Enterprise change and economic transformation in Egypt

• Main Author: Gebba, Tarek Roshdy
• Published: University of Manchester 2000
• Subjects: 658.4
• Online Access: http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.632632

This thesis is mainly concerned with understanding how large Egyptian enterprises have adapted to the transformations in their economic environments. Particularly, attention is paid to exploring the changes in Egyptian enterprises, in terms of ownership relations, strategic priorities, contractual relations and personnel policies, which have taken place in response to the economic transformations. The data for this research was obtained through personal interviews with semor managers and workers' representatives, in various Egyptian enterprises: SOEs, mostly and fully privatised enterprises and joint venture enterprises. In addition, some policy makers were also interviewed. Case studies of thirteen Egyptian enterprises were undertaken. These were chosen so as to reflect different kinds of ownership and managerial styles. A simple statistical analysis along with qualitative analysis techniques, were applied to analyse the data. The findings of this research show that changes in ownership and control, strategic priorities, contractual relations and personnel policies were not as radical as some observers had expected. The institutional environment, continued state intervention in the enterprises' decision making process, the dominance of the state over the banking sector and key suppliers of electricity, water and oil together with the high level of risk involved in making radical changes in enterprises' activities and technology have limited the extent and effects of changes in the aforementioned dimensions. This research has drawn on earlier work on enterprise change in Hungary and other eastern European economies and contributes, therefore, to the comparative analysis ~ of organisational change in transitional economies