The scope and impact of workplace diversity in the United Arab Emirates – A preliminary study

Managing workplace diversity has become a priority concern among organizations in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) today. The UAE has one of the world's largest net migration rates, and the number of workers from India, the Philippines, Indonesia, Australia, the USA, among other countrie...

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Main Author:	Al-Jenaibi, Badreya
Format:	Article
Language:	English
Published:	Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, UKM,Bangi 2012
Online Access:	http://journalarticle.ukm.my/3512/ http://journalarticle.ukm.my/3512/ http://journalarticle.ukm.my/3512/1/1.Geografia-jan%25202012_Badreya%2520Al-Jenaibi-edited%2520final.pdf

id	ukm-3512
recordtype	eprints
spelling	ukm-35122016-12-14T06:34:41Z http://journalarticle.ukm.my/3512/ The scope and impact of workplace diversity in the United Arab Emirates – A preliminary study Al-Jenaibi, Badreya Managing workplace diversity has become a priority concern among organizations in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) today. The UAE has one of the world's largest net migration rates, and the number of workers from India, the Philippines, Indonesia, Australia, the USA, among other countries, has increased significantly in recent decades. The UAE's cross-border mobility has resulted in the interaction of people with diverse language, customs and ethnic backgrounds. Although diversity has been shown to have a number of benefits, including enhanced employee creativity and competence, this recognition is often found more in theory than actual practice. Diversity can also lead to miscommunication, dysfunctional adaptation behaviours and the creation of barriers that reduce the benefits diversity can bring to the organization. Due to the nature of the UAE workplace, which is dominated by a foreign workforce, this study critically analyses the benefits organizations enjoy and the challenges they face in the diverse workplaces of the United Arab Emirates. The study used a multi-method approach combining survey data from 450 foreign workers with qualitative data from interviews with native officials of organizations. It is an attempt to compare the views of UAE workplace experience from two different groups—non-native workers and native officials. The research found a generally favourable view toward workplace diversity from the perspective of surveyed employees. However, when asked more detailed questions about company policy, a significant segment of respondents expressed reservations about their employer’s ability to implement successful intercultural communication and diversity practices. Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, UKM,Bangi 2012 Article PeerReviewed application/pdf en http://journalarticle.ukm.my/3512/1/1.Geografia-jan%25202012_Badreya%2520Al-Jenaibi-edited%2520final.pdf Al-Jenaibi, Badreya (2012) The scope and impact of workplace diversity in the United Arab Emirates – A preliminary study. Geografia : Malaysian Journal of Society and Space, 8 (1). pp. 1-14. ISSN 2180-2491 http://pkukmweb.ukm.my/geografia/v1/index.php
repository_type	Digital Repository
institution_category	Local University
institution	Universiti Kebangasaan Malaysia
building	UKM Institutional Repository
collection	Online Access
language	English
description	Managing workplace diversity has become a priority concern among organizations in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) today. The UAE has one of the world's largest net migration rates, and the number of workers from India, the Philippines, Indonesia, Australia, the USA, among other countries, has increased significantly in recent decades. The UAE's cross-border mobility has resulted in the interaction of people with diverse language, customs and ethnic backgrounds. Although diversity has been shown to have a number of benefits, including enhanced employee creativity and competence, this recognition is often found more in theory than actual practice. Diversity can also lead to miscommunication, dysfunctional adaptation behaviours and the creation of barriers that reduce the benefits diversity can bring to the organization. Due to the nature of the UAE workplace, which is dominated by a foreign workforce, this study critically analyses the benefits organizations enjoy and the challenges they face in the diverse workplaces of the United Arab Emirates. The study used a multi-method approach combining survey data from 450 foreign workers with qualitative data from interviews with native officials of organizations. It is an attempt to compare the views of UAE workplace experience from two different groups—non-native workers and native officials. The research found a generally favourable view toward workplace diversity from the perspective of surveyed employees. However, when asked more detailed questions about company policy, a significant segment of respondents expressed reservations about their employer’s ability to implement successful intercultural communication and diversity practices.
format	Article
author	Al-Jenaibi, Badreya
spellingShingle	Al-Jenaibi, Badreya The scope and impact of workplace diversity in the United Arab Emirates – A preliminary study
author_facet	Al-Jenaibi, Badreya
author_sort	Al-Jenaibi, Badreya
title	The scope and impact of workplace diversity in the United Arab Emirates – A preliminary study
title_short	The scope and impact of workplace diversity in the United Arab Emirates – A preliminary study
title_full	The scope and impact of workplace diversity in the United Arab Emirates – A preliminary study
title_fullStr	The scope and impact of workplace diversity in the United Arab Emirates – A preliminary study
title_full_unstemmed	The scope and impact of workplace diversity in the United Arab Emirates – A preliminary study
title_sort	scope and impact of workplace diversity in the united arab emirates – a preliminary study
publisher	Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, UKM,Bangi
publishDate	2012
url	http://journalarticle.ukm.my/3512/ http://journalarticle.ukm.my/3512/ http://journalarticle.ukm.my/3512/1/1.Geografia-jan%25202012_Badreya%2520Al-Jenaibi-edited%2520final.pdf
first_indexed	2023-09-18T19:38:59Z
last_indexed	2023-09-18T19:38:59Z
_version_	1777405463112974336

The scope and impact of workplace diversity in the United Arab Emirates – A preliminary study

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