Attraction and Retention of Stem Students in the UAE - Research Proposal Example

MBA 6503 GLOBAL STRATEGY & COMPETITIVENESS CAPSTONE BUSINESS PROJECT PROPOSAL Outline Project Plan Name: Table of Contents Table of Contents 2 2 Introduction 3 Study background 3 Description of the problem area 4 Statement of the Significance of the study 5 Aim and Objectives of the current study 6 Research questions 7 Methodological framework 7 Data Analysis 8 References 9 Introduction Globalisation has accelerated networking of economies, increased competition, technological development, and search for talented workforce in the modern-day business environment. As a result, globalisation has necessitated the need for organisations to increase their competitiveness in the global marketplace. The process has increasingly become tied to the quality of workforce an organisation attracts and retains, since organisations depend on their talents of their employees to gain competitiveness. In today’s economic environment, attracting and retaining talented employees has become an extremely significant strategy for the human resource management (Forstenlechner, 2010). Still, attraction and retention of talented employees is a constant challenge for businesses. In United Arabs Emirates, there is a wealth of research literature attesting to the fact that attraction and retention of local talented workforce (especially STEM students) is a grave concern managers have to contend with due to scarcity of local expertise, lack of motivation from the local workforce, and high competition from expatriates (Randeree & Chaudhry, 2012). This research will therefore provide new empirical data, specifically with reference to attraction and retention of STEM students in the UAE. Study background UAE is a significant economic focal point in the Middle East. Over the past decade, UAE has rapidly transformed into a dynamic global economy because of influx of foreign workforce, expertise, talents, culture and practices. The main impact of increased globalisation in UAE is the rise in migration of international labour, increase rates of employee turnover, low retention rates, and clashes in organisational culture (Shore et al, 2009). High dependence on foreign workforce, especially technology experts, has also been among the unintended implications of the dynamic social and economic transformation in the UAE (Forstenlechner, 2010). Therefore, integrating UAE nationals with technological expertise into the workforce remains an underlying problem for the Government and the people of UAE (Randeree & Chaudhry, 2012). The proposed study aims to study the issue using and exploratory framework to identify the mains aspects necessary for effective localisation of the workforce, with special reference to attracting and retaining STEM students in the business organisations in UAE. The need to attract and retain local talents remains a priority for UAE business organisations due to the need to establish long-term internal competitiveness and sustainability (Forstenlechner, 2010). The proposed study is an attempt to fill the gap in research literature within the context of investigating the critical success factors (CSF) that affect effective implementation of human resource development (HRD) in promoting attraction and retention of STEM students. Description of the problem area Because of the unique economic, social, and historical reasons, nationalisation or localisation of the workforce remains a primary thrust area for UAE. However, high dependence on foreign technological expertise remains an unintended implication of the dynamic social and economic transformation in the UAE. This is since the foreign workforce has a high turnover rate (Suliman & Obaidli, 2011). This affects business continuity and productivity due to talent succession problems (Al Awad, 2010). Therefore, integrating local UAE technological expertise into the workforce remains an alternative for most organizations in the UAE. However, attracting UAE technological expertise remains an underlying challenge for business organizations in the country. A fundamental concern is that organizations in the UAE lack effective strategies to attract and retain talented STEM students (Al Awad, 2010). Still, the need to attract and retain local STEM students remains a priority for UAE business organisations due to the need to establish long-term internal competitiveness and sustainability. However, few studies have tried to explain why organisations have not been able to attract local talents, skills and expertise to cover up for the foreign workforce, which tends to be highly mobile (Suliman & Obaidli, 2011). These prompt the need for a study on effective human resource development strategies to attract and retain the local technological expertise in UAE. In fact, despite the emphasis on nationalisation initiatives in the UAE, international HRM literature is yet to provide broad coverage and analyses of the issues facing inability to attract and retain local talents in the UAE (Al Awad, 2010). A survey of literature shows that the issue of Emiratisation has received scant coverage in international literature. The proposed study is planned within this