Organizational Culture, Leadership and Performance in Dubai Municipalit

Future Governments
Organizational Culture, Leadership and Performance in Dubai Municipality

Amna Ahmad Al Suwaidi, Mohammad Habibur Rahman,
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Chapter 11
Organizational Culture, Leadership and Performance

in Dubai Municipality
Amna Ahmad Al Suwaidi and Mohammad Habibur Rahman
Dubai Municipality (DM), one of the largest public entities in the Government of
Dubai in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), was founded in 1954 with only seven
employees to undertake simple tasks such as cleaning the city.1 Over the past 60 dec-
ades or so, the municipality in the Emirate of Dubai has evolved through various
phases of structural and functional expansion concurring with the growth of the city.
The entity’s decision-makers’ interest in linking its culture and leadership with the
organizational performance came from the external assessment report of 2017 by the
Dubai Government Excellence Program (DGEP) that suggested to give effort to
implement an organizational culture and values.2 This statement triggered thoughts
about this case study that intends to examine how organizational culture and leader-
ship can influence corporate performance of DM. This study examines the effects of
organizational culture and the role of transformational leadership on organizational
performance in DM. It adopted Daniel Denison’s Model to explain how four cultural
dimensions (i.e. mission, adaptability, involvement and consistency)3 and transform-
ational leadership influence organizational performance. This survey-based perception
study, involving 209 middle-managers and senior-level managers in DM, observes sig-
nificant effect of organizational culture on organizational performance and a positive
influence of transformational leadership on organizational performance in the organ-
ization. The study finds challenges in the Municipality’s culture impacting performance
and suggests areas for improvement in both cultural and leadership dynamics to facili-
tate further excellence. The case study recommends that the Municipality promotes
1
Government of Dubai. (2018). About Dubai municipality. Retrieved from https://www.dm.gov.ae/wps/
portal/aboutdm. Accessed on 21 July, 2018.
2
Dubai Government Excellence Program. (2017). 20th assessment cycle 2017 — Dubai Municipality.
Dubai: Dubai Government Excellence Program.
3
Denison, D. (1990). Corporate culture and organizational effectiveness. New York, NY: Wiley.
Future Governments
Actions and Insights Middle East North Africa, Volume 7, 205 220
Copyright r 2019 by Amna Ahmad Al Suwaidi and Mohammad Habibur Rahman. This article is courtesy
Academy of International Business Middle East North Africa Chapter Association and Mohammed Bin
Rashid School of Government
All rights of reproduction in any form reserved
ISSN: 2048-7576/doi:10.1108/S2048-757620190000007011
206 Amna Ahmad Al Suwaidi and Mohammad Habibur Rahman
more involvement and consistency of cultural elements and builds leadership capabil-
ities to further corporate performance.
11.1. Introduction
Organizational culture and leadership are seen as imperative for public sector per-
formance. Public organizations in Dubai perform against set targets to efficiently
meet the government’s agenda and to achieve leading scores in competitions to dis-
play continuous excellence. Therefore, all organizations in the Emirate of Dubai are
observant about efficient utilization of resources, high capability in policy imple-
mentation and the ability to perform the organizational mandate innovatively.
Organizational culture is a key attribute of strategy in any successful organization
as it plays a significant role in achieving public interest.4 Culture is also central to

the functioning of an organization and has a wide influence. As observed by Buono,
Bowditch and Lewis:5
It affects practically all aspects of organizational life from the way in
which people interact with each other, perform their work and dress, to
the types of decisions made in a firm, its organizational policies and pro-
cedures, and strategy considerations.
11.2. Understanding the Nexus between Organizational

Culture, Leadership and Organizational Performance
To contextualize the discussion on the relationship between organizational culture,
leadership and organizational performance, it is imperative to conceptualize the per-
ceptions. Since the 1980s, ‘corporate culture’, ‘organizational culture’ and ‘climate’
have been used by managers, sociologists and organizational theorists as inter-
changeable concepts to explain how motivated workforce committed to common set
of core values and beliefs resulted in greater successes of the Japanese firms over the
American firms.6 Although there is a widespread conceptual disagreement on the
definition and scope of organizational culture,7 in the public sector, organizational
culture can be defined as an intellectual framework consisting of attitudes, values,
4
Sampford, C., & Preston, N. (1998). Public sector ethics finding and implementing values (Routledge ed).
New Zealand: The Federation Press.
5
Buono, A., Bowditch, J., & Lewis, J. (1985). When cultures collide: the anatomy of amerger. Human
Relations, 38(5), 477 500.
6
Denison, D. (1984). Bringing corporate culture to the bottom. Organizational Dynamics, 13(2), 5 22.
7
Ogbonna, E., & Harris, L. (1998). Organizational culture: It’s not what you think. Journal of General
Management, 23(3), 35 48.
Culture, Leadership and Performance 207
behavioural norms and expectations.8 There are two main approaches to organiza-
tional culture: process approaches and classification approaches.9 Process-oriented
approaches describe organizational culture as ‘a continuous recreation of shared
meaning’.10 The classification approach towards culture classifies and describes cul-
ture based on common frameworks. A number of authors have proposed a range of
ideal corporate types of culture based on a number of variables11 This case study
used the latter approach to organizational culture. Although not many researchers
have contributed to the linkage between culture and performance, there is little
doubt among experts that this relationship exists. A range of empirical studies sup-
port the link between organizational culture and organizational performance.12
Given that organizational culture is an important factor in organizational effective-
ness, there is a growing interest in strengthening cultural elements by governments
in order to increase the effectiveness and efficiency in public sector entities. This
study adopted Daniel Denison’s Model to explain how four cultural dimensions (i.e.
mission, adaptability, involvement and consistency)13 impacts organizational

performance.
Leadership, and how it affects an organization’s success, has been studied by
many scholars. The need to manage change and transform organizations during
poor economic situations led to the emergence of ‘transformational’ leadership,
which is perceived by researchers like Bass and Avolio as visionary, entrepreneurial,
and has great ability to motivate subordinates to achieve desired objectives14
impacting on followers and on their performance. Bass observes that transform-
ational leaders are able to change followers’ goals and beliefs, which results in
achieving higher levels of performance.15 In the reform efforts, the role of state lead-
ership was central in inculcating a culture of measuring efficiency and effectiveness
8
Greenberg, J., & Baron, R. (1997). Behavior in organizations. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
9
Lim, B. (1995). Examining the organizational culture and organizational performance link. Leadership
and Organization Development Journal, 16(5), 16 21.
10
Roskin, R. (1986). Corporate culture revolution: The management development imperative. Journal of
Managerial Psychology, 1(2), 3 9.
11
Hampden-Turner, C. (1990). Corporate culture for competitive edge. London: Economist.
12
Denison, D. (1984). Bringing corporate culture to the bottom. Organizational Dynamics, 13(2), 5 22;
Kotter, J. P., & Heskett, J. L. (1992). Corporate culture and performance. New York, NY: The Free Press;
Carmeli, A., & Tishler, A. (2004). The relationships beteen intangible organizational elements and organ-
izational performance. Strategic Management Journal, 25(13), 1257 1278, doi: 10:1002/smj.428(25);
Kassem, R. (2016). The relationship between organizational culture and business excellence: case study
from United Arab Emirates. International Journal of Information System in the Service Sector, 8(3),
16 35.
13
Denison, D. (1990). Corporate culture and organizational effectiveness. New York, NY: Wiley.
14
Bass, B. M., & Avolio, B. J. (2000). MLQ multifactor leadership questionnaire. Redwood City: Mind
Garden.
15
Bass, B. (1985). Leadership and performance beyond expectations. New York, NY: Free Press.
of policy implementation through multiple tools.16 There is a need for leadership

