I've had the opportunity to fly both in western and eastern "type" companies, both with their sop's and lack of sop's for some of them, all formed with a variety of pilots coming with widely different backgrounds, education and experience levels and I can say sop's are good, they are wonderful as long as they have been developed with consideration to the respective type of operation and workforce characteristics by the operator.
They usually enhance safety and if used properly set the tone for good cockpit atmosphere and CRM. But THEY ARE NEVER A SUBSTITUTE FOR GOOD JUDGMENT AND AIRMANSHIP. as simple as that.
happy new year!