Quality Management in UAE Army

Table of Contents

• Acknowledgements
• Executive Summary
• Research Methodology
• UAE Army: Organizational Background
• Fundamental Background and Importance of Quality
• Role and Influence of Customers in Setting Quality Measures
• Understanding Quality System
• UAE Army Formal and Informal Systems
• Customers and Their Expectations: Organizational Assessment
• Strategic Planning
• Quality Monitoring in Organization and Key Success Factors
• Limitations Impacting Quality
• Existing Quality Systems
• Implementation Plan
• Proposal of Recommendation
• Conclusion
• Appendix
• Personal Interview Questions
• Questionnaire
• Works Cited

The Quality

Acknowledgements

I would like to express gratitude to those people who helped me and contributed to the successful completion of this assignment. Sincere thanks to the representatives of UAE Army military and Human Resource Department; besides, I would like to thank to the research center colleagues which helped to find the necessary sources for my research project.

Executive Summary

The analysis of United Arab Emirates Army, focused on the managing quality for its military system, stresses its commitment to excellence performance through vision, leadership, mission, employee empowerment, and constant improvement.

Global political and economical forces provide a direct impact on the development of military sphere, leading to continuous changes in its quality management. Nowadays the army’s quality management is predominantly rejected or used incorrectly, because of its missions and unique roles. The paper will be concentrated on the analysis of quality managing role in the military system improvement.

The report provides various methods and tools used for the development of appropriate quality management, ensuring the UAE Army’s high quality and services in the uninterrupted functioning. It will be focused on the principle key success factors and army’s quality monitoring, based on the key performance indicators and assessing quality methods.

Research Methodology

Both primary and secondary sources have been utilized for this project. Questionnaires and personal interviews are the primary sources for this research. Secondary sources were limited to the use of Websites, textbooks, and journal articles related to UAE Army’s activities and service. Some of the textbooks which have been used can be also referred to tertiary sources, as well as the websites and journal articles (mostly peer-reviewed) can be referred to primary sources.

UAE Army: Organizational Background

The army of United Arab Emirates (UAE army) is considered to be the principle manpower of the state. It was founded in 1951 being aimed at the protection of all emirates. It has a huge power and strength through 44 000 personnel involved into its structure. It should be noted that about 15 000 people of this personnel are the part of Dubai independent forces, being not integrated completely into the force structure of UAE.

The army is regarded as a powerful organ of military structure of the United Arab Emirates being responsible for all the land operations aimed at defense of its population¹

Force Structure and Personnel

UAE Army is an integrated system having the following structure:

UAE Army is headed by Abu Dhabi; Dubai Independent Force covers mechanized infantry Brigades. It should be noted that the army contains eight principle bases at Al-Ain Camp, Madina Zayed, Masafi Camp, Al-Maqam Camp, Manama Camp, Fujairah Camp, Tarif Camp, and Al-Ain (Infantry Command School).

UAE Service and Tasks

The army of United Arab Emirates is considered to be the basic external aggressor performing the military service of state defense of all the types. It is necessary to underline the fact that its service is closely dependant on expatriates’ expertise. The principle service of the army is focused on the armored training covering such aspects, as maneuver training, tank firing training, and sustainment training. Military service of the UAE army is concentrated on the following tasks:

• Anti-terrorism;
• Peace-keeping;
• Guarding and training the camps;
• Soldiers recruitment;
• Internal and external defense of the nation.

The principle equipment of UAE army contains: recon vehicles and tanks, APC, IFV, Artillery, and Air Defense Missiles. The armored assets of UAE army contain a number of professional equipment and obsolescent systems. The artillery force has been considerably increased through invasions on the part of Iraq².

My Department and My Role

I was working as a business development consultant in the Department of Defense. In general, the department is well-organized due to its perfectly formed vision and mission statements which all the employees try to follow.

Vision Statement

The department’s vision statement is “To be integrated and comprehensive defense delivery system recognized for quality of service and commitment to protecting the country and its citizens.”

Mission Statement

Its mission statement is “The main responsibility of the Department of Defense is providing military forces for ensuring proper security of the country and its citizens.” Despite such firmness of purpose, the department still needs changes to improve the quality of its services.

