Public Sector Excellence: Vol. 2 Issue 1

Excellence MEET THE

WINNERS Exclusive interview WITH MOHAMED AL HAMMADI, CEO OF ENEC - WINNERS OF THE 2015 ABU DHABI AWARDS FOR EXCELLENCE IN GOVERNEMENT PERFORMANCE

Is your mobile strategy in place?

CHECK OUT SOME OF THE KEY ELEMENTS OF A SOUND MOBILE STRATEGY

Foil X:

MADE IN THE UAE

A Local Expat Story MEET THIS MONTH’S LOCAL START UP INSPIRATION: OMAR FOUZ AND QASIM AL ALI

AN INSIDE LOOK AT THE CURRENT AND FUTURE STATE OF UAE’S MANUFACTURING SECTOR

Kaizen, Lean, Six Sigma WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE? FIND OUT INSIDE Issue 1, January 2016

AED 20 • US$ 6.00

UAE Manufacturing In Figures

12% 25% 12TH RANKED

OF NATIONAL OUTPUT,

25% TARGETED FOR 2025

OF TOTAL EXPORTS,

DH290 BILLION (2014)

IN GLOBAL COMPETITIVENESS REPORT 2015

6,000

DH127 TOP SECTORS

430,000 PEOPLE

FACILITIES EMPLOYING

BILLION IN PUBLIC SECTOR INVESTMENT

MACHINES, EQUIPMENT, AND METALLIC INDUSTRIES CHEMICAL INDUSTRIES NONMETALLIC MINERAL PRODUCTS

WOODWARE AND FURNITURE FOOD, BEVERAGES AND TOBACCO

Sharing Excellence

Empowering Excellence

Meet the winners of the 2015 Abu Dhabi Awards for Excellence in Government Performance in our exclusive interview with Mr. Mohamed Al Hammadi, CEO of Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation (ENEC)

• PAGE 28

Table of Contents 06 Word From The Editor Denise Daane welcomes in the New Year with our first issue of 2016

PSE MAGAZINE • 4

An inside look at the manufacturing sector’s great contributions to quality management and excellence: Kaizen, Lean and Six Sigma

• PAGE 24 08 Current News and Affairs A summary of the latest public-sector news and current affairs across the UAE

12 Project Management PSE’ Project Management Correspondent Alfonso Bucero discusses the crucial role that good influencing skills can have on project success

16 Knowledge Exchange INSEAD Professors team up with Arnd Huchzermeier of the Beisheim School of Management to discuss the latest in cutting edge manufacturing concepts in “When Big Data Meets Manufacturing”

Local Enterprise

In Focus MADE IN THE UAE: An inside look at the current and future state of the UAE’s thriving manufacturing and industrial sector

• PAGE 32 21 Delivering Excellence in Medical Services Dr. Alaa Saeed, Consultant Cardiologist and major at the Abu Dhabi Police lays out some crucial life-saving measures to protect your heart.

38 Benchmarks A look at the top 7 Manufacturing Countries in 2020 in 2016’s Global Manufacturing Competitiveness Report

Meet this month’s local entrepreneurs Omar Fouz and Qasim Al Ali, founders of Foil X Dubai, to learn how these 2 turned a small workshop into a thriving car foiling shop

• PAGE 42

46 Build Your Digital Profile Is your mobile strategy in place? Check out some of the key elements to consider for your mobile strategy and the stats to prove why mobile first is essential for your business

50 Idea Watch

Step into the virtual world as we explore the future of virtual reality

54 Off Topic The best of the Dubai International Film Festival 2015

PSE MAGAZINE • 5

Word from the Managing Editor JANUARY 2015 VOL.2 ISSUE 1

A

nother year has gone by. As we usher in the New Year, we would like to thank all of our supporters and partners for making 2015 a great year and we would also like to wish you all a prosperous 2016! In our first issue of the year, PSE meets up with the winners of the 2015 Abu Dhabi Awards for Excellence in Government Performance in an exclusive “Sharing Excellence” interview with Mr. Mohamed Al Hammadi, CEO of Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation. We then take our readers behind the scenes of the UAE’s rapidly growing manufacturing sector. At a point where more and more “Made in UAE” labels are emerging, PSE explores the growth of this very important sector as the UAE strives to diversify away from its reliance on oil and gas, and move towards becoming a knowledge-based economy. We then take readers on a trip to the future with the Top 10 Manufacturing Countries in 2020 in our Benchmarks segment.

The Manufacturing Sector has long been synonymous with leading business excellence models and techniques including Kaizen, Six Sigma, and Lean. In Empowering Excellence, we will be taking a look at how these systems have developed over the decades and how they are applied today. Then in Knowledge Exchange, our contributors from INSEAD and Beisheim School of Management give us their insights into the use of Big Data for Manufacturing Excellence.

Influence is power. In this month’s Project Management at a Glance, PSE Correspondent Alfonso Bucero discusses how influencing skills can determine your projects’ success. Then moving on to the world of digital marketing, we ask our readers whether or not they have their mobile strategy in place for 2016 as we look at some of the key elements of a successful mobile strategy. In Idea Watch, we’ll transport you into the new world of virtual reality as we look at the prospects of augmented reality.

For our entrepreneurship enthusiasts, don’t miss this month’s local start up inspirations section where we catch up with the young team behind Foil X, one of Dubai’s most successful Car Foiling Businesses. Last but not least, don’t miss our first series of “Join the Debate” at the end and make sure you submit your answers to our next issue’s question.

To our subscribers who have contributed their valuable feedback and suggestions, we offer a word of appreciation and continue to encourage our readers to share their opinions via email to info@psemagazine.com. Also, stay tuned for some upcoming competitions with great prizes in our future issues.

If you have missed any of our previous issues, or are looking for additional articles, downloads, and professional resources please visit our website: www. psemagazine.com

Managing Editor Denise Daane denise.daane@psemagazine.com Deputy Editor Paul Cook paul.cook@psemagazine.com Copy Editor Ford Maddox ford.madox@psemagazine.com Art Director Regis Sudo regis.sudo@psemagazine.com PRODUCTION AND DISTRIBUTION Group Production & Distribution Director Faisal Chareuf Tel: +44747 2011995 faisal.chareuf@psemagazine.com COMERCIAL SALES General Manager Khalid Mohammed Tel: +97150 3188891 khalid.mohammed@psemagazine.com Sales Manager Peter Mushington Tel: +97152 7297978 peter.mushington@psemagazine.com PLEASE VISIT OUR WEBSITE: www.psemagazine.com for more information and visit our Knowledge Centre for useful Project Management and Business Excellence Templates and Resources!