continuity and stability in order to create a positive culture and to positively affect
the organizational excellence and performance. A recent trend has emerged in gov-
ernments to work as private organizations to achieve high efficiency and adapt inno-
vations for better services.
Organizational performance involves the actual output or results of an organiza-
tion as measured against its intended outputs or desired goals17. It is actually a sys-
tem that consists of many elements that interact dependently. The subject of
performance management as a topic for academic research started in the mid-1990s
with the participation of Kaplan and Norton18 and European Foundation for
Quality Management (EFQM) in 1998. Thereafter, more interest was given to per-
formance management with the establishment of the Performance Measurement
Association and the British Academy of Management Performance. Organizations
in the public sector have attempted to manage their performance using the balanced
scorecard (BSC) practice in order to measure and track performance in four dimen-
sions: finance, customer services, employee satisfaction and learning and growth.
Schein sees leadership and culture as central to understanding organizations and
making them effective that we cannot afford to be complacent about either one.19
Some scholars have studied the linkage between organizational culture and organ-
izational performance, but few empirical studies have combined the effect of organ-
izational culture and of leadership on organizational performance in the public
sector. In fact, no studies have investigated this combination with regard to the
Dubai context, leadership in government, or the fourth generation of Excellence
Model.
In the UAE, the relationship between public sector performance and leadership
has been observed by Rahman and Youssef as a deliberate act of leadership that is
government led.20 The Government of Dubai has focused on developing leadership
skills at different levels through a leadership programme over the last decade. This
approach has emphasized the important role of leadership in nurturing the appro-
priate organizational culture necessary for supporting government reforms and
performance. In 2016, the fourth-generation Model of Excellence was established by
H.H. Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the Vice President and Prime
Minister of the UAE and Ruler of the Emirate of Dubai. This is the first-of-its-kind
model designed by and for the public sector for both federal and local government
16
Rahman, M. H., & Youssef, S. W. (2015). Public sector performance and leadership in the United Arab
Emirates. Presented in the 3rd International Conference on Management, Leadership and Governance —
ICMLG 2015, Auckland, New Zealand, 12 13 February 2015. Conference proceedings by Academic
Conferences and Publishing International Limited.
17
Richard, P. J., Devinney, T. M., & George, S. Y. (2009). Measuring organizational performance:
towards methodological best practice. Best Practice Journal of Management, 35(3), 718 804.
18
Kaplan, R.S., & Norton, D.P. (1992). The balanced scorecard—measures that drive performance.
Harvard Business Review, 70(7/8): 172 180.
19
Schein, E. H. (1992). Organizational culture and leadership (2nd ed.). San Francisco, CA: Jossey Bass.
20
Rahman and Youssef, Op. cit.
entities in the UAE.21 The government excellence system is aimed at achieving

world-class leadership and emphasizes the outstanding performance based on results
achieved. The government excellence system is divided into three main pillars (i.e.
achieving vision, innovation and enablers) representing the foundations of leader-
ship. These pillars ensure that governmental entities will effectively perform its spe-
cialized work as specified in the foundation decree in order to achieve its objectives
in line with the general government objectives through the optimal use of resources
and by the continuous pursuit of learning and development.22
11.3. Dubai Municipality

Dubai Municipality (DM) is a public entity that plays a significant role in the soci-
ety, economy and environment of the Emirate of Dubai in the UAE. It was initiated
in 1954 and re-established in 1961 with a decree by H.H. Sheikh Rashid Bin Saeed
Al Maktoom. At that time, it managed few tasks and small number of employees,
then it developed over the years and performed a wide range functions that were
later separated and delegated to newly created organizations such as Roads and
Transport Authority (RTA), Dubai Statistics Centre, Town Council and public
libraries. Now, DM operates with an annual budget that exceeds AED 2 billion, has
more than 12,000 employees and manages large vital sectors including environment,
city planning, constructions legislations, food safety, horticulture and public parks,
and irrigation and sewerage infrastructure.
Since the introduction of the Dubai Government Excellence Program (DGEP) in
Dubai in 1997, DM has maintained its interest in total quality management (TQM)
with an early attempt to achieve corporate excellence and won the Excellence
Government Entity award from DGEP in 1998. It has been a strong competitive
public entity in excellence programs throughout these years with achievements in all
fields and continued to receive awards in different categories including individual,
administrative and corporate.
The interest in this case study to examine the link between organizational culture
and organizational performance came from the external assessment report of 2017
by the DGEP on DM. The report, which was conducted based on the new fourth-
generation principles adopted in 2015, stated, ‘Dubai Municipality has established a
strong human capital foundation and must now strive to implement an organiza-
tional culture and values that will position them as a world-class leading organiza-
tion’23 This statement triggered thoughts about this case study on the linkage
21
Anon. (2016). SKGEP. Retrieved from https://www.skgep.gov.ae/en/government-excellence-system/
objectives-of-the-government-excellence-system-1. Accessed on July 23, 2018.
22
Dubai Government Excellence Program (DGEP). (2016). Training workshop the 4th generation of the
government excellence system in Dubai. Dubai: Dubai Government Excellence Program.
23
between culture, leadership and performance to searching for the best ways to fur-
ther excellence through improved corporate performance.
11.4. Organizational Culture and Leadership in Dubai

