This research has investigated the United Arab Emirates’ (UAE) attempts to transition to a knowledge-based economy (KBE), in accordance with UAE Vision 2021. Using systems theory and based on...Show moreThis research has investigated the United Arab Emirates’ (UAE) attempts to transition to a knowledge-based economy (KBE), in accordance with UAE Vision 2021. Using systems theory and based on interviews conducted with experts on the Gulf, this study focuses specifically on the pillars of education and innovation within the existing education system. The findings indicate that the UAE’s focus on improving its gains in the four pillars of education, innovation, ICT infrastructure and the institutional regime have yielded some progress over time. However, since the existing education system does not effectively address local obstacles on the national, institutional and cultural levels, the above-mentioned hurdles remain and continue to negatively affect the UAE’s journey toward becoming a KBE. As such, in accordance with the suggestions of key experts in education, it is important for the Emirati government to identify specific education-related challenges in order to address these local issues instead of focusing almost exclusively on global indicators.Show less
This thesis investigates discursive trends on the topic of productivity and entrepreneurship in resource-rich Middle East countries (specifically Gulf Cooperation Council states). It provides both...Show moreThis thesis investigates discursive trends on the topic of productivity and entrepreneurship in resource-rich Middle East countries (specifically Gulf Cooperation Council states). It provides both qualitative and quantitative analyses of the existing literature. General findings point to the dominant role that the Rentier State Theory has had in shaping the discourse.Show less
The transformation of our economy from an industrial into a knowledge economy changed every aspect of business dynamics and competitive advantage. Workplace climate and leadership exert a major...Show moreThe transformation of our economy from an industrial into a knowledge economy changed every aspect of business dynamics and competitive advantage. Workplace climate and leadership exert a major influence in fomenting an environment that fosters reflective skills and workplace learning, key factors for knowledge productivity and competitive advantage to take place. The present thesis examines the relationship between workplace climate and workplace leaning and investigates the predictive power of leadership with regards to reflective skills. The research consisted of a comparative study of two organizations’ workplace climate and workplace learning (Company A, N= 32; Company B, N=34), measured with the “Workplace Climate Questionnaire” and the “Knowledge Productivity Survey”, respectively. Our empirical results show that workplace climate and workplace learning are indeed related; however our expectation of confirming that leadership exerts an influence on reflective skills was not supported. These findings may suggest that, in the current economic context outlined by the latest global economic crisis featured by downsizing, leadership may not be the prevailing influencing factor with regards to reflective skills and workplace learning, but other workplace climate features such as workload. This cue indicates that this subject matter may have evolved since the advent of the knowledge economy and new variables come into play. We recommend the replication of this study with knowledge intensive organizations and with a larger sample composed by respondents being knowledge workers in order to verify the current results, and also suggest conducting it adopting workload as independent variable in order to investigate this new hypothesis.Show less
