KMBS Voice 3rd edition

www.kmbs.edu.kw .1Issue 003. February 2011

205

505th year of His Highness the Amir's assumption of power

50th year of independence

20th liberation day

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Admissions OfficeTel. +965 225 170 91/2/3/4/6ext. 101/107/111

Email [email protected]

Kuwait Maastricht Business SchoolP.O.Box 9678 Salmiya 22097, KuwaitTel. +965 225 170 91/2/3/4/6Fax +965 225 457 91Email [email protected] www.kmbs.edu.kw

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“Kuwait achieved independence in 1961 during the rule of Sheikh Abdullah Al-Salem. Under his guidance and leadership, Kuwait began the process of development which led to the achievements of the current times.

In 1991, Kuwait was liberated from the Iraqi regime with the help of 33 allied countries. Kuwait was, and continues to be. the “Pearl of the Gulf”, and has taken the initiative for most of the developments within the Gulf region. This year, Kuwait is celebrating a special anniversary. It is the 50, 20, 5 celebration. It is 50 year since independence, 20 years since liberation and 5 years of His Highness Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad as the Amir of Kuwait. KMBS would like to convey its joy on this glorious occasion and send heartfelt congratulations to His Highness the Amir, his Crown Prince, the Prime Minister and to all the people of Kuwait.”

The Editor

KMBS VoiceA Globally Networked Management School

Issue 003 . February 2011

Editor Message In This IssueTeaching Strategic Managementby Dr. David D. Madzikanda.....................................................02

Leaders of Colorsby Kholood Al-Dosiry.....................................................03

Why Risk Management?by Mokhles Barazi.....................................................04

Students/Alumni Achievements.....................................................05

Sucess Storyby Waleed F. Al-Ali.....................................................06

KMBS Events.....................................................07

www.kmbs.edu.kw2. Issue 003. February 2011

Teaching Strategic Management

Many companies in Kuwait now insist upon and require, well-trained employees, particularly those with skills in the areas of collaboration, teamwork and leadership, all of which greatly assist the effective practice of creativity, innovation and strategy. Strategic Management is a major area of interest for Executives who are looking at how best to lead their companies as the economy reels from the economic and financial crisis. The challenge for our students in the MBA Strategic Management course is to develop skills in collaboration and teamwork, the creation of novel strategy solutions, innovative business and industry outcomes, and sustainable practices in business development to achieve the outcomes preferred by industry and commerce.

by Dr. David D. MadzikandaKMBS Associate Professor of Strategic Management

The teaching of sound strategy-making skills has equally become a complex task as it requires greater and better emphasis to be placed on the development of creative, innovative, strategy skills in managers. Kuwait Maastricht Business School has responded to this national call by developing managers so that they can acquire improved capabilities in various facets of management, including Strategic Management.

Before 1980, Strategic Management emphasis had been on deliberate, planned strategy with prescriptive approaches to strategic planning and positioning, but in today’s world successful business strategies flow from particular intuitive and creative rather than rational mental approaches, as rational logic can be more of a hindrance than an aid to effective strategy formulation. However, this does not mean to say that there is no place for logic but rather, there is a paradox between planned and emergent strategy. This requires the blend of left brain logical, analytical, convergent thinking skills with right brain creative, synthetic, divergent thinking skills, which skills are provided to our students.

There is certainly an important role for a strong understanding of theory linked to practical examples and use is made of case studies to enhance students> skills in analysing situations and developing their managerial judgment about

what needs to be done and how to do it. Case studies give students exposure to ranges of firms and industries with different strategic problems and force students to put themselves in the shoes of a manager and take a <hands on> approach to the application of the many tools and techniques of strategic analysis and developing an action plan to take the organization forward and improve shareholder and stakeholder value. However, more of local case studies are required so that our students can easily relate with familiar companies and local experiences. To complement the teaching, guest speakers from high-profile personalities deeply involved in some of todays’ most tumultuous and challenging situations are periodically invited to deliver short sessions in order to blend academia and real-world experience. All this is meant to make KMBS the business school of first choice in Kuwait.

“ There are two kindsof failures: those who thought and never did, and those who did and never thought.”