Fundamental Background and Importance of Quality

Quality Concept

The concept of quality is an integral part of companies’ management and manufacturing systems identifying their position and status on the world market. It is necessary to underline the fact that quality concept is a conditional, perceptual and subjective attribute being understood by customers in different ways. In the sphere of business, economics, politics and military system, the quality of products and services is the basic focus for the clients, comparing it to the competitors. The quality is completely dependant on the real requirements, and only in case they are met, the quality is achieved.

Quality Measuring

The process of measuring the quality is a sophisticated step in any company’s structure because of the quality subjective nature. It is important to identify specific requirements, evaluate errors and findings, review development process and meet the projects deadlines in order to measure the quality in a proper way. The measurement requires the involvement of service and product concepts and balancing the customers’ needs and expectations. The quality measuring is an integral part of reaching continual improvements in the system of company’s work and its philosophy.

Role and Influence of Customers in Setting Quality Measures

Beneficial side of quality measuring system development will be based on the effectiveness of organization’s impact on its customers. Customer satisfaction is considered to be essential feature to the Army role, concentrating on measures and feedbacks received from local community.

The figure illustrated above demonstrates the principle of building management system within the UAE army; the basic principle is the focus on results and benefits of business and military performance.

Understanding Quality System

Army quality is considered to be an integrated approach of strategic management, developed for the purpose of performance excellence achievement. It results in case of complete balance between strategic goals, processes and objectives, aimed at optimization of the service quality required by the customers. The army’s development of quality management is to be concentrated on the following principles:

• Employee empowerment;
• Mission and customer focus;
• Continuous improvement;
• Commitment and leadership vision.

In order to develop a successful quality management all the aspects mentioned have to be taken into account. UAE army should strive to positive change; it means that basic strategies are to be concentrated on concrete activities, supported by shared vision. The commitment is required by army’s structural functioning; it can be achieved through vision ensuring, which means the adoption of specific developed changes.

The basic mission of the army, UAE army, is the security and defense provided to the population; the population makes ultimate customers of the army, and the central task of it is to meet their requirements. So, the customers’ value is provided through the balance between army’s activities and customers’ needs, that is defense and protection. There are two basic factors to be taken into consideration in the process of continuous improvement development:

• It is necessary to work out change management, which is the responsibility of army’s leadership. It means the development of future plans and improvement expectations of the service quality;
• Empowered employees are to be focused on the expected results achievement being supported by managers.

Army’s Total quality is focused on the introduction of core tools and principle being helpful in reaching the customers’ needs and expectations.

UAE Army Formal and Informal Systems

Military organization of the United Arab Emirates sticks to informal quality system usage; the mission of quality measurement is focused on calibration of diagnostic equipment and measuring standards introduction: TMDE (measuring, test and diagnostic equipment) is aimed at analysis and technical control of management processes. After carrying out the analysis of these processes, the management works out strategies aimed at improving the performance of a separate department. This, to a certain extent, accounts for the organization’s usage of formal systems.

Customers and Their Expectations: Organizational Assessment

The customers of the UAE Army are governmental structures and regular citizens who this organization provides its services with. These customers expect from the army high level of defense and security, ability to stand up for the country’s freedom and independence, 24-hours a day readiness to provide them with these services, as well as commitment and preparedness of the employees to protect the country and the citizens even at the cost of their own lives.

Assessing performance in the UAE army is to be presented in the form of the following criteria:

• Leader’s role highlight in the process of organizational goals setting;
• Customer’s satisfaction evaluation to disclose the strategic plan effectiveness;
• Performance metrics information examination for the performance excellence improvement;
• Identify the link levels of all the processes.

Organizational assessment in the structure of army is to be focused on the strategic and action plans ensuring related to customers’ expectations and mission performance. This method is to serve as the working mean for managing and understanding performance, training and planning. Besides, it contains the process of sharing and facilitating the information based on the best practices. UAE army is to focus on the challenging of efforts aimed at work process management in order to reach cost reduction, flexibility, and reduction in cycle time³.

