CLOSING CASE he Emirates Group and Employee Diversity The Emirates Group is an i
ID: 1138288 • Letter: C
Question
CLOSING CASE he Emirates Group and Employee Diversity The Emirates Group is an international aviation holding company that is headquartered in Dubai in the United 85 percent of the 3 million residents are expatriates cosmopolitan multicultural population, where about Arab Emirates (UAE). The Emirates Group is primarily Dubai is the most populous city in the UAE: it is the made up of Dnata (one of the world's largest suppliers of capital of the Emirate of Dubai, one of seven emirates that air services such as flight catering and aircraft ground make up the country. In Dubai, the core ethic groups living handling, with a global footprint in 37 countries) and and working in the city are Indian (53 percent), Emirati Emirates Airline (the largest airline in the Middle East). (15 percent), Pakistani (13 percent), and Bangladeshi Emirates flies to more than 125 destinations across six (8 percent). The remaining inhabitants, each with less continents, operating a fleet of more than 180 wide bodied than 3 percent, include Filipinos, Sri Lankans, and Amer- aircraft. The airline also has 170 aircraft on order worth cans. On average, the people in Dubai are young AED 213 billion (about $58 billion in U.S. dollars; the (27 years), and they mainly come from a background of dirham, AED, currency used in the UAE has been pegged four cultures: Arabian, Arabic, Emirati, and Islamic. The to the U.S. dollar at a rate of 3.6725 since 1997). Sales oTicial language is Arabic, but English is widely spoken turnover for The Emirates Group is AED 67.4 billion and has become both the preferred business language as ($18.4 billion in U.S. dollars) and the company employs well as the choice in social settings. Islam is the official more than 85,000 people who represent more than state religion, although, as with the myriad of people with different backgrounds, there are varied religious beliefs among the population. Dubai has large expatriate commo- The Emirates Group views its employee diversity of more than 160 nationalities as a unique strength given its nities of Hindus, Christians, Buddhists, Sikhs, and others prominent role as a truly global organization. Emirates With "people" as one of The Emirates Group's core opinion is that talent is not nationality exclusive, and di values, the company offers a range of generous benefits to versity of nationalities, cultures, religious and ethaic assist expatriate employees who are recruited globally to backgrounds enriches the workforce. These come in the live in Dubai. Through detailed research and analysis, the form of a constant flow of new ideas, innovations, and remuneration policy Socuses on developing compensation thinking styles that are then implemented and lead to and benefits policies that are globally competitive. In fact, business success. The company's employee diversity also the main focus for the company is to ensare that The complements Emirates' headquarter city of Dubai as a Emirates Group remains competitive within the market it Part 2 National Differences extension, will ensure that Emirates at Case Discussion Questions operates. This, by tract and retain the right talent. Employment of high- quality people who benefit from working and living in Dubai are important. This places extra emphasis on work related conditions and cultaral integration in the comma nity, as best as expatriate employees from around the world can be assimilated into the Dubai environment. L. Is it sustainable to think that Emiratis, which make up only about 15 percent of the people in Dubai, can be leading the city as they have been corporation, such as The Emirates Group, has One of the ughy sides of expatriates in Dubai is the from South East Asia, are paid a minuscule salary com- pared with developed-nation expatriates and significantly below what they need to be able to earn to afford prod ucts or services at Dubai's fashionable boutiques and 3. If you lived in a city with such diversity of people as Dubai, would you assimilate yourself with the people who are like you, or would you try to integrate into the overall commanity of all rights in Dubai are protected and equal based on the Constitution of the United Arab Emirates. That includes ago, expatriate employees stay twice as long in Dubai, about five years, before they return to their home coun- try or another foreign location. Do you think more expatriates wil stay longer in Dubai as the city continues to develop into a world-class the promise of equitable treatment of all people, regard 4. Compared with 10 years employment number of human rights recently the country has made strides to improve.Explanation / Answer
1) One of the major factors contributing to the economic growth and stability of UAE is its ethnic and cultural diversity which is most prominent in Dubai,the most culturally vibrant and diversed city in the country and probably in the entire Middle-East.The workforce and employee diversity in Dubai enables the local firms and MNCs located or headquartered in the city to exploit the rich and divsersified pool of talent that originates from the wide range of expatriates migrating from different parts of the world having diversified skill inventory and background.As the city has immensely developed to be one of leading commercial and financial hubs in the world,it has increasingly attracted international migration from almost all parts of the world mostly for occupational and business purposes.
