Department of Creative Industries and Entrepreneurship
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- ItemSavior or Distraction for Survival: Examining the Applicability of Machine Learning for Rural Family Farms in the United Arab Emirates(MDPI, 2023-02-17) Gilani, Sayed Abdul Majid; Copiaco, Abigail; Gernal, Liza; Yasin, Naveed; Nair, Gayatri; Anwar, ImranMachine learning (ML) has seen a substantial increase in its role in improving operations for staff and customers in different industries. However, there appears to be a somewhat limited adoption of ML by farm businesses, highlighted by a review of the literature investigating innovative behaviors by rural businesses. A review of the literature identified a dearth of studies investigating ML adoption by farm businesses in rural regions of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), especially in the context of family-owned farms. Therefore, this paper aims to investigate the drivers and barriers to ML adoption by family/non-family-owned farms in rural UAE. The key research questions are (1) what are the drivers and barriers for rural UAE farms adopting ML? As well as (2) is there a difference in the drivers and barriers between family and non-family-owned farms? Twenty semi-structured interviews were conducted with farm businesses across several rural regions in the UAE. Then, through a Template Analysis (TA), drivers and barriers for rural UAE-based farm owners adopting ML were identified. Interview findings highlighted that farms could benefit from adopting ML in daily operations to save costs and improve efficiency. However, 16 of 20 farms were unaware of the benefits related to ML due to access issues (highlighted by 12 farms) in incorporating ML operations, where they felt that incorporating ML into their operations was costly (identified by 8 farms). It was also identified that non-family-owned farms were more likely to take up ML, which was attributed to local culture influencing family farms (11 farms identified culture as a barrier). This study makes a theoretical contribution by proposing the Machine Learning Adoption Framework (MLAF). In terms of practical implications, this study proposes an ML program specifically targeting the needs of farm owners in rural UAE. Policy-based implications are addressed by the findings aligning with the United Nations’ Sustainability Development Goals 9 (Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure) and 11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities).
- ItemThere’s Always a Plan: Eduplan Case Study(Case Centre UK, 2022) Gilani, Sayed; Yasin, Naveed; Gopidas, GayatriEntrepreneurship has been widely understood as something that involves setting up a business as well as taking financial risks in the hope of generating profit. However, over time the widespread understanding of entrepreneurship has been eventually changed to involve innovation. Entrepreneurship and innovation have gone hand in hand in the fitness industry for majority of the 20th century followed by the full period in the 21st Century. Based on the rapid growth of education sector, the demand for educational resources have drastically changed the lives of people around the world due to the recent COVID-19 pandemic that has transformed the education market. The case of the Eduplan provides students with insights to nascent entrepreneurship in a dynamic and rapidly growing industry to understand and recognize the strategic response to market demand and conditions. The case enables the learner to engage with understanding the enterprising characteristics of an entrepreneur, understand the entrepreneurial motives, and evaluate the impact of environmental factors on a start-up enterprise. Furthermore, the learner can recommend options for growth for the new start-up businesses whilst also recognizing the implications of the proposed suggestions.
- ItemAssessing the current state of university-based business incubators in Canada(SAGE Publications Ltd, 2022) Yasin, Naveed; Majid Gilani, Sayed AbdulThis paper explores the current state of university-based business incubators (UBIs) in Canada by utilizing both secondary and primary data obtained through desk-based secondary research and semi-structured interviews with UBI managers, academics, and support staff. These data informed the development of nine cases of UBIs in Canada. The data were collected from VoIP (Voice-Over-Internet-Protocol) based semi-structured interviews with 32 participants during the COVID-19 pandemic (March 2021–February 2022), from which 9 cases were developed during the pandemic. The key themes derived from the findings were the development of communication skills, curriculum development, extra-curricular activities, industry engagement, innovation, research skills and strategic thinking. The originality of this study lies in its identification of the current state of UBI activities as well as its assessment of the broad range of activities and provisions among Canadian UBIs. The empirical development of showcasing these initiatives is also novel for the efficacy of UBIs concerning institutional and managerial decision-making and operational planning. There are implications for academics, senior management in higher education, entrepreneurs, policymakers and other stakeholders in the entrepreneurship ecosystem. © The Author(s) 2022.
- ItemThe Dubai Dream: A Case Study of Nabi Café in the Emirate of Dubai(Case Centre UK, 2022) Kenawy, Fatma; Gilani, Sayed; Yasin, Naveed; Sergio, Rommel Sergio; Askri, SoumayaNowadays, female entrepreneurs are recognized as a fast-growing category of entrepreneurship, aggravated many researchers/academics' attention. Women can create an outstanding contribution to entrepreneurial activity, leading to economic development through making new job opportunities available, GDP rise, as well as positively impacting poverty. Nonetheless, women's participation in the business industry is remarkably lower than men's as it's reported that in UAE, males are more probably to be established entrepreneurs at 7% compared to female established entrepreneurs at 0.9%. Those findings suggest that males generally would be at a higher rate of entrepreneurship and more likely to be business owners beyond the start-up levels. In this case study, we will be discussing the complications that female entrepreneurs face instantly and provide the methods of dealing with these complications by reviewing the in-depth interview in cooperation with Nabaa Kamal owner of Nabi Café, walking us through its success journey. Although the case study would not cover all aspects of the problematic issues, it still provides a decent account of the perspectives and steps that can positively influence young females in UAE towards entrepreneurship.
- Item‘Imitate or Incubate?’ Evaluating the Current State of University-Based Business Incubators in the United Arab Emirates(Sage Publications India Pvt. Ltd, 2022) Yasin, Naveed; Gilani, Sayed Abdul MajidAlthough there has been extensive research on business incubators (BIs) in the private sector, relatively little is known about university-based business incubators (UBIs) in the context of emerging markets such as the United Arab Emirates (UAE). This study explores the current state of UBIs in the UAE by analysing secondary and primary data obtained through desk-based research and qualitative semi-structured interviews with UBI managers, academics and support staff. Informed by this study comprising nine cases of UBIs in the UAE, the data were collected through Voice over Internet Protocol and telephone during March 2021–February 2022 during the COVID-19 pandemic. Based on the analysis of data using Template Analysis, the findings illustrate that UAE universities’ BIs are relatively young and characterized by eight key themes, which were identified as (a) attracting new students, (b) improving communication skills, (c) curriculum development, (d) extra-curricular development, (e) industry engagement, (f) innovation/spinoffs, (g) research skills and (h) strategic thinking. As per the UAE Vision 2031, UBIs will play a crucial role in innovation and entrepreneurship, and therefore there are implications for academics, entrepreneurs and policymakers. © 2022 Fortune Institute of International Business.