Achieving Strategic Agility in Private Sector Companies in UAE

This report examines the lack of strategic agility in private sector companies within the United Arab Emirates (UAE), attributing it to the complexities of multi-criteria decision-making and subjective factors. It proposes the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) as a valuable tool to address these challenges. The report investigates potential mechanisms to enhance strategic agility, assesses its relative importance, and highlights the benefits of using AHP. It reviews dimensions of strategic agility, including organizational, people, technology, planning, and innovation dimensions, and the factors influencing them. The report emphasizes the significance of integrated performance management, effective communication, and leadership support in achieving organizational goals. The importance of employee empowerment, autonomy, and training are discussed. This report will provide a comprehensive overview of strategic agility in the UAE context, offering actionable insights for improving organizational performance and adaptability.

Running head: ACHIEVING STRATEGIC AGILITY
Activating Strategic Agility in the Private Sector Companies using AHP
Student’s Name
Institution
Date

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Introduction
Most of the private companies lacks strategic agility. Most private enterprises at UAE
place too much emphasis on the formulation of management systems and management
procedures in organizations, neglecting the incentive mechanism for establishing and improving
enterprises. private enterprises, for cost considerations, rarely recruit new people through
professional career agencies, most of them are selected by entrepreneurs themselves, or
introduced by others. Generally speaking, there is a relationship between the operator and its
employees. A good personal relationship and a better understanding of employees, but
sometimes due to personal reasons of the operator, such as its personality, experience,
prejudices, etc., it causes improper employment and causes losses to the company. It should be
noted that lack of strategic agility is attributed to the fact that private companies in UAE often
face such issues because they have to make decision by considering multi-criteria, multi-factorial
and a lot of subjective factors. Fortunately, Analytic Hierarchy Process model (APH) is a handy
tool in such cases. Using United Arab Emirates private organization as our case specimen, the
paper will demonstrate how government, institutions or organizations can combine multiple
subjective factors, rank them, rate them and finally model them to make a justified decision that
integrates multiple criteria.
Research questions:
1. What is the possible mechanism to activate the role of strategic agility in the private
sector companies of the United Arab Emirates?
2. What is the relative importance of strategic agility in the private sector companies of the
United Arab Emirates?

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3. What are the benefits of using the Analytic hierarchy process to activate the role of
strategic agility in private sector companies of the United Arab Emirates?
Literature review
Basically, strategic agility can be achieved through organizational dimension, people
dimension, technology dimension, planning dimension and innovation dimension. However,
these dimensions are influenced by a series of underlying factors that have different influence.
Organizational dimension
In order to achieve strategic agility, it is necessary to do well in the early stage to
discover the value driving factors, formulate the value promotion strategy, and form a complete
and effective management system. To achieve this goal, the internationally popular integrated
performance management system in recent years is a scientific and efficient planning and control
system (Oyedijo, 2012).
According to the company's goals and the personal conditions of employees, the
company uses human resource management to create an ideal organizational atmosphere, make
career plans for employees, and carry out horizontal and vertical posts or position adjustments
through continuous training. Personal value motivates employees to take the success of the
company as their obligation, encourages their creativity, creates a harmonious and up-to-date
working atmosphere, cultivates employees 'positive work style, changes employees' thinking,
improves the quality of the workforce, and makes employees passive and active (Oyedijo, 2012).

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In the late twentieth century, American performance analysis expert Gary Ashwas put
forward the concept of integrated performance management, also known as IPM. The essence of
this management idea is to combine the strategy implementation process with value management
tools. Effectively enhance the value brand of the enterprise. It is implemented through a series of
specific means and methods. It is a strict and unified system to ensure the achievement of goals.
There are the following basic aspects: ① set goals in advance and propose performance to be
achieved in the future; ② evaluate goals and collect opinions extensively; ③ submit
operationally feasible solutions; from this we can see that IPM is a performance management
system. It is the management method to improve the value of the enterprise.
An enterprise is an organism composed of departments with different
responsibilities. There is a horizontal and vertical relationship between various departments and
levels. The performance management system designed is expected to fully consider the goal of
increasing the value of the company and shareholders. These relationships make the structure of
the performance management system compatible with the essential structure of the value of the
enterprise, and each link performs its own duties and is related to each other, thus running
smoothly (Charbonnier-Voirin, 2011).
If an enterprise wants to effectively implement integrated performance management and
become a value management enterprise, it must link its activities with the goals of the
organization, it must improve its information and communication platform, it must effectively
monitor and lead the entire performance management process, and it must make Employees can
apply performance evaluation and realization concepts under value management (Charbonnier-
Voirin, 2011).

