicing a complaint program. Two dependent variables will be examined: (1) efficiency of public service employees; and (2) courtesy of public service employees. After testing the relationship between the variables, a scattergram showing the regression line 81 between every dependent and independent variable will be used to give a clearer picture about the relationships betweeen the variables under study. From the regression line we can see the strength and direction of the relationship between the variables. It should be noted that the data in this test are treated after excluding the six previously discussed items which are not consistent with the other variables; thus the means should also be changed. Hypothesis 1: Saudi students who are studying in the United States, reflecting on their experiences as clients of Saudi public service agencies, believe that selecting the proper public service employees will increase their efficiency and courtesy. As is shown in Table 24, the correlation between selecting public service employees and their efficiencies (.365) is highly significant at the .001 level of confidence. Therefore, the first hypothesis is statistically supported by the data presented. Thus we can say that based on the respondents' responses, selecting the proper people to be public servants will lead to high efficiency by public service employees. The regression line shown in Figure 1 gives a clearer picture of the correlation between these two variables. Table 24 presents the correlation between selecting public service employees and their courtesy, which is significantly correlated (.462) at the .001 level of confidence. Thus these data also support the 82 Efficiency x = 2.81 7 6 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Selection intercept = 1.371 x = 3.89 slope = .371 Figure l—-Regression line showing the relationship between selecting public service employees and their efficiency. first hypothesis, i.e., selecting public service employees will lead to high courtesy as predicted by the subjects' attitudes. The relationship between these two variables is shown in the regression line of Figure 2. Hypothesis 2: Saudi students who are studying in the United States, reflecting on their experience as clients of Saudi public service agencies, believe that training public employees will increase their efficiency and courtesy. It can be seen from Table 24 that there is a statistically significant relationship between training public service employees and their efficiency. The correlation of .591 is significant at the .001 level of confidence. Thus the data presented support the second hypothesis. Therefore, based upon the subjects' 83 Efficiency x = 3.26 7 6 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Selection intercept = 1.58 x = 3.89 slope = .43 Figure 2——Regression line showing the relationship between selecting public service employees and their courtesy. responses, training public service employees will increase their efficiency. This correlation is illustrated in Figure 3, i.e., as long as the training of public service employees is increased, their efficiency will also increase. As shown in Table 24, the correlation between training public service employees and their courtesy is extremely high (.655) at the .001 level of confidence. Thus training public service employees before and during the work activities will lead to high public service employee courtesy. Figure 4 shows the relationship between training and courtesy: if training is increased, public service employee courtesy will also increase. Efficiency x = 2.81 7 6 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Training intercept = .697 x = 3.46 slope = .612 Figure 3——Regression line showing the relationship between training public service employees and their efficiency. Efficiency x = 3.26 7 6 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Training intercept = 1.10 x = 3.46 slope = .62 Figure 4—-Regression line showing the relationship between training public service employees and their courtesy. 85 Hypothesis 3: Saudi students who are studying in the United States, reflecting upon their experience as clients of Saudi public service agencies, believe that enforcing the reward and discipline system will increase public service employees' efficiency and courtesy. Table 24 demonstrates the relationship between rewarding or disciplining public service employees and their efficiency. There was a statistically significant correlation (.662) between the two variables at the .001 level of confidence. Hence, we can say that practicing a reward or discipline system, as previously discussed, will lead to high efficiency by public service employees. This outcome is supported by data collected from the subjects. The linear regression line in Figure 5 shows the strong relationship between these two variables. In addition, Table 24 presents the relationship between rewarding or disciplining public service employees and their courtesy. There was a statistically significant correlation (.572) between the two variables at the .001 level of confidence. The scattergram shown in Figure 6 shows the strength and direction of the relationship between the two variables. Thus, rewarding and disciplining public service employees will increase their courtesy. The data presented support the third hypothesis that where public service organizations practice a reward and discipline system with employees who deal Efficiency x = 2.81 7 6 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Reward/discipline intercept = 1.031 x = 2.74 slope = .651 Figure 5——Regression line showing the relationship between rewarding or disciplining public service employees and their efficiency. Efficiency x = 3.26 7 6 l 2 3 4 5 6 7 Reward/discipline intercept = 1.84 x = 2.74 slope = .52 Figure 6——Regression line showing the relationship between rewarding or disciplining public service employees and their courtesy. 