Municipality
This case study on DM is to present an empirical evidence of the perceived effect of
organizational culture and transformational leadership on organizational perform-
ance in this entity. It was presented based on the proposed relation in Exhibit 11.1.
That study applied multivariate analysis using both interdependence and depend-
ence techniques to analyze the data collected from a survey. High (>0.50) and statis-
tically significant correlations between variables were observed, indicating the need
for dimension reduction using principal component analysis (PCA). The factors
extracted through PCA were then used to determine associations between dependent
and independent variables with the help of linear regression.
As mentioned in the preceding section, classified culture model of Daniel
Denison was used to determine the effect of organizational culture on organiza-
tional performance and transformation leadership from management perceptions in
DM. This model is described by four general dimensions; the first one is the mission
culture, where a successful organization has clear sense of its mission and defines
strategic goals and objectives towards achieving its future vision. The second is
adaptability culture that is driven by customers, takes risks and learns from experi-
ence and mistakes. It is also capable of creating and adapting to change. The third
one is the involvement culture, which occurs when people are empowered to make
Exhibit 11.1: Independent and Dependent Variables.

decisions, when teams are the centre of organization work and when employees
develop capabilities at different levels to stay competitive and meet ongoing business
requirements. Lastly, the fourth type is consistency where the organization main-
tains a strong culture with shared values among members, thus creating a shared
identity with a clear set of expectations. Skilled individuals with diverse points of
view are able to reach agreement regarding critical issues and to work together in
coordination and integration to get the work done.
The response to the survey was 103 out of 209 possible participants (approxi-
mately 50%). The majority of respondents (60%) were male, which indicates the
dominance of males at the managerial level in DM; in fact, the current number of
female directors and managers is only five. Of the sample, 37% were between 36
and 45 years old, and 59% of respondents have been working in the organization
for more than 15 years, which reflected a high degree of employee loyalty. Most
respondents were holders of bachelor’s (60%) or master’s (27%) degrees, and only
one participant has a PhD. Participation from department directors (senior manage-
ment) was almost half of the actual number of directors in the entity, and there was
a very high response from heads of sections (middle management) (59%) and heads
of development and support offices (25%). Such individuals were likely more cap-
able of assessing top management leadership style.
In terms of descriptive and frequency statistics, the highest and lowest means and
standard deviations were observed as well as the focuses were on items with sub-
stantial responses. All the items were measured on a 5-point scale, where 5 was the
highest score. The highest mean was found on the question involvement culture ‘I’m
informed and involved in the work that I do, which has positive impact on the
organization’ (4.696). Second highest mean (4.578) was on mission culture which
reflects: ‘I understand the organization strategy’. However, the lowest mean (4.167)
was on regarding ‘involvement’ getting proper training. The lowest dispersion of
data (SD 0.494) was observed in the consistency dimension: ‘I share a set of values
that create a strong sense of identity and a clear set of expectations’, and the highest
item (SD 0.868) was item 9 on getting proper training. As many as 71% participants
agreed strongly on the culture of involvement, ‘I’m informed and involved in the
work that I do, which has positive impact on the organization’. Another high score
was recorded at 58%, with employees agreeing strongly with the mission culture: ‘I
understand the organization strategy’. Also, 56% of participants Strongly agreed to
items including: ‘I work on short-term goals on a day-to-day basis activities to
achieve the organization vision and strategy’; ‘I understand the needs of our custo-
mers and am committed to responding to their changing expectations’ and ‘I share a
common perspective and work together to eliminate silos and promote actions that
are in the best interest of the organization as a whole’. However, only 40% agreed
strongly that they ‘received the proper training to improve my skills and capabilities
to be competitive today and into the future’, and 13% of the answers were neutral
for the same item. In the consistency culture questions, 58% agreed they ‘share a set
of values that create a strong sense of identity and a clear set of expectations’.
Concerning transformational leadership, in most cases, the mean values were
closed to (4.2). Regarding leader behaviour, there was high agreement on these
items: ‘My manager considers the moral and ethical consequences of decisions’ and
‘My manager talks optimistically about the future’. However, the issues like intellec-
tual stimulation and individual consideration had lower means, which were esti-
mated to be 4.108 and 4.137, respectively. The dispersion of data generally was
<1.00 and >0.8. The highest frequency attributes pertaining to leader behaviour was
52% : ‘My manager consider the moral and ethical consequences of decisions’. For
item, ‘My Manager talk optimistically about the future’, 50% of respondents chose
frequently, if not always, 34% chose fairly often and 14% chose sometimes. In
addition, 35% of participants responded that their managers went beyond their
self-interest for the good of the group fairly often. However, there were lower
percentages of 45% given for intellectual stimulation and individual consideration.
The results on organizational performance reveal minor differences in the mean
values, which ranged from 3.1 to 3.8. This indicates that there is room for
improvement in the performance results of the DM, as per the requirements of
fourth generation of Excellence Model. A higher mean (3.892) was found for ‘We
achieved positive results related to the management of financial resources for the
last three years compared to competitors’. Generally, the mean of items pertaining
to ‘Achieving vision’ was high as well. In contrast, a lower mean (3.186) was seen
for ‘the development and implementation of innovation management system’. It is
interesting to note that the average variation around the mean (SD) was high
(>1.1) in innovation results. Also, it was relatively high in results related to ‘the
development and implementation of the smart transition plans and policies’, ‘the
designing and managing services provisioning processes’ and ‘the development
and implementation of risk management plans’, respectively (SD 1.078), (SD
1.029) and (SD 1.007). Generally, the answers were in in most areas and about
half, which reflects moderate result, and few items elicited extreme opinions.
About 54% chose in most areas for item: ‘We achieved positive results related to
the implementation and follow-up of strategy performance for the last 3 years
compared to competitors’; 53% for item: ‘We achieved positive results related to
the processes quality efficiency effectiveness productivity and improvement for the
last 3 years compared to competitors’; and 52% for item: ‘We achieved positive
results related to the management of financial resources for the last 3 years com-
pared to competitors’. Nevertheless, 30% of participants perceived that the organ-
ization sometimes did achieve positive results related to future thinking compared
to competitors.
Regression analysis was used to test the influence and predict the impact of
organizational culture and transformational leadership on organizational perform-
ance results as per the fourth-generation Excellence Model:
H1. There is a significant influence of organizational culture on organizational
performance/excellence.
H2. There is a significant effect of transformational leadership on organizational

