Emaar Properties: Organizational Structure Analysis
This paper analyzes the organizational structure of Emaar Properties, a major UAE-based real estate development company. It examines the company's management hierarchy from the Chairman and Vice Chairman through the Board of Directors, Corporate Office, and seven operating divisions. The paper evaluates the appropriateness of Emaar's vertical differentiation, its functional rather than product-based horizontal differentiation, and the level of integration among its divisions. It argues that despite the complexity of the hierarchy, the structure is well suited to the company's scale and scope of operations.
- Overview of Emaar Properties' Management Hierarchy: Chairman, Board, and seven operating divisions described
- Vertical Differentiation and Hierarchical Depth: Evaluates trade-offs of deep management layers
- Horizontal Differentiation and Functional Structure: Functional over product-based structure justified
- Divisional Integration and Managerial Incentives: Divisional independence, cooperation, and manager rewards
✍️ How to write this paper — guide, tools & examples ▾
What makes this paper effective
- Applies standard organizational theory concepts — vertical differentiation, horizontal differentiation, and integration — directly to a real company case, grounding abstract ideas in concrete evidence.
- Maintains a balanced analytical tone, acknowledging potential weaknesses (deep hierarchy limiting open-door access) while explaining why the structure is nonetheless appropriate for the company's scale.
- Connects structural choices to business context: the functional rather than product-based structure is justified by the nature of real estate and investment services.
Key academic technique demonstrated
The paper demonstrates applied organizational analysis — taking a theoretical framework (differentiation and integration) and systematically evaluating a real firm against it. Rather than simply describing the hierarchy, it assesses whether each structural feature is a good fit for Emaar's operational context, which moves the paper from description to argumentation.
Structure breakdown
The paper opens with a factual description of Emaar's management hierarchy, then evaluates the trade-offs of its depth (vertical differentiation), followed by an assessment of its functional horizontal structure, and concludes with observations on divisional integration and manager incentives. Each section builds on the previous, moving from description to evaluation.
Overview of Emaar Properties' Management Hierarchy
Emaar Properties is a real estate development company based in the United Arab Emirates. The Chairman of Emaar Properties is Mohamed Ali Alabbar, and Hussain Al Qemzi serves as Vice Chairman (Emaar, 2010). Below them is the Board of Directors, consisting of nine members (Management, 2014). The Head of Internal Audit and the Group Chief Executive Officer report to the Board of Directors, and the Corporate Office under the Group Chief Executive Officer contains three people (Management, 2014). Below that are seven divisions: Real Estate, International, Investment Holding, Malls Group, Hospitality Group, Finance, and Industries and Investments (Management, 2014). Several of those divisions have as many as nine subdivisions, making the management hierarchy even larger (Management, 2014).
The size of the company essentially demands this level of breakdown, because it is not possible for one person to run all of those subdivided companies efficiently while also managing day-to-day operations. It is far more effective for one person to hold ultimate control while others work beneath that person, allowing work to be delegated more easily and the company as a whole to operate more smoothly. However, Emaar Properties must be careful not to add too many layers to its management structure. The more levels exist from top to bottom, the greater the opportunity for communication problems to arise. At present, a worker in a subdivision would need to pass through the subdivision leader, the division leader, someone at the Corporate Office, and a Board of Directors member before reaching even the Vice Chairman. While it may not be necessary for a standard employee to contact the Chairman frequently, doing so would be difficult and complex — a significant issue, as it limits the company's ability to maintain an open-door policy for its workers.
Vertical Differentiation and Hierarchical Depth
It may appear to many observers that Emaar Properties has too much vertical differentiation, given that a person at the lowest level must pass through several tiers to reach the top. However, the company actually has an appropriate degree of vertical differentiation. The Chairman requires separation between himself and the various aspects of the business (Emaar, 2010). By providing that separation through the hierarchical structure, operations run more smoothly, and the Chairman himself need not spend valuable time on the minutiae of every subdivision's activities. Only large and deeply significant decisions reach him — which is exactly as it should be.
References
Emaar Properties PJSC (2010). Hoovers.com.
Management structure (2014). Emaar Properties. Retrieved March 9, 2014 from
Create your account
Always verify citation format against your institution’s current style guide requirements.