87 directly with the public, high efficiency and high courtesy will be obtained from those employees. Hypothesis 4: Saudi students who are studying in the United States, reflecting upon their experience as clients of Saudi public agencies, believe that having a complaint program in public service organizations will increase public service employees' efficiency and courtesy. The relationship between the fourth independent variable (having a complaing program in public service organizations) and the efficiency of public service employees is shown in Table 24. As indicated by the table, the correlation between the two variables is .489, which is statistically significant at the .001 level of confidence. This relationship can be predicted from the scattergram shown in Figure 7. That is, the relationship between the two variables is very strong. Hence, having such a program will contribute to obtaining high efficiency from public service employees. Table 24 also presents the relationship between having a complaint program in public service organizations and public service employees' courtesy. The correlation (.483) between these variables is statistically significant. Therefore, when public service organizations have such a program, courtesy of public service employees will increase as a result. The scattergram in Figure 8 provides a clearer picture of the relationship between these variables. It can seen that when having a complaint program in public service Efficiency x = 2.81 7 6 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Complaint program intercept = 1.37 x = 3.23 slope = .45 Figure 7——Regression line showing the relationship between having a complaint program and public service employee efficiency. Efficiency x = 3.26 7 6 l 2 3 4 5 6 7 Complaint program intercept = 1.95 x = 3.23 slope = .407 Figure 8—-Regression line showing the relationship between having a complaint program and public service employee courtesy. 89 organizations increases, public service employee courtesy also increases. It can be concluded that since the fourth hypothesis was supported by the data, having such a complaint program should increase the efficiency and courtesy of public service employees in public service organizations. CHAPTER V DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS Discussion of Findings In this chapter, we will discuss the major findings presented in the previous chapter. Four main points about Saudi public service employees will be discussed: (1) the importance of selecting public service employees; (2) the importance of training public service employees; (3) the importance of rewarding or discipling public service employees; and (4) the importance of having a complaint program in public service organizations. Generally these four factors are supposed to lead to high public service employee efficiency and courtesy. It should be noted that the Saudi government, as is demonstrated in the formal plans, is very concerned about satisfying its public. As is stated in all of the plans, one of the objectives of the development plans is: "To form productive citizen-workers by providing them with education and health service, ensuring their livelihood, and rewarding them on the basis of their work" (Saudi Arabia, 1985:41). Consequently, public 90 91 service organizations are channels for the government to satisfy its public. From the results presented in the previous chapter, it appears that most of the respondents believe that selecting the proper people to be public servants is essential for obtaining high public service employees' performance, including their efficiency and courtesy with their clients. The first hypothesis is strongly supported statistically by the data presented in Chapter IV. Therefore, selecting public service employees will contribute to providing good service to the citizens. The respndents were asked to state their attitudes toward four criteria that were assumed would contribute to obtaining high levels of public service employee performance. Furthermore, they were asked to specify their opinion about the level of public service employee education, age, nationality and tolerance of public service employees. Generally most of the subjects thought that the level of public service employees has no effect on their performance. Hence, our sub-hypothesis, surprisingly, is rejected, even though it is assumed that greater education would result in higher performance. The reason could be that the subjects could not recognize whether public service employees have high or low levels 92 of education, so they could not judge this statement as it was expected. With regard to public service employees' ages, respondents believed that their ages would affect their performance; i.e., older people are better than younger people in terms of providing services. About 45 percent of the respondents agreed with this criterion. The researcher assumes that employees from the same nationality as the clients is more appropriate than employees from a different nationality. Saudi public service employees are the most proper ones for this type of job. Neugeboren emphasizes that organizations should select persons who understand the community as a system. The explanation of this notion is that Saudis can understand their society and their citizens better than others. Therefore, their treatment of the public will emanate from the same base and same culture. As a result, we can avoid misunderstandings or miscommunica- tions between public service employees and their clients. It should be noted that this item is not consistent with the other items that constitute this variable, although we still believe this category is important and cannot be ignored. One of the major characteristics that public service