performance/excellence
In Exhibit 11.2, test results indicate a significant effect of organizational culture

on organizational performance as the p-value is 0.00, which is less than the signifi-
cance level (a) = 0.05 (p-value 0.00 < 0.05). Moreover, that result shows that the
Pearson correlation (correlation coefficient) of the independent variable, organiza-
tional culture, is 0.511, which means that there is a positive relationship between
organizational culture and organizational performance as per the fourth generation
of Excellence Model results with a β weight of 0.511. Because the coefficient of
determination R2 is 26.1, 26.1% of the variation of organizational performance
around the mean can be explained by organizational culture. Therefore, the null
hypothesis can be rejected and the alternate one be accepted, while still acknowledg-
ing that there are more missing variables. As a result, further research and explor-
ation are needed as 74% of the variables remain unexplained.
In Table 1, test results indicate a significant effect of transformational leadership
on organizational performance as the p-value is 0.00, which is less than the signifi-
cance level (a) = 0.05 (p-value 0.00 < 0.05). Also, it shows that Pearson correlation
(correlation coefficient) of the independent variable, transformational leadership, is
0.436, which means that there is a positive relationship between transformational
leadership and organizational performance as per the fourth generation of
Excellence Model results with a β weight 0.436. Because the coefficient of determin-
ation R2 is 19.0, 19.0% of the variation of organizational performance around the
mean can be explained by transformational leadership. Therefore, the null hypoth-
esis can be rejected and the alternate one be accepted, while still acknowledging that
there are more missing variables. As a result, further research and exploration are
needed as 81% remain unexplained.
Exhibit 11.2: Regression Test Results.

Model/ Model 1: Organizational Culture Model 2: Transformational
Regression Test Organizational Performance Leadership and Organizational
Results (ANOVAa) Performance (ANOVAa)
Multiple R 0.511a 0.436a
R2 0.261 0.190
F 35.623 23.642
p-Value 0.000b 0.000b
Standardized 0.511 0.436
coefficients
Collinearity statistics 1.000 1.000
A. Dependent Organizational performance Organizational performance
variable
B. Predictors: Mission, adaptability, involvement, Transformational leadership
(constant) consistency
11.5. Observations and Analysis

The observations indicate that organizational culture generally has a positive influ-
ence on DM’s organizational performance. The four organizational cultural traits
(i.e. mission, adaptability, involvement, consistency) combined in the Daniel Model
of effective organizations had a significant influence on the performance of DM.
Exhibit 11.3 presents the application of the model based on DM results.
The mission culture: People understanding their organizational strategy and shar-
ing an inspiring vision had the most positive effect on DM performance and results.
DM has a strong external focus on stability when exerting efforts and striving for
achievements. However, in the organizational performance results of this study,
achieving vision did not correlate with a high effect. Strategic and vision alignments
with work activities and policies are still required to attain complete focus of
employees on furthering their performance and achievements.
The adaptability culture had a strong effect on DM performance and results with
a tendency to be customer-focused after the release of different service applications
and establishing four-star standard in three service delivery centres.
Exhibit 11.3: The Daniel Model Application on DM Culture Results.

