Introduction
Nowadays, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is one of the countries in the world with a well-developed infrastructure and complex construction projects (Nahyan et al. 2012). At the same time, national authorities were able to develop the country from a wide variety of angles, and focusing on this aspect allowed the UAE to have outstanding financial performance and become one of the countries with exceptional services (Schiliro 2013). One of the reasons for the success of the UAE is the fact that the government of Abu Dhabi actively employs the concepts of excellence system. This program ensures that the actions of various local entities comply with the overall mission and vision of the country.
The principles of this model highly rely on three pillars that can be described as vision achievement, innovation, and enablers (The Mohammed bin Rashid government excellence award: handbook 2015). In this case, the primary benefit of the pillar system lies in the fact that it examines local governmental entities from dissimilar angles. For example, this concept not only emphasises the importance of budgeting and expense planning but also attempts to assess whether a project is sustainable and benefits the national development in a positive way (The Mohammed bin Rashid government excellence award: handbook 2015). The system scrutinises risk assessment, business continuity, and innovation. Overall, using this model helps the country reach its national objectives while making the UAE an innovation-driven economy. Consequently, this matter not only contributes to the active development of different industries within the country but also to its competitive edge and leading economic position worldwide.
Nonetheless, this model was not always a governmental priority. In the recent past, the government of the UAE and Abu Dhabi highly relied on a different principle. The EFQM model was one of the first concepts to be developed, and this framework already relied on pillars (Abu Dhabi award for excellence in government performance 2003). This model also covered different spheres and aspects of an organisation to assess whether the governmental entity was orientated towards innovation and aimed at improving the financial wellbeing of the community. In this instance, this model attempted to discover the effectiveness of local entities from an international perspective while assessing their performance in leadership, customer and employee satisfaction, workforce capacity, and orientation towards innovation (Abu Dhabi award for excellence in government performance 2003). Nonetheless, apart from the positive intentions of this model, prejudice and bias when selecting winning contract bidders (for example) continued to exist. Relying solely on an international standpoint created difficulties and raised questions about whether the government could fully benefit from local projects. Simultaneously, the need to consider cultural specifics and make the overall selection process nationally oriented underlined the need to redesign the existing framework (The Mohammed bin Rashid government excellence award: handbook 2015). Thus, this transition from one concept to another underlines the need to consider continuous improvement and review the existing system on a regular basis to discover the full potential of local entities. It can serve as an example that the government can use when encouraging change in the existent excellence system. The country should continue its development and provision the trends in the long-term to maintain a culture of innovation.
Study Background
As it was mentioned earlier, the UAE is a country that was able to take advantage of local businesses and governmental entities and strengthened its positions internationally (Schirilo 2013). It is evident that many studies attempted to discover the working mechanisms of this excellence system and explain its active implementation and success. For example, in the article, Ahrens (2013) tried to understand the dogmas that the government used to design the excellence awards program. Using Dubai as an example, the author clearly states that the well-developed monarchical political structure of the UAE has a clear impact on the desire of local entities and businesses to introduce novel ideas and become proactive (Ahrens 2013). This finding of the article indicates that this aspect has to be highly considered when redesigning the assessment model. It could be assumed that a similar situation occurs with Abu Dhabi. This assumption exists, as power distance is believed to have a vehement impact on the decision-making and behaviour of the leader (Meydan, Basim & Basar 2014). Nonetheless, the lack of profound research about Abu Dhabi is one of the major reasons for conducting this study.
Gaining knowledge about the working mechanisms of the governmental excellence model and understanding the decision-making process that the authorities used to design the framework will help improve the existent model. As it was stated earlier, the government of the UAE understands that there is a need for continuous improvement and innovation. This trend is reflected by the recent transition of the government to the enhanced excellence system. Based on the description of the model highlighted above, it could be said that the current approach complies with the specifics of the business culture of the UAE and Abu Dhabi. For example, it prioritises the need to ensure that the actions of local entities comply with the national objectives of the country (The Mohammed bin Rashid government excellence award: handbook 2015). It motivates local authorities and unites them with the federal government by similar goals. A combination of these factors underlines that profound research is needed, as it will unveil the real problems and help optimise the existent assessment model.
Aim and Objectives
The findings and background stated above clearly show that apart from the effectiveness, the existent excellence system has to seek opportunities for development and cherish the values of continuous improvement in the long-term. Thus, one major challenge is the fact that the proposed assessment model to select award-winning local entities has some gaps to be filled. For example, the legal and ethical sides of the existent excellence system are highly important since the government and authorities take responsibility for giving a particular local entity an award. Reviewing this problem from this viewpoint can help avoid prejudice and bias in decision-making, as these issues are the most common challenges when selecting a winner. Another essential matter that has to be considered when making this decision is to take advantage of all available information such as strategic performance, HRM, and financial reports. Synthesising these reports and ensuring the compliance of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) with national objectives will help ensure that only the best entities are successful. In this case, the central goal of this paper is to introduce various strategies to improve the current assessment model in order to encourage change and innovation. Thus, the supporting objectives can be formulated as:
- Understand the working mechanism and decision-making principles of the existent excellence system and assessment;
- Introduce a new assessment model and criteria (KPIs) based on any identified problems and cultural specifics and focus on making novel concepts innovation-driven;
- Establish an assessment model that is accurate and recognisable nationally and internationally;
- Ensure that the model complies with the concepts of integrity;
- Determine whether the actions of Abu Dhabi’s government comply with the working principles of a new model;
- And discover the potential impact of a new award and assessment system and its impact on the prosperity of Abu Dhabi and overall economy of the UAE.
Reference List
Abu Dhabi award for excellence in government performance 2003. Web.
Ahrens, T, 2013, ‘Assembling the Dubai government excellence program: a motivational approach to improving public service governance in a monarchical context’, International Journal of Public Sector Management, vol. 26, no. 7, pp. 576-592.
Meydan, C, Basim, H & Basar, U 2014, ‘Power distance as a moderator of the relationship between organisational citizenship behaviour and impression management’, Eurasian Journal of Business and Economics, vol. 7, no. 3, pp. 105-118.
Nahyan, M, Sohal, A, Fildes, B & Hawas, Y 2012, ‘Transportation infrastructure development in the UAE’, Construction Innovation, vol. 12, no. 4, pp. 492-514.
Schirilo, D 2013, ‘Diversification and development of the United Arab Emirates’ economy’, Journal of Applied Economic Sciences, vol. 2, no. 24, pp. 228-239.
The Mohammed bin Rashid government excellence award: handbook 2015. Web.