The Role of Gender in Leader and
Subordinate Relationship, Job Satisfaction
and Career Prospects for Women in Dubai

ABSTRACT

Although women constitute almost 50% of the global population, they remain underrepresented in senior leadership roles. Recognizing the critical role of women in the economy and helping them advance in the workplace, constitute a huge step forward towards reducing this leadership gender gap. Grounded on the gender and leadership theories, this study examines whether women are more likely to have better career advancement opportunities under women leadership. It argues that female gender-specific work behaviors and attitudes play a significant role on the career prospects of expat women employees in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE), where unlike the global workforce, women have a higher presence and hold more senior positions in the workplace. The study uses the mixed methodology in which qualitative and quantitative data was collected independently, analyzed separately, and interpreted collectively to investigate to what extent the experiences within the specific local context explain the theories. The quantitative data, collected through surveys, was used to locally test the validity of the theories on women leadership, the role of gender in supervisor and subordinate relationship, and the role of gender in job satisfaction. The qualitative data, collected through face-to-face semi-structured interviews with women Chapter 1: ABSTRACT leaders explored the women’s career experiences and investigated their growth opportunities. The quantitative data analysis provided full support to the role of gender on leader and subordinate relationship dimension, and no support to the role of gender on job satisfaction and career prospects. The themes emerging from the qualitative analysis highlighted organizational support, and transformational leadership style as contributing factors towards women career advancement to top positions. Collectively, the findings revealed the positive role of transformational leadership that offset the role of gender on women job satisfaction and career progression. the results also highlighted the adapted manifestation of the transformational leadership style within the local context. The findings also revealed the role of the UAE gender equality program and its significant positive effect on the career progression of female employees. Implications, recommendations, and limitations are also discussed.

Keywords: Gender, leadership, job satisfaction, and career progression

Digital Transformation: Risk and
Challenges in Nigeria’s Logistics and
Supply Chain Industry.
Case Study of Jumia Logistics, mds
Logistics and Bollore Transport &
Logistics

ABSTRACT

The chosen topic for the IRP is “DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION: RISK AND CHALLENGES IN NIGERIA’S LOGISTICS AND SUPPLY CHAIN INDUSTRY. CASE STUDY OF JUMIA LOGISTICS, MDS LOGISTICS AND BOLLORE TRANSPORT & LOGISTICS”. The aim of the research is to identify key challenges and risks bedeviling the logistics and supply chain industry in Nigeria vis-à-vis the use of Digital Transformation to address the challenges identified. The research philosophy is based on interpretivism and constructivism which are subjective in nature and the methodological approach is the use of qualitative (inductive) research methods with research data acquired for analysis through the use of survey questionnaire administered to the 3 selected organizational case studies. It’s important to note that the sample size used in qualitative research is usually a small sample size that is adequately reflective of the research objective. For the purpose of this IRP, a sample size of 9 is adopted with 8 responses confirmed for further analysis.

The analysis and results indicate the specific challenges and risks bedeviling the industry and the importance of digital transformation in curbing these challenges. The results also show specific aspects of digital transformation that is critical to the implementation and adoption of digital transformation.

The conclusion shows the digital transformation strategy required by the organizations to implement, adopt and properly apply digital transformation as part of organization wide business strategy for sustainability.

Defining an effective Digital
Transformation
Strategic Framework in a
Knowledge-Based Organization

ABSTRACT

This research focuses on the purpose of a digital strategy for a knowledge-based organization. Identifying the key elements that should be included in a successful digital strategy framework for such an organization, like the OECD. Having an effective digital strategy framework for a knowledge-based organization is key to maintaining leadership in evidence-based analysis and optimizing the use of data, information, and knowledge available through digital means. This requires building out the next generation of policy outputs and other AI-enabled processes, adapting to rapid technological advancements, and ensuring coherence and consistency in data and knowledge management across the organization. A successful digital strategy framework should include design principles, working principles, values, goals, and governance that align with the mission of the organization, guide how work must be approached, and enable better data, information, and knowledge stewardship. A qualitative research approach was undertaken to understand people’s experiences, practical perspectives, and recommended best practices applicable to the research question at hand.