- Laurence J. Peter


Leaders of Colorsby Kholoud Al-DosiryAlumni of Intake 3Certified Thomas Consultant in Behavioral Profiling & Team Building

[email protected]

As the law of attraction says «you can attract what you wish to gain and transform it into reality». I've always liked the subject and role of leadership. When I was offered this opportunity I decided to make a difference. Leaders usually think of the most appropriate style to adopt upon exercising their role and how to ensure realizing their demands on the team. They rarely think of the team's demands on the leader. Leaders are highly concerned about the goals and action plans they set and whether they are optimally met by the team members or not. This is absolutely correct, but this is just part of the story. A leader has both a direct and indirect effect on the team. The direct effect consists of the instructions or guidelines the leader puts in place. However, the indirect effect

stems from the way the leader interacts with the team to convey and follow up those instructions - in other words, the leader's behavioral style. This indirect effect "effective communication" is found to be the key to win the members trust in their leader and the number one factor for the leader to satisfy the team members (HayGroup, 2004).

Each team member will react differently to the behavioral style of the leader, and have different expectations from her/him. Therefore, as important as the leader's demands on their team are the team's demands on their leader. The effective leader is the one who invests time to explore and adapt to the personality and communication styles of each team member, rather than just imposing her/his own style on the team.

Yellow – Influential:

Win them by recognizing them: give credit within company and outside of it, opportunity to work with & through people.

Avoid: Arguments; talking facts without feelings; and allowing them to lose respect or self-worth.

Green – Steady:

Win them by appreciating them: give personal praise and reassurance; a stable, familiar environment; and specialized work requiring patience done at their own pace.

Avoid: Introducing rapid change; changing routine or environment; and rushing them.

Blue - Compliant:

Win them by protecting them by rules: give systems to work to, clearly defined objectives, work requiring logic & analytical input.

Avoid: Rushing decisions; making sudden changes; and leaving out the details.

Personality Styles in the Work Environment

HIGH

DrivingCompetitiveForcefulInquisitiveDirect

InfluentialPersuasiveFriendlyCommunicativePositive

DependableDeliberateAmiable PersistentGood listener

CompliantCarefulPrecisePerfectionistLogical

D I S C

Red – Dominant:

Win them by challenging them: give tough assignments to extend them, let them compete, put them under pressure.

Avoid: Telling (ordering) them what to do; giving too much detail; and using too many rules.



“Why Risk Management?”

Risk Management has now been a “hot” if not the “hottest” topic considered by boards and senior executives due to many reasons. These include: the uncertainty and turbulences (global financial/economical recessions), and the high speed and ease of communicating disaster news through the media and internet to increase the level of awareness, as well as the technological factors that made communication, integration and alliances much easier and more efficient for organizations. However, this has led directly to link the risks of various parties . . This has resulted in the increasing importance of adopting Risk Management in order to analyze, appreciate and manage the whole spectrum of risks; the affect of one risk and the possible consequential domino or butterfly effect.

Many large organizational cultures are far from adopting the concept of Risk Management. This can be illustrated with an example of the Icelandic volcano crisis. Kevin W. Knight, leader of the ISO said : “Surprisingly such an event does not appear to have featured as a risk that airlines and many other companies needed to manage.…Given knowledge of the activity of the Icelandic volcano and the impact on aviation of past eruptions in Asia, it is surprising that no plans were in place to manage such a disruption-related risk.”. On the other hand, he mentioned an example of an organization with a strong adoption of risk management: "United Parcel Service (UPS) quickly redirected air freight bound from Asia to Europe to Istanbul and then loaded it onto trucks for delivery to its final destination."

Deloitte research has found that almost 50% of global 1000 companies lost 20% or more in their share prices in less than a month during the past 10 years,some never recovered. 80% of those losses were due to the interaction of multiple risks. .Most major losses were the result of a series of high impact but low likelihood events.This leads us to the crucial matter of identifying risk intelligence in organizations, and a set structure

of risk management effectively aligned with the strategy. Risk Management should no longer be narrowly defined as a department that contains one or two junior officers who collect reports and send them to managers as seen in some organizations, but to have a deep understanding and comprehension of Risk Management’s aspects in addition to the ability to implement it’s essentials.

By nature, departments within an organization tend to have different risk functions in different departments. However, the main importance is to coordinate and synergize those different functions and capabilities in what is called “Enterprise Risk Management” or ERM. The leading practice framework used today for ERM is ISO 31000 that was published in 2009 .It includes the essential steps of implementation and ongoing support of the risk management process. The main component of the ISO 31000 framework is ‘mandate and commitment’ by the board, followed by: design of framework, implementing risk management, monitoring, reviewing and improving the framework.

Finally:..the cost of managing risk…

by Mokhles BaraziIntake 12 student


Students/Alumni AchievementsBasel Abu Ali – Intake 10 Student

Basel earned the Certified Management Accountant (CMA) professional designation which is administrated by the Institute of Certified Management Accountants (ICMA), USA. Accountants who earn the CMA (65,000 members) have displayed proficiency in many facets of accounting and financial management.- demonstrated by completion of a nationwide comprehensive examination on accounting and related subjects.

