Emirati students studying at the University of the Emirates, one of three major public institutions of higher learning in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), have a wide demographic of faculty members teaching them an equally wide variety of courses. All of these courses are mandated to be taught in English. These faculty members bring with them their own cultural assumptions, methods, expectations, educational practices and use of language. While previous studies in multiculturalism explore how faculty members engage, know and understand a multicultural student population, one focus of this thesis is to explore how an international faculty affects a monocultural student body (Brown-Glaude, 2009). Speaking specifically to the students who study in a second language, Badger & MacDonald (2007) argue that there is a difference of culture between learners and educators and acknowledgement of that difference is crucial in understanding students’ needs and academic progress. Often what occurs in the classroom is the students bring with them their own cultural assumptions, ideas, tendencies and expectations while the teacher comes in with what may be completely differing sets of each. This idea is noted by Mughan (1998) who states “In order for language learners to apply the language skills fruitfully and effectively, a knowledge of the cultural environment is essential” (p.124). The aim of the research is to shed light on the effects that an international faculty have on a monocultural student body and vice versa. Specifically, it will look at how divergent attitudes and practices, directly attributable to culture, impact the educational practices in the daily operations of the faculty members and the students. Through this research, I seek to better understand the how the dynamic of having an international teaching faculty differs from what one might call a more traditional cultural education setting in which both the faculty members and students are of the same national culture. The research questions address three themes. First explored are the benefits and pitfalls of having an international faculty with a monocultural student population. Included in this are perceptions of the necessity for such an international faculty, what advantages it offers to students as well what real and potential problems it creates. Secondly, the perceived levels and development of intercultural competence in both faculty members and students is looked at. I examined the perceptions of my participants as to the need for this as well as including why and how this skill set is so important within such an international education environment. Additionally explored was how the significance of that skill set might differ from an educational setting which is not so diverse in culture. Lastly, I wished to have a better understanding of the differences of ontology and epistemology at the University of the Emirates between the international teaching faculty members and their students. Considering the wide spectrum of worldviews that may exist from faculty member to faculty member and how these worldviews may differ from Emirati culture, I felt the practices and operations of such diversity warranted further discussion and exploration. Data were collected via structured interviews with faculty participants and focus groups with student participants. Data were then coded using NVIVO and analyzed through the lens of the literature on multiculturalism in education, development and measurement of intercultural competence and the sociological issues in the contemporary UAE. Findings suggest experience and time served in a multicultural environment remain significant factors in the development of one’s intercultural competence and this should be recognized and better utilized. Also questioned by myself and the participants is the readiness of the UAE as a country and a people for such multiculturalism considering the expedited development and diversity of the current demographics. Results suggest that there is a variance in attitudes regarding the need for multiculturalism in the context of the UAE. Contentions are made regarding the perceived necessity and effectiveness of several aspects of multiculturalism in teaching faculty, as well as the effectiveness or lack thereof of the institution’s preparation of newly-arrived teaching faculty and new students for the cultural diversity they will encounter while teaching and learning at the U of E and in Dubai. The honed-skill of intercultural competence serves as an influential factor throughout the research. Findings presented exemplify how and why it serves as a central skill set to have not only as a globalized member of an international teaching faculty but how and why it is a significant skill fresh graduates must develop during their undergraduate careers at the U of E. Further implications are presented regarding the missed opportunity by the institution to prepare both newly-arrived teaching faculty and students alike for the multicultural education they are to encounter. Aspects of such a multicultural approach include the rationale for having it as well as the mandate of English as a medium of instruction. Examples such as these and others are explored from multiple viewpoints. Additionally, the content which orientation programs include need to be revisited and scrutinized by the institution. The growing field of international education and the implications that effectiveness or ineffectiveness of employment of an international teaching faculty serve as exigencies as to why this research is pertinent to modern education systems. All parties involved, being an international teaching faculty, any student who encounters multiculturalism in education and any administration that employs such multiculturalism in education are stakeholders for whom such findings are relevant.

