Uae

Physical activity plays a vital role in the prevention and treatment of Type2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM) (Hayes and Kriska, 2008). During the COVID-19 pandemic, physical activity is shown to be imperative in helping support a strong immune system (Chastin et al., 2021) and patients with COVID-19 who have been consistently physically inactive have a significantly higher risk of severe outcomes than patients who were doing some activity (Sallis et al., 2021). Therefore, the objective of this qualitative study was to evaluate the sufferer's perception of physical inactivity and its social determinants among people with diabetes. Interviews were conducted with 14 participants with diabetes aged 40-60 years old living in the UAE in June-July 2021. The barriers of physical activity were explored through in-depth, semistructured, audio-taped interviews. Barriers for physical inactivity were grouped around five themes: (1)Life-altering COVID-19: the pandemic that changed the world (2)Social and cultural norms: Islamic faith and family are the two most important influences among Arabs (3)Fatigue: prolonged sitting (due to long commute and sedentary jobs) and in some participants post-viral fatigue syndrome due to COVID-19 infection (4)Fear of illness: due to hyperthermia and comorbidities (5)Impact of lockdown. The prevalence of physical inactivity is high among Arabs. Weather restrictions and cultural obligations may lead to reduction in physical activity levels. Therefore, meeting physical activity guidelines can reduce the risk for severe COVID-19 outcomes among infected adults and is likely to prevent increases in diabetes incidence in this population.

Decision-making is one of the vital roles of competent technical skills that helps in the effective functioning of business management. The development in business strategy has made a way to develop the technical and non-technical skills of both managers and employees. The analysis of the technical and non-technical skills of the manager is essential in the growth of business management. This article aims to analyze the competent technical skills of the managers those aid in taking efficient decisions. The analyzed competent skills of managers included technical skills, listening skills, documentation, external support in solving the issues, standard decision, lesson learned, and correct decisions. The data was collected through an online survey from 90 respondents and analyzed in SPSS using frequency analysis and factor analysis. The study finds that the manager's competent and technical skill is vital in the decision-making process. The study identified the nine most influential factors that contribute to a manager's competent and technical skills. Further, the compliance and non-compliance rate on identified factors were explored and interesting results were obtained. The effectiveness of these skills leads to a successful organization.

This is a republish of the NASSCOM Emerge blog: A Macro economy view point by Shrikrishna Prakash, Saravu prior to September 2008 market collapse & USD 700B bailout. It has played out.

Scenario
Around 80% of foreign exchange/trade transactions is denominated in US dollars(USD) and a majority of these in crude oil import export. Crude being a lever to control USD flow (back to US), its rise impacts balance of payment for net crude oil importers, inflation and increase in cost of capital for business. Hence stocks discovering its prices to the re-adjusted EPS. In December 2007 realized time was not far off for business to chase funds and Private Equity (PE) and not the other way round.

Wall Street Outcomes
The heady day’s perceived profits in instruments, are now ill-liquid assets. To improve liquidity, earlier banks sought petro USD’s, some consolidated within Wall Street and others are filing for bankruptcy. About USD 450 billion of illiquid assets from various banks crept into Freddie Mac & Fannie Mae. Freddie & Fannie had to be bailed out by the US Federal Reserve(Fed). Fed released more than USD 250 billion in emergency funding. Fed has to clean up its balance sheet. New laws are being enacted giving treasury powers to create market for ill-liquid assets, buy and sell assets to tune of USD 700 billion.

OTC USD derivatives as an enabler ?
Most of USD’s are derivative positions and are traded on secretive OTC. As one of the steps to arrest the USD decline, central banks led by Fed in a synchronized manner went long on USD to the point of triggering short covering and shoring up USD. Central banks long positions were/are in the money. Globally, institutional investors who went long USD post the short squeeze upsurge, will feel the long squeeze when the intervention impact reduces and USD starts depreciating. This will make them square off and take on losses. (Read from central banks, as the coordinated entities would have booked profits at USD highs and positioned to buy at lower levels).

USA’s borrowings are denominated in home currency and the above process will assist in shoring up current assets in Fed’s balance sheet helping even out the ill-liquid assets. The reduction in OTC leveraged USD and a better Fed balance sheet enables printing USD in large quantity, controlling inflationary pressures- strategic in the world order. The consumption story will continue.

Possibilities
As the effect of coordinated intervention reduces, the USD is expected to weaken. If countries consume more USD’s, it will help ease the equation, else crude will continue to remain as a lever.

