The Fall 2007 issue of Skyline Business Journal is now in your hands. In last few years the UAE and Gulf economies have witnessed tremendous changes in all areas and as a true watchdog of emerging trends, SBJ tracked the new developments in all key business activities. The UAE economy is in a very strong position today because of the strong oil market, active development of public joint stock companies, increased involvement of free zones and buoyant local stock markets, together with launches of a number of significant new projects. Prudent economic policies provide solid foundations for impressive growth in all sectors. The nominal GDP in 2006 was US$163bn, which is projected to rise to US$264.16bn by 2011. Out of a total investment in projects of Dh93.7 billion in 2005, slightly over half of this investment (50.9 per cent) was by the private sector, while the public sector accounted for 34.7 per cent and government investment accounted for 14.4 per cent of the total. These investments have paid rich dividends from the point of view of economic growth and have placed the UAE in an advantageous position in terms of adopting advanced technologies. The World Economic Forum (WEF) ranked the UAE in first place in the Arab World and twenty-eighth positions worldwide as regards preparedness for technology applications. The healthy economic growth trends show the commitment of UAE Leadership to take this country to the new commanding heights. With astonishing growth in a number of key business sectors such as aviation, real estate, tourism and telecommunications, it is essential to investigate and explore the emerging trends for the benefit of business and society. Skyline Business Journal is fulfilling this vital need by creating a research platform for discussing such key issues.

 

The selection of articles in this issue reflects this thinking. One research paper on empirical study of traits determining entrepreneurial leadership provided a new perspective to the issue of entrepreneurial leadership. Another paper on self-communication explored new dimensions of intra-personal communication for effective human resource management. Two papers on role of e-governance in modernization of municipal corporations in India and trends in Capital structure practices of private corporate sector in India discussed new strategic thinking in their respective areas. One research paper in marketing area analyzed the issues of technological development and its association with concepts of customer satisfaction. In banking, two research papers tracked the growth of banking in UAE and factors affecting consumers’ adoption of online banking. One interesting case study examined the Mechanics of De Merger in detail. One book review provided the expert’s opinion on Introduction to financial statement analysis. It is expected that these research papers would provide good thinking material to business professionals and academicians and generate further debate in these areas.

 

Editor-in-Chief