organizations should be concerned with is the tolerance of its workers who are dealing directly with the public. However, the findings did not show a 93 significant difference between those who agree with this idea and those who did not. Moreover, the researcher still believes this criterion is very essential even though it was not confirmed. Yet, the reason for this seems to be the use of the word "tolerant." It needs more explanation and should have been explained more to the subjects. Neugeboren (1985:130) says: The success of personal recruitment and selection depends on two conditions: (a) the ability of the organization to be clear as to its objectives, and (b) the kinds of individual characteristics required of prospective employees in order for them to perform the tasks appropriate for achieving these organizational goals. In general, selecting public service employees proper to the nature of dealing with clients is confirmed by many studies, as mentioned in the literature review. Ghosheh (1983), from Arabic translation, discussed the importance of rules which are used as criteria to accept public servants. Ghosheh said that public organizations should have certain rules for hiring public employees. With regard to the second variable, dealing with training people who are in charge of dealing directly with the public, the findings show a statistically significant relation between training public service employees and their performance (efficiency and courtesy). More specifically, subjects believed that training such people as to the nature of public service 94 organizations is highly needed in order to obtain good service. We assumed that well—trained employees should understand and realize the organizational goals and that this realization would be observed from the way they accomplished their work. The findings show that 50 percent of the sample at least agree with this notion. Thus public service organizations should concentrate on this issue and train their employees accordingly. In addition, public service employees should realize their duties and responsibilities, according to the subjects' responses. Therefore, those employees who do not understand their duties might not be well trained and their efficiency and courtesy might be poor. By asking respondents whether they think public service employees had obtained a well—designed training program before becoming involved in such a job, it was found that 39 percent agreed and 28 percent disagreed with the idea; the majority which affected the response was 23 percent did not know. Therefore, respondents could not determine whether public service employees had obtained training programs or not. When employees spend more than an allocated amount of time to provide a certain service to a client, it may mean that this person is not qualified for the job and was not well-trained. Subjects were asked to express their attitude toward this idea. The majority—-63 percent——be1ieved that since there is a lack of 95 extensive training programs, public service employees spend more than the allocated amount of time to complete a particular task for a client. Thus, when employees are observed to spend an abnormal amount of time on a service, it could be that the employee is not properly trained for the job. It can be concluded that providing a well-designed training program for public service employees before and during job activities leads to high public service employee performance. As Neugeboren (1985:131) noted: Training employees to understand organizational purposes and the particular techniques that these require is a function of supervisory and staff development personnel. It is an important function, as training can to some extent lessen the need for control: 'Training prepares the organization member to reach satisfactory decisions himself without the need for the constant exercise of authority. . . Training procedures are alternatives to the exercise of authority or advice as a means of control over the subordinate's decision. [Simon, 1957: 15-16] In addition, training affects public service employees' ethics, as was previously mentioned in the discussion that training such people will positively affect the way they treat clients. Worthley (1981241) points out that "Every public employee makes decisions that have ethical implications. Developing an awareness of and sensitivity toward these implications is the task of education and training in public sector ethics." In order to obtain high public service employee efficiency and courtesy, the researcher assumes that 96 practicing reward and discipline should be enforced. Both the findings and related literature confirmed this idea. The hypthosis related to this notion was supported after obtaining a statistically significant correlation between this variable (training and discipline) and the dependent or outcome variables (efficiency and courtesy). Specifically, it was assumed that if public service employees do not feel that they are under control or supervision, they will deviate and not achieve their tasks as they should. For example, not being at the desk most of the time could be a result of absence of enforcing the discipline system. From the findings, it is seen that 66 percent of the respondents at least agreed with the research study‘s assumption that there is a lack of enforcing a discipline system in most public service organizations, which causes some corruption. In addition, subjects were asked to express their opinions about the importance of direct supervision, whether it would lead to high public service employee efficiency or not. Indeed, 64 percent thought that supervision is effective positively. When subjects were asked whether public service employees should be disciplined if they (the clients) complained about services not being properly provided, sixty-four percent