Best regards, Denise Daane, Managing Editor

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OUR UPCOMING ISSUES FEBRUARY 2016

EDITORIAL

MARCH 2016

APRIL 2016

linkedin.com/company/pse-magazine @PSEMagazine CHECK OUT OUR DIGITAL EDITIONS www.issuu.com/psemagazine

In February, we take an inside look at the UAE's smart city initiatives as well as explore some of the "Smartest Cities" around the globe.

PSE MAGAZINE • 6

March: In March, PSE takes you into the future of the economy as we look at the UAE Vision 2021 and the Abu Dhabi Vision 2030 to see what’s in store.

In April, we take a look at the customer centric government and the strides the UAE government has taken to implement customer service excellence

Public Sector Excellence is published by Public Sector Publishing FZ LLC. All rights reserved. Reproduction in any manner, in whole or in part, without prior written permission of Public Sector Publishing FZ LLC. is expressly prohibited. Public Sector Publishing FZ LLC, PO BOX 769365, Blue Building, Office 41, Sheikh Zayed Street, Eastern Ring Road, Abu Dhabi, UAE.

NEWS AND AFFAIRS

NEWS AND AFFAIRS GENERAL NEWS

SHEIKH KHALIFA DECLARES 2016 “READING YEAR”

As per the directives of the President His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the UAE Cabinet has approved the declaration of 2016 as ‘Reading Year.’ The cabinet has issued directives to plan for an integrated national literacy strategy and framework to empower a generation of readers and establish the UAE as a centre of content, culture and knowledge.

His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan thanked all entities and individuals across the UAE for their effective participation in 2015’s ‘Innovation Year’ which was a great success.

EDITOR'S PICK

SHEIKH MOHAMMED BIN RASHID’S HONORED FOR 10 YEARS OF LEADERSHIP

The President, Sheikh Khalifa, congratulated Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, the Vice President, for 10 years of great leadership which was celebrated on Monday, 4th January.

“I congratulate him on the occasion of his 10 years of leadership, wishing for him a bigger, more beautiful and more giving decade to come,” the President said.

Sheikh Khalifa also thanked Sheikh Mohammed for leading “one of the most advanced and efficient governments”. “During 10 years, he also established transparent systems of government administration in performance and quality standards, smart services, and establishing programmes to prepare future generations of human cadres,” Sheikh Khalifa said.

2016 BUDGETS ANNOUNCED

Abu Dhabi’s Executive Council has recently announced its budget for capital developments in 2016. The Council has allocated Dh17.5 billion for housing, infrastructure, education and other projects across the emirate next year. The largest slice of the budget, Dh5.9bn, will go towards housing projects, while Dh4.3bn has been set aside for infrastructure, Dh1.8bn for education, Dh614 million for government facilities and Dh644m for social centres.

Meanwhile in Dubai, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, has approved a budget of Dh46.1 billion for the emirate, a 12% increase from last year which aims to create more than 3,000 jobs for Emiratis. About Dh16.6bn has been allocated for infrastructure, transport and economics as Dubai prepares to host Expo 2020, while about 37% of spending, or Dh16.9bn, will go towards health, education, housing and community development, compared with Dh14.3bn in 2015.

OFFICIAL UAE VISIT TO CHINA

Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, travelled to Beijing in early December for an official visit at the invitation of President Xi Jinping of China.

During the three-day visit, Sheikh Mohammed held a series of meetings to promote the development of friendly relations and strategic cooperation between the two countries and discussed issues of mutual, regional and international interest including opportunities in energy dealings.

BANKING AND FINANCE

MOST UAE BANKS OPTIMISTIC DESPITE NEGATIVE INDICATORS

Since summer last year, the price

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of crude has slipped by more than 70 per cent, which is bad news for the Gulf States that rely heavily on oil to support economic growth. The UAE, which is the sixth-largest producer of oil in the world, uses revenue from crude sales to fund more than 60 percent of the Federal budget.

Despite recent layoffs and credit squeezes in the local banking sector, most lenders remain extremely profitable and the UAE has been, thus far, more resilient than many of its neighbours, indicating a growing maturity in policy and risk management practices in the local banking scene.

ECONOMY

GLOBAL GROWTH EXPECTED TO DECLINE IN 2016

Global economic growth will be “disappointing” in 2016, the head of the International Monetary Fund said in a guest article for German newspaper Handelsblatt. IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde said the prospect of rising interest rates in the United States and an economic slowdown in China will contribute to uncertainty and a higher risk of economic vulnerability worldwide.

In addition, growth in global trade

has slowed considerably and a decline in raw material prices will present problems for economies based on these, while the financial sector in many countries still has weaknesses and financial risks are rising in emerging markets, Ms Lagarde added.

TRANSPORT AND PORTS

ABU DHABI PORTS OPENS UPGRADED AL MIRFA PORT

Under the patronage of H.H. Sheikh Hamdan bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the Ruler’s Representative in the Western Region, H.E. Dr Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, Minister of State and Chairman of Abu Dhabi Ports, officially inaugurated Al Mirfa Port in the Western Region of Abu Dhabi. Abu Dhabi Ports recently completed extensive development work at Al Mirfa Port, upgrading its infrastructure and facilities to better serve the community and local fishing industry.

DOT ANNOUNCES THE LAUNCH OF SURFACE TRANSPORT MASTER PLAN IN THE WESTERN REGION

The Department of Transport (DoT) in Abu Dhabi announced launches its Surface Transport Master Plan (STMP)

in the Western Region (Al Gharbia). The plan, which will be implemented in collaboration with the Abu Dhabi General Services Company (Musanada), includes construction projects and other transport network enhancements that will cover main roads, public transport and rail projects including the Etihad Rail.

The plan aims to increase the capacity Al Gharbia’s main roads network through a series of expansion projects, new roads and intersections that will serve major cities in the Western Region such as Madinat Zayed, Ruwais, Ghayathi, Sila and Baynunah.

