Impact of Arab Culture on Innovation Management: An Exploratory Study in the United Arab Emirates

Abstract

Innovation is an important concept that has recently caught the attention of nations wanting to develop their economies. It is defined as the act of creating a new method, design, approach or form from an original. The success of innovation is affected by many factors, including culture. Studies have shown that innovation is directly related to and influenced by national culture, which can either encourage or hinder innovation. Culture has a significant influence on the capacity of a society to innovate. Research suggests that Arabs have a low tendency to take risks and a fear of change. Development in many Arab countries is therefore very slow compared to other nations. In contrast, other Arab countries including the United Arab Emirates (UAE) are performing well in the global innovation index. This is the result of adopting long-term innovation strategies. The UAE leadership is developing both government and industry, with an emphasis on non-oil sectors. It has prioritized a focus on innovation to increase efficiency and effectiveness. In recent decades, there have been many success stories and figures that show an improvement in the country’s economy and government performance. This study therefore examines the impact of Arab culture on innovation management, to understand the relationship between culture and innovation in the Arab world. The study examined seven cultural traits and characteristics identified in previous studies as typically Arab. These were high collectivism, high context, polychronicity, strong uncertainty avoidance, high power distance, long-term orientation and strong followership. The study confirmed the existence of those seven cultural characteristics in a single case-study organization, then explored their impact on innovation management. Innovation is considered to be more people-based rather product- or process-based. This research therefore also considered the influence of Arab culture on innovative teams. The research identified five characteristics of innovative work teams: risk-taking, problem-solving, understanding strategy, team quality, and team tenure. It investigated the impact of each of the seven cultural characteristics on each characteristic of innovative teams in a working environment. This approach was designed to provide in-depth views of the influence of the Arab culture on innovation. The research used a qualitative method to explore the research problem. The researcher conducted 20 face-to-face interviews with employees at different levels in a particular government organization in the UAE. The results suggest that certain cultural characteristics are enablers for innovation while others are inhibitors. High collectivism, high context, long-term orientation, and strong followership contribute to building an innovative work environment. High power distance and uncertainty avoidance are the main obstacles to innovation. This study argues that these two traits should be minimized or eliminated, and the positive factors should be enhanced to increase innovation. These results will help potential investors to understand the cultural elements before deciding to invest in Arab counties. Leaders and policy-makers can identify measures to encourage innovation in their organizations. Governments in the Arab countries can use the results of this research to identify regulations that will support innovation. The study therefore makes a significant original contribution to the body of innovation management in general and studies on the impact of culture in particular.