Murat Sakir Erogul

Entrepreneurial Activity and Attitude in the United Arab Emirates

Abstract The paper provides an overview of entrepreneurial activity and attitude in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) with the purpose of facilitating stakeholders to create new knowledge-based activities. The paper takes a multifaceted nature of entrepreneurship to reveal the range of environmental conditions that affect the attitudes and activity of Emirati entrepreneurs. These appear to be important components in producing a dynamic economy which facilitates socially significant activity, employment and wealth. To realize this development, the paper makes a number of recommendations from building entrepreneurial readiness in schools to endorsing regulatory reform, bankruptcy laws and investor protection. Moreover, a ‘one size fit all’ approach that has been taken in the past requires re-examination to meet the requirements of regional variations and gender differences within the Emirati population.AbstractThe paper provides an overview of entrepreneurial activity and attitude in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) with the purpose of facilitating stakeholders to create new knowledge-based activities. The paper takes a multifaceted nature of entrepreneurship to reveal the range of environmental conditions that affect the attitudes and activity of Emirati entrepreneurs. These appear to be important components in producing a dynamic economy which facilitates socially significant activity, employment and wealth. To realize this development, the paper makes a number of recommendations from building entrepreneurial readiness in schools to endorsing regulatory reform, bankruptcy laws and investor protection. Moreover, a ‘one size fit all’ approach that has been taken in the past requires re-examination to meet the requirements of regional variations and gender differences within the Emirati population.

Entrepreneurial Innovation and Policy Implications in the United Arab Emirates

The paper provides an overview of entrepreneurial innovation and aspiration in the United Arab Emirates to help policy makers facilitate Emirati entrepreneurs establish small and medium size enterprises that develop and utilize new technology and innovation through research and development. The findings indicate that firstly, business activity in the UAE among Emiratis is concentrated in consumer and service oriented ventures, such as retail, restaurants, health, education and social services. Secondly, UAE businesses in general are skilled at technology adoption, but not technology innovation. Thirdly, it has been found that new and young businesses in the UAE have minimal involvement in the high/medium technology sectors. These findings indicate that the UAE government should focus on developing a highly innovative entrepreneurial sector and on supporting high value added new companies that have the potential to grow and to develop internationally. For this to take place and to create efficient support programs that add value, policy makers and business developers need to collaborate with universities and research establishments to develop support systems that work towards supply oriented policies by focusing on innovation, infrastructure and ecological sustainability, rather than on the traditional tools of local demand.

Benchmarking corporate social responsibility against principles for responsible management education

Universities are educating students to become future leaders, managers and entrepreneurs. The need to incorporate and develop corporate social responsibility within university programs is necessary for future decision makers. We benchmark corporate social responsibility curriculum against the Principles for Responsible Management Education in two different contexts: a Mexican University and a Canadian University. Through a comparative case study process, we find that both programs have similarities and differences with PRME on issues of perceiving corporate social responsibility as a strategic management tool that adds value to the organisation, the role of entrepreneurs and the responsibility they have towards the different stakeholders, as well as the globalisation phenomena and the foundations of social responsibility. The paper contributes insight into how higher education institutes play a role in developing and preparing students as stakeholders who can not only ensure standards of corporate social responsibility but also how social responsibility is maintained.

Construction site safety in small construction companies in Saudi Arabia

Construction site safety concerns in small construction projects in Saudi Arabia are alarming due to the large number of accidents per year. The purpose of this research is to explore construction workers perceptions regarding construction site safety climate. An integrative model of workplace safety has been utilised to design and administer a questionnaire to workers in five small residential construction sites in the city of Najran. The results demonstrate a lack of adherence to occupational health and safety regulations by employers, a need for construction site safety protocols and enhanced external inspection systems, an unawareness among participants in regards to the safety measures endorsed by their companies, and indications of leniency due to favouritism by external inspectors. In conclusion, the study contributes to construction science and practice by identifying factors contributing to construction worker perception of safety which may help employers enhance the safety climate of small construction sites.

Developing a pro-learning culture through international strategic alliances

The international business environment is increasingly competitive; a better understanding of organisational learning and the learning curve is needed in international strategic alliances to gain competitive advantage. The paper examines a family firms organisational learning through exogenous inter-organisational relationships and discovers the facilitation of a pro-learning culture. We find that learning through international strategic alliances increases endogenous learning opportunities among individuals, groups and the organisation. We contribute to the literature on how learning management capabilities and tasks from international strategic alliance partners facilitate creating, retaining and transferring knowledge within the organisation to improve and build new sources of competitive advantage. The implications for family firms who recognise the importance of creating a pro-learning culture develop the foundations of institutionalised learning that facilitate sustainable distinctive competencies.

Alternate-Feminine Entrepreneurial Identity: Explaining, Persuading, Convincing, and Adapting

Research on women entrepreneurs has made an important progress in the field. However, recent calls suggest the incorporation of feminist theorizing. We center our attention on how women in a male-d...