Dubai Electricity and Water Authority’s Internship Report (Assessment)

Overview

The Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) is a public-sector non-profit organization that provides the population of Dubai with water and electricity supply. DEWA was founded on the 1^st of January 1992 by Sheikh Maktoum bin Rashid. The company appeared as a result of a merger of the Dubai Electricity Company and the Dubai Water Department that had been founded much earlier, in 1959 (Dubai Electricity and Water Authority, 2016a).

At present, the organization employs over 9,000 employees and provides more than 700,000 customers with water and even a larger amount – with electricity. According to the statistics, the satisfaction rate of employees exceeded 94% in 2015. The organization has achieved an honorable position of one of the best utilities in the world (Dubai Electricity and Water Authority, 2016a).

The Organization Vision, Mission, Values, and Goals

According to the official site of the organization, it has the following vision mission, motto, and goals (Dubai Electricity and Water Authority, 2016b):

• Vision: A sustainable innovative world-class utility.
• Mission: The organization’s mission is to bring happiness to its stakeholders and promote Dubai’s vision by delivering “sustainable electricity and water services at a world-class level of reliability, efficiency and safety in an environment that nurtures innovation with a competent workforce and effective partnerships; supporting resources sustainability” (Dubai Electricity and Water Authority, 2016b, para. 2).
• Values:
  • to be a sustainable learning organisation;
  • to achieve stakeholders happiness;
  • to introduce innovations;
  • to strive for excellence;
  • to provide good governance;
• Goals:
  • to provide generation of electricity;
  • to establish, maintain, and operate the process of electricity and water supply;
  • to ensure high-quality performance of water desalination plants;
  • to control power and water networks responsible for transmission and distribution of supplies in the city;
  • to maintain existing water resources and supply drinking water to the population;
  • to support the policy of Dubai Government to promote sustainable development by increasing the efficiency of energy and water consumption and investing into new, ecologically clean energy sources.

Organizational Chart and Funding Resources

The organizational chart provided by the official site of DEWA (Dubai Electricity and Water Authority, 2016c):

As far as funding is concerned, the Dubai Electricity and Water Authority, which now has $1 billion bond, is currently meeting its financial needs from its own sources. Besides, it can dispose of short-term loans from the projects that the organization has launched. Thus, the funding is performed internally without going to the bond market (Jarvis & Sovacool, 2011).

Organization’s Stakeholders and Clients

DEWA stakeholders include (Dubai Electricity and Water Authority, 2016b):

• the government (both federal and local);
• clients (that are subdivided into contractors, residential, commercial, and industrial customers);
• the personnel of the organization (top managers, middle managers, non-supervisory managers, employees, etc.);
• the partners of the organization (strategic partners including: ABB, ADWEA, ADWEC, ALSTOM, Ansaldo, Cisco, Directorate General of Civil Defence, DU, Dubai Carbon Centre of Excellence, etc.; and main partners, among which: Arabian Coast Contracting, ASDA’A Burson Mesteller, Avineon, Awqaf & Minors Affairs Foundation, BASF KANOO FZE, British Saftey Council, Bureau Veritas Certification, etc.)
• the suppliers and sub-contractors of the organization (strategic, core, and basic);
• the providers of capital and investors of the organization (local and foreign banks, financial services and independent power producers);
• the present-day society and future generations (environmental organizations, media, and the population in general).

Relevant Legal Framework

DEWA is regulated by the main laws of the UAE, which are (Dubai Electricity and Water Authority, 2016d):

• Civil Code;
• Commercial Code;
• Penal Code;
• Civil Procedures’ Code;
• the Labor Law.

However, in 2015, DEWA got a right (under Law Number 6 of 2015 on the protection of electricity grid and public water system in Dubai) to take measures connected with grievances and fees that the organization is allowed to impose on those who violate its rules. The organization and its stakeholders are granted the ability to resolve the issues without resorting to state laws, by a special committee (Dubai Electricity and Water Authority, 2016d).

Relevant Statistics on the Clients the Organization Serves

The document containing annual statistics of the organization of 2015 provides the following figures of water consumption (Dubai Electricity and Water Authority, 2016e):

Recent Media Coverage

The most recent news of DEWA includes the following (Dubai Electricity and Water Authority, 2016f):

• According to the today news, Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) has participated in the MEED Leaders in Energy Reform Summit. Moreover, the organization is the official sponsor of the summit. A great number of outstanding decision makers have come to Dubai to participate in the event. The major topic DEWA touched upon was the way to find the most effective solutions to meet the population’s growing energy demand. The organization suggested making reforms in the public sector, that would help diversify the energy mix and increase energy efficiency. Besides, DEWA made emphasis on the required support and funding on behalf of the private sector.
• Yesterday, on the 1^st of Novermber, HE Reem Al Hashimy, Minister of State for International Cooperation and Director General for the Dubai Expo 2020 Bureau, had a meeting with HE Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, MD & CEO of DEWA. The meeting took place at the Head Office of the organization. The major purpose of the visit was to establish closer connections between the participants as well as to identify how the organization could assist Expo in its services. The Dubai Expo 2020 and the preparations required to hold the event were also discussed profoundly. Al Tayer assured Al Hashimy that DEWA was capable of providing all the necessary support to World Expo.
• On the 28^th of October, DEWA launched the Smart Centre. The new establishment is a part of the organization’s Customer Happiness Centre and is located at the DEWA head office. This innovation was introduced according to the Dubai Plan 2021. The ultimate objective of the organization is to make Dubai the city of happy, creative, and ambitious people who are provided with all the possible high-quality services they need for well-being. Besides, the Centre streamlines the process of transaction without the assistance of the personnel: most services are accessible on the iPad application. The customers are able to suggest new services that would increase their level of happiness.

Personalized Internship Objectives

The personal objectives I pursue are:

• to develop my professional theoretical knowledge and practical skills being controlled and couched by a supervisor;
• to contribute to the mission of the organization by doing my work;
• to show my potential by completing all tasks that are given to me;
• to achieve excellence in customer services;
• to obtain deeper understanding of the ways the organization functions;
• to develop my communicative skills by integrating into team work;
• to identify my flaws and correct the mistakes.

Internship Placement: Mandate and Organization Chart

The major mandate of DEWA’s features the following aspects (Dubai Electricity and Water Authority, 2016b):

• to analyze the current state of the global environment;
• to be consistent with global and regional trends;
• to provide policy recommendations, due-time warnings, and data on the existing environmental threats;
• to encourage international cooperation;
• to foster actions relying upon the most advanced scientific and technical capabilities available.

The organizational chart (Dubai Electricity and Water Authority, 2016c):

Working Assignments

During my internship I received and successfully completed the following assignments:

• to interview employees that want to quit their jobs, enter their personal data into excel sheets, and finally approve their papers;
• to assist in organization of the event done by the department (“We are proud, We care”) aimed at enhancing the employees’ happiness in each separate department and in the organization as a whole;
• to arrange vouchers from different places, approve them, and add to excel sheets;
• to interview employees after finishing the exit interview;
• to enter exit interviews into excel sheets;
• to meet with the manager for obtaining details about the new campaign and to brainstorm the campaign;
• to develop a designed card for the employees called “Moto of life” (as a result, each employee was able to write his/her goal on the card to stick it on their office);
• to process “Takaful agreement letters” (to call the employees, to collect their signatures, and to add their names to excel sheets);
• to help the Takaful team give cheques to the employees who registered for Talkaful.

Working Conditions

As far as the working conditions are concerned, I did a kind of investigation prior to my internship asking my friends. They said that the conditions were great indeed, and the people were friendly and helpful. This proved to be true.

My first days were a bit stressful as I had to adapt to a new place. However, I successfully coped with all the tasks and established a lot of connections. The working hours were very convenient for me: we started at 7.30 a.m. and finished at 2.30 p.m.

The stress level increased in subsequent weeks when a lot of things had to be done to organize various events. We had strict deadlines but managed to meet them successfully. This feeling of achievement made me feel happy and self-confident. However, week 5 turned out to be full of stress and pressure. The supervisor found out that we made a serious mistake. Despite the fact that the situation made me feel frustrated, all my colleagues supported me, which, to my mind, is one of the most important things at work, especially when the demands are high.

Professional Growth Experiences

I had a plenty of opportunities to learn new things. I worked a lot with exit interviews. You must be very meticulous to perform this job: the process requires concentrations to avoid mistakes. I have learnt how to talk to employees and persuade them into staying with the company. The most difficult thing was to enter all the information into excel sheets as you need to be very patient and attentive to complete this task successfully.

Another thing I have learnt is how assist in organizing upcoming events and design cards for them. Although I thought that the organization process would be easy and smooth, it took longer and required considerable effort.

Relevant Courses

I had a lot of different courses in my university that helped me during my internship. Some of them were particularly useful:

• EDC 366 Introduction to Research and Measurement in Education.
• EDC 354 Communication Competence in English (Menu VI).
• PSY 371 Organizational Psychology.
• EDC 432 Professional and Ethical Issues.
• PSY 413 Psychological Interventions.

Final Reflections

During 7 weeks that I spent in DEWA my working experience was very much diversified. I had to perform a lot of tasks and communicate with a lot of employees and supervisors. All the people I had to deal with were very supportive and friendly, which helped me avoid unnecessary stress. With their help, I gained new knowledge and improved my skills. I learnt not only how to work with documents but also how to deal with employees and how to increase their job satisfaction, which contributed to the mission of the organization.

I had a perfect chance of showing my potential as I did my best to complete all the tasks in time. Besides, I did my research in the inner structure and functioning of the organization and showed a lot of initiative, which made my supervisor proud of me. The mistakes I made helped me to understand my weaknesses and address them.

Participating in event preparation gave me an opportunity not only to learn how to make cards or do other organization-related tasks but also helped me develop my communicative skills as team work was highly important in achieving the desired results.

In general, I am very happy that I had such a unique opportunity to work for DEWA.

References

Dubai Electricity and Water Authority. (2016a). Our history. Web.

Dubai Electricity and Water Authority. (2016b). Strategic direction. Web.

Dubai Electricity and Water Authority. (2016c). Organisation chart. Web.

Dubai Electricity and Water Authority. (2016d). DEWA circulars. Web.

Dubai Electricity and Water Authority. (2016e). Annual statistics. Web.

Dubai Electricity and Water Authority. (2016f). Latest news. Retrieved from Web.

Jarvis, D. S., & Sovacool, B. K. (2011). Conceptualizing and evaluating best practices in electricity and water regulatory governance. Energy, 36(7), 4340-4352.