If Fed’s balance sheet gets cleaned up with no great inflationary effect, USD could get stronger. However to reach that state, the implementation of new monetary framework will have the affect of a “Manthan”, a sanskrit word for churning of the ocean to obtain nectar, when consumed attains immortality.

India over the next 18–24 months is expected to reduce crude import to an extent of 40%, a result of increasing production from KG-D6 block. On this materializing, equivalent USD’s will find its way back, assuming India’s orders for importing nuclear reactors & ancillaries will not off-set the reduction. Industrialist Mr. Godrej believes India has the potential to be a net exporter aswell. All these means the RBI may build USD reserves helping maintain USD 80–20 balance. The rupee’s (INR) movement depends on above equation, ECB, FII money flows and the existing flow dynamics.

Closing Comments
USA on its part will manoeuvre back to maintain world order and invent new “alpha seeking opportunities”. “Manthan’s” impact on India, its domestic story in healthcare, materials, industrial’s, infrastructure, financial services and software product space will be keenly watched.

Disclaimer: Views expressed here are personal.

Decision-making is one of the vital roles of competent technical skills that helps in the effective functioning of business management. The development in business strategy has made a way to develop the technical and non-technical skills of both managers and employees. The analysis of the technical and non-technical skills of the manager is essential in the growth of business management. This article aims to analyze the competent technical skills of the managers those aid in taking efficient decisions. The analyzed competent skills of managers included technical skills, listening skills, documentation, external support in solving the issues, standard decision, lesson learned, and correct decisions. The data was collected through an online survey from 90 respondents and analyzed in SPSS using frequency analysis and factor analysis. The study finds that the manager's competent and technical skill is vital in the decision-making process. The study identified the nine most influential factors that contribute to a manager’s competent and technical skills. Further, the compliance and non-compliance rate on identified factors were explored and interesting results were obtained. The effectiveness of these skills leads to a successful organization.

This country report on the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is part of a regional project focusing on Bahrain, Jordan, Lebanon, Tunisia and the United Arab Emirates. The aim of this research study was to build the capacity of business women's associations and research centers to better serve their members. In addition, this project intended to expand knowledge about women's entrepreneurship in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region by conducting a survey of female-owned businesses in the five countries.

Private tutoring has been a common feature of the educational landscape in many Western and non-western countries for a long time. Despite the rise in private tutoring in the UAE and elsewhere in the last ten years, that practice has not been without controversy. Supporters of private tutoring argue that it generates additional income for tutors and functions as a remedial intervention to aid low-achieving students while boosting high achievers' performance. Critics believe that private tutoring exacerbates social and economic inequalities, puts a financial strain on low-income families, and disturbs the overall teaching and learning environment in schools. To understand the pros and cons of private tutoring, it is important to ascertain the prevalence and complexities of private tutoring in different contexts, while exploring the reasons for the growing demand for private tutoring and the overall state of education in each country. By knowing the local context, private tutoring can be regulated to support students learning and minimize the educational gap between high and low performers. Further, decision makers may use private tutoring as a tool to improve the overall education system. The current policy brief presents the results of the study "Parents' Perspective on Paid Private Tutoring" conducted by the Regional Center for Educational Planning in the United Arab Emirates. The study targeted parents whose children were enrolled in grades 10 ,9 ,5 and 12 during the 2018/2017 academic year. The purpose of the study was to provide the MOE information that can guide them in making sound decisions about paid private tutoring in the country.

本報告書では、アラブ首長国連邦（以下UAE）金融機関のコーポレート・ガバナンスをとりまく外部環境と内部統治メカニズムについて概観する。

UAE金融機関のコーポレート・ガバナンスの改善は、UAE金融機関自身の継続的な成長を促すだけでなく、UAEの経済発展にとっても極めて重要な課題である。金融機関における統治が欠如すると、経営者が株主利益よりも自己利益を優先するインセンティブを持ちやすいため、金融機関は効率的な資金配分が困難になる。金融機関における資金配分の失敗は、金融機関自体の収益を低下させることにつながり、主要な融資先である国内の企業部門に十分な資金が行き届かなくなるためである。

For judging the importance of bookkeeping in business you need to have a full understanding of what is bookkeeping? Bookkeeping is an accounting service in UAE and is thus the process of recording day-to-day financial transactions of a particular business. Bookkeeping is also sometimes referred to as the method of recording transactions which involves preparing documents of all transactions, operations and all other events of a business.

