SEEU Review vol. 6 Nr. 2 (pdf) - South East European University

Artan LimaniIn post-socialist countries, on the other hand, as a result of theaforementioned reasons, there is a common disbelief among the employeesas they feel threatened by the management since even in today’s newdemocracy the management is the same and it operates along the samepremises as in socialism. This evidence was my primary motivation for myresearch project. Having lived in Macedonia, a post-socialist country, and inthe United States which is an older democratic country, and from havingworked in both, I observed the difference which triggered my researchinterest which led me to the hypothesis that organizations in olderdemocracies promote democratic and open environments where employeesfeel free and care about the organization for which they work and vice-versa.To test my hypothesis, I studied an organization in the United States whileconducting observations. Although my study has limitations, (i.e. time,research method, study objective, etc.) I was able to interrogate keyinformation regarding its functioning from the communication perspective.To compare and contrast my findings I offer insights about both UnitedStates and Macedonian organizations. Due to the lack of research centeringon Macedonian organizational processes and practices, my study provides amuch needed insight where current organizational communicationscholarship is lacking. To inform my research I draw form Ziberi’s (2004)work which was a replication and extension of a previous study conducted inthe United States. The original study conducted in the United States is titledEmployee Mistreatment and Muted Voices in the Culturally DiverseWorkplace, by Meares, et. al. (2004). The initial research examinedmistreatment from the perspective of employees with different culturalbackgrounds, albeit all from the U.S. As such, it examined how people fromdifferent U.S. cultural subgroups talk or do not talk about mistreatment inthe workplace, along with the factors that contribute to these differences.The purpose of this paper is to interrogate and explain how organizationsfunction in older democracies. To validate my study I offer a comparison ofthe ways in which organizations function in non-democratic or newdemocracies: countries which derive from or have a socialist past. Totheoretically ground my argument I draw from Ziberi’s (2004) study ofmistreatment in culturally diverse organizations. Although, Ziberi’s workcenters particularly on mistreatment, this study, however, offers a usefulvantage point on which to compare and contrast the organizations in mystudy.Further, to prove my standpoint and my hypothesis that organizations inolder democracies create and sustain organizational environments whereemployees feel as an embedded part of the organization with high morale,84