background to examine the role of human resource management, with special reference to attracting and retaining STEM students in the business organisations in UAE. Statement of the Significance of the study The study will become the first comprehensive study of attracting and retaining STEM students in business organisations of the UAE. The study will have theoretical and practical significance. It will advance knowledge and insight into the key local employee attraction and retention variables affecting business organisations in the UAE. It will also assist UAE business organisations in developing HRD strategies to promote retention rates, job satisfaction and organisational commitment among STEM students. The study will provide new perspectives for testing Western theories and hypotheses found in HRM studies regarding employee retention. The results of the study will improve understanding of the importance of HRD strategies to implement talent management in business organisations in UAE as well as how these strategies can promote employee retention. The findings will help business managers to attain competitive edge for their organisations through effective talent management and employee retention. It will help organisations and policymakers in the UAE to gain an insight into the extent to which the businesses in the country can identify and support talent management (of STEM students) and retain the local talents. It will enable local organisations to increase the productivity of local workforce and to motivate them. The study will also make recommendations on strategies business organisations can use to promote talent management in order to attract and retain local yet specialised managerial staff members. Aim and Objectives of the current study The proposed study aims to investigate the critical success factors (CSF) that influence effective implementation of human resource development initiatives in attracting and retaining local STEM students in the workforce. The study objectives include: To establish how organisations can create an appealing image to attract and retain STEM students who will flow into companies and necessary professions. To determine what companies can do to engage students in order to help stimulate these fields. To determine the extent to which HRD practices in the UAE may affect retention of STEM students in business organisations in the UAE To investigate the key challenges UAE business organisations face in respect to retention of STEM students. To investigate the influence of job satisfaction on rates of staff turnover in UAE business organisations. Research questions How can business organisations in the UAE create an appealing image to attract and retain STEM students? What strategies should business organisations use to engage students in order to help stimulate these fields? To what the extent can HRD practices in the UAE affect retention of STEM students in business organisations in the UAE? What are the key challenges that UAE organisations face in respect to retention of STEM students? What is the influence of job satisfaction on rates of staff turnover in UAE business organisations? Methodological framework The proposed study will use mixed method of research, consisting of qualitative research methods (case study) and quantitative research method (structured interviews). The study will be limited to business organisations in the UAE. An in-depth case study will be used to supplement the quantitative data collected through structured questionnaires. Quantitative research methodology will be used to gain an insight into and categorise the HR environment in the target UAE business organisations. The qualitative research methodology will be used particularly to answer the research questions. Data Analysis Data analysis will take from stages: analysing of transcripts containing raw interview data, treating the raw data to accessible forms, classifying treated data into themes categories, and lastly analysis and interpretation of data. Consolidating the raw data to metadata will be carried out using Nvivo program to help in sorting out various data themes. The Statistics Package for Social Science software (SPSS) will be applied the analysis of the survey. References Al Awad, M. (2010). The Cost of Foreign Labor in the United Arab Emirates. Dubai: Institute for Social & Economic Research Forstenlechner, I. (2010). Workforce localization in emerging Gulf economies: the need to fine-tune HRM. Personnel Review 39(1), 135-152 Randeree, K. & Chaudhry, A. (2012). Leadership – style, satisfaction and commitment: An exploration in the United Arab Emirates’ construction sector. Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management 19(1), 61-85 Suliman, A. & Obaidli, H. (2011). Organizational climate and turnover in Islamic banking in the UAE. Organizational climate and turnover in Islamic banking in the UAE. International Journal of Islamic and Middle Eastern Finance and Management 4(4), 308-324 Shore, L., Chung-Herrera, B., Dean, M., Holcombie, E., Jung, D., Randel, A. & Singh, G. (2009). Diversity in organizations: Where are we now and where are we going? Human Resource Management Review 19, 117–133 Read More