Bookkeeping is an accounting service in Dubai that is used in accounting which includes recording transactions related to purchases done by a company, its sales, payments made and last but not the receipts. This accounting service in Dubai can be used by an individual or a firm or an organization regardless of the size of the business.

Moving forward, the method of bookkeeping has existed from the earliest times in human life in different cities. Earlier records were made for temporary use only and the accounting service in UAE was done on a regular basis until the century where technology had taken over manual recording system of accounting.

Why is Bookkeeping important?
Financial records, if organized well will help any firm or an individual to analyze the incomes and expenditures that he is getting and doing from a particular business. Bookkeeping as an accounting service in UAE is thus important as it helps with business analysis in a systematic and organized manner. It also acts as a tool for management in order to analyze the performance of the business which in return helps to identify the strengths and weaknesses of a business. It is important to study bookkeeping especially after understanding the money and tax in the UAE.

Moving forward to the importance of bookkeeping, the following points will make the topic clear:

1.    Maintaining accurate financial records: The first and the foremost reason to use the bookkeeping services in Dubai is that it helps to maintain accuracy in the accounting of a business. In the current scenario, where businesses are flourishing with leaps and bounds, there are a number of transactions to be recorded on a daily basis. Having the right accounts maintained properly will help in determining the cash flow in a business and this will further make the process simpler while making the balance sheet. Once you have recorded small expenses efficiently, it becomes easy for analyzing the exact expenditure over the income being received.

2.    Preparation of Tax:  Any tax consultant in Dubai encourages your business to file a tax return every year. There are businessmen who are scrambling through their desks in search of missing paper works. I case it is a condition that you have also faced then you must remember to make the accounts more efficient so that while preparing tax in UAE, it becomes easy for you and you do not have to pay any extra amount from your end. This process of preparing tax in UAE can be made easy by simply having an efficient bookkeeping function within your company. 

3.    Organized business activities: To be organized is a skill that every accounting firm in Dubai should have. It is good to be able to find information regarding business at any time. There are auditors in Dubai who might be interested in your company’s financial records and well in such a case if you have been able to manage all your accounting transactions efficiently then there will be no problem as to display your books to the audit firms in Dubai. Bookkeeping is a process of maintaining the records efficiently and therefore when auditors in Dubai will request you for displaying the books, you must be able to do the same in an easier and well organized manner.

Read: A Professional VAT Consultant can take your Business to Heights

4.    Accounting Analysis: Coming forward to the analysis of a business, bookkeeping helps to analyze the business transactions. It acts as a tool of accounting services in Dubai to identify the performance of a business organization. Every bit spent in business if recorded systematically will yield better results while analyzing the exact income and expenditures to further know if your business is doing well or not. Auditing companies in Dubai suggest the businesses maintain proper records in the form of financial statements so that the right inflow and outflow of money can be analyzed. Through the right guidance of audit firms in Dubai, you can get the information on which business line is working efficiently and which business line needs amendments.

5.    Efficient decision making: One of the major areas of any business organization is to take some quick decisions which will be right for the business. It is believed with analyses, comes better decision making. If you need access to the relevant information, it is important for your business to use the best accounting services in UAE. In this scenario, bookkeeping is one of the best ways to get the right information at the right time. This further enables you to take relevant decisions with respect to the working of a business firm. To take all the profitable decisions, it is important for you to access the information related to the finances of a firm.

6.    Making development plans: Every business organization is established with the motive to grow and develop in the near future and it is important to do planning for this purpose. Bookkeeping displays the past performance of a business entity. In order to make plans for the future, it is important to understand the past and accounting services in UAE will give you the clear image of what exactly works and what doesn’t work for an organization. Bookkeeping not only helps to make strategies but it also plays a vital role in planning tax in UAE.

7.    Attracting Investors: Another major part of the organization is an investor. An investor wants to know the financial performance of a business in order to make the relevant investment with the motive of earning profits. Financial statements if managed efficiently make it easy to display the right information to the investors. The value of a business is presented through cash- flow statements, balance sheet and income statements. Accounting service in UAE will help the investors to have accessible and up-to-date information right away. The bookkeeping is done not only for the current investors but it is also done for future investors. Provide the right information for the betterment of your business.

8.    Financial management: Bookkeeping plays a vital role as it allows you to take control of your business finances. Accounting services in UAE helps you analyze how you send money and it also helps you to identify the outstanding invoices owned by your customers or by you solely. Accounting services in Dubai help you analyze the outstanding bills that you need to pay through which you can pay them without any hustle. Also, in case you need to receive payments from your customers then you will have the relevant details and accordingly you can track the amount easily. This delicate inflow and outflow of cash will help your business grow efficiently.

9.    The necessity for audit firms in UAE: In a country like Dubai, it is really important for a business organization to pay tax in UAE and file a return for the taxes your business is paying to the government. Auditing companies in Dubai encourage you to maintain proper records of all the financial inflow and outflow transactions. Depending on the legal structure, audit firms in Abu Dhabi require you to keep financial records separate from your personal expenses. In case you fail to do so and try to include all your personal expenses during filing a tax return, you will have to face consequences. This might also lead to termination of your business.

10.    Conduct self- audit: Every individual aim at keeping a daily record f all the financial transactions which will help in analyzing the health of a business. It will help an individual to take relevant decisions related to the business activities. For example: there are decisions to be taken regarding risk management or losses and in the case where all the actions fail, taking and planning decisions and strategies becomes an important aspect for a business person. There are times when corrective measures are required to be taken in an organization therefore, if all the financial do’s and don’ts are clear to self, it becomes easy to take the right decision at the right time. In the case of internal audits also it becomes easy to display all the financial requirements of the auditing firms in Dubai and get the finances audited efficiently.

11.    Making sure all the deductions are covered: Even one penny can make a difference in the accounting books and in order to balance the sheets efficiently, all the transactions related to expenditures and incomes are important to be noted down starting from the bookkeeping process. Making and maintaining proper records acts as proof while you present your incomes and expenditures while filing a tax in UAE return or while presenting your transactions to the auditing firms in Dubai.

So now that you know the importance of bookkeeping. It can help you save your time, efforts and money and give you less stress in terms of managing the business transactions. In case you are not aware of the bookkeeping process then you can also hire an accountant from any of the accounting firms in Dubai and get started as soon as possible. Once you start implementing bookkeeping in your business daily, you will be able to classify the relevant transactions and give it to the Dubai tax authority or audit firms in Dubai whenever required.

Start managing your accounting transactions efficiently so that you are able to focus on the strategies and do not waste time in gathering minor transactions on a daily basis.

The recent bailout of Invest Bank of Sharjah, UAE was a relatively discreet and undramatic affair. Capital and liquidity support were provided by the Sharjah Government and the Central Bank respectively after real-estate and construction asset quality pressures drove severe losses. Economic patriotism, as well as sector challenges around asset quality, growth, technology, regulatory and compliance costs are already driving consolidation and-like the Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank, Union National Bank and Al Hilal Bank deal-are made easier by common state shareholdings. For Invest Bank however, the reported merger failed to materialise and as per historical norms, the government stepped in-a theme incongruent with the Basel 3 themes of debt bail-ins. This note provides insights into ongoing M&A drivers, credit events and GCC government support dynamics.

Female space is often read as being private space, in opposition to public space. This has particularly been assumed in Western scholarship on Gulf societies where strict rules of gender segregation and the seclusion of women have been predominant cultural norms. Yet a number of theorists have recently challenged this facile association of female with the private realm in rigid opposition to male, public space (see, for example, Nelson 1974, Afsaruddin 1999). In the Gulf, female space may be...

In certain accounts of the early history of oil on the Trucial Coast, there are intriguing references to the visit of a mysterious Englishman to Sharjah in October 1936. His arrival set alarm bells ringing in the office of the Political Resident in Bushire and beyond, and triggered speculation among oil company representatives about the true purpose of his journey. This apparently random visitor was in fact a seasoned oil promoter and concession hunter, Francis William Rickett, who had already brushed with the authorities elsewhere. At a time when the British were sensitive about American activities in the region, the appearance of a man with extensive oil connections in Great Britain and the United States might not have been as innocuous as he claimed. This article describes Rickett's career in the oil business, examines his visit to the sheikhdom and the response to it, and considers the reasons for British concerns about his presence there.

Randeree, K., Chaudhry, A., Leadership: The Employee Perspective - A Study in Dubai’s Construction Industry, 5th International Business Research (IBR) Conference: “Strands of Development”, 26 - 27 April 2007, Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
Dubai is a regional leader in infrastructure development. Rapid growth has led to project management gaining tremendous importance in the construction sector. Employees are an important part of any industry and their job satisfaction and organisational commitment affects the turnover rate and productivity of a company (Benkhoff, 1997; Randeree and Chaudhry, pending). Leadership has a strong influence on employees' job satisfaction and organisational commitment (Lok & Crawford, 1999). Thus, it is vital to examine leadership styles in a rapidly growing industry in what is also such a cosmopolitan city. Hence, the research undertaken aims to study leadership styles in construction project management in Dubai. The findings show that employees feel that Consensus and Team Management leadership styles are predominant in the industry and employees have shown preference for working under these leadership styles.

