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Title
WORK ENGAGEMENT ANTECEDENTS AND CONSEQUENCES ACROSS GENERATIONS IN THE
UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
Faculty Advisor
Dr. Abdul Karim Khan
Defense Date
20 April 2017
Abstract
Drawing upon generational differences and work engagement literatures, this research examines the
antecedents and consequences of work engagement in the context of the UAE, and the moderating effect
of generational membership.
Statistics predicted that in the year 2015, 45% of the UAE labor market was comprised by individuals born
between 1980 and 1999, known as the Y Generation. However, little is known about generational differences
in the UAE, in particular among members of the Y Generation with respect to work engagement. Whereas
organizations need suitable human resources practices and tools to ensure the consistency and growth of
the three generations that are operating together for the first time in the current UAE labor market. This
research accordingly identifies and examines organizational antecedents and associated consequences
of work engagement in relation to both the current state of employment in the UAE and its broader
culture, and the current literature on generational differences. As it also examines the moderating effect
of generational membership on the hypothesized relationship of identified antecedents and consequences
of work engagement. A review of the literature identifies four key organizational antecedents, namely,
job characteristics (performance feedback and job autonomy), rewards, corporate social responsibility
and work/life balance. These have been found to be of great importance in the context of generations.
Furthermore, the literature identifies three consequences of work engagement in the context of
organizations and generations, namely, organizational commitment, organizational citizenship behavior
and intention to leave. These factors have been evaluated with regard to generational membership and
associated differences in the UAE.
Dissertation
NAHLA ABDULLA AL HAJ HASSAN
M. FADHLANI
Department of Business Administration
College of Business and Economics