1. What aspects of the team’s group dynamics do you see impacting its effectiveness? In its efforts to reduce its reliance on petroleum as its primary source of revenue, the United Arab Emirates

(UAE) government has worked diligently in recent years to promote its healthcare, education, food and beverage, and logistics industries to private investors from all over the world. However, it is the explosive growth in the travel and tourism industry that has captured the spotlight as a key economic driver for the country. It is expected the industry will directly contribute £23.24 (US$30.2) billion to the UAE economy over the next 10 years.

With the estimate that one job is created for every 30 new tourists who visit the country, the UAE has hopes that the burgeoning industry will help with the concerns of a rising indigenous population about unemployment. The UAE has one of the highest percentages of immigrants in the world, with over 200 nationalities comprising almost 80 per cent of its population and the majority of its workforce in the private sector. The government has already implemented controls on the hiring of foreign workers, including labour intervention policies to enforce quotas and the reservation of certain job roles for nationals. Expatriates are generally given short-term work visas, which need to be renewed regularly, and are subject to penalties to prevent job hopping.

Other factors impeding indigenous employment include:

yy The traditional inclination of local workers to only seek jobs in the public sector, where higher salaries, superior benefits, shorter work hours, and a perceived social status are the main attractants.

yy The reluctance of locals to work in lowerlevel positions and their preference to work in managerial positions, along with their discomfort of being supervised by expatriates.