Title: Developing a Knowledge Management Strategy for the Arab World
Authors: Walter Skok, Saad Tahir
Pages: 11 pp.
ISSN: 1681-4835
Source: The Electronic Journal of Information Systems in Developing Countries, EJISDC (2010) 41, 7, 1-11
Publisher: City University of Hong Kong
Date (published): 07/05/2010
Date (accessed): 28/06/2010
Type of information: peer-reviewed article
Language: English
On-line access: yes (pdf)
Abstract:
The aim of this study is to investigate the issue of knowledge sharing and knowledge management (KM) in an Arab context, by identifying the main issues and obstacles which arise as a result of the Arab culture. By using field data from questionnaires given to staff in an Arab firm, the research shows that western based KM practices should be applied cautiously in a non-western setting. The research concluded that the most appropriate overall knowledge strategy to adopt is a hybrid strategy of ‘intellectual asset management’ i.e. where existing company assets are more fully exploited and ‘personal knowledge assert responsibility’ i.e. where individual employees are encouraged to develop and share their skills and knowledge. This blended approach will nurture a culture of knowledge sharing amongst staff, which is often difficult to achieve. The research also demonstrates how the biggest barriers to knowledge sharing in Arab organisations are the people themselves together with their social and cultural beliefs. These results will be useful within the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and for other Arab governments and organisations (as well as multinationals who are looking to set up in an Arab country), when trying to formulate KM strategies. This research allows them to understand better the barriers that will prevent successful implementation of KM in an Arab setting. It also provides them with a series of recommendations to help overcome such obstacles, and thus seeks to find active solutions to ensure that the concepts of knowledge management and sharing are not lost in translation.

Title: Same but Different: Understanding Women’s Experience of ICT in the UAE
Authors: Shahper Vodanovich, Cathy Urquhart, Maha Shakir
Pages: 21 pp.
ISSN: 1681-4835
Source: The Electronic Journal of Information Systems in Developing Countries, (2010) 40, 4
Publisher: www.ejisdc.org
Date (published): 07/02/2010
Date (accessed): 03/05/2010
Type of information: peer-reviewed article
Language: English
On-line access: yes (pdf)
Abstract:
Information Communications Technologies (ICTs) have become a potent global force in transforming social, economic, and political life. Given the centrality and importance of ICTs, men and women need to have equal opportunities to access, use, and master them. In particular, it could be asked whether women in Islamic societies within the GCC region have equal access to these new technologies? What are some of the promising new social, economic and political opportunities for Islamic women in the ICT sector, or does ICT access and use by those women replicate patterns of segregation seen elsewhere in their societies? What are the barriers that women, especially those in the Islamic world, have to overcome to actively participate in the promise of these technologies? We use grounded theory as our preliminary research methodology to analyse interviews with women who work in the ICT sector in the UAE We discuss five major themes from the research: Westernization, IT as Modernity, Education, Government Initiatives, and Gender Perspective, and introduce a preliminary framework of the area. We conclude by discussing some inherent contradictions of women’s ICT use in a society that wishes to modernize, rather than Westernize, and how this is played out in our study.