Date of Award
2011
Document Type
Thesis
Publisher
Edith Cowan University
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy
School
School of Management
Faculty
Faculty of Business and Law
First Supervisor
Professor Alan Brown
Abstract
In recent years, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has rapidly developed into a dynamic global economy with the influx of foreign ideas and practices, facilitated by the development of the Internet and associated technologies. As with many organisations worldwide, staff retention problems affect organisational productivity and performance. Managers face the challenge of having to address retention problems in the context of increasing competition in the global marketplace. It is against this background that this research will look into employee retention problems within the socio‐economic context of the UAE. This study brings into focus the extent to which human resource management (HRM) practices and organisational culture in the UAE affect employee retention in public organisations. The purpose of this study was to identify HR practices and other factors such as job satisfaction, organisational commitments and leadership practice that affect employee retention in the UAE with emphasis on public organisations, in a comparative study of Sharjah and Dubai. To accomplish this task, both quantitative and qualitative research approaches were employed. The research questions were answered through two research phases involving four distinct research tools. The first phase involved a survey of Sharjah’s and Dubai’s governmental organisations, and provided specific information about employees in these organisations. Of 300 targeted respondents, 154 completed the survey questionnaire, a 51.33% response rate. In the second phase, in‐depth interviews with fifty former employees, also from Sharjah, were conducted; in the third, semi‐structured interviews with 7 HR professionals, also in Sharjah, were utilised; and the fourth research method used focus groups. The research used both quantitative and qualitative approaches to data gathering and analysis.
Recommended Citation
Alnaqbi, W. (2011). The relationship between human resource practices and employee retention in public organisations : an exploratory study conducted in the United Arab Emirates. Edith Cowan University. Retrieved from https://ro.ecu.edu.au/theses/424