How Wasta Practiced by HRM Employees Hampers Entrepreneurs’ Innovation and Sustainable Development: The Case of the MENA Region
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This study examines the relationship between Wasta—a social network based on family, lineage, tribe, and extended family ties—practiced by senior HRM employees, and how it affects entrepreneurial creativity, innovation, and sustainable development in the MENA region. The study also explores why entrepreneurs and countries in the MENA region are not ranked among the top 100 innovators in the Global Innovation Index. Additionally, it addresses why Wasta, as practiced by HRM employees, can impede sustainable development. The author drew on Amabile's Componential Theory of Organizational Creativity and Model of Creativity and Innovation in Organizations. Evidence was gathered from articles on Wasta, secondary data from the Global Innovation Index (GII) for 2025, and the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM NECI) in 2024. Secondary datasets were analyzed using constant comparative analysis of documents. These datasets included accessible online indices, the Global Innovation Index in 2025, the World's Most Innovative Companies Index by Forbes, and the Top 100 Global Innovators 2024 Rankings by Clarivate. The study develops a theoretical framework for the link between Wasta and sustainable development. It concludes that Wasta, when practised by senior HRM employees, is likely a reason why MENA entrepreneurs fall short in achieving sustainable development and why the region's countries are not among the top 100 innovative countries globally. The study answers why Wasta hinders sustainable development among MENA entrepreneurs. It recommends that entrepreneurs recognise the importance of fair HRM practices in hiring, supervisor selection, candidate selection, and promotions to foster innovation and sustainable development. The conclusions may also encourage policymakers to create and enforce new rules to reduce Wasta if they aim to stimulate innovation, sustainable development, and economic advantage in the MENA region.