Abstract The transformation of many universities to corporate-style governance impacts working conditions, work practices, academic work contracts and the autonomy of faculty. Faculty commitment to university business schools is closely associated with faculty members’ perceptions of organizational life and relationships with institutional managers. Commitment oriented behavioral traits of faculty are related to the design of administration structure, workplace setting, job definition and role expectations. It is important to better understand how these factors relate to faculty commitment in business schools, particularly in multicultural and transitional employment economies. This study utilizes the classic 1991 Meyer and Allen three-component model of organizational commitment to understand how expatriate and national faculty perceive their levels of organizational commitment in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The research interprets qualitative data collected through interviews with business school faculty at six institutions across private and public education sectors in UAE. Five factors emerged as central to faculty commitment in the sample group: economic compensation, organizational values, autonomy, organizational support and justice, and leadership. This study makes three important contributions to organizational commitment literature, both augmenting and challenging received notions of faculty commitment: (1) the study introduces a new student-related dimension to account for how organizational failures to support student quality significantly impact faculty commitment; (2) the study determines that academics in a transitional economy tend to commit to profession, area of discipline, or country, rather than to the business school in which they work; and (3) the study finds that economic compensation is a secondary issue for expatriate faculty working in academic institutions characterized by lack of tenure, threats to faculty career futures linked to contradictions between levels of research support and institutional expectations for research productivity, and a divisive environment where faculty are deeply frustrated by unfair treatment by institutional management. / Tiivistelmä Monissa yliopistoissa hallintotavan muuttuminen yritysmäisemmäksi vaikuttaa työoloihin, työkäytäntöihin, työsopimuksiin ja henkilöstön autonomiaan. Henkilöstön sitoutuminen yliopistojen kauppakorkeakouluihin liittyy läheisesti tiedekuntien henkilöstön näkemyksiin organisaatioelämästä ja suhteista institutionaalisiin johtajiin. Henkilöstön sitoutumiseen suuntautuneet käytöspiirteet liittyvät hallintorakenteen malliin, työympäristöön, työmääritelmään ja rooliodotuksiin. On tärkeää ymmärtää paremmin, miten nämä tekijät liittyvät kauppakorkeakoulujen henkilöstön sitoutumiseen, erityisesti monikulttuurisissa siirtymätalouksissa. Tämä tutkimus hyödyntää Meyerin ja Allenin (1991) klassista kolmen komponentin mallia organisaatioon sitoutumisesta ymmärtääkseen, kuinka ekspatriaatit ja paikalliset tiedekunnan henkilöstön jäsenet kokevat sitoutumisensa tason suhteessa omaan organisaatioonsa Yhdistyneissä arabiemiirikunnissa. Tutkimus tulkitsee laadullista aineistoa, joka on kerätty haastattelemalla kuuden sekä yksityistä että julkista koulutussektoria edustavan kauppakorkeakoulun henkilöstöä Yhdistyneissä arabiemiirikunnissa. Aineistosta nousi viisi henkilöstön sitoutumisen kannalta keskeistä tekijää: taloudellinen kompensaatio, organisaation arvot, autonomia, organisaation tuki ja oikeudenmukaisuus sekä johtajuus. Laajentamalla ja haastamalla yleisiä näkemyksiä yliopiston henkilöstön sitoutumisesta tämä tutkimus kontribuoi organisaatioon sitoutumista käsittelevään kirjallisuuteen kolmella tavalla. Ensinnäkin tutkimus tuo uuden opiskelijoihin liittyvän näkökulman selittämään, kuinka organisaation epäonnistumiset opiskelijoiden laadun tukemisessa vaikuttavat huomattavasti henkilöstön sitoutumiseen. Toisekseen tutkimus määrittää, että siirtymätaloudessa akateemikoilla on taipumus sitoutua ammattiin, tieteenalaan tai maahan ennemmin kuin kauppakorkeakouluun, jossa he työskentelevät. Lisäksi tutkimuksessa havaitaan, että taloudellinen kompensaatio on toisarvoinen asia akateemisissa instituutioissa työskenteleville ekspatriaateille, joiden työympäristölle ominaista on vakinaisten virkojen puuttuminen, uratulevaisuuden uhat liittyen ristiriitoihin tutkimuksen tuen tasossa ja instituution tutkimustuotteliaisuuden odotuksissa sekä erimielisyyttä aiheuttava ympäristö, jossa henkilöstö on syvästi turhautunut institutionaalisen johdon epäoikeudenmukaiseen kohteluun.

