Research Methods: Engineering Management in the Arab World

This report delves into the research methods employed in engineering management, with a specific focus on the influence of Anglo-American culture on the engineering landscape of the Arab world. The study investigates the impact of American engineering management practices on the Arab world, exploring how cultural exchanges have shaped engineering education, employment, and overall industry practices. The research examines the historical context, the introduction of American engineering management, and its effects on employment rates, educational curricula, and the adoption of new technologies. The report also addresses the challenges and opportunities that arise from this cultural exchange, including the integration of American engineering standards, the impact on local talent, and the adaptation of traditional practices. Furthermore, it provides an analysis of the research objectives, questions, and the significance of the study, highlighting the importance of understanding the interplay between culture and engineering management in fostering sustainable development and innovation. The report also includes a review of the literature, theoretical frameworks, and the limitations of the study, providing a comprehensive overview of the topic.

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Research Methods
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The Name of the Class (Course)
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ABSTRACT
Engineering management has undergone a range of research combinations and data
interpretations comprising case studies, questionnaires and surveys (Hodson, 2015). These
methods have been used in the American world to show how the survey can be conducted. Most
of the research findings can be generalized in different categories and data that is collected can
be put together to performs certain aspects of data and results collection according to Bjerke
(2013, p.30-35). This paper presents a detailed research on the Anglo/American engineering
management and the impact of the introduction of the Anglo American engagement to the Arab
country/ Culture. The main objective of the study is to look at the impact the Americans have on
the Arabic world in working with the American engineering management and how their culture
has influenced the Arabic world by this type of management. In this paper different examples
have been given in the management study to show the effects of qualitative research and the
importance of quantitative research in the engineering world.
INTRODUCTION
Leadership and culture in Arabia is an extremely important factor in relation to the management
of engineering in the country (Taylor, 2015). Engineering management is actually controlled and
vied by the evolution of producing management and education of the country (Smith, 2015).
Initially the management of engineering had not taken substantial growth in the country simply
because of the culture, due to this, the American people came up with a special design to find
and ascertain the extent to which the country can practice engineering (Dean, 2008). To make
this more viable, a survey was conducted in different organizations based on the association
which promotes Engineering management in South Africa both at a university level and at

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practice level. The study was meant to be actually used to establish Engineering management in
universities. The study results have been used to establish a curriculum in the universities and
colleges in Saudi Arabia. Before the integration of the United States engineering management,
the governments of Arab countries faced a high job unemployment rate in the engineering field
and many young graduates were not able to get employment (At-Twaijri, 2009). The traditional
engineering methods used by these countries were the key reasons why the rate of engineering
unemployment in the countries was not showing any improvements (Abdulkadroglu, 2017).
Research showed that more than 40% of the young graduates were unemployed because of lack
of industrial skills needed by the government (Panneerselvam, 2014). This trend put more
pressure to the governments to introduce American engineering management to bring up skilled
workers in the countries (Cooper, 2016, 288-301).
Before the introduction of Anglo/American Engineering management, the social and leadership
issue was more focused on the practices and leadership attributes of the country that in turn
focused on the eastern society according to House (2008, p.3-10). The natural boundaries based
on the utilization of cultures boundaries and preconceptions. Data collected from these countries
shows the advancement of the engineering course was not very much adopted by the countries
and this means that there was a gap in the way engineering and other related courses were
managed (Gubar, 2009). There are many methods the United States government used to enhance
indirectly the engineering in the Arab world. In reality, there are so many Arab countries that
now understand the English spoken by Americans and for this reason, the Americans must not
have a translator to ensure that the system is well understood by the users (Mackey, 2015). The
Americans have released funds which have been used to solve so many problem such as low
payment rate and buying equipment for the Arabian institutions. The current situation in Arabia

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shows that more than ten universities and technical colleges offer engineering management.
From these universities, there are 80% students and experts who are already practicing
engineering (Humphries, 2017). There are 76% experts who are in the public sector and over
16% who are in the private sector (Tchen, 2007). The developing of the American culture is as a
result of the huge demand of engineering in the country which is at 3300 per the agreement.
Problem statement.
The American world is always focused on taking advantage of every opportunity and offering
solutions to processes. The current problem facing Arabia in engineering management is the low
performing student institutions which has served as an indicator of low quality and institutions
(Kimball, 2007). Americans have resolved to produce high performing institutions which are
geared towards offering successful education. American culture views engineering as a discipline
where a high repetition should be of a great concern (Neuman, 2016). The major objective of the
American society is to bridge the gap between the Arabian culture and the United States culture.
In trying to achieve this the issue of American dominance has cropped up and is the key concern
of the Arabian government because in as much as the culture brings positive impact on
engineering, it brings about matters which are not acceptable in Arab world (Alfauzan, 2009).
The American culture handles issue of attrition in Arab colleges, differences between the
colleges and the type of skills the students should get from this colleges. The common problem
that the culture tries to solve is the specific degree a student is doing and why they are doing
certain courses. This is because most graduates who are doing this course should be eligible to
go and work in any company in the world (Randeree, 2012). Given the requirements of the
engineering course, the American culture shows that there is little training in the Arabic world
and most students are not familiar with the engineering world even after graduating (Wang,