Studies have shown repeatedly that national cultural systems, as well as individual cultures, greatly affect the corporate cultural system in many ways. For example, national culture influences managerial decision-making, leadership styles, and human resource management practices. This study examines the mediating role of the national culture (power distance, collectivism, uncertainty avoidance, masculinity, and long-term orientation) on the relationship between leadership styles (transformational, transactional, and laissez-fair leadership style) and job satisfaction among academic staff in public universities in the UAE. A quantitative approach was used in this study, and a structured questionnaire with a 5-point Likert scale was distributed to 326 respondents from the academic staff in the UAE public universities. Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) and the Partial Least Square Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) were used to test the hypotheses of the study. The results revealed that national culture mediates the relationship between, transformational leadership style, transactional leadership style, laissez-fair leadership style, and job satisfaction. National culture appears to mediate the relationship between leadership style and job satisfaction among academic staff in UAE public universities, according to the findings. The findings also revealed how transformational leadership, transactional leadership, and laissez-faire leadership affect job satisfaction among academic staff in UAE public universities.

Following four decades of unprecedented economic, social, and cultural change, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) labor market is highly segmented: The native population is almost exclusively employed in the government sector, while the private sector is effectively outsourced to foreigners. This has created an unsustainable situation with growing numbers of young citizens reaching working age and with a public sector that has reached the saturation point. Policymakers repeatedly try to legislate to encourage private-sector employers to hire citizens. These policies have had limited success. We explored the career attitudes of 2,267 United Arab Emirates citizens prior to their entry into the labor market. Using structural equation modeling, we found that the social contract and resulting expectations toward state employment have strong implications for willingness to work in the private sector.

India’s relation with UAE has flourished since the Federation of UAE in 1971 when trade was the primary source of their relation. From the very beginning, UAE has shown interest in maintaining relation with India as one of the growing and emerging economy throughout the world. India has also been trying to regain International power in whole West Asia which has resulted increasing number of visits of the ministers to UAE, Israel, Saudi Arabia, Palestine. Although, India has engaged with a number of West Asian Countries but established a significant strategic relation with UAE. Relation has further blossomed since the visit of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to UAE in 2014 and return visit of UAE’s crown Prince to India in 2016 and in 2017 on the occasion of Republic Day. During these visits, many agreements were signed related to security, defence, trade, investment, and infrastructure, combat terrorism as relation has moved towards strategic from bilateral. UAE has assumed chairmanship of India Ocean Naval Symposium (IONS) immediately after India; therefore, greater understanding was developed on the maritime issues as well. It is important to note that with shrinking markets in Europe and the USA, UAE is looking towards India for trade and investment. The aim of this paper is to highlight factors and interest of both countries to come closer in region as well in international arena.

In this study, the researchers have proposed, developed and tested a novel model which highlighted the effect of the Destination Service Quality (DSQ) dimensions (like local transport, accommodation, cleanliness, hospitality, different activities, airport, language communication services) on the tourist intention to revisit, via the mediating role played by tourist satisfaction, in UAE’s tourism industry. For this purpose, the researchers distributed 700 questionnaires amongst the international tourists visiting Dubai. 565 of the 700 (i.e., 80.71%) of the valid tourist questionnaires were returned. Results indicated that the study constructs were very reliable and displayed the convergent and discriminated validity. Thereafter, the researcher carried out the SEM for testing all research hypotheses. The findings have supported all the study’s hypotheses (direct and indirect relationships). The destination marketers, planners and managers must investigate all dimensions for developing...

In this study, the researchers have proposed, developed and tested a novel model which highlighted the effect of the Destination Service Quality (DSQ) dimensions
(like local transport, accommodation, cleanliness, hospitality, different activities, airport, language communication services) on the tourist intention to revisit, via the mediating role played by tourist satisfaction, in UAE’s tourism industry. For this purpose, the researchers distributed 700 questionnaires amongst the international tourists visiting Dubai. 565 of the 700 (i.e., 80.71%) of the valid tourist questionnaires were returned. Results indicated that the study constructs were very reliable and displayed the convergent and discriminated validity. Thereafter, the researcher carried out the SEM for testing all research hypotheses. The findings have supported all the study’s hypotheses (direct and indirect relationships). The destination marketers, planners and managers must investigate all dimensions for developing better marketing and operational strategies. Finally, theoretical and managerial implications were discussed.