Jeanne Al-Failakawi – Intake 14 Student

Jeanne Al-Failakawi an Intake 14 KMBS student took part in the final competition of a series of Wakeboard Championships held in Putrajaya,- Malaysia. She has been wakeboarding for almost 3 tears and has been able to achieve tremendous success in countries such as Hong Kong, United Arab Emirates, Indonesia, and Korea. However Malaysia was a very special competition. It was in the Malaysia Wakeboard Championships that Jeanne achieved 1st place. Well done Jeanne, and and all the best in future events!

Lilas Al-Asfahani – Intake 10 Student

Lilas was a Pre-MBA student who obtained her Pre-MBA diploma and then joined the MBA programme with Intake 10. Lilas works at Ernst & Young as a consultant. Due to her hard work and dedication at work, she was recently promoted to Senior Consultant at Ernst & Young. Well done Lilas!

Tamer El-Gamal – Intake 6 Alumni

Tamer El-Gamal was awarded the “Best Brand Management” award in the Middle East and South Asia from Cartier inc. for 2009/2010. He was awarded this in the annual seminar for Cartier fragrances, held in Dubai in February. 2010. In his speech, Mazen Baki – Marketing Manager of Cartier Fragrances and Eyewear for the Middle East and South Asia, praised the outstanding performance of Mr. El-Gamal and explained that his continuous planning, intensive follow up and proactive approach, are just some of the reasons that enabled him to outperform his colleagues in the same region.

Mohamad Fahmi Khayzuran – Intake 13 Student

Mohammed Fahmi obtained a Master of Science Degree in Civil Engineering / Structural Engineering from the Faculty of Civil Engineering at Aleppo University in Syria, which is considered to be the strongest Faculty of Civil Engineering in Syria. He joined the MBA programme at KMBS in 2007,, and his Thesis Defense was in 2010.



My theory is that anything I learn can be applied to a real-life model, so I used marketing models that I learned about in school to create a new business model for online trading that improved customer service for my company. I made a dramatic change by incorporating technology to convert the department to a paperless organization, and this in turn improved communication among employees. The paperless organization promotes collaboration instead of emphasizing the barriers inherent in departmental divisions, so now the employees compete less and work together more, because they see themselves as part of the company team working to achieve a company-wide target.

It is not always easy to reach management with new ideas when you are just one employee, but the improved communication skills I learned at KMBS enabled me to present my thoughts and goals in a manner that inspired others to participate. I also learned how to build a business case with strong academic support, and how to use the right tools to present my case effectively so that I could persuade management that a change was needed . By taking direct action to implement at work what I had learned at school, I enjoyed the benefits of my MBA in advance, and now that I have my degree, along with competence gained from working at my job, I can obtain further promotions and

increasingly better positions. This experience has taught me that getting an MBA degree can take you much further if you work hard and apply what you know to make improvements within your company.

My advice to other KMBS students is to look for opportunities in what you are learning in school. You may learn about a concept or a technique that can transform the company you work for, and move you ahead much faster than you anticipated. At the same time, remember that making the effort to fit in with your co-workers, and communicate with them effectively will smooth the way for the changes you want to accomplish.

" There are four keys to success: 1. Make a point of fitting in

at work. 2. Treat people well. 3. Keep your focus on the

goal you are pursuing. 4. Apply what you have

learned to the real-life problems at work."

Success Story

by Waleed F. Al-AliLocal & Global e-Trade department manager

USBCUnion Securities Brokerage Co.www.usbc.com.kw

As a recent graduate of KMBS, I thought that my greatest honor in life so far was earning my MBA degree. However, I was surprised to receive a promotion at work from stock market broker to local/global e-trading department manager, and this happened before my degree was even awarded. I feel that this accomplishment was the result of directly applying to my job the things I learned in school.


Thesis defence for Intake 9

KMBS hosted the thesis defence for Intake 9 students in the presence of three visiting professors from MsM along with members of the KMBS faculty. The thesis defence took place from 27th till 30th November 2010. Thesis defence is the final and decisive stage of the MBA programme. KMBS is proud to be the only private institution in Kuwait that has the thesis as part of the MBA programme.

Intake 8 and 9 students expressed their joy at completing their thesis and their MBA journey. They have now joined the elite group of KMBS graduates, and we wish them all success for the future.

Welcome Dr. Paris!