thought that discipline is not 97 available. In fact, as Ghosheh noted, it is expected that public service employees will work in the best way when they understand that they could be disciplined if any of their clients complain about their service. Such employees should also understand that the discipline could be extended to dismissal from their jobs if they are not qualified for the job or if they deviate from the rules. In fact, discharging employees in Saudi Arabia is not an easy action because there is no high competition between people for recruitment; and because it is a conservative society, such an action would cause many problems for the individual. Moreover, 63 percent of the respondents conceived that it should be done and dismiss those unqualified for the job. Schermerhorn, Hunt and Osborn (1984:179) point out that: Punishment is administering an unpleasant consequence contingent upon the occurrence of an undesirable behavior. To punish an employee, a manager may deny the individual a valued extrinsic reward, such as praise or even merit pay; or the manager may administer an adverse or obnoxious stimulus such as reprimand or monetary fine. Respondents‘ responses indicated that achieving service should not depend upon the employees' mood; rather it should depend on the rules and should not be determined by the employees themselves, yet it should be by the rules. As mentioned in the literature review, Ghosheh (1983) argued the importance of establishing a 98 disciplinary system in public service organizations. He mentions that as the public organization needs the reward system to encourage its employees to strive for good performance, it is also important to have a disciplinary system in the public organization. As indicated in the literature review, the discipline system contributes to high public service employee performance, reward also would lead to high public service employee performance. Active employees should not be treated as those who are not active; rather he/she should be rewarded and should be persuaded to encourage other employees to act effectively. Reward could be material or non-material. That is, an organization may honor its active employees or give them an appreciative certificate, and so on. In this research, such an idea was examined by asking subjects about the importance of honoring employees on a display board accessible to the public. Seventy—three percent of the respondents agreed with this idea and thought most of their public service organizations do not have such a board. Money is the most important instrument in terms of rewarding employees. It is a strong motivation in order to gain high employee performance. Moore (1977) said: It is a theory of motivation in the work environment. Vroom theorizes that the employee's motivation to perform a job action, such as outstanding performance, is a function of his or 99 her perceived utility of the job action (expec— tancy, in Vroom's terminology) in obtaining a reward, such as pay or a promotion, multiplied by the value of the reward. Both the utility of the job action and the reward must have positive values before the employee would be motivated to perform the job action. (p. 99) It should be noted, before continuing this discussion, that this item was deleted in this variable (rewarding and disciplining public service employees) and the test of correlation was performed without it. Moreover, the researcher wants to discuss this item even though it is not consistent with the other items because it seems essential. Since public service employees are dealing directly with the public, such employees should receive additional wages. It is not easy to deal with clients because clients are different in background, mood, education, age, and so on. Therefore, those employees should be a special case. They should be patient, tolerant, and treat each case individually. For this reason, they should receive additional wages. Nonetheless, the findings show that the majority of the respondents disagreed that these employees should be paid additional wages for dealing directly with clients; rather they should act as their positions requires them to act. Hence, the researcher suggests, based upon the responses, that public service employees should not be paid additional wages just because of the nature of their jobs; they should be in special cases in terms of 100 payment and responsibilities. It can be concluded, according to the findings, that enforcing such a program would lead to high efficiency and courtesy in public service employees. A complaint program could be a tool for providing good service to the public, as discussed in the related literature and findings. Public service organizations cannot be aware of everything about the organization, especially things related to clients. Thus, authorities in public service organizations should listen to their clients in order to provide high quality service. They are supposed to open their doors and welcome all clients' suggestions and comments. Otherwise, they will not be successful because they see things only from their own point of view. The fourth hypothesis was supported by testing the correlation between this variable (complaint program) and the dependent variable (efficiency and courtesy). Thus, the sample indicates that having such a program will lead to high efficiency and courtesy by public service employees. When subjects were asked whether the authorities in public service organizations open their doors to the public, it was found that 57 percent of the respondents thought that authorities in public service organizations do not open their doors and are difficult to reach. In addition, subjects were asked to give their observations 101 about providing complaint and suggestion boxes in public service organizations because it was assumed that having