The involvement culture had a contradictory effect on DM performance and

excellence with both positive and negative results, which is not clear. For
example, the management in DM felt they were highly involved and could per-
form with a strong belief about the positive impact of their work on the organ-
ization. This confidence indicates the high amount of power given to leaders and
authority to make decisions. Nevertheless, participants thought they were not
receiving the proper training from the organization to improve their skills and
capabilities to cope with current and future changes. Although DM operates a
training centre, the training programs seem not meeting employees’ expectations
or enhancing their capabilities and skills. Also, team work was not addressed as
the preferable way to do the jobs, although the number of existing teams is high.
This points to some missing areas in the formation and performance of these
teams.
The consistency culture had a weak effect with a lower average mean compared to
other dimensions of DM performance and results. DM performance results were

adversely affected with low consistency in the current culture, where employees do
not share common perspectives regarding eliminating sporadic work and increasing
agreement in work environment.
This study also found that some recent DM initiatives have promoted corporate
values and a positive culture among leadership and employees, and those changes
have probably affected employee’s perception of consistency practices. The aim of
those initiatives was to build awareness and provide a behavioural guide to imple-
menting those values in day-to-day life. A joint team from strategy and human
resources departments started clearly defining corporate values for different levels —
as an entity, managers and employees — in a practical way. Moreover, DM orga-
nized training and brainstorming sessions so that management could define the
areas of potential implementation and thus change culture in a positive way. The
sessions resulted in establishing a ‘Corporate Value Guild’ with rich behavioural
examples for all employees. In addition, there have been continued awareness semi-
nars about values and their implementation directed to all employees. Another
initiative was the adoption of the ‘Investor in People’ accreditation from UK, which
is a structured framework that helps a high-performing organization through an
assessment journey. It focuses on three main areas of improvement: leadership,
development and support.
First, leaders should be role models in values and behaviours should involve
more employees in decision-making. Second, the accreditation encourages continu-
ous individual development and building capabilities that result in sustainable
success. Finally, it supports the work cycle and individual performance management
with rewards and incentives. As a consequence of all those activities, the awareness
of values has increased by almost 30 points, yet the impact on performance is not
attained. Still, more communication and corporate marketing are required with real
stories to be disseminated and rewarded.
In considering the influence of transformational leadership in enhancing DM per-
formance, this case study found significant effect on organizational performance.
The findings from a representative sample of management helped the study
understand the preferences, attitudes, and behaviour characteristics and in a better

understanding of the key dimensions of transformational leadership.
The question about leadership idealized attributes appears to be a sensitive issue.
It identifies leaders who are able to build trust in their followers, and the answers
were discreet. It requires leaders go beyond their own individual interests and focus
on the interests of the group. The presence of such qualities in leaders matters sig-
nificantly to subordinates.
Both behaviours and motivation scores were fairly high in DM compared to
other results of leadership perceptions. It seems that leaders manifest positive and
highly valued behaviours and act with integrity and always consider the moral and
ethical consequences of their actions. It is encouraging that they direct their atten-
tion on building a commonly shared sense of a vision or mission for their team or
group. This result is supported by and consistent with the ‘Leadership Positive
Energy Survey’ results, which was conducted internally in DM for all leadership
levels.
The average scores of that survey were relatively high among leadership. With
regard to inspirational motivation, leaders inspire others in the organization. They
articulate, in simple ways, shared goals and a mutual understanding of what is right
and important. They enhance meaning and promote positive expectations about
what needs to be done.
Furthermore, coaching people and individualized consideration has also not been
exercised widely among leaders in DM, although leaders do attempt to recognize
and satisfy employees’ current needs. Nevertheless, they do not expand or elevate
those needs in an attempt to maximize and develop full individual potential.
Leaders need to set examples and assign tasks on an individual basis. Also, to
become transformational leaders, they should provide opportunities and develop an
organizational culture that is supportive of individual growth.
11.6. Lessons Learnt

