Visitor's Voice

Lois Stevenson is a leading authority on entrepreneurship development and its role in government policy. She is currently a visiting research fellow with the International Development Research Center at their Middle East regional office in Cairo, Egypt, where she has lived for the past two years. As one of the world’s leading experts on entrepreneurship policy, she has delivered addresses and held workshops in countries all over the globe including Australia, Brazil, China, Croatia, the Netherlands, Norway, South Africa, Sweden, Taiwan, and Zimbabwe.

Accustomed to the round-the-clock Norweigian summer sun, Oerjan (pronounced uhr-ree-on) Olafsen says he has had no trouble adjusting to the late and lively Ramadan nights of Damascus.

Oerjan, a 33-year-old carpenter from Norway, has, though, had some troubles explaining what he does for a living: “Everybody here seems to misunderstand and think it has something to do with carpets,” he said. Living in Bodoe (prounounced boo-dah), a city of about 47,000 people above the Artic Circle known for its aviation museum, Oerjan enjoys ice fishing in the winter, ocean fishing in the summer and hunting grouse and moose. Here is Damascus, he spends his days caring for his four-year-old son, Espin, taking Spanish classes and searching for places to watch his favorite sport, football.    

Before Damascus, Malika Browne lived in Kathmandu, Nepal, for three years, where she worked as a freelance journalist. She tried, but in her own words, “with moderate
success,” to become a cashmere tycoon, and discovered the joys of trekking in the Himalaya.

What brought you to Damascus, and how long have you been here?
My husband’s job, and we have been here just over 2 years. When one lives in an Arabic house in the Old City, one tends to count in “winters survived!”

French professor and economist Laurent Schwab, who received his PhD from Sorbonne University in Paris, has been teaching at the Higher Institute of Business Administration (HIBA) since 2004. He has lived in Syria since November 2004, participating, in the context of a European Union project, in the launch of HIBA.  

Originally coming to Syria for a three-month contract, Schwab soon extended his contract, and nearly four years later, is a lecturer and an advisor to the Dean of HIBA, Talal Aboud. FW: Magazine spoke to Schwab about his continuing role with HIBA, his attachment to music, and his views on Syria.
In addition to teaching economics, you play the saxaphone. How do you manage to combine your rather different activities?
With difficulty! Music has become part of me. I fell in love with the saxophone when I was twenty-five. It is a fascinating instrument, which plays a very important role in jazz music. Of course, while the qualities required to play music are quite different from the ones needed to teach management or to work as a consultant, if you look a bit further, you discover some interesting common aspects. Music is not a solo act, it is also, and particularly in jazz, about listening to others. Music teaches us to listen: what is happening in the band? Are other musicians playing fast or slow, loud or low? What is the mood?  In that sense, music and particularly jazz helps you to work with people from different cultures and languages. It helps to develop your “feeling” of a situation, a human context, like a class or a group of people. Moreover, in music, things are never “finished.” There is always something new to learn and one always needs to make progress. I believe that this is also true in other fields of human activity, and particularly in business.  
After having been in Syria for over three years, what is your perception of this country?
I came to Syria with limited information, but also with no preconceived views. I discovered a very interesting country, with a strong culture, and a relationship with Europe that is stronger than what I thought. I also discovered a country in transition, not only in the economic field, but also in other aspects. However, one thing really surprised me: it is the gap between the reality of Syria, and the perception that many people, in France, let us say, have about it. For instance, many French people do not believe me when I say that there are blond people in Syria. There are a lot of stereotypes, clichés, and I do not like those. This is why, whenever I can, I prefer to see the real thing. However, I believe that Syrians should act on the image of their country through various media in the rest of the world to confirm that Syrians share a lot of values with these other cultures, which would facilitate their relationship with the rest of the globe.
What are the main programs taught at HIBA?
 HIBA has three programs: one bachelor’s degree and two master’s degrees in management: an EMBA and an MBA. During the period of the project, both MBAs were delivered with continuous academic support from several European universities. Now, they are delivered in partnership with Dauphine and Université Saint-Joseph (for the EMBA) and Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona (Spain) and Bordeaux University (France) for the MBA.
What is the general objective of the MBA program?  
The general purpose is to train or re-train executives in management. In the context of the globalization process, MBAs are also a tool to train executives in a similar way, all over the world, although there are some differences in content, related to the particular context of each country. In that sense, the MBA and EMBA taught in Syria are not very different from the master’s taught in other countries, whether developed or emerging countries. People can be good in technical fields but in the course of their careers, they will have to manage other people: teams, departments, companies; mistakes can cost a lot. This is why the EMBA and the MBA are not supposed to be undertaken by students directly after getting their bachelor’s, but by young professionals, who want to enhance their experience, their skills, and their vision.
Do these master’s programs contribute to the shift towards the social market economy, and how?
To move towards a market economy, you must have a well-performing private sector, and this needs managers that are appropriately trained. The goal is not only to train people, but to have them implementing what they have learned in their day-to-day work, which means that one should adopt a different style of lecturing, with a strong involvement of participants. Syria must start now, since this is a long-term process. I can tell from my experience in Vietnam: in the beginning of the transition phase, in 1990, there were very few managers who had the necessary background to operate in a modern way. It took about ten years to reach a better situation, and there is still a lot to do.  In Syria, the experience in management education is still new and rather limited so this is both urgent and important.