This has consequently led to the rise in the percentage of non-native population within the city but at the same time contributed comprehensively to the rapid economic and commercial ascendancy of the city as well as the country as a whole.With the continual commercial and financial rise of Dubai, it can be reasonably assumed that the percentage of expatriates would even increase in the near or distant future as more occupational opportunities will flourish expectedly and it could very much become a cultural "melting pot" with a comprehensive cultural,religious and ethnic assimilation and the economic and commercial dominance of the Emiratis or the native people of UAE would gradually decrease.
2) As identified by the given article,one of major attributes of the global business success of The Emirates Group is its massive workforce and employee diversity.However,despite so many commercial advantages of workforce diversity,the company might also confront some of the limitations that arise from such.Firstly,excessive cultural and ethnic diversity in the workplace can potentially lead to miscommunication or comunication errors among the employee due to language barrier.Now,as The Emirates Group continues to employ immigrants in every department under the business operation,it can be prudently assumed that somr or many employees will have difficulty(at least initially) to communicate proficiently/fluenty with the coworkers which might subsequently affect employee performance causing concerns for the company.It has been stated in the article that English is widely spoken in the city especially in the occupational/professional sphere but many immigrant employees are also not proficient or comfortable in communicating in english which essentially adds to the problem of communication barrier in the workplace and work performance.Secondly,the adjustment time in the work envrionment will also take longer for any expatriate employee compared to local/native candidates.Aside from being comfortable with the occupational duties and responsibilities in the office,any new migrant employee would usually take a longer time to adjust with the cultural diversity of the place.New and unfamiliar work atmosphere and lack of proper english proficiency can lead to nervousness,panic and employee paranoia which again in the long run can negatively affect employee work performance and business operation of the company.Particularly,the employees who are working as cabin crew or customer representative,longer time period of workplace adjustment and inadequate english proficiency can become a serious concern.Thirdly,the traning and development cost of the company might also increase as it hires more expatriate employee.Especially for any new employee who is an outsider,it isextremely difficult to perform any business activities with the localites or existing clients/customers.Therefore,the company might have to provide appropriate language training to the employees,customer or client handling(especially local and existing ones),differnt aspects of company mission and principle and so forth.It not only entails significant training expenses to the company and but also takes up much time for employee training and development.
Now,employee diversity has also evidently contributed to the global success and commercial growth of The Emirates Group,Firstly,workforce divsersity can enable the company to manipulate the rich and vibrant pool of skills and talents almost from the entire world.The company can access the labor market of almost the entire world and hire some of the highly qualified and competent individuals in their respective field of expertise.The employees can be designated to the respective occupational departments based on their specific skill level and professional backgroundThis certainly provides a major competitive advantage for the company in the input/resource market compared to its competitiors and certainly enhance service quality and revenue generation.Secondly,as the company serves over 125 destinations across six continents,having a diversed employee group or workforce is undoubtedly an advantage.The operational area for the company is massive and the expatriate or international employee are better able to communicate with and handle customers/clients from different parts of the world.They are better able to culturally identify with the international customers or clients which facilitates better situation or customer handling.Thirdly,better customer handling due to workplace diversity can lead to higher customer satisfaction thereby enabling the company to enhance market share.Customer satisfaction induces and spreads company repuation and goodwill which could lead to acquisition of many new commuters from differnt parts of the world for The Emirates Group.This will increase the market share for the company and additionally enable to expand business and services to other countries as well.
3) If I had lived in a city as culturally and ethnically diversed as Dubai,I would definitely try to integrate myself with the overall community of all the people.This would provide me an opportunity to explore various new cultural and ethnic aspects and elements such as new friends,people,music,food,movies,theatre and so forth which would enrich my worldview and make me a more matured and liberal individual.Now,from an occupational or professional standpoint,involvement in communitarian diversity would also benefit me immensely as I would be able to establish a professional network with so many people from so many different countries having so much diversed professional background and connections.This could potentially facilitate my professional development and career growth.Therefore,I personally believe that my involvement in the cultural and ethnic diversity would be beneficial for me from both personal and professional point of view.
4) As Dubai continues to grow and flourish economically and commercially,there would be an expected increase in the influx of immigrants or expatriates into the city.Hence,as more occupational and business opportunities would continually grow in the city there would be more long term migratory settlements for job related purposes and other commercial reasons such as business or financial investments.However,the duration of the stay for the immigrants is also contingent on current and future visa and immigration policies enforced by UAE Customs Authority.Nonetheless,it can be expected that with low concentration of native(Emirati) population in the city and continuous economic and commercial rise of Dubai,the local companies and MNCs operating in the city would increase their future demand for expatriate employees and labor which could further lead to a more relaxed and congenial immigration and visa policies.This could encourage a new influx of immigrants and simultanously encourage the existing immigrants to prolong their stay perhaps with family members and relatives as well.Hence,we could expect the city to become a next "USA or Australia" in the near or distant future.