The challenges presented here were expected based on the descriptive and frequency
analysis of initial results that imply that DM may find specific areas in which can
improve its organizational performance.
11.6.1. Clear Future Thinking
There are common weaknesses within corporate process frameworks in that they
lack a clear future thinking policy. Many good ideas and projects may be blocked
due to organizational and procedural oversight. While top management may preach
the benefits of innovation, middle-managers are still tasked with ensuring optimal
performance in the business’s core activities. Another backward practice is the cur-
rent suggestion system in which ideas are judged by the same metrics used to evalu-
ate activities that the business has been involved in for decades. New initiatives are
not competed at the same level, and they are dismissed before they are given a
chance to prove themselves. Performance metrics often suffer from the same
problem. While employees are told to be innovative, failures are not truly embraced
as learning opportunities. Failures are still regarded as failures. This creates
fear among those who might otherwise conduct worthwhile tests, for example, to
help prevent the organization from overinvesting in risky projects. Moreover,
employees’ performance goals and compensation packages do not create the incen-
tives to do so.
11.6.2. Effective Communication
Internal communications did affect organizational performance in DM related to

personal attitudes and information flow in the current systems. One main issue is
the personal attitude of some leaders. A number of individuals in top management
assume that, because they are aware of some piece of information, then everyone
else is also aware. They are not really value communication. Usually, the staff’s lack
awareness creates a gap between strategic trends and employees’ daily work focus.
Likewise, misunderstanding or interpreting the information incorrectly not as meant
and intended by both side’s leaders and followers. This can led to some major pro-
blems or issues arising out of the confusion. Because leaders are burdened with bur-
eaucracy and due to the organization’s growth in size and branches in different
locations in Dubai, more communication and feedback are required. Also, the mis-
interpretation of communication is just averse to a high degree of communication,
which leads to more confusion arising. Regarding corporate practices, the current
organizational communication system is not very effective because it lacks a system-
atized reporting system. Although lots of unscheduled meeting are performed
besides the regular meeting, the communication effectiveness is not measured. Thus,
communication is often inadequate and not timely, hindering the decision-making
process and communication, internally and externally. Moreover, there are often
many systems in the organization that generate and produce a substantial amount
of data that are not classified as open data. The problem is that such data are of
real importance and essential to creating valuable knowledge.
11.6.3. Process Synergy
The current work processes and operations in DM are designed not based on cus-
tomer focus, but rather according to departmental activities. That approach is an
outdated method of workflow and has caused duplications and complications with
missing of real time duration in providing the services. Although there are many
new services transformations and introduction of smart applications, the absence of
a clear intelligence transition strategy causes a loss of future opportunities and per-
formance instability.
11.6.4. Leadership Capabilities
The results show that limited attention is given to associates to develop their cap-
acity to think critically and solve future problems. Such an approach will hinder the
organization’s ability to solve problems, resulting in low creativity and innovation.
This requires creating new administrative talents to play a catalyst in improving
DM performance. Therefore, leaders need to continue strengthening their skills to
play the expected role.
11.7. Forward Thinking

Given these finding and the above lessons, DM may consider enhancing its culture
and leadership capabilities for outstanding and excellent performance, as signalled
by DGEP in its 2017 report.24 Therefore, the following are suggested areas in which
improvements could be focused:
(1) Building a culture of innovation should be at the top of the agenda for DM in
order to become a top performing organization in the Government of Dubai. The
DM leaders may create a culture that supports innovation and advocate a new
approach with clear strategies and policies to develop a new image of innovation
managers. Also, leaders need to understand what groundwork needs to be laid
for an innovative culture to sustain. This can be done by highlighting the different
arenas in which employees can be involved with innovation and help employees
add value in areas where they have deep knowledge and a desire to get involved.
Furthermore, employees should understand the interface between business opera-
tions, service development pipelines and customer demand. Managers should also
enable employees with adequate training and resources and encourage them to
take risks and become entrepreneurs within the organization in a safe space for
experimentation without judgment of failures.
(2) DM will be at an advantage to take a deliberate, formal approach to ensuring
sound communications by developing communication plans (both internally
and externally). The current communication system needs to be evaluated and
improved in relation to organizational structure, strategy, innovation and talent
management. The leaders ought to realize the need for increasing reliable com-
munications and make a deliberate attempt to carefully convey information and
share knowledge to create a learning organization using new technology such as
dashboards. Sound meeting management skills are required to ensure effective
communication with employees in frequently scheduled meetings with clear
objectives and agenda. Moreover, a periodic reporting system needs to be estab-
lished by upper level management that contains achievements, results and chal-
lenges with innovative solutions and recommendations.
24
(3) Emphasis needs to be given to high-quality training programs — addressing