HEALTH

MINISTRY OF HEALTH CUTS PRICES ON 142 MEDICINES

Prices for 142 drugs will be reduced effective January 2016, the Ministry of Health announced. The price cuts range from 2 per cent to 63 per cent of last year’s prices and include medicines for cancer treatment, immunosuppression, gynaecology, urinary tract infections, blood diseases and central nervous disorders, said Dr Amin Al Amiri, assistant undersecretary for public

policy and licensing at the ministry.

ABU DHABI AND DUBAI HOST FIRST UAE EHEALTH WEEK

Hosted by Abu Dhabi and Dubai from the 7-10 December 2015, the First Annual UAE eHealth Week focused on the latest innovations in healthcare and how health IT will transform the delivery of healthcare in the UAE. The Conference brought together regional key decision and policy makers from both Government and non-Government organisations.

Among the finalists for the Digital Healthcare Awards was Abu Dhabi’s Cleveland Clinic for the use of automation for safe and secure management of controlled medications in UAE quaternary hospital, and Tawam Hospital for its central cancer registry.

THE NATIONAL LAUNCHES SECOND CYCLE TO WORK UAE CAMPAIGN

The National launches its second Cycle to Work campaign, which aims to coax residents to ditch their cars for bicycles and commit to a healthier lifestyle. The initiative builds on the first campaign in January 2015 aimed at breaking a cycle that could lead to obesity, diabetes and heart disease.

Cycling enthusiasts and first-time PSE MAGAZINE • 9

NEWS AND AFFAIRS riders will share experiences about how exercise is changing their lives and motivating others start the New Year with better life choices, before Cycle to Work day on Tuesday, January 12, 2016.

EDUCATION

UAE UNIVERSITIES MAKE GLOBAL RANKS

Three universities were able to shine on an international stage this year when the Times Higher Education released its first ever rankings for the Middle East and North Africa region.

The country’s oldest university, UAE University, ranked 11th, American University of Sharjah 17th and Petroleum Institute in Abu Dhabi 20th in the list of 30 universities.

It was the first time a rankings system focused on the region, allowing those that had previously been illegible to qualify for world rankings to stand out according to the criteria.

The full list will be released soon.

URBAN PLANNING AND MUNICIPAL AFFAIRS ABU DHABI PLAN IS ALMOST READY

Final preparations are being made for the official launch of the Abu Dhabi Plan. Sheikh Hazza bin Zayed, National Security Adviser and Vice Chairman of the Abu Dhabi Executive Council, has examined the updated masterplan that includes 25 objectives and 83 government programmes.

It aims to further improve the emirate’s sustainable development while ensuring a secure, open and globally competitive economy. The masterplan sets additional targets and initiatives for social and economic development, security, justice, safety, infrastructure, environment and government affairs which were developed by 127 members of planning and performance management departments from 55 of the Emirate’s government entities.

PSE MAGAZINE • 10

DMA TO START ISSUING PROFESSIONAL REAL ESTATE PERMITS

The Department of Municipal Affairs (DMA) in Abu Dhabi will soon begin issuing permits for real estate practitioners including developers, brokers, assessors, surveyors, auctioneers and managers of owners associations. Anyone who does not hold a permit is not entitled to practice any of these professions as per the new Real Estate Regulatory Law effective from Jan 1st, 2016.

The DMA has launched a portfolio of diverse training courses held in conjunction with Abu Dhabi Vocational Education Training Institute with the aim of developing the skills of individuals practicing real estate and associated professions.

ABU DHABI’S NEW ADDRESS SYSTEM ALMOST COMPLETE

One of the most significant municipal projects of 2015 was the near completion of the Onwani or “my address” scheme across the capital.

The Department of Municipal Affairs said about 99 per cent of the 66,000 buildings had been given address numbers. Also, 97 per cent of the 6,600 streets had been given names and 17,000 streets provided with signage with the city.

The Onwani project will be implemented across the rest of the emirate throughout 2016.

TOURISM

ABU DHABI CRUISE TERMINAL OPENS IN ZAYED PORT

His Highness Sheikh Hazza bin Zayed Al Nahyan, National Security Advisor and Deputy Chairman of Abu Dhabi Executive Council, officially opened the new Abu Dhabi Cruise Terminal in Zayed Port. His Highness toured the premises during the opening ceremony of the new terminal organised by Abu Dhabi Ports Company.

The new terminal is set to be a

major landmark for cruise tourism in the Gulf and will serve as a major facilitator in boosting the cruise tourism sector which in turn will reflect positively on the Emirate’s economy.

The state-of-the-art terminal will attract international cruise liners to home port in Abu Dhabi, making it their first destination stop in the region and allow passengers to enjoy a longer stay in the Emirate.

QASR AL HOSN FESTIVAL TO RETURN WITH NEW PROGRAMME

The fourth edition of the Qasr Al Hosn is set to return to the UAE’s capital from February 3rd to 13th, 2016.

This year, the festival will present the outcome of the Conservation Management Plan for the Fort, the National Consultative Council, and the Cultural Foundation Building among others.

The Festival’s popular Desert, Oasis, Marine and Abu Dhabi Island zones will return with a full range of interactive activations, re-enactments and workshops. There will also be an Arena Zone which will house a series of performances and family oriented activities dedicated to themes that reflect the cultural significance of the site on the development of the Emirate and its people.

ENERGY

UAE FUEL PRICES TO FALL AGAIN IN JANUARY

Oil prices tested new lows at the end of 2015, with the market more vulnerable to price volatility as volumes shrink and traders square their books for the end of the year.

In the UAE, this means that from January 1, petrol products will be 6 per cent lower compared with December, while diesel will be 12 per cent cheaper. This means that Super will cost Dh1.69 a litre compared with Dh1.79 in December, Special will be Dh1.58 compared to Dh1.68, diesel Dh1.61 compared to Dh1.83, and E Plus is to fall to Dh1.51 from Dh1.61.

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PSE MAGAZINE • 11

PROJECT MANAGEMENT AT A GLACE

INFLUENCE SKILLS FOR PROJECT SUCCESS Alfonso Bucero, MSc, CPS, PMP, PMI-RMP, PfMP, PMI Fellow

O

ver the years I managed different projects and influenced many people through my behaviours. Persuading people to satisfy my requirements was a difficult task for me when I started as a project management practitioner. Some years later, I understood that everyone is an influencer of other people.

If you want to be successful as a project manager, or to make a decisive impact on your projects, you need to become a person of influence. Your success will depend on your ability to positively influence first your project stakeholders; but equally, your team members. No matter your professional or personal goals in life, you can achieve them faster if you learn how to become a person of influence.

