Abstract

Policing organisations strive to maintain law and order and the security of citizens, and senior leaders tasked with improving performance must manage complex bureaucracies successfully. The common perception is that policing organisations, just as in the military, operate in similar models. This notion has created perceptions of policing leadership as authoritative and highly centralised, controlling followers to behave in the way they are told to do so. The challenges of the 21st century have forced policing leadership to become highly competitive, flexible, and performance oriented. This phenomenon has also led to the adoption of novel contemporary leadership styles to address challenges. However, the contention is that the model developed for the private sector in Western countries may not be applicable in high-culture countries such as the United Arab Emirates (UAE) where the power distance is wide.

This study builds on the discussion of the leadership of policing organisations in the Arab world, with a particular focus on the Dubai Police Force (DPF) in the UAE. The central thesis of this study is that policing in the DPF is changing from an Arab authoritarian type based on clan hierarchy to a more transformational leadership style influenced by the new generation of leaders, technology and globalisation. This leads to the following questions: how do senior leaders in the DPF understand the concept of transformational leadership style? and what are the perceptions of the officers regarding transformational leadership in the Dubai Police Force?

This study adopted a pragmatic philosophical approach using mixed methods where qualitative and quantitative data were used. Qualitative data were collected using semi-structured interviews with 15 senior leaders of the DPF, whereas quantitative data were collected using an online questionnaire from 283 middle-ranked police officers between the rank of Warrant Officer and Captain, including 75 female officers. Qualitative data were analysed using thematic analysis and Nvivo software, whereas quantitative data were analysed using SPSS software.

Results from qualitative data showed that most senior leaders who participated in the study practice transformational leadership in the DPF. Some of the factors identified that helped transformational leadership to thrive in the DPF was executive leadership, particularly the Commander-in-Chief of the Police who changed the police culture in Dubai, particularly the level of education of the senior leader (most of them have either a master’s or doctoral degree). The quantitative data supported the qualitative study findings. Strong agreement existed amongst followers regarding transformational leadership practices and how they improved individual and organisational performance.

This study concludes that regardless of the culture, the top leader of an organisation has a strong influence on its organisational culture. Moreover, the top leader can change the mindset of the leaders in the organisation to buy into his/her leadership philosophy. This case is demonstrated by the way senior leaders embrace transformational leadership practices in the Dubai Police. Therefore, leaders with higher education levels are likely to become transformational because higher education levels allow them to have a critical perspective of the merits of this style and its benefits to the organisation.

From a theoretical perspective, this study contributes to the limited research on transformational leadership within the public sector, particularly in policing organisations in the Middle East. Insights on the best practices highlighted in this study will benefit the DPF and other public organisations in Dubai and the UAE. Furthermore, this study’s findings can guide leaders in policing organisations in the UAE in implementing change in their organisations. These findings could be beneficial to future research on leadership in the UAE and provide a foundation for future studies on employee commitment, development, leadership, and work practices, particularly in cross-cultural organisations in the UAE.