Shaping the future, top to bottom

As changes both positive and negative enter the realm of Middle Eastern economies, those at the top need to learn how to stay competitive, and can do so with AUB’s Executive MBA program.

“I had the know-how and the market savvy, but I lacked the academic background,” says Adel Ajlani, general manager of Allied Business Co. “If I didn’t fortify the foundation and change, the future would be bleak, so I started to look at MBA programs.” Having started the business from scratch the year he graduated from Damascus University with a bachelor’s in engineering, he had seen his company grow from a two-person business to a 65 person strong corporation with chains of stores such as Guess and Momento selling gifts, gadgets, and fashion accessories. With growing competition and the changes already occurring to his company, Ajlani realized that if he couldn’t provide strong leadership, all his work would have been for nothing.
His business is not the only one being affected. Despite the ills of the world economy, regional business is doing well, with an estimated 300,000 new executive positions to be created in the GCC countries in the next five years, according to the McKinsey report of 2007. Closer to home, as Syria moves to a social-market economy, and the protections previously offered by a closed economy continue to disappear, businesses previously safe from external competition find themselves scrambling to keep national products on the shelves. “A lot of people are hiring consultants to protect their businesses,” says Ajlani. “But if you don’t believe in and create the need for the changes these consultants are recommending, if you don’t start with yourself, you’re going to have a very difficult time.”
Enter AUB’s Executive MBA program, created in 2004 to train the brightest brains in the region and equip them for the challenges that lie ahead. The program has produced 90 graduates, who have benefited tremendously from the program and have already seen an impact on their careers. “Four years ago, AUB recognized that most MBA programs prepared students for middle management, and there was a need for training in the top levels of management,” explains Riad Dimechkie, the program’s director. Essentially, the EMBA is designed to address the needs of a different group of people, typically with more industry specific experience and functional expertise. “We teach these executives to coordinate several functions, and get them thinking strategically and long-term.
“I chose an EMBA rather than an MBA because it works across a broad spectrum, and has a focus on general management,” agrees Ajlani. Executives become more effective by learning to identify issues inside and outside the company, and applying appropriate analytical techniques and organizational skills to solve complex business problems. When they can develop strategies, apply resources effectively, and build organizational capabilities, as well as develop business insight and self-confidence, they’re ready to assume leadership roles in their organizations.
“AUB’s EMBA is much more rigorous than similar programs in the region,” insists Dimechkie. “Our screening process is much more thorough, the course work is more demanding, case studies are more challenging and class discussions are held to a high standard thus mirroring the rigors of top rated MBA programs.” AUB maintains its position as the regional leader in teaching effective management concepts with direct relevance to the needs of MENA executives and their organizations, by ensuring that graduates make a significant impact on their organizations and their communities while they are still enrolled in the program.
AUB also compares favorably to international programs, with more expertise in the issues affecting the region. The program applies western concepts of business on regional companies, and deciphers what translates well here and what doesn’t, then adapts them to the issues facing the region. “I considered HIBA and AUB, but I decided that a university with 140 years experience had to trump an institute that was just getting started,” says Ajlani, citing another reason many might consider the commute to Beirut. “The course truly offers a complete picture, giving you a background in finance, management, operations management, marketing, strategic planning and leadership, you really find your whole potential as a business person and the way you analyze situations has changed.”
Diversity and valuing differences is built into the EMBA program. Students come from different industries including banking and insurance, consulting and auditing, healthcare and pharmaceutical, manufacturing and service, hi-tech and low-tech, telecommunications and construction, media and advertising; from different functions such as general management, sales and marketing and advertising, manufacturing, HR, IT; from different educational backgrounds of business and economics, engineering, architecture and science, liberal arts, medicine, law; and from different types of organizations working in manufacturing and service, multinationals and mid-sized regional and small entrepreneurial companies, for profit and NGOs.
“We try to put together classes of diverse ethnicities and genders, and we also try to vary the size of the organizations the students are coming from,” asserts Dimechkie. “We also have students from non-business backgrounds, such as engineers, doctors, economists, and others. I prefer to have people with no business academic background, because it makes it easier to integrate the different functions and skills that they bring to the table, and they’re more willing to see where the links are, where the functions overlap rather than why they’re separate.”
“The program requires a minimum of 8 years of experience, and if you spread that across 20 students, you have 160 years of combined experience in one room, meeting for three intensive days every three weeks, sharing ideas from all these industries, and offering you a very diverse portfolio,” Ajlani adds. “The daily contact and exchange with these people is as important for the process as the actual classes offered.”
This program builds leadership skills through “actionable knowledge.” The emphasis is on applying lessons learned in the work place, and on providing the underlying conceptual framework for effective decision-making. One course being introduced to the program is “Judgment in Managerial Decision Making,” which will teach the executives how to recognize and overcome natural systematic biases inherent in so-called “gut feel “ decisions, which quite often could lead them astray.
“Our work with the EMBA helps the rest of the Olayan Business School as well,” says Dimechkie. “Our students are at the cutting edge of the business world, and we see the needs of the top levels of management from these corporations. We discovered, for example, a need for strong communications skills, including the ability to logically structure impactful reports and presentations that drive decision making. We teach executives how to structure reports and use charts and tables effectively. Communication skills are so important that we’re discussing increasing our emphasis on these skills in our MBA programs as well.”
The course work is designed to be taught over three day weekends every three weeks, and offers a condensed set of classes, which proves to be accommodating for executives still running their companies. Executive-students joining the program are taught by more than 20 distinguished faculty members. They also get the chance to interact with prominent world businessmen and CEOs such as Carlos Ghosn (Renault/Nissan), Fadi Ghandour (ARAMEX), and Ibrahim Dabdoub (National Bank of Kuwait) through EMBA’s lecture series.
“I’ve been completely overloaded for the past two years,” says Ajlani. “With my travel commitments to search out stock for the business, with my management duties towards the company, and with the classes and assignments I had to complete for the EMBA, I’ve barely had time for myself. Really, though, as much as you put into this course, you’re bound to get a multiplied return.”
The returns have been impressive indeed. Since his graduation last September, Ajlani has been able to apply all that he’s learned at AUB, and his company has undergone a complete restructuring. From the finance departments to the retails stores, everything at Allied has changed from top to bottom, with new, redesigned processes and a complete shift in strategy. “I’m glad I started the course two years ago,” adds Ajlani. “Looking at things in Syria in the long-term, changing from state to state, you need to be equipped so you can face the challenges of the growing competition.”
“The course is a transformational experience,” Dimechkie concurs. “It helps develop the executives’ skills, improve business acumen and judgment, and gives them the tools and self confidence to address business issues and provide the leadership to drive positive change.”

For more information concerning the program, visit the AUB website at www.aub.edu.lb, or contact Riad Dimechkie at rd28@aub.edu.lb