This thesis presents the issue of the entering of a business to business company on the Unated Arab Emirates market. Its objective is to develop an appropriate marketing strategy and apply it to Haubi's Ges. M.b.H, a leading Austrian bakery. The strategy was elaborated from the analysis of the food market both at the global and national level in the UAE. Assumptions underlying the success of a company in this market are included in the SWOT analysis. The principles derivated from this analysis are then applied to market segmenting and concurrence monitoring. The final strategy consists of a specific marketing mix, which was determined by the analysis of the obtained results and fully respects the particular cultural environment of the UAE.

This diploma thesis is focused on new standard IFRS 16 Leases and on new US GAAP codification ASC 842 Leases. It compares basic principles from old and new regulation. In the second part it analyzes impacts of transition to new accounting rules through comparing real accounting statements of three companies, issued in compliance with IAS 17 or ASC 840, with statements adjusted for impacts of new accounting standards.

This thesis is about the economic development of the UAE with a focus on the real estate market and tourism. The first chapter deals with macroeconomic indicators and foreign trade. The second chapter describes the development of the real estate market in the UAE. The third chapter focuses on the tourism market of the UAE. The fourth chapter examines the trade relations of the Czech Republic and the UAE and explores prospects for cooperation.

Inclusion of children with special education needs into public classrooms in United Arab Emirates applied in 2006. The application of inclusion programs started in high schools, and followed by elementary schools and preschools. Teachers' attitudes toward inclusion evaluated among high school and elementary teachers but not among preschool teachers. The effect of the cultural background of teaching staff on inclusion education not evaluated in a UAE preschool. The purpose of this quantitative study was to examine the effect of educational specialty and culture on teachers' attitudes toward an inclusion education system in United Arab Emirates. The theory of planned behavior of Ajzan (1991) used in this study to explain teachers' attitudes. This quantitative study evaluated teachers' attitudes toward inclusion education through a distributed questionnaire, including a demographics form and a STATIC scale for evaluating teachers' attitudes. A two-factor ANOVA used to test the effects of teachers' specialty and cultural background on STATIC scores. Findings showed a main effect of preschool teachers' cultural identity on their attitudes toward inclusion education. Teachers with Asian identity showed better attitudes toward inclusion education than Gulf identity or African identity teachers. No differences found between preschool teachers' specialty (general and special education teachers) on their attitudes toward inclusion education. This study will contribute to social change by providing valuable knowledge about UAE preschool teachers' attitudes toward the application of inclusion education to improve the inclusion classrooms settings and environment.

No description available.

Inter-organisational knowledge sharing between airport security organisations has become increasingly vital to maintain the highest standards of security and public safety. Social networks are considered a significant space for knowledge sharing within and across organisations. The purpose of this research is to investigate inter-organisational knowledge sharing in social media between key organisations in policing and airport security. A cross-sectional case study strategy combining qualitative and quantitative methods was employed to investigate the use of social media in inter-organisational knowledge sharing in the context of airport security in the UAE. Findings showed that the structural characteristics within knowledge sharing were highly centralised and polarised with low intensity in knowledge sharing. Social capital was constrained at a relational level due to cultural factors of trust, risk aversion and power distance that influenced a closed culture and reduced the scope for tacit knowledge sharing practices as well as low level cognitive capital. Analysis of dimensions of the SECI model for knowledge creation revealed that knowledge and the process of knowing was impacted by cultural distinctions that constrained socialisation, externalisation, combination and internalisation processes. The key barriers to knowledge sharing were identified and associated with trust, risk aversion, organisational culture, resource constraints and interoperability factors. This study makes a contribution to theory and practice in terms of the relationship between social capital dimensions and knowledge creation processes and the characteristics of knowledge-sharing within social media. The study further adds to knowledge on the antecedents of inter-organisational knowledge sharing, particularly in the Arabic context. / UAE Government and Ministry of Interior

No description available.

This study examines the coverage of the United Arab Emirates’ National Climate Change Plan in Al Khaleej, one of the major Arabic daily newspapers in the country, by analysing a selection of articles covering this plan using analytical concepts and methods from CDA and drawing upon theories of media framing and green growth and green economy. The results show that the Climate Plan is presented as a metaphoric unifier of existing climate policies and a tool to promote the UAE as a pioneer in renewables. The issue of climate change in general is framed as a challenge to economic growth, but a challenge that can be overcome through technological innovation and redirecting the economy.