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This article will help you to uncover your influencing skills, to structure them and put them to good use.

I have observed that influence behaves curiously. When you meet people who do not know you, at first you have no influence with them at all. If someone they trust introduces you and gives you an endorsement, then you can temporarily “borrow” some of that person’s influence. Others will assume that you are credible until they get to know you. As soon as they have time to observe you, you either enhance or lose that influence.

The second level of influence is motivating. You motivate people when you encourage them and communicate with

them on an emotional level.

The process creates a bridge between you and them, and builds up their confidence and sense of self-worth.

I consider the third level of influence mentoring. Listen to people’s requirements and problems. You probably will not be able to have an impact on them so rapidly that they solve their problems immediately, but at least you could share similar experiences. Positivism here is crucial.

The fourth level of influence is multiplying. This is the highest level of influence you can have on other’s lives. As

a multiplying influencer, you help people you are influencing to become positive influencers on others and pass on not only what they have received from you, but also what they have learned themselves.

THE HORSE STORY

For several years I have been telling my horse story every time I needed to convince somebody about project management beliefs. Only when you believe in something will you be able to sell it. Many people remember me because of that joke; I think that means that I was able to influence them in some way. Now imagine a Gipsy who wants to sell a horse to a Spaniard. The gipsy says: “I want to sell you a horse”. The Spaniard answers him: “I don’t need a horse”.

“Oh yes, you need it”, says the Gipsy; “This horse wakes up in the morning very early, does all the chores at home, goes to the super market to buy groceries and when you come back in the evening everything is done. This is a fantastic horse, you need to buy it”. “I don’t really believe you but I’ll buy that horse” is the Spaniard’s response.

Two months later the Gipsy and the Spaniard meet again, and the Spaniard says to the

Gipsy: “this is an awful horse, it is bothering my neighbours at 3:00am, it’s kicking my children every day. Please, take it back.”

The Gipsy smiles and says to the Spaniard: “keep talking about the horse that way, and you will never sell it again”.

What I learned is that every one of us is influencing people every day, but we are often not conscious of that. Remember, if you want to influence people and you want to sell an idea to somebody (sell the horse), you need to prepare yourself (praise the horse for its advantages).

PERSUASION VERSUS INFLUENCE

Persuasion is important, but tricky. We have all been victims of sales people, colleagues or bosses who used persuasion techniques to make us do something we later regretted.

And the next time we saw that person, we knew not to trust them. Those people can use the tricks of persuasion to fool us once, but we will not be fooled again. Persuaders start and finish with their own needs. They only want to sell their product or plant their idea.

Influencers play for much higher stakes than persuaders.

Influencers do not want to be successful once. They want to

build commitment that lasts.

While there are numerous definitions for influence, my definition is: the power of achieving things through other people.

The project manager has the power to influence their team members and stakeholders but they need to develop that skill to be more successful.

Persuasion is the ‘here and now’ skill we have to learn. Influence is investment in the future. As a project manager you are going to have to deal with resources regularly so it pays to learn both persuasion and influence.

PERSUASION: THE BASICS

Dialogue happens before and during the persuasion process.

Before the process begins, effective persuaders use dialogue to learn more about their audience’s opinions. During the process, dialogue continues to be a form of learning, but it is also the beginning of the negotiation stage.

Persuasion often involves compromise. Perhaps that is why the most effective persuaders are open-minded, never dogmatic. They enter the persuasion process prepared to adjust their viewpoints and incorporate other’s ideas. When others see that a persuader is PSE MAGAZINE • 13

PROJECT MANAGEMENT AT A GLACE

Effective persuasion involves four essential steps:

FRAME THEIR GOALS Identify common ground with those you intend to persuade.

Even if your credibility is high, your position must still appeal strongly to the people you are trying to persuade.

ESTABLISH CREDIBILITY Practice authenticity and integrity.

I mean say what you believe and act on what you say. Achieve the commitments you agreed with your customers.

2

1

CONNECT EMOTIONALLY Good persuaders are aware of the primacy of emotions and are responsive to them. They show their own emotional commitment but are never too emotional.

3

EFFECTIVE PERSUASION

4 REINFORCE THEIR POSITION Use vivid language and compelling evidence. With credibility established and a common frame identified, persuasion becomes a matter of presenting evidence. Effective persuaders supplement numerical data with examples, stories, metaphors, and analogies to make their positions come alive.

INFLUENCING: THE BASICS eager to hear their views and may make changes in response, they respond very positively.

Be ambitious: Lack of ambition is a recipe for a disaster. For many project PSE MAGAZINE • 14

managers, the greatest barrier to success is in their heads.

They accept low expectations.

Ambitious project managers though, have high expectations of themselves and others.

They reach for the stars. Even

if they fail and only reach the moon, they will be far ahead of others whose expectations reach no further than next year’s beach vacation.

Walk in other people’s shoes: As a project manager I was always asking myself difficult questions such as:

Why should this person want to talk to me? Why should this person want to follow me? What does he want, what doesn’t he want – how can I use that? How can I find out more about this person? What other choices do I have?

Walking in other people’s shoes is not about being nice to other people, or even agreeing with them. It is about understanding them.

Develop commitment: The commitment mind-set is central to the world of influence, not control. The control mind-set likes hierarchy: power comes from position. This makes it very limiting: the control mind-set does not reach beyond the barriers

of the hierarchy to make things happen outside a limited range of control.

Start with the end in mind: Influential people work out the desired goal and then work back from there. If we start from where we are, we may decide that our goal is not achievable. If we start at the end, the only question we should ask is “how do we get there?” not “can we get there?”

LEARN HOW TO PERSUADE AND INFLUENCE

I never found a recipe that allows you to create a magic potion of persuasion and influence. Instead, you have to learn a range of skills. My advice is to

try one skill at a time. Each skill will make you a better influencer and a better persuader. Learn all of them, and you will acquire a sort of aura, which will induce people to follow you. This paper is the help you need to start experimenting with. Each skill is the product of constant trial and error. The failures are important too, including other people failures- avoid the many pitfalls others fell into!

I don’t know exactly what your dream is in life as a project manager but if you want to make an impact, you will have to become a person capable of influencing others. If you become a person of influence, then maybe someday when other people recall names of those who made a difference in their lives, you just might be on the list.

