Qatarization success Factors: A framework for organizations and policymakers

Abstract

State of Qatar has recently witnessed substantial economic growth. Responding to the rapidly increasing business activity, an influx of expatriate workers has been filling the gap between the limited supply and the large demand of skilled and unskilled workers. Faced with the challenge of sustaining its economy on the long run as well as preserving its national identity and culture, Qatar has sought to introduce and implement a workforce nationalization strategy called Qatarization. Given the interdisciplinary nature of the issue, many factors come to play in impacting the success of a Qatarization program at both the macro-level and the micro-level. This paper aims to highlight the factors that have the most impact on the success of a Qatarization program being executed at the organizational level. First, a literature review was focused on highlighting different factors and aspects that has been discussed or featured in previous studies from a variety of fields and disciplines. After executing four in-depth interviews with Qatarization experts, a Qatarization Success Factors model was developed containing 19 different aspects that were believed to have an impact on the success of a Qatarization program. Those aspects were categorized according to whether they fall under the direct influence (internal aspects) or indirect influence (external aspects) of an organization executing a Qatarization program. A self-administrated structured questionnaire was then developed and distributed electronically targeting professionals in Qatar with experiences related to human resources, learning and development, management, or Qatarization. Respondents were asked to rate 19 different statements, each related to an aspect of the model, using a 7-point Likert Scale. A total of 153 qualified responses were successfully collected and then analyzed using factors analysis. Upon performing the analysis, a total of five factors were extracted and then ranked according to the percentage of variances explained.

The findings of this paper found that factors and aspects related to internal organizational factors had the most impact on the success of the Qatarization program. Next to that were factors related to the national educational structures, followed by national policies, economic regulations, and social and cultural factors respectively.