An investigative study into operational leadership’s disaster recovery (DR) planning at Dubai Civil Defence (DCD).

Almutawa, Essa

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An investigative study into operational leadership’s disaster recovery (DR) planning at Dubai Civil Defence (DCD).

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Almutawa, Essa (2024) An investigative study into operational leadership’s disaster recovery (DR) planning at Dubai Civil Defence (DCD). DBA thesis, University of Gloucestershire. doi:10.46289/RAUH3523

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Official URL: https://eprints.glos.ac.uk/id/eprint/15686

Abstract

While the theme of disaster recovery planning has been arguably extensively researched, in the Middle East and from a Dubai Civil Defence perspective, there is limited research to date. Academic studies have ranged from those conducted in North America, Europe, and Asia, which have provided a rich source of information, but in the UAE, and particularly Dubai, this region has been largely neglected. However, with this locality growing rapidly economically together with a rise in population, combined with the increased number of reported natural and man-made unplanned events occurring, the importance of robust disaster recovery protocols has increasingly become more paramount. Reflecting this, this professional doctorate has accessed the key instigators in the Dubai Civil Defence to understand the entities disaster recovery protocols then compare the outcomes with existing practices drawn from academia. The main study used an interpretivist methodology of multi-methods in the form of semi-structured individual interviews, to investigate the experiences and perceptions of 6 key instigators of the disaster recovery planning processes from an operational perspective and 3 cross-functional group discussions. The interviews were informed by the current academic debate and included the various recovery techniques and models which could be used including the Balanced Scorecard. The findings of the study were gathered until saturation was reached and then interpreted using a thematic approach. The study’s first key finding is the acknowledgement that there is theoretical and empirical evidence to indicate that the Dubai Civil Defence tends to devise their operational recovery plans dependent on the departmental needs and are created only by the leadership team. There was however the acknowledgement amongst the leadership team of the benefit of expanding the recovery planning process beyond their remit, and that the process was limited due to the current practice of being operationally and departmentally centric. The second key finding of the study is that some of the critical success factors (CFSs) and key performance indicators (KPIs) used were being misused or misunderstood. There was a recognition that this could result in being less effective in responding to the outcome of the unplanned or unexpected event. The final key finding was that there was no overarching framework being used, and that the focus was primarily operational. The disaster recovery instigators acknowledged that a more holistic framework or methodology, such as the Balanced Scorecard, would be beneficial for the Dubai Civil Defence recovery strategy. In conclusion, this study provides a deep and rich conceptual insight, knowledge and understanding for the Dubai Civil Defence to follow, including the usage of the Balanced Scorecard. The first contribution of the study includes the usage of the Balanced Scorecard, so that strategic and operational objectives are aligned, which is presented in this study in the form of a new construct. The second contribution relates to the need to ensure that the CFSs and KPIs are effectively used, but also for academia to understand the relevance of new qualitative KPIs. The final contribution is associated with the need for greater inclusion in the disaster recovery planning protocol beyond the leadership teams.

Item Type:

Thesis (DBA)

Thesis Advisors: