Financialization and Outsourcing in a Different Guise: The Ethical Chaos of Workforce Localization in the United Arab Emirates

Goby, Valerie Priscilla

doi:10.1007/s10551-014-2285-6

Cited by 14 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 22 publications

(19 reference statements)

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“…That is, our respondents’ comments on being excluded from typical information sharing patterns suggest that, even when employed, their colleagues and managers do not necessarily regard Emiratis as valid organizational members worthy of support. This can be explained as a consequence of recruiting locals primarily to meet government quotas together with a management preference for foreign workers given their lower cost and greater submissiveness (Goby, 2015). At the individual level, expatriate workers frequently view Emiratis as a threat to their jobs because they feel that, given the localization initiative, as soon as the Emirati can do the job, the expatriate will be fired.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This applies most keenly to nationals of countries with weaker economies and lower salaries such as those that supply the largest number of workers, namely, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and the Philippines whose per capita GDPs are USD1,581; 1,316; 1,086; and 2,872, respectively (World Bank, 2016). Emiratis, on the other hand, have salary expectations dictated by their country’s robust economy (Goby, 2015), with its per capita GDP of USD43,962 (World Bank, 2016).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Workforce localization, information sharing, and the imperative of culture

Goby

Ali

Lanjawi

et al. 2017

IJOA

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Purpose The aim of this study is to conduct an initial investigation of information sharing between the vast number of expatriate employees and the small minority of local employees in Dubai’s private sector workforce. Research on the impact of the workforce localization policy has highlighted the frequent marginalization of locals within the expatriate-dominated private sector. One form of this is the reluctance of expatriates to share information with local recruits, and the authors conducted this study to assess the reality and extent of this phenomenon. Design/methodology/approach The authors designed a brief interview survey to probe how Emirati employees secure workplace information and whether they experience information withholding on the part of expatriate colleagues. The authors also explored whether any such experience impacts on their attitudes to working in the private sector since this is a key factor in the success of the localization policy. Complete responses were received from 0.9 per cent of the total local private sector workforce. Findings A notable lack of information sharing emerged with 58 per cent of respondents reporting their expatriate colleagues’ and superiors’ reluctance to share information with them, and 63 per cent describing experiences of discriminatory behavior. Research limitations/implications The authors identify key cultural and communication issues relating to localization within Dubai’s multicultural workforce. These include the broader cultural factors that determine how Emiratis conceptualize information sharing. Future research can pursue this issue to help inform the development of supportive information sharing practices. Such practices are an essential part of the creation of a diversity climate, which is necessary to sustain localization. Originality/value This study is a pioneering attempt to empirically investigate the information sharing practices that Emirati private sector employees experience. It suggests that the exclusion of citizens from the workplace through practices such as “ghost Emiratization” reverberates in the workplace through a lack of information sharing.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Workforce localization, information sharing, and the imperative of culture

Goby

Ali

Lanjawi

et al. 2017

IJOA

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…Poor infrastructure as a factor that affects the outsourcing of software was supported by 62% of the publications selected. Goby (2015) claims that entrepreneurs tend to ignore the importance that is placed on the infrastructural development especially on the protection of the intellectual property. Startling results have demonstrated that the infrastructural development is largely linked with the wage that is offered to the employees and economic incentives that are implemented.…”

Section: A Rq1 -Barriers Identified Using Slrmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Jain et al (2011) publication assessed the problem with remaining silent especially on the issues related to the project being developed. This empirical study conducted reviewed the prior research, which suggested that there is no communication between the client managers and the vendor's employees and this can lead to poor quality services that are offered to clients (Goby, 2015;Hossain et al, 2009;Odeh et al, 2020). Cross-cultural teams are also facing the challenge of understanding the views and demands of the employees and this can sometimes result to conflict in the decision-making process.…”

Section: A Rq1 -Barriers Identified Using Slrmentioning

confidence: 99%

Critical Barriers in Software Outsourcing Vendor Organizations and Their Impacts on Software Outsourcing Clients: A Systematic Literature Review

Keshta¹,

Odeh²

2020

Journal of Computer Science

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Globalization and technological advancement have driven up the demand for software as many enterprises seek to gain a competitive edge through efficient business operations. Whereas software provides this capacity, the resources involved in software development sometimes provide a stumbling block, especially for startups and smaller businesses. Software development outsourcing or offshore software development offers a viable alternative for these enterprises. Software development outsourcing is a contractual agreement between a client and vendor organization (s), who then provide part or all of the software development related services at an agreed fee paid by the client. Despite the apparent importance of offshore software development, there is limited research literature that explores the general practices in software development outsourcing. Besides, identifying barriers that often present a significant challenge for client organizations has received a little interest from researchers. This paper presents a Systematic Literature Review (SLR) of 68 research articles to identify the critical barriers for offshore software development outsourcing vendors. In order to increase the internal validity of the reported findings, the articles selected for the review were taken from three continents; Africa, Asia and Europe. The critical barriers established from the study included communication problems, cultural barriers and incompatibility with the client's requirements. From the findings, it is recommended that vendors address these barriers for an improved relationship between themselves and the clients. Moreover, addressing these barriers offer the vendors with an opportunity to position themselves strategically within the offshore outsourcing industry. Furthermore, the findings provide meaningful literature in the continuum of Software Development Outsourcing for Software project managers, researchers and other participants in the field. More importantly, the presented literature offers a starting point for generalizing the reported findings within the context of Software Development Outsourcing.

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“…The primary goal of this plan was to engage locals in the workplace to ensure both adequate employment opportunities for them as well as to reduce the historic reliance on expatriate labor. Emiratization policies recognize the need to place local workers at the heart of the workforce and decision-making to ensure the endogenous social and economic development of the country (Goby, 2014).…”

Section: Local Workers and The Emiratization Policymentioning

confidence: 99%

Interpersonal communication and diversity climate: promoting workforce localization in the UAE

Goby

Nickerson

David

2015

International Journal of Organizational Analysis

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If you would like to write for this, or any other Emerald publication, then please use our Emerald for Authors service information about how to choose which publication to write for and submission guidelines are available for all. Please visit www.emeraldinsight.com/authors for more information. About Emerald www.emeraldinsight.com AbstractPurpose -This paper aims to identify the rudiments of an organizational communication framework which can serve as a facilitator of a positive diversity climate, which, in turn, could enhance the integration of locals into the expatriate-dominated workforce of the United Arab Emirates (UAE). As UAE citizens constitute a small minority of the workforce, the local style of communication is not, ipso facto, the dominant one in organizations. Design/methodology/approach -The study elicited 458 Emirati respondents' narratives of positive and negative workplace communication experiences. The authors identified emerging themes to highlight the key features of interpersonal interactions likely to foster or hinder a supportive diversity climate. Findings -The critical incidents reported are interpreted in terms of UAE cultural traditions, more specifically, the communication patterns valued by local workers. Research limitations/implications -Outside of the Arabian Gulf, there are perhaps no other national workforces that are so multicultural that local communication strategies are overshadowed. This research is, therefore, a pioneering attempt to re-establish a preference for indigenous communication practices to facilitate the workforce localization policies that are present in many Gulf countries. Practical implications -The communication preferences identified could inform the implementation of an organizational communication model centered around indigenous communication preferences, including the communication strategies that would be most effective for organizational leadership to use. At the same time, this could contribute to the creation of a positive diversity climate that, in turn, could decrease levels of attrition among Emirati employees and enhance workforce localization. Originality/value -This study represents an innovative attempt to construct a communication model around which a positive diversity climate can coalesce and, in so doing, it serves as an initial contribution to the management of diversity within the context of Arabian Gulf workplaces.

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Financialization and Outsourcing in a Different Guise: The Ethical Chaos of Workforce Localization in the United Arab Emirates

Cited by 14 publications

References 22 publications

Workforce localization, information sharing, and the imperative of culture

Workforce localization, information sharing, and the imperative of culture

Critical Barriers in Software Outsourcing Vendor Organizations and Their Impacts on Software Outsourcing Clients: A Systematic Literature Review

Interpersonal communication and diversity climate: promoting workforce localization in the UAE

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