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Any plan must have a clear role in achieving organizational goals. The answer before
implementing the IPM approach: how does it achieve its vision, strategy, and organizational
goals, and how does it achieve success in the markets it chooses? A good IPM approach is
actually used to help drive future performance and achieve strategic intent Yes, this goal is
achieved by: understanding the true source of profitability in existing and potential markets;
effectively managing resources through key processes; linking goals and actions so that
employees at all levels know what the company expects of them and the company How their
contributions will be measured (Oyedijo, 2012).
In today's social development, communication has become more and more important.
The most important resource is not traditional energy, funds, etc., but information has played an
increasingly important role. So people pay more attention to the research on fast information
transmission. The same is true in value management, which plays a key role in dealing with
investor relationships and evaluating performance. As a listed company, stocks are the basis of
its survival, and the issue price of stocks directly reflects the value of the company. Therefore,
investors' investment in corporate stocks is the recognition and support of the company's overall
value. Therefore, it is extremely important for business owners and investors to maintain
frequent and effective communication, that is, information exchange. In addition, information
and communication are the guarantees for the effective operation of the various components of
integrated performance management. A well-designed communication plan is an integral and
integral part of the implementation of any major project and is the key to its success.
Communication is more than simply posting internal memos about actions. Good communication
is continuous and not completed at one time. Its goal is to gain real understanding and realize
two-way communication between employees in the organization, and to provide information to

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the right person at the right place at the right time. To achieve this, a variety of media and
communication tools must be used, such as conferences, seminars, briefings, videos,
publications, etc (Charbonnier-Voirin, 2011).
In order to successfully implement integrated performance management, the recognition
and support of senior management personnel is essential. Under the leadership of the CEO,
senior management personnel must proactively implement value-based management and reflect
value orientation in some important business activities such as strategic planning, resource
allocation, performance evaluation, and compensation design. Although this requirement seems
obvious to any project, it is important to understand the difference between launch and
leadership. An initiator may agree and support an event, but a leader is responsible and fully
committed to the event.
Successful implementation of integrated performance management requires visionary,
high-level leadership, and continuous evidence of how the implementation of change is
delivering organizational value. If there is a lack of leadership at the beginning (or the
corresponding formative stage), integrated performance management is doomed to fail
(Charbonnier-Voirin, 2011).
Continuous and effective education and training is one of the key success factors for
implementing integrated performance management. Value management itself is a management
change. Employees must emancipate their minds, accept new knowledge and new ideas, and be
prepared for change. The common values that drive individual participation in collective
behavior vary among different organizations. Those companies with high achievements and high
requirements will welcome innovation activities and help them progress in depth. When

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implementing integrated performance management, the existing culture within the company
should be considered in order to overcome individual resistance or other difficulties in applying
the new working methods (Oyedijo, 2012).
Organizing training and development programs plays an important role in shaping
employee attitudes and behaviors at work. Training can be used to provide employees with
information about the company's vision and strategy and the reasons behind it. This sharing of
information is an important part of empowering employees. If you want employees to change
their behavior and take more responsibility for business performance, you must provide them
with information to understand the goals they have set and the importance of achieving them. In
order to make education and training more effective, senior management must actively
participate in and provide human, material and financial support and guarantee. Training and
learning should focus on management cases and role-playing to improve the value growth
awareness and management skills of enterprise employees (Charbonnier-Voirin, 2011).
People dimensions
People dimension on the other hand is influenced by underlying factors such as
Employee empowerment, Autonomy in decision making, Information and knowledge access,
Teamwork, Multifunctional teams, Multiple skills training, Workforce development and training.
For an enterprise, qualified operators and decision-making teams are the key to its success
(Oyedijo, 2012). A high-quality management team becomes the basis for the company's efficient
input and output, and sufficient skilled technicians and operating teams determine the products
and the quality of service can be said that talent is the most important resource of an enterprise.
This is especially true for private enterprises. After joining the WTO, multinational companies