such boxes means that the public service organizations are aware of their clients and are attempting to improve public service employee efficiency. Fifty-nine percent (a majority) of the respondents thought that there are no such boxes in most public service organizations. Also, it was found that clients are always hesitant to express their suggestions or comments to public service organization authorities. This outcome was obtained from 56 percent of the research sample. The reason for this seems to be that if they try to make such complaints, nobody will listen to them; therefore they are always hestitant to express their opinions or comments. The researcher tried to determine whether the subjects perceived that Saudi authorities in public service organizations are eager to know and listen to their clients if the clients do not express their opinions. The findings were that most respondents thought authorities are not eager to do so. Neverthe— less, the researcher believes that if clients do not express their suggestions and comments, leaders and planners of public service organizations should reach their clients and encourage them to express their opinions about their services. 102 The previously discussed literature confirmed the assumption that public service organizations should have a complaint program in order to deliver their services in the best way. Ziegenfuss (1985) believes that complaint programs allow organizations to effectively listen to their clients and employees and to create an interactive sense of organizational participation. As a result of the absence of control on public service employees, their efficiency and courtesy is very poor. That is, respondents thought that most Saudi public service employees have a low efficiency. Further, the way they handle their services seems ineffective to most of the respondents. Their efficiency does not correspond with the fast rate of development in Saudi Arabia, where modern technology and advanced systems are utilized yet there is a gap between modern materials that Saudi Arabia has (such as computers, communication systems, and other materials) and the activity of public service employees. As a result of this problem, some corruption exists. For example, respondents believe that many citizens seek help from others whom they know to obtain their services because of the poorness of public service employee efficiency. In other words, favoritism will increase as long as the efficiency of public service employees remains poor. 103 Not only that, but respondents also thought that most of the public service organizations do not care about the weaknesses of their employees who deal directly with clients. The results show that respondents believed that the way they are treated by public service employees is not good. That is, most public service employees do not respect clients and there is unfairness with their clients. For example, clients are treated differently according to their name, social position, address, and so on. In addition, public service employees seemed to the subjects to be impolite, not knowing to deal with clients in a nice way, and uninterested in serving the public. The organization should select employees who have interest because they are dealing with clients, not just paperwork, so if that interest is absent the employee may not be doing their job as they should be. Finally, the researcher believes that when citizens talk about a phenomenon negatively, there should be something wrong with it. As a matter of fact, respondents were asked whether people talk negatively about public service employees. Their response was affirmative, that there is such a problem. Therefore it is a phenomenon since this problem exists. 104 Summary and Conclusions The purpose of this study was to investigate the attitudes of Saudi students who are studying in the United States about the effect of control on public service employees in Saudi Arabia. They are treated as Saudi clients. One hundred twenty—five persons among 2300 male Saudi students studying in the United States were elected to respond to the questionnaire instrument designed for this study. Frequency and percentage distributions were utilized in this research to examine the subjects‘ responses to all items in the questionnaire. In addition, Pearson correlation between the four independent variables (selection of public service employees, training of public service employees, reward and discipline, and having a complaint program) and the two dependent variables (efficiency and courtesy of public service employees) was performed for this study as well. The findings show a highly significant statistical relationship between variables. Thus all the major research hypotheses were supported from the data obtained in this investigation. The conclusion being demonstrated by the researcher, based upon the outcome of this research, is: public service employees should be treated in a different way than most bureaucratic employees. Hence, 105 as the respondents indicated, public service employees should be carefully selected; not every one is proper to the position. Certain criteria should be formed for such employees. In addition, the subjects agreed with the researcher that it is not enough to select the proper person to be a public servant; he or she should also have special training related to the nature of the work he or she is going to do. Employees should receive some training before getting involved in their jobs as well as during the time they perform their job in order to deliver good service to the public. Employees are not the same with regard to their energy and activity; thus, the findings show that very active employees should be rewarded either tangibly or intangibly. At the same time, an inactive employee should be disciplined in order to prevent such an employee