This MBA research project explores the gaps that appear to exist between the attitudes and expectations of UAE nationals and the HR strategies and practices of private sector companies in the United Arab Emirates.

Primary data was collected through an online survey of final-year UAE national students in Dubai and through semi-structured interviews with HR managers in private sector organisations. Secondary data from a survey exploring the reasons for UAE nationals' resignations from private sector companies was also included.

The results yielded rich insights into UAE nationals’’awareness of employment opportunities in the private sector, their attitudes, values and priorities towards employment, and how this relates to the HR ‘‘best practice’’ that contributes to the successful employment of UAE nationals in private sector organisations. The research revealed the need for organisations in the private sector to keep pace with the basic requirements of UAE national employees, while at the same time focussing on developing a powerful offer in terms of learning and development, long-term career management and opportunities for promotion. The research further suggests that the future success of Emiratisation initiatives may be dependent on the ability of organisations to foster greater levels of organisational commitment among their Emirati employees. A final insight to emerge was the strongly expressed desire on the part of UAE nationals for training on working in diverse teams.

Traditional grocery shopping has been the only option for UAE consumers to purchase groceries for a long time. However, the relatively new format, online grocery shopping is rapidly growing in popularity. Hence, consumers are presented with a completely new grocery shopping experience.
The purpose of this dissertation is to explore which variables influence consumers buying intentions towards online groceries. Quantitative data has been collected from questionnaires to identify the degree of influence each variable has on consumers who chose to buy groceries online. Online grocery shopping is growing in popularity. Hence, this dissertation gives insights relevant to practitioners and academics on why consumers experience a desire to purchase groceries online. The findings of this dissertation could help online grocery retailers to respond more efficiently to consumers’ needs and preferences.

Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) is a new field, concerned with people’s patterns of behavior and communication. Patterns include not only observable actions in the world but also the thinking processes and the organization of people’s states-of-mind as well as their emotions and how all senses are used to reach a point of attention or concentration. Since its focus is on creating models of human’s excellence, many applications of NLP have been developed. Moreover, NLP diffusion across the globe has been highly documented where leaders and consultants in businesses have turned to the creative and innovative aspects of NLP for inspiration in organizational development, total quality management, team building and strategic planning. However, although there is a strong body of knowledge documenting NLP across the western hemisphere, much less is known about the Arab world in this respect. The aim of this paper is twofold: to assess NLP patterns and behaviors as practiced by a sample ...

The paper attempts to explain the active policies adopted by Saudi Arabia and UAE towards the horn of Africa, which could be attributed to the existence of rival regional powers, especially Iran and Turkey, and their adoption of policies that deemed threatening to Riyadh and AbuDhabi. To this purpose, the paper utilizes “alliance politics” to explain how both countries are containing regional threats by building alliances with countries in the horn of Africa, through promoting military and trade relations, and boosting development.

Assessing the Arabic-English Bilingual Reading Competences

Jessica Midraj
Zayed University
Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

Sadiq Midraj
Zayed University
Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates



Abstract
This study investigated the relationships between students’ reading ability in their native and second languages.  The researchers assessed the Arabic-English bilingual reading accuracy, fluency, and comprehension of 186 male and female grade four Emirati students from four primary schools.  To assess students’ reading fluency and accuracy, students read aloud grade appropriate reading passages in Arabic (L1) and English (L2).  The read aloud tests were used to measure reading accuracy which was determined by the number of syllables read correctly in one minute and reading fluency which was measured by the Multidimensional Fluency Scale.  Silent reading comprehension tests were used to measure the students’ competence in reading comprehension.  The reading comprehension tests involved students reading grade appropriate passages in Arabic and English as determined by analyses of the curriculum and textbooks, and answering comprehension questions.  Pearson product-moment correlation coefficients were computed to ascertain the relationships between the variables.  The research results showed significant positive correlations between the students’ L1 (Arabic) reading competencies (accuracy, fluency and comprehension), between their L2 reading competencies, and between their L1 & L2 reading competencies. 
Keywords:  Bilingual reading, reading assessment, Arabic-English bilinguals, UAE

On the map, the Musandam Peninsula is the pointy bit of Arabia once described by a geologist as projecting like a spur into the vitals of Iran. Today it is part of a geopolitical problem, the Strait of Hormuz, through which a large number of the world’s oil tankers pass, but Musandam is interesting in other ways...'