both behavioural and technical needs to equip DM employees with the
required knowledge, tools and methodologies to change behaviours, promote
cultural values and ensure continuous improvements and innovations to pub-
lic services. Continuous training and awareness programmes are important
for restructuring capabilities and meeting the needs of the customers on a
continuous basis.
(4) DM is likely to reach a strong organizational culture if the team-building pro-
cess could be fostered further. Again the lead role should come from its leaders
to delegate downward a sense of responsibility to the middle and junior manage-
ment to build and lead teams at the organizational subsets to transform DM
into a highly empowered, effective and cross-functional entity. HR policies can
be re-visited to enhance the reward structure for good team work like in the suc-
cessful international corporate world. Such changes may result in increased col-
lective achievements and sustain them through innovation, knowledge sharing,

mutual respect, empathy and collective understanding.
(5) DM may implement Six Sigma to remove variance, raise internal coordination
and build trust of customers and employees. DM should continue its ongoing
efforts of value sharing to mitigate conflicts and increase agreement. What’s
more, alignment of vision, mission and strategy are crucial for cultural synergy:
individuals need to share the same vision. DM has to define and understand its
mission and competitive values and convey those findings to its employees in a
way that makes them feel that they are doing meaningful work. Thereafter, it
needs to provide employees with what they need to bring their tasks in congru-
ence with those organizational goals. Finally, it is important to appreciate
employees’ accomplishments in order to retain talented people and ensure they
progress in the organization in the future. Apart from cultural alignment, all
processes and policies need to reflect mission, adaptability, consistency and
involvement in all cultural attributes.
All of the above will be more contributory with effective change management
plan and leadership growth. Specific management practices need to embed continu-
ous change into the mind-set of leaders. It is necessary to construct an organiza-
tional culture that underpins an organization’s ability to embrace ongoing changes
and adaptability. The Prosci ADKAR Model, which was introduced in DM in the
past, may be adapted to facilitate the current call of time to advance awareness,
desire, knowledge and ability of its leaders and employees.
Thought-provoking Questions
Question 1
How do you conceptualize the nexus between organizational culture, transform-

ational leadership and organizational performance?
Question 2
Is the Denison model of organizational culture contextually correct to examine the

mission, adaptability, involvement and consistency in DM’s corporate culture?
Question 3
Based on the observations and analysis of this case study, examine the strengths
and weakness in DM’s leadership and culture.
Question 4
Assess how DM can move forward to improve its corporate culture and leadership
style to further its performance and excellence?
Acknowledgements
This article was written by Amna Ahmad Al Suwaidi and Mohammad Habibur
Rahman using publicly available information interviews and survey data, and its
intention was to provide material for discussion through publication. The authors
do not intend to illustrate either effective or ineffective handling of a situation. The
author may have disguised certain names and other identifying information to pro-
tect confidentiality. This article was originally published under the Actions and
Insights — Middle North Africa title series, in collaboration with the Academy of
International Business — Middle East North Africa and Mohammed Bin Rashid
School of Government. This article is based, in part, on a Master Dissertation at
MBRSG, written by the first author and supervised by the second.

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Organizational Culture, Leadership and Performance

as it plays a significant role in achieving public interest.4 Culture is also central to

11.2. Understanding the Nexus between Organizational

mission, adaptability, involvement and consistency)13 impacts organizational

of policy implementation through multiple tools.16 There is a need for leadership

entities in the UAE.21 The government excellence system is aimed at achieving

11.3. Dubai Municipality

11.4. Organizational Culture and Leadership in Dubai

Exhibit 11.1: Independent and Dependent Variables.

H2. There is a significant effect of transformational leadership on organizational

In Exhibit 11.2, test results indicate a significant effect of organizational culture

Exhibit 11.2: Regression Test Results.

11.5. Observations and Analysis

Exhibit 11.3: The Daniel Model Application on DM Culture Results.

The involvement culture had a contradictory effect on DM performance and

other dimensions of DM performance and results. DM performance results were

understand the preferences, attitudes, and behaviour characteristics and in a better

11.6. Lessons Learnt

11.6.1. Clear Future Thinking

11.6.2. Effective Communication

Internal communications did affect organizational performance in DM related to

11.6.3. Process Synergy

11.6.4. Leadership Capabilities

11.7. Forward Thinking

(3) Emphasis needs to be given to high-quality training programs — addressing

lective achievements and sustain them through innovation, knowledge sharing,

How do you conceptualize the nexus between organizational culture, transform-

Is the Denison model of organizational culture contextually correct to examine the

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