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KNOWLEDGE EXCHANGE

BY STEPHEN CHICK, SERGUEI NETESSINE, INSEAD PROFESSORS OF TECHNOLOGY AND OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT AND ARND HUCHZERMEIER, CHAIRED PROFESSOR OF PRODUCTION MANAGEMENT AT WHU-OTTO BEISHEIM SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT

D

eveloped market manufacturers can’t compete on price or lean management anymore. The winners are finding ways to lock in customers with collaborative, data-driven services and activities.

China is no longer only the world’s toy-maker : manufacturing there is taking on an in-

PSE MAGAZINE • 16

creasingly sophisticated flavour.

Take battery maker BYD or medical equipment maker Mindray as examples of companies that have combined low labour costs with high international quality standards and the ability to produce differentiated products on a large scale.

Manufacturers in developed markets have often resorted to

KNOWLEDGE EXCHANGE cost cutting or alternatively to lean production to keep up. But as such practices become more widespread, there is little differentiation in cost and quality of goods produced in places such as Europe. This means it’s easy for customers to change supplier.

But some manufactures have managed to halt this trend. The Industrial Excellence Award (IEA) has been run for 19 years in France and Germany by a team of colleagues at INSEAD and WHU, and more recently in Spain, Benelux and the UK over the past few years with academic partners IESE, Erasmus and the Judge School. As judges of the annual research study and award programme, we’ve noticed some common success factors among the winners. We outline some of those here.

THE CUTTING EDGE

The concept of partnership may seem like a simple one, but the way the winners are managing their partnerships is what is giving them the edge. They’re doing this in a variety of ways. Firstly, they leverage data to integrate closely with their supply chain partners.

Secondly, they optimise customer value across the entire chain.

Thirdly, they cooperate with suppliers to improve processes. And fourth, they leverage their technical capabilities to offer customisation to customers.

CO-CREATION WITH DATA DRIVES LOYALTY

As we saw in last year’s IEA awards, companies that had found ways to link information flows between themselves and the customer, a buyer-seller relationship became co-creation

fed by trust and loyalty supported by transparency. With such information-based integration, suppliers are able to embed themselves in the customers’ ecosystems.

Water meter manufacturer Itron uses such information flows to make itself indispensable to its customers.

The company has developed water metering systems which can be read remotely so that it can provide “smart grid” solutions, whereby municipalities can identify water consumption patterns and even leakages to reduce response time and provide a smooth service. The system also supports billing, support and analysis of consumption habits.

Schmitz Cargobull, a German truck body and trailer maker uses telematics (telecommunications and data) to monitor the maintenance, cargo weights and temperatures, and routes travelled by any of its trailers.

This helps customers to better manage usage and minimise breakdowns.

A plant in the energy production equipment sector is innovating by sharing production information in real time with its clients as a service to help their clients, municipal and large scale commercial developers. In effect, this improves the clients abilities to manage contingencies in their complex project planning activities.

VALUE ACROSS THE CHAIN

Smart manufacturers know that there are other ways in which they can create value for customers; they don’t need to base their value proposition solely on the product. Take Spanish firm Orkli, the world leader in heating control systems for homes and businesses, a worker-owned compa-

ny in a rapidly changing industry that has developed from simple thermostats to digital climate control and solar heating systems. By analysing the client’s heating history and future needs, the company is able to recommend newer, more cost-efficient technologies.

José Luis Pérez, the company’s president, says the additional effort to fulfill customer needs actually allows the Spanish company to “exceed customers’ expectations”. Orkli has onsite-R&D teams and even foots the bill on many projects.

“Sometimes we have to go to our customers with proposals that they are not asking for,” he explains. “And proposals that are new for them, that they don’t [even] know they need. But after showing them this proposal, they can say, ‘okay, this would be good for me.’” Orkli was awarded the 2013 Spanish Industrial Excellence Award.

Technip, a producer of subsea flexible pipes for the oil and gas industry has found innovative ways to add value to customers. Its traditional services include installing, inspecting, maintaining and repairing pipes in locations around the world. The company, however, goes further. In collaboration with oil field services company, Schlumberger, it has developed intelligent pipes that can monitor and regulate the temperature throughout an oil pipeline.

This helps to reduce complexity in sub-sea drilling layouts and shortens installation times for customers.

COOPERATIVE INNOVATION

BMW, which was named the overall European winner in last year’s IEA Awards for its Leipzig factory, has found ways to optimise production for maxPSE MAGAZINE • 17

KNOWLEDGE EXCHANGE

imum flexibility. The site includes multiple suppliers which coordinate on site. And workers in the Leipzig plant are given and assume a great deal of responsibility for continuous improvement and even scheduling of work tasks which are often the purview of management in other firms.

BMW’s exterior plastics department in Landshut, Germany transformed itself in two years from an in-house supplier of molded plastic parts to a supplier of entire chassis.

This has been achieved by a few good moves. Firstly, the purchasing function is collocated with the manufacturing unit. This allows for research funds to be quickly disbursed, developing new production methods, piloting new manufacturing facilities and disseminating process improvements.

This means a more frequent exchange of ideas around technology and faster innovation cycles. This motivates suppliers to provide on-time delivery and exceptional quality. The plastics unit also supports collaboration with suppliers by PSE MAGAZINE • 18

offering them a range of services that help them to adapt their ideas and innovations.

CUSTOMISATION APPROACH

Customisation is an area that requires a high level of knowledge and skill in product design. Factories able to offer higher degrees of customisation and maintain their quality truly have a leading edge. Stiplastics exemplifies this spirit.

Stiplastics was a contract manufacturer in the highly competitive plastics injection moulding sector. Through time it has reinvented itself by focusing on health solutions which build on its expertise in plastics materials. Some of those solutions are for business-to-consumer (B2C) solutions which are marketed directly or through pharmacies.

One such product involves the use of design thinking to develop fashionable pill containers with the goal of supporting compliance to medical treatment in a dignified way. Other products involve collaborations with the pharmaceutical industry for plastic products which are designed to make the delivery of

medication safer.

BuS Elektronik, an extremely flexible producer of small and medium-sized electronics components and systems, provides another example. The company’s customers, original-equipment manufacturers, give BuS independence in production design, perhaps presenting them with a product idea or particular performance specification. As the design team is highly motivated by a profit sharing scheme, all products are designed to simplify the assembly process and reduce labour inputs. It also keeps up to 20 percent of facilities idle, to enable flexibility in the production process.