We live in an era of constant changes and artistic leaps in a region some call the Gulf of Oil, the oil that seems to be the most influential factor in stimulating change and shifting artistic expression in our Gulf communities. In addition, openness and interaction between the Gulf countries and the rest of the world has contributed to a further stimulation to our art scene’s maturity within a short period.
I have spent most of my research years tracking changes and transformations in the Saudi art scene and connecting them to the history of arts in the Gulf region. In this paper, I attempt to broaden my search by highlighting an aspect of visual arts in the Arab Gulf States the light of the following two questions:
What raises query in Art in GCC?
What stimulates creativity?
I attempt to document historically the status of visual arts in the Arabian Peninsula/Arabian Gulf in general and in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Saudi Arabia in particular by drawing comparisons between common topics and tracing what generates and stimulates these artistic creations.

Conventional building methods are continuing to stress the supply of available resources, including water, energy and materials, causing harm to the environment. In order to tackle these problems the building industry needs to embrace sustainable development methods and policies. One of the main approaches used to define and give solutions to these problems is adopting the relatively newly founded buildings and communities certification systems. As these certification systems are tremendously growing, it is important to continually examine their effectiveness, development path and results.
The objective of the proposition is to better understand the impacts, opportunities and challenges of the use of any certification system, by showcasing “Estidama”, Abu Dhabi’s certification system, addressing the local environment, social, economic and culture aspects. This is assisted by a local case study “Masdar City”, presenting two levels of study, the building and community scales. The research methods include examining available literature, as well as on site Interviews with clients, designers, engineering consultants, environmental consultants, project managers, contractors, facility managers, building information modeling experts, municipal officials, credits assessors, policy writers and government representatives, in an attempt to represent the collaborative effort from all parties involved in any project.
The interview results, as well as specific credits analyzed helped accomplishing the aim of sensitizing stakeholders and regulatory bodies about the benefits and deficiencies of rating systems. Furthermore a development of recommendations formulated in form of strategies and an action plan are presented, to aid enhancing new and existing certification procedures.

Keywords:
Architecture Sustainable Transportation Sustainable Development Environmental Planning and Design Urban Planning Sustainable Building Design Sustainable Urban Environments Sustainable Water Resources Management Sustainable Energy Green architecture Environmental Sustainability Sustainable Architecture Sustainable Design Green Building LEED Certification Thesis Master's Thesis Abu Dhabi Resource efficiency Building Energy Certificates BREEAM Zero-energy buildings Masdar City Green Building Certification Estidama Abu Dhabi Education Council Abu Dhabi Urban Planning Council Urban Planning Council

This study aimed at identifying the determining factors of service quality on customer satisfaction and loyalty towards hotel industry in UAE. This study has investigated the different dimensions of service quality that impact customer satisfaction and customer loyalty in UAE hotels. For this research, primary data were used to identify the dimensions of service quality that impact customer satisfaction and customer loyalty. The use of primary data enabled the researcher to measure all the dimensions. This study is significant in the sense that it will allow the understanding of the concept and framework of the impact of service quality on customer satisfaction and customer loyalty that takes into account the comparative nature with conventional business. This will also support and enrich theory and model of service quality in UAE’s business environment. Finally, this will generate greater awareness among UAE hotel industry on the importance of service quality and its effectiveness. Moreover, systematically reviewing the customers’ feedbacks, decision makers might examine all the important aspects in order to determine the most appropriate decisions and actions to satisfy the customers with an aim to retain them. Hence, the deliberate structure of the management process will force hotel employees to examine relevant variables in deciding what to do and how to do it. In conclusion No doubt UAE is one of the leading countries in hotel industry but still there is lack and gap which they need to fulfil by doing many workshop as well as by proper training to the employee which will result in achieving customer satisfaction.

Purpose – Organisations utilise Business Continuity Management (BCM) to support sustained performance of electronic systems on which their core activities are based. These organisations require a tool that can be used to assess the maturity of their existing BCM processes. Through the examination of the banking sector of the United Arab Emirates, the purpose of this paper is to address the need for a BCM maturity model.

Design/methodology/approach – A tailored BCM maturity model was developed using a two-stage approach; the first stage was developing a model based on the analysis of five existing models; and the second stage was validation of the developed model against the formulated objectives through the use of focus groups with ten UAE banks, comprising of three BCM experts for each bank.