KMBS New Staff member

Danah Al-Mutawa is an Industrial Engineer who obtained her Bachelor degree from The Applied Science Private University, Jordan. She worked in the industrial sector

for two years. She recently joined KMBS as

an Assistant Coordinator – Examination Unit.. We welcome Dana to KMBS and wish her all the best.

Paraschos Maniatis is a professor at KMBS in the fields of operation research and statistics. He graduated

with a unanimously excellent doctoral degree from the Professor Sigfrid Bjerninger Department in Sweden (1965) in the specialization of Engineering Logistics in the Lund Institute of Technology. Also he graduated with a unanimously excellent. Ph.D. degree in the specialization of Engineering Management from the School of Engineering at Kensington University (USA). His area of specialization is in the fields of Logistics, Production, Warehousing, Procurement, Facilities Design, Supply Chain Management, Packaging, Plant Layout, Material Handling, Waste Management, Recycling, Distribution, Operation Management, Operation Research and Statistics.

He taught as an Associate professor at Truman State University (USA), and as an assistant professor in the first department in the USA specializing in Engineering Management at University of Missouri – Rolla, and as assistant professor in the Department of Industrial and Production Systems at Wichita State University (USA). In Greece he taught as an adjunct faculty member in the Department of Civil Engineering & Mechanical Engineering of University Thessaly, in the Department of Geography of University Aegean and at the graduate program of Hellenic Open University. Before his position at KMBS he was a professor in the Department of Business Administration at Athens University of Economics and Business (Greece) in the area of specialization “Quantitative Methods of Analysis”. He has also taught at the following three British Universities: University of Glamorgan in Wales, University of Portsmouth and University of Strathclyde. He has published in referred journals with a background in using quantitative models in the fields of Production, Finance, Econometrics, and Statistics. He is the author of the textbook: “Management through practice: The International Approach.” Welcome Dr. Paris!

KMBS Events



Ms Sandra ShehadehMBA – (Class of 2010) Vice-President

Eng. Waddah TibawiMBA – (Class of 2008)President

Mr. Islam Ahmed Ibrahim B.Sc. Pharm, MBA (Class of 2007)General Secretary

Ms. Ghada AhmedMBA – (Class of 2008)Treasurer

Eng. Khalid A. Makkawi MBA – (Class of 2008)Member

Alumni Association formation

Recently, Alumni of KMB elected and formed the Alumni Association. The role of this association is to build a social and professional network between Alumni. The elected members of the Alumni Association are:

KMBS Holds Information Session for Interested ApplicantsOn Wednesday 9th Feb, 21 interested applicants for the MBA programme attended an information session given by Rosemary Lloyd – Director, and Dr. Hernan Riquelme – Head of Academic affairs. The information session was designed to answer all the questions regarding the MBA programme. The participants were keen on getting all the information that they need.


The Consulting Process course offers KMBS students the opportunity to acquire essential managerial and generic capabilities, which are required to join leading consulting firms such as PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PwC). The consulting world offers immense opportunities to some of our students. KMBS provides such students with the necessary capabilities, which are viewed as talents, attributes, skills, knowledge and style (T.A.S.K.S) to ensure that they can match their tasks in the real world.To ensure that students are aware of current industry requirements, KMBS occasionally invites guest speakers , and recently, Dr. David D. Madzikanda - Associate Professor, invited George Stoyanov and

Raymond Helayel - both Senior Managers of Price Waterhouse Cooper (PwC),,

to share their consulting experiences with KMBS students. PwC is a leading consulting firm both in Kuwait and internationally.

The guest speakers emphasised the importance of the consulting process, which encompasses: entry, contracting, diagnosis and feedback, engagement

and review, to ensure that companies’ objectives are met.

Apart from sharing with students PwC’s models and approaches to consulting services, they highlighted the difficulties of implementing change management projects. Change management projects fail, in the majority of cases, due to ill defined project objectives, resistance and internal politics, amongst other reasons. These are areas that students are taught during the MBA Consulting Process course.

Such events not only give students an opportunity to develop and gain further insights into the consulting world, but also assist them in their career development and to become authentic consultants.

Student class representative elections

KMBS held the” class representatives” elections for the academic year 2010/2011 recently. The nominated students were required to give a presentation describing their background, and to give reasons why they would make be a good class representative. Each group elects 2 representatives – one male and one female. Preparations are now under way also for the Student Association President election, in the presence of the current student association President- Dr. Nada Al-Mutawa and alumni association President - Waddah Al-Tibawi. They will explain and elaborate on the effective role of the President of KMSA – Kuwait Maastricht Student Association., and will assist the Head of Student Affairs – Ghada Ahmed in the smooth process of the President election.

