Do Human Resource Practices, Employee Remuneration And Employee Benefits Have Significant Influence On The Retention Of Childcare Teachers In The Childcare Service Industry?

This study investigates the impact of human resource practices, employee remuneration and employee benefits on childcare teachers' intentions to stay in the Singaporean workforce. This mixed methods study focuses on current qualified childcare teachers, their perspectives on human resource practices, employee remuneration and employee benefits in their workplaces and their intentions regarding whether to continue working in the childcare sector in Singapore. In the first phase of the study, which was qualitative, in-depth interviews were conducted with 21 current qualified childcare teachers. In the second phase of the study, which was quantitative, 202 current qualified childcare teachers in Singapore participated in a paper-based and web-based survey. The findings indicate that childcare teachers in Singapore want to be rewarded with fair human resource practices and employee wages are not the only dominant factor on the retention of childcare teachers in the Singaporean childcare industry. This study addresses a knowledge gap about childcare teacher retention in the childcare service industry in Singapore

Environmental determinants of open innovation in Dubai SMEs

This study examines a number of environmental determinants (government supported developments, financial resources, academic-industry collaborations and market dynamics) in supporting innovation in small and medium-sized enterprises in the emerging Dubai market in the United Arab Emirates. The results from a survey of 200 senior managers highlight the importance of government supported developments and market dynamics on innovation in these firms, although do not support the expected influence of financial resources and academic and industry collaborations. The implication is that innovation should be linked to the local economic development and supported by specific policies and programs

Exploiting innovation in Dubai SMEs: the effect of strategic orientation on organizational determinants

This study investigates the role of strategic orientations of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in an emerging market, namely Dubai in the United Arab Emirates. It uses the business-level typology of Miles and Snow (prospector, analyzer, and defender) to examine the effect of strategic orientations on organizational determinants (organizational culture, technology orientation, alliance and cooperation, and market orientation) and their consequences in terms of innovation. Drawing upon data from 189 Dubai SMEs, the findings reveal that there are differences in the organizational determinants with prospector and defender orientations, with analyzer orientations falling in-between. Prospectors place more reliance than defenders on developing organizational culture, technology orientation, alliance and cooperation, and market orientation. Constant changes in the Dubai business and market environments seem to affect SMEs\u27 strategic orientations and smaller SMEs are more likely to be analyzers than the SMEs employing over 100 staff. This study provides useful insights into the role of strategic orientations and organizational determinants of Dubai SMEs to accomplish successful innovation results

Women’s enactment of leadership in a heavily gender-marked Islamic context: An exploration within the United Arab Emirates

© 2018, Emerald Publishing Limited. Purpose: Diverse cultural contexts with their distinct enactments of traditional gender inequity present unique constraints for female leaders. In Western contexts, the Christianity-inspired principle of equality of all humans remains a latent principle operative toward greater gender egalitarianism. This paper aims to examine female leaders within an Islamic context devoid of such espoused equality in which gender differences are enshrined in culture and law. Design/methodology/approach: Questionnaires based on the Competing Value Framework were developed and completed by 145 leaders and 365 employees from UAE companies. The salient findings of these responses were explored in six subsequent focus group discussions. Findings: The study reveals no difference in how women perform leadership, except in terms of brokering skills in which women are perceived as superior to their male counterparts. Focus group discussion participants ascribed this difference to the Islamic benevolent sexism dynamic of according women greater respect, which facilitates their access to higher management. Originality/value: This pioneering perspective of female leaders in a context of overt and sanctioned cultural and legal gender disparity contributes to scholarship on female leadership through a non-Western lens