Culture Diversity in the Workplace in the UAE - Assignment Example

Human resource management Name of the Student: Name of the Instructor: Name of the course: Code of the course: Submission date: Human resource management Question one: Explain how human resource managers can help their organization achieve a sustainable competitive advantage through the strategic utilization of people. How are the strategic objectives of the organization linked to the strategic human resource objectives of the organization? Include some examples from the public or private sector organizations in Abu Dhabi The functions of human resource managers have been tied to sustained competitive advantage at the organizational level. According to Wright, McMahan and McWilliams (1994, 303), competitive advantage can be perceived to be in occurrence when a certain firm is executing a strategy which is value creating and which is not being executed at a simultaneous time by either the current or prospective competitors. Human resource managers can strategically use people under them to generate sustainable competitive advantage for their organization through several ways. Firstly, based on the fact that the human resource managers greatly influence the level of creativity and innovation among the employees, this can go a long way in generating sustainable competitive advantage for the firm. The above reality is based on the fact that human resource managers motivate the employees and instill a sense of commitment to their roles in the organization. This is evident at the Etihad Airways in Abu Dhabi whereby the motivation and input of the human resource managers has been central in the innovation of unique services which meet the dynamic needs of the consumers. Secondly, human resource managers are mandated with the role of recruiting human capital which has competent knowledge and skills to suit the needs of an organization. In this regard, the basic competency of the human resource managers to select and recruit skilled employees results in the development a human resource that is unique and this ultimately culminates in the overall sustainable competitive advantage of the organization. Lastly, the human resource managers are usually responsible for training the employees, both new ones and old ones. In this regard, the employees are able to be updated on the recent trends in the wider industry and gain knowledge on how to positively react to things like increased competition in the market. For instance, the human resource managers at the National Bank of Abu Dhabi have been credited for undertaking extensive human resource training in their organization which has resulted in sustained competitive advantage of the bank. The strategic objectives of an organization have been perceived to be linked to the human resource objectives of an organization. This fact is exemplified by the increased importance of cooperation between the employees and their managers towards enhancing the performance of an organization, for instance, in terms of increased revenues and expansion of the organization (Wilkinson, 2000, 1). This is exemplified in Etihad Airport in Abu Dhabi which has a strategic objective of promoting Abu Dhabi as a favorable destination at the global level. This can be perceived to be linked to the human resource objectives at the airport whereby the human resource managers have the goal of fostering creativity among the employees which will result in the creation of important services which will meet the consumers’ needs at the airport. This is also evident in the banking industry in the country whereby the strategic objectives by different banks of meeting certain revenues goals in a given time are linked to the targets in the human resource function. Question two: Three factors currently influencing the field of human management in the UAE Different factors have been cited as posing massive influence on the field of human resource management in the United Arab Emirates. These include but not limited to change in technology, overreliance on expatriates, cultural diversity in the workplace, Emirati demographic and career aspirations and the natural resource dependency and the changing face of industry in the UAE. Nonetheless, this analysis will primarily focus on three factors namely change in technology, cultural diversity in the workplace and Culture diversity in the workplace The activity of managing cultural diversity has evolved into becoming a major area of concern among different institutions in the UAE, both private and public organizations. This is founded on the fact that this region has in the recent decades experienced increased net migration rates. This has been as a result of enormous number of employees from India, Philippines, Australia and Indonesia among other countries getting in to the UAE market in to take advantage of the economic opportunities in this region. Against this background, Al-Jenaibi (2012, 1) determined that this elevated cross-border mobility into the UAE has increased the level of interaction between people who originate from different cultural backgrounds, have different values, language as well as customs which has tended to influence the practices of human resource management in this region, both in the short-term and in the long-term. The high level of cross-border mobility into the UAE is evidenced by the fact that by the end of 2006, the actual number of immigrant workers employed in the private organizations in Dubai emirates constituted a cumulative percentage of 98% of the entire workforce in the private sector. This inter-cultural interaction has been credited for various benefits as well as demerits in the UAE market. Firstly, this cultural diversity has portrayed several merits in terms of the improved level of creativity, innovation and competency in the human capital. This is whereby the differences among the employees from diverse cultural orientations, for instance, exposure to modern technology, work ethics and academic competency greatly influence the magnitude of creativity and innovation in the workforce. This is whereby people from different cultures share ideas in relation to certain issues and come up with upgraded innovations which go a long way in increasing the level of sustainable competitive advantage in the organizations where they are employed as well as the wider sector in the economy. Nonetheless, some people have commented that the basic recognition of the benefits of cultural diversity in the human resource is often found more in theory than in actual practice (Al-Jenaibi, 2012, 1). This is whereby cultural diversity has been credited for increasing the level of dysfunctional adaptation behaviors, miscommunication as well as the generation of multiple barriers which overshadow the several benefits which are brought by this cultural diversity in the organization (Al-Jenaibi, 2012, 1). Majority of the challenges emanating from the cultural diversity usually poses extensive dilemmas in the practices of human resource based on different reasons, for instance, it results in increased level of conflicts among the employees as a result of dysfunctional adaptation behaviors and misalignment of the organizational objectives due to miscommunications. In addition, it is worth noting that this cultural diversity in different workplaces in the UAE has been cited as piling pressure on the human resource management functions in different organizations in this region to implement policies and methods to address the demerits brought about by this