Guest speaker from PriceWaterhouseCoopers to KMBS

Elected studnt association members



Mr. Hashem Al-Munayer (intake 11 - group 1 representative)

KMSA President

Mr. Khalid Al-Omar (intake 11 - group 2 representative)

KMSA Coordinator

Mr. Mohammed Nassar (intake 14 - group 1 representative)

KMSA Treasurer

Mrs. Farah Al-Serri (intake 12 - group 1 representative)

KMSA Vice President

KMBS Student Association Elections

Kuwait-Maastricht Student Association (KMSA) recently elected the new officers from nominated class representatives. Our congratulations go out to the newly elected officers:

Kuwait Maastricht Business School conducts Statistical Software training for MBA students.

A course for Statistics with the use of SPSS version 17 (Statistical Program for Social Sciences-renamed in PASW) was offered by KMBS in November/ December 2010 for intake 10 and 11 MBA students, and was of 18 hours duration in total. These MBA students are at the stage of writing their Master theses, and a requirement in Chapter 4 of the thesis is the processing of questionnaires using statistics. Twenty three students participated in this course which was conducted by a full time European member of KMBS faculty - Professor Dr. Paris Maniatis

Professor Maniatis has many years of experience, obtained from teaching at Universities and from working as a consultant in statistics. In addition he has published research papers in recognized international academic journals using advanced statistical models. He offered his expertise targeting two major questions. The first was: which is the correct method/technique to be selected in front of a specific case a user has to

solve among many similar. The second question is how the user is to use the selected methods/techniques - applying in an exact way the features offered by the SPSS software.

Many examples from real life were solved during the sessions, and the results from the tables presented by the SPSS were interpreted in a comprehensive and sophisticated way. The materials distributed by Prof. Maniatis documented and explained in a sophisticated way the step-by-step procedures a user needs in order to apply them correctly in each case. The questions answered methodologically and pedagogically in each meeting were the following: why to use, what to use and what to avoid using, when to use and how to use. This material will be published by Prof. Maniatis in a textbook - to be printed and released in Kuwait soon. This textbook will include a CD with examples of problems completed/solved using SPSS and explaining in depth why this method was used and how it was applied.


Under the auspices of His Excellency Mr. Ton Boon von Ochssee, the Ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, the MsM Alumni Association – Kuwait Chapter, held the first networking event, sponsored by NREC.

During the MsM Alumni Association’s first networking event, three alumni were presented with awards for their exceptional achievements. The first award, for Best Entrepreneur, was bestowed on Mr. Zeyad Mohamed Al Sanousy, who had begun his entrepreneurial journey as concept developer and owner of Beit 7 restaurant. He is also the Managing Director and owner of Cozmo Entertainment and Chairman of Showbiz Company. The second award, for Best Achievement, was presented to Mr. Nader Hallal, who is marketing professional at Al Shaya, and who manages marketing programs for well over 20 international brands including Pinkberry and PF Changs. Last but not least, the third award, an academically oriented one - Best Published Paper, went to a brilliant alumnus, Ms. Ghada Ali, who is currently the HR Group Leader for Learning and Leadership Development in Equate Petrochemical Company, and whose thesis paper, awarded a distinction, was published as an article in an internationally recognized academic journal of good standing. The Association also showed their appreciation to the management of KMBS by awarding honorary plaques to Mr. Khaleel Abdullah, President of KMBS and CEO of NREC, and Mrs. Rosemary Lloyd, Director of KMBS for their tremendous contribution and support of the MsM Alumni Association Kuwait Chapter.

MsM Alumni Association Kuwait Chapter’s First Networking Event

KMBS participated in the first exhibition organized by KOC

KMBS participated recently in an exhibition organized by KOC at their premises for KOC employees.. It was the first such exhibition for KOC, and KMBS was proud to be invited, as one of the MBA providers in Kuwait. The exhibition took place from 22 – 23 December. Dr. Hernan Riquelme – Head of academic Affairs, Abdullah Alenezi – Head of Admissions Unit, and Hamad Haji – Head of information center participated in this exhibition.



205

505th year of His Highness the Amir's assumption of power

50th year of independence

20th liberation day

Join KMBS Newsletter and email us on [email protected]

Admissions OfficeTel. +965 225 170 91/2/3/4/6ext. 101/107/111

Email [email protected]

Kuwait Maastricht Business SchoolP.O.Box 9678 Salmiya 22097, KuwaitTel. +965 225 170 91/2/3/4/6Fax +965 225 457 91Email [email protected] www.kmbs.edu.kw

STAY CONNECTED

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KMBS Voice 3rd edition