PHILADELPHIA, April 18, 2007 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- The 35 executives in the first cohort of the Dubai Leaders Program came to the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania campus last week following a "Global Learning Journey" that took them to Singapore, Hong Kong, and Shenzhen (People's Republic of China) in January and early February.
The nine-month, customized executive education program, which will involve 135 executives across the Dubai World organization over the next three years, is designed to develop leadership capabilities, provide current management knowledge, create specific "action learning" projects for Dubai World's businesses, and encourage broad perspectives on global business.
The Global Learning Journey included meetings with leaders of businesses such as Singapore Airlines and HK REIT, as well as leaders of the Port of Singapore Authority and the Hong Kong Trade Development Council. Executives also visited sites such as the Yantian International Container Terminals in the People's Republic of China.
"We tried to provide a comparative lens," said Diane Eynon, Wharton Executive Education program director. "Participants were asked to identify and compare the relative strengths and weaknesses of Singapore and Hong Kong and reflect on how these compare with Dubai's own strengths and weaknesses. We wanted them to explore the strategic implications these answers might have for the operations of Dubai World in Dubai and the rest of the world."
Lessons from the visits and implications for Dubai's own future development were explored in discussions with faculty members Max Boisot, Professor of Strategic Management at Birmingham University in the UK and academic director of the journey, and Wharton Professor Mauro Guillen. "We are all born into cultures through which we acquire most of our values, our beliefs, our institutional practices, and our habits," Boisot said. "The Global Learning Journey is designed to expose participants to one or more alternative frames and, through these, challenge certain assumptions that they make about how the world works. This journey was designed to expose executives to issues similar to those in their own businesses, but in a cultural, institutional, and organizational environment that was unfamiliar."
The program's sponsor Mahmoud Saleh, executive director of Dubai World, was so drawn into the process that he cleared his calendar. "This is a distinguished program, which is not available anywhere else in the Middle East. We are privileged to have Wharton running this program."
At Wharton in April, participants will be exposed to knowledge from Wharton's faculty in diverse areas of business and continue work on "action learning" projects focused on their current business challenges. In May, they will make presentations on these projects, in areas such as real estate development and ports, to senior sponsors in Dubai. The participants will also make presentations on broader perspectives they have gained during a conference for executives from across the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in June. The next cohort of the program begins in May.
The Dubai Leaders Program is designed to enhance the strategic thinking capabilities and leadership skills of the participants. The program addresses three different levels of executive educational needs: organization-wide business management skills, operating unit-specific skills, and individual skills.
"As part of our continued efforts to develop Dubai World's leaders and emerging national talent, we have taken the lead by launching the Dubai Leaders Program," said Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem, Executive Chairman of Dubai World. "This initiative will be an example of excellence in leadership development, and will set a new standard and example for public and private sector organizations across the region seeking to implement and take their development programs to new levels."
About the Wharton School
The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania -- founded in 1881 as the first collegiate business school -- is recognized globally for intellectual leadership and ongoing innovation across every major discipline of business education. The most comprehensive source of business knowledge in the world, Wharton bridges research and practice through its broad engagement with the global business community. The school has more than 4,600 undergraduate, MBA, executive MBA, and doctoral students; more than 8,000 annual participants in executive education programs; and an alumni network of more than 81,000 graduates.
Each year, Wharton works with more than 8,000 business leaders on its campus in Philadelphia, at Wharton West in San Francisco, and at sites around the world. The Wharton Learning Continuum is Wharton Executive Education's model for delivering Impact Through Education(tm)--supporting companies and individuals in a 9- to 12-month learning process that is designed collaboratively with clients, delivered by Wharton faculty, and monitored to produce specific outcomes.
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About Dubai World
Dubai World is a holding company that manages and supervises the portfolio of businesses and projects for Dubai Government and works towards making Dubai the leading hub for the commerce and trading industry. Dubai World contributes to the rapid economic growth of Dubai across a wide range of strategic industry segments ranging from Nakheel's unique real estate concepts; the iconic development of The Palm, DP World the third largest port operator in the world to segments as diverse as Investments, Leisure and Financial Services.
Wharton Executive Education
Program Contact:
Diane E. Eynon, Director, Energy, Chemical, and
Manufacturing Practice
+1.215.573.5274
eynond@wharton.upenn.edu