Al Ain Municipality and Its Core Values Case Study

Introduction

Al Ain Municipality can be considered as one of the major departments within the Municipal Affairs Authority. It provides services to the Al Ain city in the country. The municipality created a policy that was aimed at making it one of the most developed municipalities in the country.

This vision will be actualized by the experienced employees of the municipality using the state of art systems that are identified with it. At the same time, the municipality expects to maintain the unique characteristics and authenticity associated with it. The vision statement of this municipality is very specific and it captures the dreams and aspirations of the residents. It states: “A Distinguished Municipality and an Enduring Development for the City of Oases”.

There are several core values which can be associated with Al Ain Municipality. According to the Department of Municipal Affairs [herein referred to as DMA] (2012), the core values revolve around authenticity and protection of the city’s heritage. The leadership in this municipality addresses achievements that are distinct and which vary. When one analyses the vision of the municipality, they will note that credibility, transparency, innovation as well as creativity are all significant issues to the municipality.

In this paper, the author is going to assess the various attributes of Al Ain Municipality. The author will specifically factor in the vision of the municipality and its core values.

Al Ain as a Service Authority

The municipality can be considered as a service authority which attracts a large percentage of most recent and scientifically advanced information and communication technology apparatus in the country. It is also considered as one of the city’s sectors which continue to develop its labor force which is sourced from the country’s highly skilled population.

The municipality’s business strategy is derived from the Abu Dhabi government’s policy agenda (DMA, 2012). This is given the fact that Al Ain is involved in the achievement of the greater plan drawn by the Abu Dhabi government. To this end, it can be argued that the government does benefit from the implementation of the municipality’s vision statement.

Prioritizing the Strategies

It is also noted that Al Ain has prioritized its individual strategies to make sure that the objectives are fully achieved. This approach has made it possible for the municipality to achieve most of the objectives as compared to other municipalities in the country.

Al Ain municipality has prioritized its strategy within the following areas:

Sustaining Urban Development

It is assumed that the municipality is crucial to the development of Al Ain city and Abu Dhabi at large. The municipality aspires to provide the necessary services and infrastructure in a timely manner. The organization responds to this by focusing on planning and managing infrastructure assets.

Improved Service Delivery

The structure of the municipality and the strategy adopted makes sure that service delivery to the members of the community and residents of the city is improved. The organization has come up with formula to improve on service delivery. It has adopted a more service- oriented culture in the public sector. The services are also provided from a more customer- centric perspective.

Enhanced Efficiency

The municipality has also made sure that legal structures have been constituted to enhance efficiency and process excellence as far as provision of services to the residents is concerned. The organization has identified agility and responsiveness to its stakeholder’s needs as one of the important factors in enhancing efficiency.

Accountability and Transparency

The municipality requires the employees to be accountable. For example, individual employees are required to sign performance contracts within a given period. The contract defines the roles of the employees and the methods to be used in achieving them.

Developing National Leadership

It is noted that the municipality is working on enhancing partnerships with members of the private sector. The organization has contracted the services of other stakeholders to improve service delivery. Within this context, it is noted that the partnership will enable the municipality to attract investors with the aim of improving the quality of services delivered to the members of the community.

The organization is also making efforts to establish an environment conducive for high Emiratization level. This is by promoting innovation, creativity and leadership for the citizens. It also aims at preserving the knowledge and experience of other qualified international candidates (DMA, 2012).

The Strategic Issue

A critical analysis of Al Ain Municipality’s strategic plan reveals that several issues that need to be addressed by this organization. We can identify the issues the organization needs to work on solving.

The following are some of the issues that need to be addressed:

1. One of the issues that need to be dealt with has to do with the time spent on providing services to the public. To improve the provision of services, the organization needs to cut back on the time spent in delivering the services to avoid delays
2. There is also the issue of low integration between efficiency and effectiveness in the practices carried out by the organization.
3. The organization is also affected by low interaction between it and members of the public. If this is not addressed, the organization might be alienated from members of the public
4. It is also noted that the organization needs to be more open and transparent as far as provision of the services to the public is concerned
5. The organization also needs to improve the quality of the services provided to the public while reducing costs at the same time
6. The organization is also facing a challenge as far as implementing the Emiratization policy is concerned. This is especially so considering the fact that the organization needs to retain its experienced and qualified international employees

Conclusion

In conclusion, it is important to note that the organization is grappling with internal and external issues that should be addressed if the municipality is to achieve its objectives. An example of an internal issue has to do with the achievement of the objectives defined in the mission and strategy plan.

The municipality has identified the source of the problems and needs to work on them to improve efficiency. External issues arise from the pressure put on this organization by stakeholders such as the government to operate more efficiently and effectively (DMA, 2012). This is especially so given that Al Ain Municipality is a section of the Abu Dhabi government. This being the case, the organization has to adhere to the policies and agenda of the government.

Another issue that has to be addressed by the Al Ain Municipality has to do with the integration of the strategies promoted by the organization with the reluctance of the policy makers to reduce their authority and adapt to changes. The organization should consider re- engineering its processes to address some of these challenges. Specifically, the organization should try to address the problem of bureaucracy in its structure. Bureaucratization is seen to occur in similar public organizations and it’s a hindrance to their organizational development.

References

Department of Municipal Affairs. (2012). Emirate of Abu Dhabi: Al Ain.