As we’ve seen across these examples and many others over the years at the Industrial Excellence Awards, manufacturers that have found ways to leverage data to optimise their own and their customers processes have propelled themselves to new levels of success.

A highly collaborative and open nature of customer and supplier interactions has also been a key differentiator.

International FZ-LLC Specializes in the design and construction of exhibition stands.

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For Design Consultation, please contact us at: P.O. Box 487 151 Dubai, UAE T : +971 4 428 0779 / +971 4 428 0780 F : +971 4 429 3236 Email : info@standoutme.com www.standoutme.com

PSE MAGAZINE • 19

Offering World-Class Medical Care In the Most Comfortable and Luxurious Environment Healthpoint Hospital is an elective, multi-specialty hospital providing sports medicine and lifestyle healthcare services. We strive to offer our patients the highest levels of expertise and treatment of an international standard, right here in Abu Dhabi.

Under our coordinated care model, our medical team works cooperatively to provide a wide range of services across the following disciplines:

PSE MAGAZINE 20 To•book an appointment, please contact: Healthpoint Hospital, Zayed Sports City, Abu Dhabi

Toll Free: 800-ADHEALTH | Tel: +971 2 492 9000 | Email: info@healthpoint.ae

DELIVERING EXCELLENCE IN MEDICAL SERVICES

AT THE HEART OF THE MATTER Heart disease is one of the leading causes of death in the UAE, yet many risk factors are preventable.

Dr. Alaa Saeed of the Abu Dhabi Police lays out some crucial life-saving measures to protect your heart.

D

r. Alaa Saeed, Consultant Cardiologist and a major in the Abu Dhabi Police, is a man on a mission. He’s part of a national effort to reduce the number of people suffering and dying from heart disease. According to the Dubai Health Authority, one in every five deaths in the UAE is attributed to heart disease, but many of these deaths may

actually be preventable.

“Family history, diabetes, high cholesterol, high blood pressure and smoking are the major risk factors contributing to heart disease,” says Dr. Saeed, a cardiologist from Abu Dhabi Police, seconded to Healthpoint Hospital in Abu Dhabi, a 74-bed multi-specialty facility based in Zayed Sports City. “Stress, physical inactivity and an unhealthy diet also increase the risk of

heart disease. But such factors are mainly related to lifestyle.

Once a patient decides to make some changes like exercising and following a healthy diet to encourage weight loss, or to stop smoking, the risk of developing heart disease could be reduced.”

Heart disease – which includes heart attacks, congestive heart failure and high blood pressure – is the world’s leading

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DELIVERING EXCELLENCE IN MEDICAL SERVICES

If you want to prevent the risk of developing a heart disease, you have to change your lifestyle causes of death, claiming 17.3 million lives each year. By 2030, this number is expected to grow to more than 23.6 million. According to World Heart Federation (WHF), smoking causes nearly 10 per cent of cardiovascular disease and nearly six million people who die of cardiovascular diseases are direct or second-hand smokers.

In the UAE, Dr. Saeed notes that smoking is a major contributing force behind the high frequency of cardiovascular disease. Although there are no official statistics on the number of smokers in the country, health experts argue that smoking is on the rise in the country, citing the growing popularity of shisha as one major reason for this increase. Moreover, smoking, obesity and a lack of exercise are the primary factors that contribute to heart attacks in the UAE, which strike 20 years earlier than the worldwide average according to health experts.

“The numbers are worrying,” says Dr Saeed, “but it’s a choice people have to make. If you want PSE MAGAZINE • 22

to prevent the risk of developing a heart disease, you have to change your lifestyle,” he stresses. According to WHF, physical inactivity increases the risk of heart disease and stroke by almost 50 per cent, while eating foods that are high in saturated fat–i.e. processed meat and fullfat dairy products – causes about 31 per cent of coronary heart disease and 11 per cent of stroke worldwide.

“We often don’t know the damage we do to our hearts,” notes Dr. Saeed. “But the good news is that by changing your unhealthily lifestyle alone, you can actually reduce your risk of developing a heart condition.”

Dr Saeed’s passion for fighting the world’s leading cause of death is evident. “I wanted to become a cardiologist well before I wanted to become a doctor,” says the 37-year-old Emirati, noting that his father, a surgeon, was his source of inspiration. “He was the head of the Medical Services at Abu Dhabi Police before retiring and he used to take me with him sometimes and explain

to me basic things about the human body. Medicine always fascinated me.”

Dr Saeed graduated from the Irish Royal College of Surgeons in 2004 after completing several internships in general surgery, gastroenterology and neurology at the Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital and Beaumont Hospital in Dublin. After returning to Abu Dhabi, Dr Saeed, who is a police officer, followed his father’s steps and worked at Abu Dhabi Police Medical Services as a General Practitioner before getting a fully-funded scholarship to specialise in cardiology in France. After completing seven years of residency and fellowship programmes at leading teaching hospitals including Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital, Lariboisière Hospital and Européen George Pompidou Hospital, it was time for Dr Saeed to come back home.

“Returning to the UAE after being away for years was one of the happiest moments in my life.

You cannot imagine my excitement when I booked a one way

DELIVERING EXCELLENCE IN MEDICAL SERVICES ticket to Abu Dhabi for the first time in 17 years,” he states enthusiastically. Dr Saeed returned to work at Abu Dhabi Police Medical Services as consultant cardiologist in 2014 and he was later appointed to join Healthpoint as part of the hospital’s partnership with Abu Dhabi Police.

Dr Saeed’s trip into the wonder of medicine was somewhat of a roller-coaster ride. He recalls the first day at the Européen George Pompidou Hospital after finishing his one-year French language course: “The first day at the hospital was a nightmare. I didn’t understand anything the chief physician was saying during the morning round,” he remembers.

“He was speaking really fast and we had to take our notes very quickly. It took me sometime to familiarise myself with the language, and to know the French system.”

A couple of months later, Dr Saeed was working his way up through the French system. He’s not only a French board-certified cardiologist, but also one of few practitioners in the UAE to be trained in Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation (TAVI) at the Marie Lannelongue Surgical Centre in Paris. TAVI is a relatively new interventional procedure which implants a new aortic valve without removing the old one.

“Usually valve replacement requires an open heart procedure with a ‘sternotomy’ in which the chest is surgically separated or opened for the procedure,” Dr. Saeed informs us.