Findings – The research found that the provision of a standard maturity model for BCM as a situational analysis tool for the banking sector is functional and can be the basis of a tool to address the gap in organisations in general to assess the maturity level of their BCM processes.

Research limitations/implications – The developed model is limited to validation within a specific sector and geographically, with generic model validation being outside the scope of this research.

Practical implications – The framework provides different areas to which maturity can be assigned, various levels across quality and scope and how an overall BCM maturity of an organisation can be determined.

Originality/value – The development of a maturity model which could be used as a BCM self analysis tool is a significant addition to the BCM knowledge base.

This essay is a first attempt at exploring Artificial Intelligence (A.I.) and its growing impact on our modern societies. It voluntarily takes the form of an interdisciplinary opinion essay that is aimed at investigating A.I., its impact on jobs and at developing its potential benefits on the economy. This analysis also includes a country case study of the UAE in relation to our topic.

Cultural heritage was a major factor in the formation of politics and identity for nation-states. Yet in Europe, a gradual overcoming of old nationalism has paved the way for its postmodern iteration, where it is interwoven with tourism, the market, leisure, and entertainment. As such, monuments,
museums, and archaeological sites have become important elements to thematize tourism and consumption.
Over the past decades, some rich Middle East countries—including the United Arab Emirates—have adopted a similar
use of heritage: it has been used to build or reinvent national identity, and to promote recreational and tourist activities.
Dubai and Abu Dhabi are two significant cases. Their intangible heritage helps to build local identity and to attract tourism, together with the cities’ luxurious hotels and their ultra-modern shopping malls. Moreover, city administrations
have even invited some major Western museums to open local branches, to increase tourism and confirm their new
status as global cities.

Recently, the United Arab Emirates has been faced with a rapidly growing economy and has become intensively resource dependent. Consequently, it has topped a list of countries with the largest ecological footprint. At the same time there has been a movement towards sustainable design in the past few decades, mainly due to its significance in reducing the harmful impact of buildings on the environment. In line with UAE movement towards a green community, the author investigated the science of "Biomimicry" thoroughly and explored its power and strength in greening the community. Thus, it is important to highlight "Biomimicry" or "Biomimetic Architecture" philosophy as a powerful key to eliminating our ecological footprint. This has been widely used in contemporary architecture to seek solutions for sustainable design by examining natural species forms and systems as a source of inspiration to solve architectural problems. The author have selected the "butterfly" as the natural concept, highlighted a number of inspired strategies, implemented them on a residential unit in Dubai and assessed the case study by using simulation software Ecotect. This paper aims to investigate the effectiveness of different strategies on overall thermal comfort and energy performance. Finally, the study reveals some key findings that may help architects and buildings to enhance design solutions for a sustainable future in hot arid climate.

Limited research exists on the tourism outbound market from the Middle East. To address the literature gap, this study investigates young UAE travel motivations and perceptions of Paris as a luxury tourist destination. Data were collected from residents living in Dubai, Sharjah and Abu Dhabi. Cluster analysis uncovers three distinct clusters; enthusiasts, unconvinced, and convivials. Multiple discriminant analysis confirms the validity of the three-cluster solution. The three groups differ by their perceptions of Paris and overall attitude towardtoward luxury consumption. Findings offer important implications for destination marketers in terms of advertising, segmentation and positioning strategies.

Wilfred Thesiger (1910–2003) was one of the most famous explorers of the Arabian Peninsula. In the latter half of the 1940s, he twice crossed the great Arabian desert, the Rub al-Khali (“Empty Quarter”), and explored inner Oman. These camel-borne expeditions were undertaken in conditions of great hardship and even danger. He was also renowned for his aversion to oil companies, which he feared would undermine the bedouin way of life. His views were outlined in his own writings, primarily his book, Arabian Sands, in which he predicted that the bedouin would abandon their traditional lifestyle to earn their living working in the oil camps. Thesiger’s travels encroached on a volatile tribal situation in central Oman and conflicted with the aims of the Iraq Petroleum Company (IPC) to open up the region to oil exploration. This article considers the interaction between explorers of the desert and explorers for oil. At its heart lies a dilemma facing all explorers of uncharted lands: how to record and preserve the traditional ways of indigenous people without contributing to the forces of change that threaten their existence. In the end, Thesiger was forced to decide between abandoning his travels or compromising his ideals by seeking financial help from IPC. Subsequently, rapid oil development came to south-eastern Arabia with discoveries in Abu Dhabi and Oman, transforming traditional lifestyles and leaving Thesiger in later life to reflect on the changes that the new wealth had brought.