The performance of the Executive Council of Dubai and the effective realization of duties depend on the organizational structure of the Council and distribution of responsibilities among the Council branches and members. The functioning of the Executive Council of Dubai is realized with the help of the Council chairmen and representatives of the associated sectors who provide recommendations to the heads of the governments’ departments. The focus is also on the work of the Council’s General Secretariat and on cooperation with the sector committees.
Members of the Executive Council
According to Law No. 3 for 2003, the Executive Council members are the Chairman, His Highness Sheikh Hamdan Bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum; the deputy chairman; and the Secretary General of the Executive Council, Abdulla Al Shaibani.
The deputy chairmen of the other committees in Dubai and departments can be appointed as the members of the Executive Council of Dubai depending on the goals set for the realization of new strategic projects in the Emirate (The Executive Council of Dubai, 2015). The number of members in the Executive Council of Dubai also depends on the number of government entities represented in the Council during different stages of the project plan realization.
The Council’s General Secretariat should be discussed as an important department within the Executive Council of Dubai that is oriented to providing the support to the Council in terms of offering recommendations and regulating the development according to the public policies.
The department is headed by Abdulla Al Shaibani, the Secretary General of the Executive Council. Functions of the General Secretariat members include the provision of reviews and recommendations to improve the strategies used by the Executive Council of Dubai in order for the public agencies to achieve the excellence in performance (Dubai sets up Executive Council, 2003; The UAE Government Official Portal, 2015).
Sectoral Committees Attached to the Executive Council of Dubai
There are five sector committees that are attached to the Executive Council in order to coordinate the work of the government entities according to the specific spheres and areas of influence. These committees were established according to the Executive Council’s Decree No. 26 of 2009. The five sector committees include Security and Justice Committee, Health and Safety Committee, Economic Development Committee, Social Development Committee, and Infrastructure and Environment Committee (The Executive Council of Dubai, 2015; The UAE Government Official Portal, 2015).
The Aspects of the UAE Governance
The Position of the Executive Council in the UAE’s Government Structure
The United Arab Emirates are the federation of seven emirates, including the Emirate of Dubai. The federation is ruled by His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the Ruler of Abu Dhabi. The rulers of the emirates are the members of the Federal Supreme Council. Thus, “the federal government is organized into three branches: the executive branch, the legislative branch, and the judicial branch” (Oxford Business Group, 2014, p. 17).
The Federal National Council represents the legislative branch, and the Federal Supreme Court represents the judicial branch. The executive branch is presented by the Supreme Council and the Cabinet. In the current federal system of government, the Federal Supreme Council plays the key role because its members elect the president and vice-president in the United Arab Emirates, and legislative and executive powers are associated with the Supreme Council (Krane, 2009).
The parliamentary body and the executive authority in the UAE are represented by the Council of Ministers that is headed by the prime minister elected by the members of the Supreme Council. The specific executive powers of the Council of Ministers at the level of the UAE can be associated with the responsibilities of the Executive Council of Dubai.
Thus, the Council in Dubai performs the functions similar to the Executive Councils of other Emirates, and their position can be discussed as being under the Council of Ministers and under the leadership of the prime minister, as it is noted by Ahmed Al Mahri, the representative of the Executive Council of Dubai, and by the other public officers and employees (A. A. Mahri, personal communication, May 8, 2015). It is also possible to note that the governmental structure in the Emirates resembles the governmental structure of the UAE, therefore, the discussion of the Executive Council’s position under the Council of Ministers is rather reasonable.
Differences in Functions of Local Authorities and the Executive Council of Dubai
While discussing local authorities in Dubai, it is important to refer to the government entities that are responsible for the regulation of the different sectors’ work in the Emirate, including the spheres of economy, health, security, police, transport, and education among others (Dubai Strategic Plan 2015, 2015). In this context, the Executive Council of Dubai can also be discussed as the local authority, but its functions and duties differ significantly from the functions of the mentioned governments.
According to Ahmed Al Mahri, the representative of the Executive Council of Dubai, the Council’s function is to improve the work of the local authorities, government sectors, and departments (A. A. Mahri, personal communication, May 8, 2015). The Executive Council of Dubai works to provide the strategic plan for development in Dubai and proposes the budget for the project realization. In their turn, governments or local authorities are responsible for performing their tasks determined according to the strategic plan.
In this context, the collaboration of the Executive Council of Dubai and the local authorities is realized with the focus on the idea of supervision and coordination in order to ensure that the governments follow the determined path in order to realize the aims of the strategic development plan (The Executive Council of Dubai, 2015).
