Paper Development Workshop at Higher Colleges of Technology

In partnership with the Higher Colleges of Technology (HCT), the largest applied higher educational institution in the United Arab Emirates, MRQ has done its first Paper Development Workshop in the Middle East. The online workshop took place on February 25, 2026, and was led by Ekaterina Glebova from HCT and Raphaël Lissillour from IPAG Business School.

Promising research projects were presented about the organizational implications of artificial intelligence. Rasha Abousamra presented a study that looks at the issues of transparency and trust in AI-driven human relation management systems, notably the case of Internal Excellence Award.

Mounir Kehal presented two research projects, one related to the imbrication of AI functionalities in modular open-source ERPs. He presented another study project on how do knowledge professionals in advisory firms accommodate generative AI when it begins to encroach on higher-value expert work, not just diagnostic/low-value tasks, and what organizational arrangements make adoption cooperative rather than contested?

Nawar Mughrabi’s presentation looked at how AI implementation hinges on managerial orchestration of resources into learning and governance capabilities. Finally, Mani Chakraborty, together with her students Shaikha Alkatheeri and Aysha Saeed Ali Salem Alketbi, presented a study that would provide more understanding on how employees ‘work’ AI career systems: the duality of empowerment and control, and the recursive redesign of career algorithms.

We thank all other participants to this Paper Development Workshop, notably Dieter Joenssen, Khwaja Khan, Montserrat Morato, Zijian Wang, Katerina Trendova, Joseph Eyong, Kaushik Samanta, Stefano Pelle, Tarfa Athaiman Jaber Athaiman Al Ahbabi, More Chinakidzwa, Aya Shaban, among others.