Strategic Planning

Strategic planning in the system of quality measuring development is viewed as in integral part of its successful performance. It is based on the organization of necessary operations and procedures to be achieved. Strategic planning is the central tool in army’s quality organization. It concentrates on the principle strategies, competencies and actions to be followed for success reaching. Taking into account the principles of strategic planning, the following aspects are considered in quality measuring:

• Clear vision statement;
• Guiding values;
• Comprehensive mission statement encompassing key processes of the army;
• Measurable objectives and goals together with expected outcomes and findings;
• The description of the achievement process, reflecting technologies, skills, operational processes, as well as human information and some other resources required for meeting the needs⁴

It is necessary to underline the fact that quality measuring covers the key factors identification being completely external to the army or any other organization.

Quality Monitoring in Organization and Key Success Factors

UAE army is on the way on continuous improvement in the sphere of planners’ development, attack helicopters and transport aircraft. The analysis of the UAE army demonstrated the fact that it is considerably equipped though there are some weaknesses in definite brigades. In order to achieve necessary level of success the management of the organization in question has to consider the following aspects:

• Training system of the army;
• Equipment quality;
• Strategic goals clear identification;
• The development of management level of the army structure;
• Provide deeper impact on the army’s employees, even at the individual level;
• Systematic assessment of the achieved results on the basis of action plan implementation.

The management should start with identifying its strategic goals. Basing on the above mentioned aspect, it can be stated that that the main goal should be to develop the management level of the army structure. Providing the management department with adequate managers will allow identifying the company’s further goals and actions, such as improving the quality of equipment, organizing the training system properly, developing individual approaches to the army’s employees, etc. In order to trace any positive or negative changes, the management is expected to record all the improvements or the absence of such, carrying out systematic assessments of progress.

The basic features of the measuring quality are to be reflected in the form of quality circles (the process of meeting relevant workers in order to discuss the issues of improvement and maintenance of service quality); control of statistic process (informing the process evaluation through the generation of statistical data); zero defects (ensuring no defects of the service which is significant for the army status and national support)⁵.

Limitations Impacting Quality

The army is completely capable of its functions performance, though it suffers because of rivalries and internal jealousies. The interest is focused on the country’s leaders’ roles in regional stability and humanitarian operations. Not all the armored and mechanized brigades are perfectly equipped. Absence of formal quality monitoring documentation does not allow carrying out an analysis of the quality standards and their influence on the organization’s consumers’ behavior.

Great attention is to be paid to the training aspect of the army’s service. It should be noted that the sphere of pilot training is still at issue. The army requires thorough development of battle management assets and airborne air control. It is necessary to underline the fact that systems for integrated land and air based defense are limited; the problems are also focused on air-navy joint operations.

One should stress that UAE army lacks mass and strategic depth. Quality measurement is to cover the development and improvement of integrated and well trained forces. The disadvantages and weaknesses result in a partial dependence of the UAE army from the USA⁶.

Quality Monitoring Documentation

No quality monitoring documentation for this department is available, though the organization has high quality standards. The employees are thoroughly selected even for the least significant positions. They often work extra hours and are on call 24 hours a day to ensure the country with proper level of defense. The determination of organizational assessment can be regarded as no perspective one through insufficient usage of informal quality system. There are certain limitations in statistical quality control conducting. Army logistics is inappropriately developed because of misunderstanding in statistical quality control which is aimed at reduction of limiting and variation defects in the process of organization functioning. It is concentrated on the following basic principles: measure, analyze, define, improve and control. This system is to be the part of army quality program controlling all the challenges within statistical tools modifications and service innovations⁷.

Existing Quality Systems

It is necessary to underline the fact that the army has no quality management department, though the aspect of quality evaluation is centralized in its structure. It should be noted that United Arab Emirates strive to improve the quality of training of small units and individual soldiers. The basic concepts taken in the quality evaluation are the following: readiness, sustainability, and manpower. Quality measuring is weakly demonstrated in the army’s functioning system and requires special methods and personnel to be involved⁸.