If it is necessary, the Executive Council of Dubai establishes new government entities in order to complete the specific tasks determined according to the strategic plan. The monitoring is realized by the Council at all stages of collaborating with local authorities. Therefore, there are significant differences in duties of governments and the Executive Council of Dubai.
Differences in Federal Authorities and Departments and the Executive Council of Dubai
Federal authorities are responsible for meeting the national interests while performing in such sectors as economy, finance, health, education, security, tourism, labor, energy, and transport among others. In spite of the fact that the actual functions to meet the citizens’ interests are performed by the local authorities, the federal authorities control the realization of the UAE’s goals according to the federal strategic plans (Dubai Plan 2021 in numbers, 2015). In this context, federal ministries of the UAE perform functions at the federal level that are similar to the functions of both the local authorities and the Executive Council of Dubai.
These functions and duties include the monitoring and regulation of the authorities’ work in order to achieve the set standards mentioned in the national plan and Dubai’s strategic plan. Therefore, the main difference is in the level at which the functions are performed by the ministries and the Council. Furthermore, it is important to state that the federal ministries and authorities cooperate with the Executive Council of Dubai in terms of developing the strategies for maintaining well-being, security, order, and economic progress in the UAE (A. A. Mahri, personal communication, May 8, 2015).
The Executive Council of Dubai in Comparison with the Prime Minister’s Office
The Prime Minister’s Office is responsible for developing and coordinating the process of implementing the UAE Government’s strategy in all the Emirates in order to achieve the cohesion. As a result, at the local level, the Prime Minister’s Office can coordinate the work of the Executive Council of Dubai in order to ensure that the UAE Government’s strategy is realized successfully in the Emirate (Oxford Business Group, 2014, p. 19). Furthermore, the sphere of functions and responsibilities of the Prime Minister’s Office includes the review of the work of the federal authorities and ministries.
Referring to these responsibilities, it is possible to state that they are similar for the Prime Minister’s Office and for the Executive Council of Dubai, but there is still a difference in the level at which the duties are performed. At the federal level, the Prime Minister’s Office proposes the measurement systems in order to control and monitor the work of the government entities (The UAE Government Official Portal, 2015). At the level of Dubai, such responsibilities are performed by the Executive Council of Dubai.
The cooperation of the Prime Minister’s Office and the Executive Council of Dubai leads to the improvement of the work of the UAE’s governments in order to guarantee the effectiveness of the entities’ functioning at all levels. The result of such cooperation where the Council can perform as the subsidiary is the increase in the UAE’s competitiveness and governmental strength.
In addition, the work of Executive Council of Dubai in terms of drafting the policies and adaptation or enforcement of the federal laws also depends on the progress of the Prime Minister’s Office in selecting and adopting the policies leading to the UAE’s economic and social progress (The Executive Council of Dubai, 2015). Thus, the functions of the Prime Minister’s Office also affect the realization of policies in Dubai because of provided coordination recommendations to the Executive Council of Dubai.
The Position of the Executive Council in the Government of Dubai
Depending on the duties and responsibilities performed by the Executive Council in the Emirate of Dubai, it is possible to determine the specific place which is taken by the Council in the governmental structure of the Emirate. Figure 1 demonstrates the relationship between the governmental entities in Dubai in order to illustrate the specific position of the Executive Council of Dubai in this system.
The executive branch of the central government of Dubai is represented by the Executive Council as the primary force to control the work of the governmental agencies. Therefore, the Executive Council is divided into the Council’s General Secretariat and five specific sector committees in order to realize the complete control over the governmental agencies’ activities and to coordinate the work of the entities while achieving the strategic plan’s goals.
The General Secretariat is responsible for the direct administration of the governmental entities in order to improve their work. The provided support is based on the policies determined according to the goals of the strategic plan that is followed in Dubai (Dubai Strategic Plan 2015, 2015). Furthermore, the General Secretariat is responsible for coordinating and regulating the interaction of the Executive Council and the five sector committees (The Executive Council of Dubai, 2015).
The representatives of the Economic Development Committee work to monitor the finance agencies in Dubai. Security and Justice Committee is responsible for monitoring the work of specific security agencies that are categorized in a separate branch of the governmental agencies in Dubai. Infrastructure and Environment Committee provides the support for the transport and energy agencies among others.
The coordination work of Social Development Committee includes the control over the education and social support agencies. Health and Safety Committee provides the support to coordinate the work of the health departments in Dubai (Ingley & Lockhart, 2015, p. 29; The Executive Council of Dubai, 2015). It is important to note that both the General Secretariat and the five sector committees work as the unity to coordinate the performance and progress of the governmental agencies depending on their type.
