Diverse Workplaces in the United Arab Emirates - Research Paper Example

Culture Name Course Instructor’s Name Institution Date of Submission Introduction In the current world, due to globalization, people are moving from one country and from one continent to another seeking out of better opportunities. Companies now prefer to have multicultural employees as this boosts growth. New cultures improve and bring new skills in the country make it grow. The migration is seen as a win-win since the country’s welfare is boosted while the world’s welfare is also boosted. Nevertheless, it is essential to note that the migrants experience new cultures and also new ethics and it may possibly be hard for them to cope. Hence, they might have difficulties adapting to the new place, and they might also have difficulties adapting to the new culture. Moreover, businesses and organizations also face difficulties as they deal with employees and managers from different cultures and countries that present different cultural values (Beins, 40, 2013). Hence, culture influences every business process directly or indirectly. It is, therefore, important for businesses and the employees to understand the culture. Failure to acknowledge and account for cultural differences can cause strain relationships, embarrassing blunders and reduced business performance. The effects of culture are even evident in life and death situations. For instance, considering the increase in number of plane crashes between 1970 and 2000 in Korean air, analysis of the conversions captured in the black box of the crashed planes depicted that the flight engineers and the co-pilots in the cockpits were not in agreement with the captains. Even in the verge of a serious crash, Korean air co-pilots and flight engineers did not acknowledge actions that would contradict the judgments of the captains. In this case, challenging superiors in Korea was not appropriate in the culture. Therefore, the Korean example is important since it depicts that if national culture can bring consequences among people from the same cultural group, then people have to be careful on how they address cross border cultural relations. The study below critically analyses the benefits organization and employees have and the challenges they experience in the diverse workplaces in the United Arab Emirates. The study utilizes a multi-method approach that combines interview data from various Philippine workers in organizations. Background The United Arab Emirates is a nation that has a rich heritage, and it also has a distinct culture. Over the decades, the inflow of expatriate population and the number of multinational organizations has increased greatly. Hence, an understanding of the local culture and interactions with other culture is crucial for success. The expatriate model has improved the country’s economy by providing skilled labour especially from Asian countries such as the Philippines. On the other hand, expatriates have also gained through improved living standards and a better income in the country. Hence, managing workplace diversity has become crucial for organizations in the United Arab Emirates (Tim, 23, 2015). Indeed, the country has one of the biggest net migration rates in the world, and the number of workers from USA, Indonesia, Philippines, India, and Australia among other countries has increased greatly in the recent years. United Arab Emirates boarder has resulted in the intersection among people with different languages, ethnic backgrounds and customs. As detailed above, diversity is associated with various benefits such as enhancing employee creativity, and enhancing employee competence. However, the realism of these benefits is more in theory than in real practice. In this case, diversity can also result in it dysfunctional adaptation behaviours, miscommunication and creation of barriers that limit the benefits that diversity can bring to an organization. In the United Arab Emirates, migrants are mostly located in two main sectors which include domestic work and construction. Nonetheless, there are others who work in other service industries and sectors. A small number of the workers are allocated in the professional sector such as technology and education (Rahman, 78, 2011). Most of the people who work in the construction and services sectors are people form countries such as Sri Lanka, India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, and the Philippines. At the end of 2006, the number of immigrants working in private companies in Dubai Emirate made up 98% of the country’s total private sector workers. The abnormal workplace ratio of foreign to native workers has aroused tension from the native population’s unemployment problems and issues encountered by the foreign workers as a result of less than the required working conditions in some sectors. However, despite the economic, social and political concerns, the hiring of foreign workers in the United Arab Emirates has not reduced. Moreover, due to the current development in the United Arab Emirates, more foreign workers are being hired, and at a higher rate. Hence, with the nature of the United Arab Emirates labour force, the paper below presents a research study that is focused on investigating n whether or not intercultural communication and diversity frameworks in the United Arab Emirates have devolved to the current levels that are believed to be crucial for success. The paper also focuses on investigating whether the strategies used in managing United Arab Emirates’ diverse workfare are still assimilative and relatively inefficient in meeting current and future needs of United Arab Emirates organizations. As it is detailed