Implementation Plan

Proposal of Recommendation

• The organization should improve working environment by providing incentives to the employees, which will motivate them and ensure their better performance within each department and, thus, on the organizational level.
• The organization should consider personal and organizational learning by introducing employee training programs; the programs should be introduced into every department
• The organization should re-train the employees which have been working for it for some time; such training is going to require fewer costs than the training of them employees from the beginning would have required
• The organization should readily accept innovations, especially the technological ones with personnel being trained in accordance with these innovations
• The organization should develop a responsive customer consumer service in order to establish good relations with its consumers and improve the qualities of its services respectively
• The organization should concentrate on the development of each department separately, rather than on its development as a whole
• The organization should restructure Human Resources Department for the employees with new fresh ideas to introduce positive changes into the organization

Improvement options proposed above are to be introduced in the process of quality management development within army structure, taking into account all innovative and creative aspects for its strategy widening.

Conclusion

The paper produced a thorough analysis of the quality measuring role in the system of any organization functioning, with specific reference to the army of United Arab Emirates. UAE army does not have quality management department; it has a slight focus on the quality evaluation of its service. The report demonstrated basic methods and tools necessary for total quality management, and underlined the necessity of its introduction within organization. The description of assessment and strategic planning within military structure highlighted the role of quality management for service improvement.

Appendix

Strategic planning and network of UAE military actions demonstrates the example of war stages development within the organization.

Interview Questions

• Date:
• Name:
• Age:
• Position:

  • How long have you been working on this position?
  • Were there any evident changes in the organization’s management since you’ve been working here? If so, were these changes positive for you personally?
  • Do you think your department needs any changes regarding managing quality? What do you think they should be?
  • If you were in charge of the department, what changes would you implement first?
  • Do you think the performance of your department is satisfactory? Why or why not? What about the entire organization?

Questionnaire

Question 1

Which of the following variants describes your organization’s current performance the best?

• Efficient
• Lacks proper organization
• Efficient, but needs management changes
• Non-efficient, but changes are unlikely to improve it
• I am not sure

Question 2

Which of the above properties do you think the organization should have to function properly? (Choosing several variants is possible)

• Challenging work as such
• Recognition of work accomplishments
• Placing quality prior to cost-efficiency
• Departments set objectives separately
• Management is changed systematically
• Vision and mission statements of the departments are regularly revised
• The organization uses payment as main motivation for employees
• Organization’s management traces the performance of each employee and sets individual working standards

Works Cited

Army: United Arab Emirates. Sentinel Security Assessment. The Gulf States: Saudi Research & Publishing Company, 2009.

Carmona, M. Measuring Quality in Planning: Managing the Performance Process. New York: Taylor and Francis, 2004.

Cordesman, A. and Al-Rodhan, K. Gulf Military Forces in an Era of Asymmetric Wars. London: Greenwood Publishing Group, 2007.

Hudson, Joel. “Total Army Quality Management.” Headquarters. 2002. Department of the Army. Web.

Research Center for Group Dynamics, Human Relations. Cambridge: Plenum Press, 1984.

Keegan, J. World Armies. New York: MacmillanPublishers Ltd., 1979.

Lewis, J. Fundamentals of Project Management. 3^rd Edition. New York: AMACOM Div American Mgmt Assn, 2006.

Managing for Quality. Local Examinations Syndicate. Cambridge: University of Cambridge, 2006.

The Army Quarterly and Defense Journal. West of England Press, 1997.

Footnotes

1. A. Cordesman and K. Al-Rodhan. Gulf Military Forces in an Era of Asymmetric Wars (London: Greenwood Publishing Group, 2007) 287.
2. Cordesman and Al-Rodhan 287.
3. Research Center for Group Dynamics. Human Relations (Cambridge: Plenum Press, 1984) 178.
4. Managing for Quality. Local Examinations Syndicate (Cambridge: University of Cambridge, 2006) 13.
5. Joel Hudson, “Total Army Quality Management,”Headquarters 2002, Department of the Army. Web.
6. Army: United Arab Emirates. Sentinel Security Assessment (The Gulf States: Saudi Research & Publishing Company, 2009) 35.
7. Managing for Quality: XYZ Group. Local Examinations Syndicate (Cambridge: University of Cambridge, 2006).
8. John Keegan. World Armies (New York: MacmillanPublishers Ltd., 1979) 254.