The Specific Role of the Executive Council as the Main Executive Organ in Dubai
The improvement of the government performance is the key idea promoted by the leaders in the UAE according to their strategic plans. This idea is also followed in the Emirate of Dubai according to the Dubai Strategic Plan 2015 and Dubai Plan 2021, where the main focus is on strengthening the strategic areas, improving the organizational structures, promoting accountability, raising efficiency, and guaranteeing the responsiveness (Dubai Plan 2021 in numbers, 2015; Dubai Strategic Plan 2015, 2015).
Therefore, the main focus is on finding resources and tools in order to guarantee such improvement and supervise the progress. In this context, the specific role of the Executive Council in Dubai in contrast to the other authorities can be formulated with references to the idea that the Council aims “at making and updating a comprehensive strategic plan for Dubai, working out the annual budget of the Government of Dubai, maintaining the city’s security and order, providing public utilities and achieving economic and social progress in the city” (The Executive Council of Dubai, 2015, para. 2).
The research demonstrates that the additional duties of the Executive Council include the development of the policies to achieve the social and economic progress in Dubai and the enforcement of legislation to guarantee that Dubai develop according to the federal tendencies (Charles & Kumar, 2014, p. 193; Grant, Golawala, & McKechnie, 2007, p. 508; Ingley & Lockhart, 2015, p. 32).
As a result, the area and scope of the Council’s duties are rather unique. If federal ministries and agencies operate nationally, the Executive Council performs locally, searching and providing the tools for the governmental improvement only in Dubai. As a result, the implementation of the latest initiatives is realized at the local level as well as the associated monitoring, and the whole work toward the improvement of the public sector’s quality becomes more structured.
Such strategic management performed by the Executive Council differs from the other authorities, and it is helpful to increase the performance and competencies of the local government agencies in Dubai. In this context, the duties of the Council in Dubai are similar to those ones in Abu Dhabi, and the Councils in the Emirates work to follow the UAE’s strategic path.
In addition, the Executive Council should be discussed as an important executive organ that is oriented to propose the most efficient measures in order to evaluate the performance of the government entities. As a result, the Council performs the important leadership role in the government of Dubai.
Conclusion
Having analyzed the data on the projects and responsibilities of the Executive Council of the Emirate of Dubai, it is possible to state that the Council is responsible for performing a range of duties that are associated with coordinating and monitoring the governmental agencies’ activities in Dubai.
The primary function performed by the Executive Council in Dubai is the provision of the support to the government authorities in order to ensure that they work according to the plans, strategies, and policies of Dubai’s central government. Providing the support and coordination services to the governmental services in Dubai, the Executive Council achieved the goals of the Dubai Strategic Plan 2015.
Referring to the discussed duties, it is also important to mention such specific responsibilities of the Council as the development of the strategic plan; the updating of the strategic goals for Dubai depending on the agencies’ performance; the monitoring and coordination of the governmental agencies in order to improve their performance; the provision of the support for government entities in order to achieve the idea of the smart government.
Focusing on the performed functions and duties, it is possible to state that Dubai needs the Council as the main executive organ in the Emirate. The executive power is responsible for implementing projects and plans and for controlling how the policies are implemented in order to achieve the real positive results. In Dubai, the Council is needed in order to integrate strategies to make the government smart and strategically oriented. As a result, it is possible to audit the activities of the government sectors and departments in order to propose necessary improvements.
While overseeing the projects and the policies implementation, the Executive Council builds new paths for the Emirate’s social development and economic progress. In this context, the Executive Council is the main body in Dubai that is responsible for monitoring the activities of all governmental agencies in the Emirate, including security, regulatory, and advisory agencies; and the Council is able to propose the effective strategy to improve the current performance in accordance with the strategic goals. From this point, the Executive Council is important to promote the development of the Emirate while guaranteeing the independence and the shared responsibilities in relation to the leadership, policy making, and the execution of tasks.
References
Charles, V., & Kumar, M. (2014). Business performance measurement and management. New York, NY: Cambridge Scholars Publishing.
Dubai Plan 2021 in numbers. (2015).
Dubai sets up Executive Council. (2003).
Dubai Strategic Plan 2015: Dubai Plan 2021. (2015)
Grant, J., Golawala, F., & McKechnie, D. (2007). The United Arab Emirates: The twenty-first century beckons. Thunderbird International Business Review, 49(4), 507-533.
Ingley, C., & Lockhart, J. (2015). ICMLG2015: The 3rd International Conference on Management, Leadership and Governance. Boston, MA: Academic Conferences and Publishing Limited.
Krane, J. (2009). Dubai: The story of the world’s fastest city. London: Atlantic Books Ltd.
Oxford Business Group. (2014). The report: Dubai 2014. Oxford: Author.
The Executive Council of Dubai. (2015).
The UAE Government Official Portal. (2015).