below, the workplace executives and officials that were interviewed had a more ambivalent opinion on the general topic. The interviews rose nationalistic and economic questions about the role of workplace diversity. It was also evident that the executives and officials stress on a process of employee assimilation to the greater organizational culture through language acquisition and workplace training instead of a more pluralistic approach that would enforce nationality. Moreover, they did not advocate for a pluralistic approach that would also base its views on attitudes and values. They did not also want an approach that would base its views on communication practices associated with gender, education, age, profession and other building blocks of culture. Due to the density of foreign workers in the United Arab Emirates job market, the country would be a great choice for investigating research concerned with the needs of employees for more efficient and effective diversity knowledge, intercultural communication and the effect of cultural identity on the environment. The paper attempts on highlighting the current situation in the United Arab Emirates. Since the paper is focused on organizations in the United Arab Emirates, it uses Sheikh Khalifa Medical City in the research. Situated in Abu Dhabi City, Sheikh Khalifa Medical City (SKMC) operates under management from Cleveland Clinic. Being the flagship institution or public hath in Abu Dhabi, Sheikh Khalifa Medical City owns various education institutions and offers quality services in all healthcare fields that the community needs. It is the largest healthcare centre in the United Arab Emirates since it is composed of 14 outpatient special clinics, 586-bed tertiary hospital and the Abu Dhabi blood bank and all these are approved by the Joint Commission International. The hospital is also approved as a Cycle IV Chest Pain Center equipped with Primary Angioplasty Intervention. The hospital boasts of being the first healthcare centre outside the USA to acquire the Cycle III recognition and it also boasts to be the 12th in the world to do so. It is approved by the College of American Pathologists due to its Main Laboratory and the Abu Dhabi blood bank. Sheikh Khalifa Medical City is also accountable for 125 Bed Behavioral Sciences Pavilion and an Urgent Care Center. The hospital is a member of the SEHA health system which is accountable for managing and establishing public hospitals and clinics in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi. Methodology The study used interviews to collects data. In this case, four Philippine participants were interviewed. The first participant was MaryAnn Rayes, and she was 34 years old. She holds a degree in Nursing Science, and she is married and a registered nurse. Maryann is a Christian, and she has lived in the United Arab Emirates since 2005. From 2001 to 2005, she was working in Saudi Arabia in King Feisal hospital as a staff nurse. Later on, she moved to the United Arab Emirates, Abu Dhabi in 2005 and since then, she has been working in Behavioural Science department at Sheikh Khalifa Medical City. The second interviewee was D Allen who is 42 years old. He has a Master’s degree in Nursing Science. Besides being married, he is also a registered nurse and a Christian. D Allen has been a resident in the United Arab Emirates since 2001. Unlike Maryann who moved from Saudi Arabia, D Allen moved from Philippine to the United Arab Emirates and works at Sheikh Khalifa Medical City in Abu Dhabi. In the beginning, he worked in the Emergency Department for almost two years, and he then moved to Behavioural science department up to date. The third interviewee was M Dan, who is 37 years old. He has a bachelor degree in Nursing Science, and he is a registered nurse. M Dan is single and also a Christina. He has lived in the United Arab Emirates since 2008. He moved from Philippine to the United Arab Emirates and worked at Abu Dhabi Sheikh Khalifa Medical City in Behavioral Science department till present. The fourth interviewed was John who is 35 years old and has a Bachelor in Nursing Science. He is a registered nurse and a Christian who is single. He has been out of Philippine for seven years. He explains that he was in Lebanon for three years and he moved to Abu Dhabi from 2012 up to now. He has been working at Sheikh Khalifa Medical City in Behavioral Science department till present. The interviewees were asked questions concerning the challenges, the challenges they faced regarding cultural differences and how they overcame these challenges. The answers they gave were used in the analysis. Findings The interviews love the country. In their response, they like the United Arab Emirates since the country offers great salaries. They also highlighted the neat and organized environment and the tourism centres which are remarkable. According to them, United Arab Emirates is a safe country. Moreover, during the Ramadan working hours are quite flexible which is also a good thing. However, despite the country having such great aspects, the people also encountered some challenges. They had problems understanding the new culture. In this case, in the United Arab Emirates, national men and women have a national dress code that the Philippine medical expatriates took the time to get used. Moreover, in the United Arab Emirates, hand shaking for men and women is religiously not acceptable. Nonetheless, this is different from Christians who do not have a problem with hand shaking. In fact, handshaking among the Christians is a peaceful gesture. Therefore this was difficult for the Philippines to adapt. Communication was also a challenge since in Philippine; the expatriates were used to communicating in Tagalog and English but there in the United Arab Emirates, most of the people use Arabic, and only a few use English on a regular basis. Therefore, it was difficult for them to communicate with their colleagues, friends and even patients. The language barrier also affected them as they went on with their day to day activities such as shopping. Unlike most countries, the United Arab Emirates has strict rules. For instance, the country limits the drinking of alcohol. In this case, alcohol is highly restricted within the culture, and it is termed as an illegal office to acquire the license of alcohol (Julian, 67, 2011). Hotel and bars provide alcohol for the tourists, the expats and residents who have the license to purchase the specified amount of alcohol monthly. Moreover, displaying alcohol in public is a serious offence, and it is punished by a fine to incarceration depending on the offence To some of the Philippine expatriates, this was a great adjustment ad they were having a hard time adapting to the new lifestyle. Moreover, with shaking hands of men and women being religiously not acceptable, they had to come up with new ways of greeting people which is a significant adjustment. Furthermore, the expatriates also got a chance to encounter the Ramadan which is a holy month in the Muslim religion and Muslims are obliged to fast from drink, food and sexual activity during the month. Hence, at work, it was rude and disrespectful of the Muslim religion for the expatriate to eat in front of the fasting Muslims. Therefore they had to adapt to these ramifications for the sake of their colleagues. However, they had ways of overcoming these challenges. For instance, they would read about the culture through the internet, magazines, watching films or programs on TV and through interacting with other Arab nationals. Solutions and recommendations The United Arab Emirates is viewed as the country of great cultural heritage, and this is highly influenced by the originality of its citizens. Despite the United Arab Emirates being considered as the greatest business hub for international trade, it is also quite challenging from immigrants to adapt to the culture of the country. Duties, business and work, have their ethics and cultural etiquettes which expatriates need to observe and adhere to with flexibility and tolerance. In this case, United Arab Emirates’ culture is quite different regarding appearance, prayers, attribute towards God, greetings, communication, behaviour, eating and drinking habits, women at the workplace and workplace environment. Hence the expatriate working in the United Arab Emirates has to follow these customs in terms of the operational activities so as to abide by the legal obligations. Nonetheless, this is often difficult, and it takes quite some time. Hence, below is a detail of the solutions and recommendations. To cope with the situation and challenges of cultural differences, the organization such as Sheikh Khalifa Medical City (SMKC) should promote cross-cultural training. Also, this would ensure that the Philippines learn about the United Arab Emirates culture and assimilate in it. Moreover, the organization should organize cultural events. For instance, they could set certain days such as cultural days where people get to know about another culture (Kate, 17, 2013). For example, Tuesday could be the Philippines’s cultural day where the Philippines get to display their customs such as the way of dressing, food or other culture aspects. Moreover, United Arab Emirates should allow for cultural markets such China or cultural malls or other avenues where cultures get to demonstrate their aspects. Conclusion The United Arab Emirates is a multicultural setting, and it is dominated by expatriate populations that have grown greatly over the years. With the privatization policy and reforms that are underway, United Arab Emirates has continued to rely on expatriate populations for skills and development. In this case, it is important to understand the expatriate’s thoughts and attitudes towards business and professional culture. Hence, the study points towards this direction, and the results imply that all expatriates have a similar notion towards culture in the United Arab Emirates. Therefore, cultural differences are persistent problems, and they present great challenges for companies. Organizations that effectively manage cultural adaptation can achieve congruence in the different cultures where they operate and training their employees by treating cultural differences as a source of their growth. However, despite this paper stressing on cultural differences, it is, however, crucial to heed to cultural similarities as they promote unity. References Bernard Beins. Experimenter Effects. The Encyclopedia of Cross-Cultural Psychology. 2013 Jani Scandural. Sad Effects; Cultural Critique. 2016 Joseph Trimble. Advancing Understanding of Cultural Competence, Cultural Sensitivity, and the Effects of Cultural Incompetence. The Portable Mentor. 2012 Julian Sefton-Green. Cultural Studies And Education Cultural Studies. 2011 Kate Oakley. Making Workers: Higher Education and the Cultural Industries Workplace Cultural Work and Higher Education. 2013 Md Rahman . Bangladeshi Migrant Workers in the UAE: Gender-Differentiated Patterns of Migration Experiences Middle Eastern Studies. 2011 Tim Lewens. Cultural Evolution Conceptual Challenges. 2015 Ye Li-Asgeir Skulason. Uncovering the Effects of Cultural Intelligence on Cross-Cultural Virtual Collaboration Processes; Cross-Cultural Design. Cultural Differences in Everyday Life Lecture Notes in Computer Science. 2013 Read More