and encouraging others as well. Authorities in public service organizations do not know everything that happens in the organization, especially between agents and clients. Therefore, respondents believed that public service authorities should listen to the public's suggestions and comments and welcome their opinions. Not only that but they should also encourage their clients to make comments and suggestions to the organization's authorities. Finally, it is the researcher‘s opinion that the situation in Saudi Arabia concerning public service 106 employees is a normal one given the short time such organizations have been in existence. Since Saudi Arabia is a new country attempting to follow in the footsteps of developed countries and is rushing development plans, it will pay a price by having some problems. Moreover, the researcher believes that it is on the right track and it is, in fact, gaining the fruit of the development plans. Nevertheless, sponsers should pay more attention to some obstacles that come in the face of national development and this problem under investigation is one of the obstacles that come in the face of developing this country. Further Studies Based upon the outcome of this study, the researcher suggests some ideas for further studies in order to improve Saudi public service organizations in terms of the condition of those employees who deal directly with the public. Such research could be done in Saudi Arabia by asking the Saudi public how they conceive of the services provided by public service organizations. Further it could be conducted for a single type of public service organization. The present study could be called an external study in that people out of the organizations were the subjects of the study. Future research could conduct 107 such a study internally; i.e., studying the organiza— tional structure and rules. Also some observations could be done from the setting, where the interaction between employees and clients is held. In addition, future research could make some comparisons between the public's attitudes and a study of the organization from the inside. Finally, further study could be conducted in the form of cross—cultural comparative studies. For example, researchers could compare Saudi public service organizations with different organizational systems in the United States or some other developed countries. APPENDIX 108 Dear Student: I am a Saudi student studying for my master‘s degree in the sociology department at Michigan State University. The purpose of this questionnaire is to gather data about the effect of control on public service employees in order to provide good service to the public in Saudi Arabia. Your participation in this study is highly needed. without your help, such a study cannot be done. I hope you will be able to take a few minutes to complete the short enclosed questionnaire. Your responses will be completely confidential and there is no need to write your name anywhere. Your participation in this survey is voluntary. You may, without penalty, elect not to participate at all, or not to answer certain questions. You may indicate your willingness to participate by completing and returning this survey. A stamped and pre-addressed envelope is enclosed for your convenience. Thank you so much for your participation and cooperation. Very sincerely, Khalid Al—Awwad P.O. BOX 27553 Lansing, MI 48909 109 What is your age? less than 20 [ ] 20—25 [ ] 26—30 [ ] 31—35 [ ] 36—40 [ ] more than 40 [ ] What is your marital status? single [ ] married [ ] What is your level of education (the level you are studying at now)? high school [ ] undergraduate [ ] graduate M.A. [] graduate Ph.D. [ ] other (please specify) In Saudi Arabia, where did you live? on a farm [ ] in a small city [ ] in a village [ ] in a large city [] Before you came to the United States, in your job in Saudi Arabia did you deal directly with the public? yes [ ] no [ ] How long have you been in the United States? less than 6 months [ ] 1-7 years [ ] more than 7 years [] When was your last trip to Saudi Arabia? Month Year How long had you been there? less than one month [ ] one month [] two months [ ] more than two months [ ] How often do you go to Saudi Arabia? more than once a year [ ] once a year [] every two years [ ] less than once per two years [ ] 110 For the following questions, please choose the answer that comes closest to your thoughts, feelings or impressions. The answers are given on a scale from 1 to 7. Select a number between 1 and 7 which most closely reflects the degree to which you agree or disagree with the statement, with "1" being "strongly disagree" and "7" being "strongly agree." Chose your answer by circling the appropriate number. (Please note also that all questions are about Saudi Arabia.) Strongly Strongly Disagree Agree 10. It seems that most public service employees in Saudi Arabia have less than a high school education. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 11. The age of public service employees does not correspond with the duties of the type of work they are involved in. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 12. For me, Saudis are more appropriate for public service jobs than non—Saudis. l 2 3 4 5 6 7 13. Generally, the public service employees I encountered are not tolerant. l 2 3 4 5 6 7 14. Most public service employees do not realize what their organizational goals or departmental goals are, or their reponsibilities. l 2 3 4 5 6 7 15. Most public service employees do not realize their duties and responsibilities toward the public. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 16. As I encounter public service employees, I think that the way they handle their tasks reflects well-designed training programs in their past (before they were assigned to their present job). 