He goes on to note how instead, TAVI procedures can be done through very small openings without conducting a surgical incision in the chest.

“This procedure is reserved

for those people for whom an open heart procedure is too risky. Most people who have this procedure are in their late 70s and often have other medical conditions that make them better candidates for this type of intervention,” he explains, remarking that he hopes to pioneer this procedure in Abu Dhabi in the next few years.

Although the significant progress in the medical and surgical treatments for heart patients has contributed to the fall in heart disease deaths in recent years, what some countries are witnessing is actually a transition from ‘acute’ patients to ‘chronic’ patients. “The best prevention against heart disease and stroke is to understand the risk factors,” Dr Saeed explains.

“Some of my patients who have heart disease refuse to quit smoking even after suffering a heart attack (myocardial infarction). People are also smoking at a young age; they do less exercise and eat more fast food. It’s a deadly mixture.”

To address the rising heart disease ‘epidemic’, the UAE Government is taking serious steps to raise the awareness about heart disease and its related risk factors. It has undertaken numerous initiatives and campaigns to prompt healthy lifestyles –with the support of the private sector—in the last few years including walks to raise awareness about heart disease, anti-smoking campaigns and healthy diet and fitness drives, in addition to the ban on smoking in public places such as malls, movie theaters and hotel lobbies.

In addition, the One Heart Health Community, which is supported by the Emirates Cardiac Society, recently launched

an application to promote an active lifestyle and limit junk food as part of its campaign to shed light on heart-related illnesses, risk factors and the importance of a healthy lifestyle.

However, the public behavior must match government action according to Dr Saeed. “There’s no doubt that the UAE Government has made significant strides in heart health awareness over the last years, especially in educating people about how smoking and being overweight affects their heart health,” he says. “But while many are aware of the risk of smoking, for example, they continue to smoke nonetheless – they’re in denial.

The stress of everyday life also puts pressure on our hearts.”

He continues, “Frankly speaking, we still have a lot of work to do in preventing obesity and getting more people to quit smoking and to exercise more,” he says. Interestingly, exercise alone reduces the risk of a heart attack by up to 50%, according to a recent study by the American College of Sports Medicine.

Dr Saeed concluded by sharing a final piece of advice to keep our hearts in a good condition: “Eat a healthy diet, avoid junk food, exercise and watch your weight, don’t smoke and go for health checkups, which helps to control or meet other cardiovascular risks like diabetes, hypertension, high blood pressure and high cholesterol.

These are the keys for a healthy life,” is the wisdom he bestows upon us.

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PSE MAGAZINE • 23

EMPOWERING EXCELLENCE

QUALITY OPERATIONAL EXCELLENCE: KAIZEN, LEAN AND SIX SIGMA As we look at the current and future state of the UAE’s manufacturing sector, it is only natural to focus our attention on some of the most important concepts in organizational excellence that were born in the

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manufacturing sector. Operational excellence has long been a hot topic as management gurus continue to search for the perfect business model and the best techniques to improve efficiency and reduce waste in operation-

al processes. The manufacturing sector can be credited for the introduction of some of the most widely used quality management principles today, most notably the concepts of ‘Kaizen’, ‘Six Sigma’, and ‘Lean’. Over the years, terms seem to have lost their individual identity as they continue to be used interchangeably without knowing the true meaning or use of these words. So, what is the difference between Kaizen, Lean and Six Sigma?

EMPOWERING EXCELLENCE

Kaizen

Kaizen is a Japanese word basically meaning “Change for the better” and is often viewed as an endeavour for “Continuous Improvement”. Kaizen should be viewed as journey as opposed to a goal or straightforward process.

Generally speaking, it is more of a mind-set than a specific tool.

Some choose to think of it as culture that needs to be adopted and embraced across an organization.

Kaizen utilises creativity and ingenuity to identify problems and then develop and implement ideas to solve those problems. The Kai-

zen philosophy states that everything can be improved and everything has the potential to perform better or more efficiently. It helps to identify and reduce waste (Muda), reduce output variations and inconsistencies (Mura) and eliminate overly hard work (Muri).

These 3 factors are referred to as the ‘3M’ in Kaizen theory.

Successful implementation of Kaizen requires the full participation of employees in the improvement process. People at all levels of an organization should be involved, from the CEO down to the cleaning staff, as well as external stakeholders when applicable. Kaizen is most commonly associated

with manufacturing operations and it has even been popularised in the mainstream consciousness by Toyota, who claim much of their success comes from following a Kaizen philosophy.

When done correctly, Kaizen humanizes the workplace, eliminates overly difficult work, and teaches people how to spot and eliminate waste in business processes. There are several tools and techniques for the implementation of Kaizen and most of the popular improvement methodologies can be attributed to Kaizen’s 10 steps, including Six Sigma, Plan Do Check Act (PCDA), or even Select Clarify Organize Run Evaluate (SCORE). The general steps are as follows:

Define the problem

Develop Kaizen plan

Document the current situation

Implement plan

Visualize the ideal situation

Measure, record and compare results to targets

Define measurement targets

Prepare summary documents

Brainstorm solutions to the problem

Create short term action plan, on-going standards and sustaining plan

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EMPOWERING EXCELLENCE

LEAN Lean is a production practice with the key principle of preserving value with less work. Operations that fail to create value for the customer are deemed wasteful. For Lean to be successful, it has to eliminate business silos and receive top down support amongst senior management and employees.

Lean’s strength is its fast implementation and immediate benefits that relate to productiv-

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ity, error reduction, and customer lead times.

Long-term benefits include improvements to financial performance, customer satisfaction, and staff morale. The three principles of Lean leadership and philosophy are the following: Challenge oneself to meet goals, Kaizen (continuous improvement) and Genchi Genbutsu (going to the

source - the “factory floor” – to make informed decisions) Based on the 1980s Toyota Production System, Lean covers all facets of the manufacturing business, from quality assurance to human resources, and has emerged as one of the most important and widely practiced quality management theories today. Process-orientated industries with clearly defined value chains are the most receptive to Lean methodology. These include, but are not limited to, automotive, industrial engineering, and pharmaceutical industries.

The Lean implementation process can be summarised with the following 5 steps:

EMPOWERING EXCELLENCE

SIX SIGMA Six Sigma is a set of tools and strategies designed to limit defects and variances in business processes and products.