phenomenon. Nonetheless, Al-Jenaibi (2012, 2) cited that majority of the companies in the UAE have in place policies and methods which are inconsistent with diversity and need for inter-cultural communication in the UAE workforce. Change in technology Tabassi and Bakar (2008, 2) cited that the rapid changes in technology has resulted in extensive transformation of the employees’ needs, increased competition in the business employment and the overall changes in the production process in different organizations. This has made the practice of human resource management more complex than it was before with the increased needs of planning on the required skills in the production process, the future needs of the workforce and personnel development. It is an evident fact that the changes in technology have influenced the practice of human resource management in the UAE. This is based on several factors as explored in the following analysis. Firstly, the change in technology has obliged the human resource managers to engage in extensive training of the current employees in different organizations for them to have the capability and potential to cope with the upcoming technology in the workplace. In this regard, the human resource management departments in diverse institutions are usually given the responsibilities of implementing training programs in their organizations. This also applies to the new employees who have to be trained on the new technological field in their field of expertise for them to be able to meet the technological requirements of the different functions which they are hired to perform in the organization. On the other hand, Ivancevich (2001, 52) determined that the changes in technology has resulted in rapid responses as it facilitates increased effectiveness and speed in communication which in-turn permits swiftness in the decision making process. This has greatly influenced the human resource management in the UAE whereby human resource managers in different firms have a greater capacity to communicate to the employees in regard to the different decisions that have been agreed upon by the management structure. In addition, the advancements in technology, for instance, electronic mail and electronic conferencing has played a great role in enhancing decision-making process between human resource managers in different branches of certain organizations. This is best exemplified in a banking phenomenon whereby the human resource managers in different geographical locations are able to arrive at decisions on issues affecting the employees in their branches without necessitating them to convene in a central location. This makes the decision making process faster and effective and different human resource issues are able to be addressed with increased efficiency and effectiveness. Nonetheless, changes in technology has also affected negatively affected the human resource practice in different organizations. This is whereby computerization of different processes in the production lines has resulted in the needs to downsize the number of employees as the workers previously in the computerized sector face the threat of being laid-off from the organization. This has created an extra dilemma to the human resource managers in the UAE as they make efforts to ensure that the employees are not laid-off amid the changes in technology which displace them from the organization. Overreliance on expatriates UAE has continued to exhibit a strong reliance on expatriates in its human resource, with this category of the workforce being dominant in the construction field although some are also engaged in the service industry. Moreover, a small minority of these expatriates are engaged in the professional field, for instance, in technology and education among other fields Al-Jenaibi (2012, 1). The overreliance on the expatriates has culminated in a policy in the UAE generally referred to as ‘emiratisation’ which can be perceived as an interventionist approach which has been launched by the governments in this region. The aim of this policy is to minimize the level of reliance on the labor from the expatriates and elevate the level of participation from the nationals in the labor market (Wilkins, 2001, 8). Towards this end, the UAE government has used the National Human Resource Development and Employment Authority which is also referred to as Tanmia to spearhead the emiratisation efforts. The objectives of this body include improvement of skills among the nationals of this region, reduction of the unemployment rate as well as creation of job opportunities for the UAE nationals (Mashood, et. al., 2009, 3). Thus, this has to a great extent influenced the human resource management practices in different organizations as the human resource managers make efforts towards meeting the requirements made by the government in regard to the employment requirement in different industries. This is based on the background that the government in the UAE has chosen certain industries which are viewed as being suitable for the nationals of the UAE to work in and has proceeded to set employment quotas that the organizations in these industries have to meet (Mashood et. al., 2009, 3). Thus, this has affected the practice of human resource management in the selected industries as they attempt to meet these human resource quotas which necessitate several interventions, for instance, training of the UAE nationals on the requirement of different jobs, giving a higher preference to the UAE nationals in the course of the human resource recruitment process and creation of job opportunities specifically for the UAE nationals. These are aimed at reducing the overreliance on expatriates as well as minimization of domestic unemployment in the UAE. Conclusion From the above analysis, it is evident that human resource managers can strategically use people under them to generate sustainable competitive advantage for their organization through different ways. In addition, it is apparent that there is a strong link between the strategic objectives of an organization and human resource objectives of an organization. Lastly, different factors have been perceived as influencing the human resource practice in the UAE, some of which are analyzed in the preceding section. Works cited Al-Jenaibi, Badreya. “The scope and impact of workplace diversity in the United Arab Emirates – A preliminary study.” Malaysia Journal of Society and Space, 8.1 (2012): 1 – 14. Ivancevich, J. M.Human resource management (8th ed.). Boston, MA: McGraw-Hill/Irwin, 2001.  Mashood, Neelofer et. al. “Emiratisation, Omanisation and Saudisation- common causes: common solutions?” 2009. Web. 4th October, 2012. Tabassi, Amin and Bakar, Abu. “Training, motivation, and performance: The case of human resource management in construction projects in Mashhad, Iran.”International Journal of Project Management, 1.1 (2008): 1-10. Wilkins, S. “Human Resource Development through Vocational Educationin the United Arab Emirates: the case study of Dubai Polytechnic.” Journal ofVocational Education and Training, 54.1 (2001): 5-26 Wilkinson, Frank. “Human Resource Management and Business objectives and strategies in Small and Medium sized businesses.” ESRC Center for Business Research, University of Cambridge, Working Paper No. 184. 2000. Web. 4th October, 2012. Wright, Patrick, McMahan, Gary and McWilliams, Abagail. “Human resources and sustained competitiveadvantage: a resource-based perspective.” International Journal of Hunan Resource Management, 5.2(1994): 301-326. Read More