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2015). The American culture argues that due to low quality of training in Arabia, the
professionals are not able to recognize changes that takes place in the engineering field and this
is the main reason why they are fighting for their culture to dominate in the Arab world
(Hongsheng, 2015, p. 168-173).
Research Objectives
The objective for this study is: To find out the effect of Anglo/American culture in Arabia
engineering management.
Research Questions
 How does American culture affect the growth of engineering in Arabic Culture?
 What is the positive impact of the American culture on the Arabic culture?
 To what extent does the Anglo culture improve professionalism in the Arabic world?
 What is the impact of profitability on the growth of engineering management?
Significance of the study
The study shows the importance of the American entry to the Arabic world and the benefits of
their continued presence. There many issue that the learner needs to understand about the culture
of the Arabia and that of America. Those countries willing to established their culture in the
Arab world must come to terms with the reality that they must learn the American style and
culture (Tertnowski, 2015, p. 39-45). Apart from learning the American style and culture, they
must ensure that the Arabic world accepts and appreciates what they are doing. It is important to
note that unemployment among the Arabic youth has been contributed by the poor cultural
management is the engineering field (Kratochwill, 2015, p. 13-26). This is one of the reasons
why the Americans had to infiltrate the Arabic world.

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This is study is also important because it exposes the policies used by both the United States and
Arabia. This policies are responsible for the management of the engineering field. The
integration of these policies is critical because they will yield fruits in controlling the engineering
field (Reynolds, 2014). At this point, it is essential to look at the weakness and the strengths of
both cultures and the funds that have been put together to improve the current culture. The study
also puts together knowledge in which the concerned parties are able to analyze the proposals
produced to support the engineering field.
Apart from the United States government, there are non-governmental and foreign governments
which have also made some tremendous steps to infiltrate the Arabic culture. These groups
provide opportunities for employment and in the process introduce their own culture in the
Arabic world (Al-gahtani, 2007). Finally the study will help in giving vital information about
government and non-governmental organizations that are now infiltrating the country and
influencing their engineering management cultures.
Scope of the Study
This research has been carefully conducted in the Arabian countries and has American and
Arabian citizens involved. Due to this, the study majorly focuses on the effect of
Anglo/American culture to the Arabic engineering management. It also looks at the areas where
the American culture has impacted positively in the Arabic world. The study period for this
particular study is three months and the specific time period for specific tasks has been specified.
The study narrows down to four key variables which are the performance measure, the work
culture change and the countries effects to the wider market.
Limitations of the Study

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One key limitation in this study will be uncooperative respondents, there will be lack of
cooperation due to suspicions on the research motives. Some respondents may think that the
research motives are not good and choose not to respond at all. Most of this suspicious
respondents may be from groups which have not seen any change in culture or those people
whose experience with the American culture has been very bad according to House (2008, p. 3-
10). The second limitation will be the budget constraint and this is because the researcher will
fund the research on his own. Walking to find the respondents will be a serious problem for the
researcher because the transport in some of the areas to be covered will be expensive and some
of the areas may be uneasy to access. For this to be overcome, the researcher has to use different
means of transport which has always proven very effective in the past. We also have to note that
some respondents will have to maintain their confidentiality when responding to some of the
questions.
The researcher may encounter respondents who over declare or under declare the extent of their
figures. The researcher may meet respondents who will give false information and those who
will give true information.
LITERATURE REVIEW
Many researchers define engineering management as the process of accountability, and
responsive production of engineering services to a country. In this regard, the Arab culture
supports the engineering that the world needs and this has made the country to achieve massive
improvement in the engineering sector (Brinkmann, 2014, p. 1008-1010). The entry of the
American culture has changed the ways engineering is done in the Arabic world and most of the
practices that are experienced in the Arabic world today is based on the correctional jurisdiction

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of the American world. For instance, the United States takes into great consideration the number
of graduates who are qualified but are not employed. After taking this into consideration, they
act in accordance to their culture and find a way to provide employment for these youth
(Downey, 2005). Ensuring that the sector has employed more than 70 percent of the youth
graduating from the local universities. Apart from guaranteeing employment and providing a
good education culture, many countries are now sending donations to enable proper and smooth
running of the engineering area (Walliman, 2017). This is to makes sure that nothing goes wrong
while trying to make sense of the entire sector (Bijker, 2007, p. 143-151).
Theoretical Review
The researcher is guided by the theory that engineering must be guided by certain rules and
regulations put in place by the government. In relation to this, the country that benefits must have
a clear understanding of their culture and how this culture affects their engineering world
(Wiegers, 2006). To help deal with their cultural and management challenges, Arabic culture
must be streamlined to match that of United States (Kunda, 2009). American culture is therefore
aimed at ensuring that culture has not negatively affected the country to an extent that they
cannot make any tangible difference to the country. To achieve this, the engineering sector in
the country is expected to expand and conform to the American style and culture. This will make
the sector get more profit and attract more investors into the country (Leonardi, 2013).
.Empirical Review
As most firms embrace the American Engineering culture the number of youths who join
engineering field increases and this improves the product of the engineering firm basis (Seely,
2013). A growth in the market share means that most of customers and investors who were
buying their products previously from different firms in the world are now coming to the Arab