Keywords: Knowledge based, Digital Transformation

Impact of Telehealth on patient outcomes
during COVID-19. A case study at Fakeeh
University Hospital Dubai.

ABSTRACT

Topic: Impact of Telehealth on patient outcomes during COVID-19. A case study at Fakeeh University Hospital Dubai
Aim: The main purpose of this research is to analyze the impact of telehealth services during COVID-19 on patient outcomes, particularly during the time frame of the pandemic December 2020 – February 2022 at Fakeeh University Hospital.
Research Objectives: The study consists of three objectives. (1) To determine and compare patient-physician satisfaction levels from teleconsultation before and during the pandemic. (2) To analyze the impact of teleconsultations without physical examination on physician-patient communication during COVID-19 (3) To investigate the influence of telehealth on the number of admissions to hospitals during COVID-19.
Methodology: A retrospective Mixed method approach was used to answer the research questions using data obtained from an online survey and face-to-face interviews with physicians and patients who used telehealth services. Thematic analysis was used for qualitative analysis and Chi-square tests, systematic measures, and risk estimates were used for quantitative analysis. SPSS Version 26 was used for statistical analysis, and a p-value of 0.05 was set statistically significant

Results & Discussion: The sample size of 100 showed a high knowledge about telehealth as related to their satisfaction with telehealth services. Chi-square statistics (p-Value 0.000) showed a significant positive impact on the patient-physician satisfaction level, while there is a significant relationship between the impacts of teleconsultations without physical examination on physician-patient communication (p-Value 0.000) and the strong influence of telehealth on the decreased number of admissions to the hospital during COVID-19 (p-value 0.000)
Conclusion: This study assembled substantial information to analyze the impact of telehealth on patient outcomes during a COVID-19 pandemic and the findings of this study have highlighted the positive impact of using telehealth services on patient outcomes during the COVID-19, however, furth studies are required to see the impact of post- COVID-19 telehealth services

Keywords: Telemedicine, Mental Health, Employee Motivation

Impact of Enhanced Reward Practices on
Employee Engagement during COVID-19:
A case study on Coral Paints Ghana

ABSTRACT

The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted businesses globally leaving a huge challenge for HR practitioners to battle declining employee engagement. Many studies, based in Western countries, proved that an effective total reward system can boost employee engagement. However, there is limited related literature (1) focused on Ghana and (2) during the COVID-19 pandemic in the context of Ghana. Thus, this research paper sought to understand the impact of enhanced reward practices on employee engagement during the pandemic through a case study analysis of Coral Paints Ghana. A simple mixed-method research design was utilized to determine the levels of employee engagement before and after the implementation of enhanced reward practices; as well as, to identify enhanced extrinsic and intrinsic reward (total rewards) practices implemented from January 2020 to December 2021. The researcher determined the enhanced reward practices through a collection of qualitative data through a pre-survey questionnaire and interviews, as well as, from secondary sources (company HR records and databases). The levels of employee engagement were obtained through quantitative surveys. Thematic data analysis was relied on to understand the data collected in the interviews, whilst a descriptive statistical analysis was used to evaluate the levels of employee engagement before and after the implementation of enhanced reward practices. Descriptive statistics were performed on the data to determine three data sets: across the company, among different roles, and among different departments. The means and standard deviations were computed for each question in the quantitative survey, across the entire company. In addition, an Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) was performed to determine the effect of employee roles and departments on Enhanced Reward Difference. The findings revealed that there is a positive correlation between enhanced reward practices and employee engagement. From a total reward approach, the company was able to mitigate challenges to maintain employee engagement levels. The results of this dissertation have significant implications for the academic world, Ghanaian SME businesses, and human resource practitioners. As a result of these findings, recommendations were made to HR practitioners, particularly in Ghana, as well as to other businesses.

Keywords: Employee Engagement, Covid 19 Reward, Employee Performance