Cross Cultural Management Pedadogical Insights in the United Arab Emirates: A Critical Review of Literatures

Abstract

The United Arab Emirates accounts for  88.5 of  expatriates while Emiratis are estimated at 11.5 per cent of the total, making the UAE among the Gulf countries to have the lowest proportion of natives to the overall population. Thus, this paper explores the contribution of the various  academic institutions to the teaching and advancement  of  Cross- Cultural Management (CCM) in the UAE. The study draws on both secondary and primary data. In addition to the literature review, 12 semi-structured interviews were carried out with university faculty, HR managers and trainers which were identified through direct email contact, and linked-in. Our findings show that CCM/CCT is taking place in the UAE but not to the extent that matches the high density of multiple cultures that co-exist with each other.  Federally accredited universities seem to be leading the way in increasing CCM provisions in their teaching. We have found that a number of undergraduate and postgraduate course that contain some aspect of CCM. Teaching students about Islamic Culture and the Gulf Society goes a long way in addressing some of the problems that trainers at the workplace are referring to. However, the international branch campuses seem to be lagging behind in their offerings. Their provision does not match the activities which are carried out to ensure diversity management centres we referred to earlier. None of the universities here both local and foreign sponsors a chair in this important area of international business management. In view of the diverse UAE environment, we suggest that the teaching of CCM be part of any curricula provision in the UAE right from primary school all the way to HE. By virtue of its current demographics, the UAE provides a microcosm of a globalized world.  Purpose: To review cross-cultural management (CCM) teaching and training in general, and assess how it has been influenced by the multi-cultural environment of Dubai Methodology: We therefore, draw from postcolonial theory in order to unmask CCM provisions, teaching approaches, and models used by universities, and industry trainers. Findings: We found that CCM is taught at both undergraduate and postgraduate courses and most of the approaches used are (imparted) informed  by positivist/ functionalist methods. We contend that using positivist/ functionalist approaches to interrogate CCM is ahistorical and precludes opportunities to understand the interactions between people of different cultures. The prevalent approaches are informed (conveyed)by Western philosophy and therefore tend to miss out on the cross-cultural pollination that can be gained in a hybridised environment such as Dubai. Practical implications:The study identifies several factors in Dubai which may hinder the development of rich CCM teaching or training methods.