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 111 Strongly Disagree In their present positions, I think that public service employees still have the opportunity to be involved in training programs for better quality of service. 1 2 Because there is a lack of extensive training programs, public service enployees spend more than an allocated amount of time to achieve a particular task for a client. 1 2 The lack of enforcing the discipline systen on public service enployees contributes to the problem of employees not always being at their desks. 1 2 Because of the absence of direct supervision, public service enployees do not provide effective services to the public. 1 2 My observation is that most public service organizations do not have a display board in which they could honor their active employees. 1 2 Since public service employees are not paid additional wages for dealing directly with clients, the actions of these employees are not as appropriate as they should be. 1 2 In my experience, if some of the public service employees are not helpful in the proper way, they will be punished if I complain about then. 1 2 Because most public service employees know that they will not be fired, the service they provide depends on their mood. l 2 Since there is no time Inuit for each type of service provided, the thne needed to complete a service is determined by the enployees thenselves. l 2 Strongly ‘ Agree 6 7 6 7 6 7 6 7 6 7 6 7 6 7 6 7 6 7 26. 27. 28. 29. 30. 31. 32. 33 34. 35. 112 Strongly Strongly Disagree Agree Authorities in public service organizations open their doors to the public's complaints and suggestions. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Most public service organizations have complaint boxes which the public can see and use. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Clients are always hesitant to express their suggestions and comments to the organization's authorities because they know that nobody will listen to them. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 It is easy to express an opinion in the media about public service organizations and public service employees. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Supervisors in public service organizations are eager to listen to the public's canments and suggestions. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 The way public service employees handle their services seems to be very effective. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 The thme allocated for public service employees to accomplish their jobs is less than ordinarily needed. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 The average efficiency of public service employees does not correspond with the fast rate of development in Saudi Arabia. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Public service organizations do not care about the weaknesses of public service employees (for example, they do not have evaluation procedures). 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Some citizens seek help from others whom they know to follow their services because it will take a long thme to obtain their services. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 113 Strongly Disagree 36. Most public service employees do not respect clients. 3 4 5 37. Public service employees treat clients fairly regardless of any consideration (for example, without regard to social position or address, etc.). 2 3 4 5 38. Most clients hesitate to seek service from public service organizations because of the way they will be treated by public service employees (for example, the slow way, the harsh way, etc.). 2 3 4 5 39. Most public service employees are very courteous and polite with their clients. 2 3 4 5 40. Most public service employees do not know how to deal with clients. 2 3 4 5 41. Most public service employees are sincerely interested in serving the public. 2 3 4 5 42. People always talk negatively about the way public service employees treat them. 2 3 4 5 Please write below any other comments you may have. Thank you. Strongly Agree 6 7 6 7 6 7 6 7 6 7 6 7 ‘6 7 REFERENCES REFERENCES Blau, Peter M. and Scott, W. 1962 Formal Organization: A Comparative Approach; San Francisco: Chandler Pub. Co., pp. 59—86. Ghosheh, Zaki. 1983 Ethics in Public Administration; Altwofeek Press, Amman, Jordan; p. 35. Gibson, J. L., Ivancevich, J. M. and J. H. Donnelly 1973 Organization: Structure, Process, Behavior; Dallas, Texas: Business Publications, Inc. Lovrich, Nicholas P., Jr. 1981 Professional and the Public Interest: Sources of Judgement; Public Personnel Management Journal, Vol. 10, No. 1, pp. 87-91. Mills, P., Chase, R., and Margulies, N. 1983 Motivation: The Client/Employee System as a Service Production Strategy; Academy of Management Review, Vol. 8, No. 2, pp. 301-302. Moore, Perry 1977 Reward and Public Employees' Attitudes Toward Client Service; Public Personnel Management, Vol. 6, March—April. Neugeboren, Bernard 1985 Authority, Control and Power Organization, Policy and Practice in the Human Services; New York: Longman. Prottas, Jeffrey M. 1979 People—Processing, Introduction: 'Poofl You're a Clientl'; Toronto: Lexington Books. 114 115 Sabagh, Z. 1985 The Dimension of Ethic in the Civil Service Bureau; Public Administration; No. 48, December, 1985; Riyadh, Saudi Arabia (in Arabic). Saudi Arabia 1985 Fourth Development Plan (1985—1990); Ministry of Planning, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Schermerhorn, J.R., Hunt, J.G., and R. N. Osborn 1984 Managing Organizational Behavior; New York: Wiley. Weiner, Myron. 1982 Human Resources (Personnel). In Human Service Management. Homewood, IL: The Dorsy Press, pp. 473-498. Worthley, John A. 1981 Ethics and Public Management: Education and Training; Public Personnel Management Journal, Vol. 10, No. 1, pp. 41—47. 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