Managing religious identity across cultures: Balancing employees’ and foreign cultural expectations

Abstract

This qualitative study explores the factors that guide the management of religious accommodation in call centers serving overseas clients. Conducted in 2012 and updated in 2024, it features Tunisia-based call centers engaged in business with Western clients. The study finds that these firms’ religious strategies are primarily guided by whether their interactions with Western clients require heightened levels of trust due to the exchange of sensitive information. We also find that some companies that impose religion-accommodation policies on employees do so as part of a dual-accommodation strategy directed both to meeting employees’ cultural expectations and to meeting the cultural expectations of Western clients. The study enriches the cross-cultural and religion management literature by revealing the key factors that guide religious policies in a cross-cultural setting.