Attaining and Sustaining Competitive Advantage in Dubai's Real Estate Industry

AbstractReal estate business leaders who fail to attain and sustain competitive advantage to increase profitability during periods of unstable or declining markets, experience either lost profits or bankruptcy. In Dubai, United Arab Emirates, the brokerage market is saturated with over 5,000 active brokers and more than 2,000 registered real estate offices. The purpose of this multiple case study was to explore the strategies that successful leaders of Dubai medium-sized real estate businesses implemented to attain and sustain competitive advantage to increase profitability during periods of unstable or declining markets. The population for the study included business leaders of 4 medium-sized real estate businesses in Dubai, who had successfully implemented competitive advantage strategies. Data were collected from semistructured interviews with the 4 leaders and from artifacts such as the company websites and social media pages. The conceptual framework for this study was the strength-weakness-opportunity-threat analysis technique. Inductive analysis was used to code and identify themes in the collected data, and the trustworthiness of interpretations was supported by member checking. Four themes emerged: reduce operating costs, execute corporate real estate management, promote corporate social responsibility, and utilize human capital. Findings from this study could contribute to positive social change by providing real estate business leaders with insights regarding strategy implementations necessary for attaining and sustaining competitive advantage and increasing financial independence, thereby promoting the culture and strengthening the local economy.