Al Shamsi, AR 2009, Factors affecting high performance work practices: Two case studies in the United Arab Emirates , PhD thesis, University of Salford.

Preview

PDF - Submitted Version Download (22MB) | Preview

Abstract

Oil and gas are vital to the economy of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the world's third largest exporter of crude oil, most of which is found in Abu Dhabi, where the oil and gas industry is the largest public sector employer. There is an urgent need to investigate UAE organisations to explain the high turnover of qualified UAE nationals, as well as poor employee and business performance levels. Organisations in the UAE must use the insights and experience of their employees to improve their human resources (HR) practices so they compare with those of multinational competitors. This research aims to investigate the factors that affect the implementation in the UAE, of new HR practices as part of high performance work practices (HPWP). It sets forth a conceptualisation of how a large organisation binds together a bundle of competitive HR practices, thus going beyond previous research, which left unexplored the social construction of HPWP. It therefore aims to broaden the understanding of how new HR practices are implemented as part of HPWP principles. Following the logic of inductive research, a qualitative case study was conducted in two large Emirati oil and gas organisations. Data were collected by means of semistructured interviews with top managers, senior managers, HR managers and employees across the business units, and supplemented by the examination of documents and direct observation. The research findings reveal that a number of key factors can affect the implementation of HR practices as part of HPWP. The original contribution of this research is an in-depth understanding of the factors affecting the implementation of HR practices in the oil and gas industry in the UAE. Some unique factors were identified, such as the lack of implementation timeframe, and inequity in payment, the nationalisation policy, the measuring of the HR practices, the effect of social relations and background (wasta) on work duties, and other factors like the lack of transparency in the organisations concerned. To date, there is a paucity of research that has examined aspects of HPWP initiatives in the oil and gas sector of the UAE. The findings of this research thus strengthen the existing literature on HPWP implementation by broadening its geographical and cultural scope.

Actions (login required)