Four Zayed University College of Business undergraduate students and their research supervisor won one of the prestigious Islamic Marketing Awards for best research paper at the 2^nd Global Islamic Marketing Conference held in Abu Dhabi recently.  The conference was organized by the United Arab Emirates University (UAEU) and the International Islamic Marketing Association. The Conference Chair was Dr Bakr Ahmad Alserhan from the UAEU.  The research paper was included in the conference proceedings and the cash prize was presented at the closing ceremony. The award winners were also invited by the Conference Chair of the Scientific Committee, Dr Daphne Halkias, to submit their awarding winning research paper in the peer reviewed journal, Management Research Review (Emerald). The research paper titled “Knowledge Management in Islamic and Conventional Banks in the United Arab Emirates” has now been accepted for publication.

The research idea evolves to respond to trends in the current environment.

As Knowledge management is a key priority in the UAE Vision 2021 and the Abu Dhabi 2030 Plan the students and Associate Professor Cader understood the importance of research in knowledge management to the development of the UAE, a country very keen to participate in the knowledge-based economy.

All four students have since graduated and are currently employed in industry. They are Farah Galal Ali, Barra Hussain Mohamed Fadaaq, Amena Ali Bakheet Al Shouq and Ayesha Ali Al Blooshi. They were working as a team on the final culminating research project, which is a College of Business program requirement for graduation.

College of Business encourages young researchers

The Assistant Provost for Faculty Affairs and Research at Zayed University, Dr Michael Allen, the College of Business Dean (Dr John Seybolt), Associate Dean (Dr Emil Thies), and the Assistant Dean (Dr Osama El Temtamy) and all faculty members encourage student research so that they may get an appreciation of research at an early stage in their career and confidence to go on to higher postgraduate studies involving research. One example of faculty encouragement was that provided by Assistant Professor K Kathleen O’Neill, an expert in business communication who reviewed and edited the paper before the final submission to the peer reviewed journal, Management Research Review (Emerald).

At the College of Business level, the business graduates were invited to the College of Business and in the presence of other faculty members were presented with their prize award, author certificates, and a copy of the conference proceedings.

Findings

The research found Islamic banks in the UAE to be more actively engaged in knowledge management (KM) than conventional banks. However, both Islamic and conventional banks were found to be focused on knowledge capture, knowledge transfer, and knowledge sharing. Most of the banks in this study could be classified as being in the pre- or early implementation phase of KM. The study found scant knowledge-based marketing taking place in either type of bank. None of the banks were found to have a dedicated knowledge champion (KM Officer). Similarly, none of the banks were identified as possessing a strong organization-wide KM culture. The implications of this research are that best practice in KM can be implemented in banks in the United Arab Emirates once knowledge gaps are identified. Given below are some best practice recommendations:

Recommendations for both Banks:

• Offer professional-development programs on KM topics
• Employ a KM champion
• Develop internal and external knowledge communities
• Implement knowledge-based marketing systems
• Utilize a technical system to capture organizational knowledge
• Establish a knowledge culture
• Evaluate KM methods, systems, and practices
• Provide training workshop and education for employees on KM principles

Recommendations for Islamic Banks

The utilization of a KM system should facilitate the transfer of Shari’ah knowledge to internal stakeholders and external alliances resulting in the promotion of appropriate Islamic banking practices. For example, a Knowledge System for Islamic Banks may include an Islamic finance learning database with self-directed course functionality, which may be accessed by bank employees as well as bank customers. The lack of Islamic finance and banking knowledge of employees and customers is a challenge faced by Shari’ah-compliant institutions.

Names in picture

Standing:,  Business faculty professors (Drs. Claire Richards, Maja Graso, Yoosuf Cader, Claire Sherman). Seated: The young researchers.