To ensure greater success in its regular projects, Abu-Dhabi Police (ADP) is working on: training their project managers, applying project management software, utilising the services of engineering consultants, etc. However, the performance and outcomes of its projects are still not fully meeting the desired expectations. Therefore, a study to understand some of the undermining factors was carried out. A critical literature review was carried out initially where it was established that project delivery and outcomes are affected in part by the three overarching factors of: project managers’ characteristics, organizational culture and project management culture. On this basis a conceptual framework was developed highlighting how these 3 compound factors affect project performance and outcome; and in particular how ADP’s values relate with the competencies of their project managers. The empirical aspects involved the use of mixed methods where the first part was a quantitative survey of the understanding and achievement of both ADP’s 5 values (part of organizational culture) and 15 competencies (part of project manager’s characteristics), as well as the impact of the former on the later. A questionnaire was administered to 157 people for data collection and 71 fully completed responses were obtained, representing a response rate of 45%. Descriptive statistics were used to evaluate the levels of achievement of ADP’s values and competencies, which were found to be high. The analysis went on to use ordered logistic regression to examine the association between the attainment of ADP’s values and competencies. The findings showed that the 5 values impact on the competencies of ADP’s project managers differently; for example, the value of ‘integrity and honesty’ impacts heavily on the 5 competencies of Integration management, Scope management, Time management, Achieving and action, and Leadership; while the value of ‘effective communication’ impacts heavily on the 3 competencies of Scope management, Cost management, and Achieving and action. An advanced training programme was subsequently developed for ADP to further increase the attainment of values and competencies by their project managers. This programme was developed in focus group discussions that involved some selected project managers who had long working experience and high understanding of ADP project schemes. A further round of focus group discussions was also used to validate this advanced training programme.

Crime and other kinds of anti-social behaviour are viewed as serious social problems. These issues exist in all countries, but they are especially prevalent within the UAE, a country that recently has undergone rapid social changes within a short period of time. There is a vital need to identify appropriate preventive programmes suitable to the surrounding culture, as well as factors that could lead to effective solutions. Because there is a deficiency of research on crime prevention within Arab countries, this study focuses explicitly on the prevention of juvenile delinquency in the UAE. It considers processes of implementing effective crime prevention strategies, approaches, and programmes. This study uses qualitative methods, in the form of document analyses and semi-structured interviews. The first element of data-gathering is an exploration of the context of juvenile delinquency and juvenile crime prevention in Abu Dhabi, something which has not comprehensively been done before. The second part concentrates on participants from the Abu Dhabi Police force and other organisations involved in preventive work in the area of juvenile delinquency, in order to obtain extensive and detailed information about the dynamics of juvenile crime and potential strategies of prevention. The findings of this research offer several recommendations that could help to implement successful prevention strategies in the Middle East in general and in the UAE in particular. This study identifies and explains critical risk factors, and explores the cultural considerations that must be taken into account when designing and implementing prevention programmes. It identifies several requirements that should be considered for the formation of partnerships in the prevention of juvenile crime. It includes some important recommendations for the Abu Dhabi Police force for its future development and improvement. It also contains some general recommendations for the Government of the United Arab Emirates. Further research directions are also suggested, in light of this study’s findings and its potential limitations.

This reflective analysis of the Emirati public policy process (PPP) cycle and implications of uneven application of new public management (NPM) paradigms in the UAE offers insight into the way that public administrations develop, learn, evolve, and cope with new challenges during the policy development process. The author also assesses the relationship between organizational learning and organizational practices, to generate practical knowledge and experience that is translated into recommendations that will benefit UAE government organizations, and indeed any public sector organization in the Gulf Region. Inside action research was chosen to emphasize the author's dual role as both a researcher and a participant. As an advisor to both the Ministry of the Interior (MOI) of the UAE and the Abu Dhabi Police (ADP), the author helped both organisations improve their PPP experiences while researching the challenges, learning, and adaptations which occurred while policy was being developed within the MOI. The author generated data through reflective memos, informal interviews, and document analysis, and presents her findings in terms of both academic findings and practice-oriented recommendations. The author primarily found that new models were necessary to reflect the highly flexible and authority-oriented UAE PPP cycle. The author also explored how cultural understandings led to challenges with NPM and learning in the UAE public administration, hindering policy development. Finally, the author found that her own position, as a female expatriate in the Emirati government, allowed for some valuable reflection about experience of serving in a Global South public administration.