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will consider attracting and competing for talent as an important part of their competitive
strategy. Therefore, private enterprises at a disadvantage must Quickly formulate a talent strategy
as a fundamental plan, increase investment and train all kinds of talents needed; create
institutional conditions to introduce and retain talents in terms of working environment and
benefits; use modern incentive mechanisms to tap the potential of internal talent resources and
maximize the promotion Market competitiveness of enterprises (Charbonnier-Voirin, 2011).
In a capitalist model like the current one, the dream of many employers is to increase the
productivity of workers so that their organizations generate more benefits. And, although there is
no definitive answer to how to increase company profits, the ways of doing it or the tools that
exist for it, one of the methods on which the business system has been based in recent decades
has been ( and, unfortunately, the majority is) control over workers. The goal of companies is to
have engaged and energized employees by: creating a culture of health and performance,
cultivating more collaboration between teams, and driving measurable productivity
improvements. Fostering a healthy culture, prioritizing health, improves employee performance,
helping them to be happier, healthier and more committed. Therefore, companies that implement
this type of culture have fewer absences due to illness, suffer less presenteeism and have fewer
conflicting cases and grievances. With the evolution of the market and human resource systems,
the need has been seen to give more value to the user and give him more power and motivation ,
both by right and by comfort in the workplace (in addition to eliminating certain risks
psychosocial at work that could pose a problem for the company). But what is also being seen is
that the greater autonomy or control the user has, the more productive he is and increases his
feeling of belonging, as many authors theorized. It is worth noting Deci and Ryan, who in 1985
already explained with their theory of self-determination that there are three psychological needs

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that must be satisfied for individuals to develop both personally and professionally: autonomy,
feeling competent and relating. To give the importance it deserves to worker motivation linked to
its productivity, we bring the latest State of the Global Workplace survey (O'Boyle and Harter,
2013) from the prestigious Gallup firm, exposing that 63% of employees at the Worldwide, a
majority are unmotivated , and this means that they will dedicate less effort to achieve the
objectives of the organizations. Furthermore, another 24% of the total are actively unmotivated,
indicating that in addition to being unmotivated and unproductive, they are likely to spread
negativity to their coworkers.
Technology dimension
The technology dimension covers aspects such as Data processing, Data storage,
Distribute the data, Enabling efficient communication, sharing of information, Utilization of
standardized technologies and Dissemination of appropriate technologies. Data collection and
storage is key. Top companies such as Amazon, Walmart rely on quality data in their strategic
plans. by setting up the enterprise capability database, administrators and workers match
topological maps to achieve efficient sharing of responsive and agile benign interactions, and to
find a balance point in globalization and localization, centralization and decentralization, not
only for its command system (headquarters organization ) Have a certain authority, at the same
time, its subsidiaries, divisions, etc. have sufficient autonomy, can be adjusted and made
decisions according to the needs of the market and customers (Charbonnier-Voirin, 2011).
Planning and innovation
Planning dimension on the other hand, is influenced by Setting of long-term objectives,
Setting of action plans, Short term objectives, External environmental sensitivity and planning

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flexibility (Jorfi, 2013). On the other hand, innovation is influenced by Accountability,
Competence, Flexibility, Speed, Renewal, Development (Kumkale, 2016).
Rating the factors in context of UAE.
In order to choose the best combination of factors, AHP expect the data analysts to rate
each of the factors. The table 1 in the appendix section will help in rating and ranking.
Based on subjective views on significance of each of the AHP factors, the following
ratings was made.
Organizational factors Ranking
Proactivity 7
Communication of the strategic vision 9
Performance evaluation and
recognition
8
Creativity and continuous
improvement
9
Delegation of responsibilities 6
Internal cooperation 7
External cooperation 4
Knowledge of customers 9
People dimensions Rate
Employee empowerment 9
Autonomy in decision making 8

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Information and knowledge access 9
Teamwork 7
Multifunctional teams 6
Workforce development and
training
8
Technology Rate
Data processing 9
Data storage 9
Distribute the data 7
Enabling efficient communication. 8
Sharing of information. 9
Utilization of standardized
technologies
9
Dissemination of appropriate
technologies
8
Significance of Analytic Hierarchy Process
Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) was proposed by American scholars in the 1970s. It is
a systematic decision-making method combining qualitative and quantitative methods. It

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introduces the subjective judgment and practical experience of decision makers into the model
and performs quantitative processing, which reflects the basic characteristics of analysis,
judgment and synthesis in decision making. This method first stratifies complex problems
according to dominance, then compares the relative importance of each factor in each layer, and
finally determines the order of relative importance of each factor and makes decisions in order.
Through in-depth analysis of the actual problem, the problem is decomposed into three
levels, namely the target layer, the criterion layer (element layer) and the solution layer (see
Figure 1). The factors in the hierarchy have an influence on the factors in the upper layer, while
dominating the factors in the lower layer. The target layer is the highest layer, usually only one
factor, and the lowest layer is usually a program measure. The element layer can be more than
one layer (Drake, Myung & Hussain 2013).. When there are too many elements (for example,
more than 9), the sub-element layers can be further decomposed and related. The second step is
to construct the judgment matrix (pairwise comparison). The matrix starts from the second layer,
and uses the pairwise comparison method and a certain comparison scale to construct the
judgment matrix A until the last layer. The third step is to weigh the rankings. Then the next
thing is to determine the total ranking of the hierarchy, and make a decision based on the
ranking. What we got above is the weight vector of the same group of elements to an element in
the previous layer, and our ultimate goal is to get the weight ranking of the lowest-level solutions
for the target, so as to choose Out program. This needs to combine the weights under the single
criterion from top to bottom, and finally get the total ranking weight. Since its inception, the
analytic hierarchy process has become an effective decision-making method with its complete
theory, rigorous structure, and simple problem-solving ideas, and it has been widely used in
many fields. Analytic hierarchy process can be mainly applied to the following types of decision-