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countries to buy those goods. This means that the integration of the cultures has helped to certain
extents (McCusker, 2015, p. 537-542). This also means that the country is now having a larger
market compared to other countries (Seely, 2013).
Arab can grow their market in so many ways. The first way is to increase the revenue given to
certain engineering firms. When the firms have more resources, they may actually give the best
to their trainees and customers. Research done in the year 2013 shows that resources can be used
to open up a closed culture and many people may be able to appreciate the type of effort the
government is putting forward to improve the quality of service in the country according to
Hewling (2009, p. 337-356). At the same time, the business growth is possible through carrying
out advertising and sales of products to the outside world. Culture requires a high level of brand
awareness to curb competitiveness that emerge from different companies (Cainkar, 2009), since
most of the customers of Arab products are known to give priority to the best product produced.
The entrance of American culture should not only be seen as the reason for the increasing
number of customers purchasing on the Arabian firms but should also be viewed as an advantage
to help the engineering sectors grow in terms of financial management and skills distribution
(Cech, 2014). Apart from coming up with different tools many researchers have noted that
another way the two countries can successfully integrate is through joint acquisition of
information. For joint ventures, the companies can join hands with other expertise to seek new
ventures in other parts of the countries and especially where traditional culture and believes

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dominate (Cech, 2014, p. 42-72). Apart from creating branches in different parts of the country,
the American culture can also work to the best interest of experiencing market share in terms of
providing the additional channel of expansion (Straub, 2012, p.92-134). For example, the
diversification of most programs can be done in each and every branch mostly for goods and
services, this will help retain most of the investors in the country (Hacker, 2011).
On the other hand, most researchers warn that too much integration of the two cultures can result
to massive negative results and may cause serious problems to the indigenous because the culture
may water down the beneficial tradition culture of the indigenous (AlHaija, 2011). This is
because American culture does not only come with the skills but also comes with certain life
styles that may not be acceptable in the Arab country (Lamont, 2012). One of the non-skill
culture that may be promoted is religion. In most cases, American firms integrate every aspect of
life with religion. When this happens, the Arab world may seriously oppose this and all the effort
to improve engineering management may not bare any fruit (Lamont, 2012).
Conceptual Framework
This is a diagrammatical representation of the relationship that exist between the dependent
variable and the independent variable. Research has shown that this representation breaks down
the relationship in a way that is really understandable. Through this representation, the researcher
is able to look at and interpret the refined relationship produced by the two variables. The
research is therefore better when the two variables can be correlated effectively. For this study
we are going to present the conceptual framework and try to explain the same for the researcher
to interpret correctly.
Critique of Empirical Review

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The coverage of the study does not presents the limitation of the cultural integration between the
two countries. It is evident that technical skills have a great impact on the entrepreneurs in terms
of infrastructure improvement and due to this, we have had a positive impact with the
introduction of the technical training brought by the Anglo culture (Neuman, 2016). While this is
important to note, it can also be noted that the current studies are not providing a clear view of
how the Anglo culture has affected the Arabic world directly. As we all understand, the Arab
culture has always resisted American culture from time in memorial and the study does not
explain how possible the Arabs accept American culture in their engineering world. One possible
speculation that most researcher have given is the presence of American in Asian countries such
as china and Arab countries (Lamont, 2012). In this regard, this research tends to be different
from others. The second part of the critique is that there is possibility that the research could
have adopted technical skill from unrelated organizations. Hence while the Arab country may not
offer proper training as expected, the government has several micro finance institutions and
banks that may help raise funds for proper training. This fact was not put into consideration. It is
also possible that the beneficially from the culture change may not be from the Arab counties and
may just be people who have visited the Arab country for studies (Lamont, 2012). This is
because Arabs are very keen in adopting a foreign culture. It is also misleading to believe that
Arab engineering is low than the Anglo cultural engineering management. This is because no
enough research has been conducted to show this deficiency of American culture (Lamont,
2012).
Summary
Culture integration is an enabling thing for the growth of every country. If the every country is
left to execute their culture on their own, there is a high possibility that there will be less

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development in such countries and no investors will be interested in visiting the country and
invest there (Aldhuwaihi, 2012). Arab world has for a long time been experiencing a keen
interest in the engineering sector but has not come up with a proper channel to work and make
this a reality. Since the country has been facing certain constrains, most of culture have been
watered down by the infiltration of the Anglo/American culture (Raynolds, 2014).
METHODOLOGY
Introduction
This part covers a number of areas such as the research design, the population that the study
targets and the sampling design that is to be used in the study. This section also presents more
information about data collection methods to be used in the study by the researcher, the
procedure used in conducting the research as well as methods used to analysis the data collected.
The research validity and reliability tests is also covered together with a mention of the ethical
conversation. The reliability and the tests are also covered and the research ethical consideration.