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making: choose the best solution or strategy, determine the priority order, the generation of
alternatives, resource allocation, planning, determine demand, forecast results or risk assessment,
performance assessment, optimization Solution selection, conflict resolution, etc.
The analytic hierarchy process has the following advantages when solving complex
problems in detail: it decomposes complex problems into different levels for consideration, and
simplifies complex problems into a clear factor hierarchy system. It investigates, collects data,
and calculates the factors of each hierarchy. The degree of importance of a class of factors, and
then calculate the result based on the hierarchical structure, and obtain the weight value of each
factor of each class to the upper class. In other words, the problem's influencing factors are
divided into multiple levels, and the different levels are broken down into a relatively simple
hierarchical system, so that the problem can be hierarchical, structured, and quantitative. The
pairs and factors are compared in pairs to obtain the weight value of each criterion layer and the
factors. Finally, the comprehensive evaluation method is used to judge the merits of the targets,
and the decision makers are provided with a basis for making decisions.

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Figure 1: The Hierarchy of the Determinants of the decision-making Process
I1. Accountability
I2. Competence
I3. Flexibility
I4. Speed
I5. Renewal
I6. Development
Strategic agilityLevel 1:
Objective
Innovation
dimension
People
dimension
Technology
dimension
Planning
dimension
Organizational
dimension Level 2:
PL1. Setting of long-
term objectives.
PL2. Setting of action
plans.
PL3. Short term
objectives.
PL4. External
environmental
sensitivity.
PL5. planning
flexibility
T1. Data processing
T2. Data storage
T3. Distribute the
data
T4. Enabling efficient
communication.
T5. Sharing of
information.
T6. Utilization of
standardized
technologies.
T7. Dissemination of
appropriate
technologies
P1. Employee
empowerment
P2. Autonomy in
decision making
P3. Information and
knowledge access
P4. Teamwork
P5. Multifunctional
teams
P6. Multiple skills
training
P7. Workforce
development and
training
O1. Proactivity
O2. Communication of
the strategic vision
O3. Performance
evaluation and
recognition
O4. Creativity and
continuous
improvement
O5. Delegation of
responsibilities
O6. Internal cooperation
O7. External
cooperation
O8. Knowledge of
customers
O9. Anticipating
customer-related
change
Level 3:
Level 4:
Level 5:
The private sector in the UAE

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References
Charbonnier-Voirin, A. (2011). The development and partial testing of the psychometric
properties of a measurement scale of organizational agility. M@ n@ gement, 119-156.
Drake P. R., Myung L. D. & Hussain M. (2013). The lean and agile purchasing portfolio model.
Supply Chain Manage. 18(1):3–20
Jorfi, H. &. (2013). Surveying the Relationship between Organizational Innovation and
Organizational Agility at Ramin Power Station of Ahwaz. International Journal of
Management and Social Sciences Research, 2(10), 83-88.
Kumkale, İ. (2016). Organization’s tool for creating competitive advantage: Strategic agility.
Balkan and Near Eastern Journal of Social Sciences, 2(3),, 118-124.
O'Boyle, E. and Harter, J. (2013). State of the Global Workplace: Employee Engagement
Insights for Business Leaders Worldwide. Washington, DC.
Oyedijo, A. (2012). Strategic agility and competitive performance in the Nigerian
telecommunication industry: an empirical investigation. American International Journal
of Contemporary Research 2(3),, 227-237.
Wendler, R. (2014). Development of the organizational agility maturity model. . In 2014
Federated Conference on Computer Science and Information , 1197-1206. IEEE.

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Appendix
Table 1: Table used to 9 scale for AHP preferences
Intensity of
importance
DefinitionExplanation
1Equal importanceTwo criteria contribute equally to the
objective
3Moderate
importance
Judgment slightly favor one over another
5Strong importanceJudgment strongly favor one over
another
7Very strong
importance
A criterion is strongly favored and its
dominance is demonstrated in practice
9Absolute importanceImportance of one over another affirmed on
the highest possible order
2, 4, 6, 8Intermediate valuesUsed to represent compromise between the
priorities listed above

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