There is an overarching goal of process improvement, as opposed to Lean’s emphasis on waste reduction.

Motorola first outlined Six Sigma in 1985 as a statistical model of manufacturing processes. A “sigma rating” relates to the percentage of defect-free products. A sigma rating of 4.5 (3.4 defects per 1 million) was initially claimed as a realistic benchmark, with 6 sigma seen as the ultimate goal. The 6 Sigma translates to a figure that states 99.99966% of all opportunities produced, should be free of defects.

Six Sigma was popularised by then CEO of General Electric Jack Welch in 1995, and by 1998 he claimed that it had led to $750 million in cost savings.

By the late 1990s, two thirds of Fortune 500 companies had in-

S

o what approach to quality management is right for your organization?

Well, there is no right or wrong answer. But we suggest that you start your journey towards operational excellence by asking the fundamental question that drives the Kaizen mind-

corporated Six Sigma projects, and by 2000, the discipline had spawned its own training and consultancy programs.

Its two project methodologies – DMAIC (define, measure, analyse, improve, control) and DMADV (define, measure, analyse, design, verify) are based on Deming’s Plan-Do-Check-Act cycle. Six Sigma’s implementation relies on a dedicated improvement team divided into unique hierarchies that are based on a “belt” accreditation system.

The team leverages advanced

Lean Six Sigma Originally developed to improve manufacturing efficiency and quality, Lean Six Sigma is now being widely adopted by financial institutions, retailers, hospitals and other corners of the services industry. Because Lean

set: “What is the problem you are looking to solve?” Until the answer to this question is clear, then choosing the right methodology will be hard. If a general methodology to process improvement across your organization is what you seek, then perhaps the simpler, Lean approach to quality management

statistical techniques such as pareto charts and root cause analysis to reach quantified value targets that ultimately aim to reduce defects.

One key innovation of Six Sigma involves the introduction of a strict hierarchy of quality management functions and member rankings, similar to some martial arts systems like Kung-Fu and Judo. These include Executive Leadership, Champions, Master Black Belts, Black Belts, and Green Belts respectively.

and Six Sigma can often complement each other, many quality management practitioners have combined the two approaches to increase the speed and effectiveness of any process within an organization. Together, they can help companies reap the benefits of faster processes with lower cost and higher quality.

is right for you. But if product and output perfection is your main goal, Six Sigma could be the better choice. Ultimately, make sure that the methodology selected will be supported by your organization’s structure, management system, and corporate culture and you will hopefully see results in no time!

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EMPOWERING EXCELLENCE

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EMPOWERING EXCELLENCE

MEET THE WINNERS

PSE’s exclusive interview with Mr. Mohamed Al Hammadi, CEO of Emirates Nuclear Energy Foundation and winners of the 2015 Abu Dhabi Awards for Excellence in Government Performance

W

e first asked Mr. Al Hammadi to tell us a bit about ENEC…

When and why was the company established?

ENEC was established in December of 2009 by an Emiri Decree issued by H.H. Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the United Arab Emirates, following a comprehensive energy study that assessed multiple energy options in terms of costs, sustainability, security, and the potential for longterm economic development. Energy policymakers in the UAE needed a proven, reliable and commercially competitive technology that could provide electricity, while increasing the national quotas of energy security and diversification of supply to respond to a growing national electricity demand.

Q:

What are the UAE’s nuclear energy ambitions and what does the future of nuclear energy and the UAE’s energy mix in general look like?

ENEC is mandated by the Gov-

ernment to construct and operate four nuclear energy units to the highest standards of safety, quality and security. These four units will provide up to 5,600 MW of electricity to the UAE, which is estimated to be the equivalent of a quarter of the nation’s electricity demand.

From an environmental perspective, the four nuclear energy units will save up to 12 million tons of carbon emissions every year, reducing our dependence on fossil fuels and driving the growth of a new high-tech industry in the UAE for decades to come.

Q:

Before moving on the tremendous growth and success ENEC has seen…

What are some of the major milestones that ENEC has achieved to date in establishing its nuclear programme?

In 2015, ENEC celebrated the commencement of Unit 4 in Barakah.

This milestone transformed the Barakah Plant into a world-leading nuclear construction site. We are proud to be the only site in the world constructing four identical reactors simultaneously and we continue to focus on the safe de-

Meet the CEO Mohamed Al Hammadi is the Chief Executive Officer of the Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation (ENEC). Prior to joining ENEC, Mr. Al Hammadi was General Manager of the Federal Electricity and Water Authority (FEWA) where he led a transformational management process focused on the implementation of best practices and international standards to the authority. Mr. Al Hammadi also served many years in various utility and energy companies including Abu Dhabi Distribution Company and Abu Dhabi Water and Electricity Company as well as serving on the Board of Directors for Taweelah Asia Power Company.

Recently, Mr. Al Hammadi has been appointed as a member of the World Association of Nuclear Operators’ (WANO) Governing Board of its Atlanta Centre. The WANO Atlanta Centre is one of four key regional centres that promote engagement with members throughout the world to ensure alignment.

From 2013 to 14, Mr. Al Hammadi was also the Chairman of the Global Agenda Council on Energy Security of the World Economic Forum (WEF), an advisory committee that identifies and discusses energy security challenges across the world.

He is also the lead author of two World Economic Forum energy reports: ‘Lessons Drawn from Reforms in Energy Subsidies’ and ‘The Water-Energy Nexus: Strategic Considerations for Energy Policy-Makers.’

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EMPOWERING EXCELLENCE livery of the UAE peaceful nuclear energy program.

Another milestone took place in December 2015, when ENEC was honoured with 3 awards in the fourth Abu Dhabi Government Awards for Excellence in Government Performance. Our most prestigious accolade though, was the Most Distinguished Government Entity Award, which selected ENEC out of 306 entries from 51 government entities in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi. It is in recognition of the world-leading work that ENEC is delivering.

Other major milestones in the development of the program so far include the beginning of construction on the country’s first nuclear energy reactor, Unit 1, in July 2012.

Subsequently, Unit 1 has now seen the completion and installation of the Containment Liner Plate in November 2013, the installation of the Condenser in February 2014 and the setting of the nation’s first nuclear energy Reactor Vessel in May 2014.

Q: tion?

How has the company grown since incep-

Since our establishment in 2009, ENEC has continued to develop from a small energy start-up, into a world-class nuclear energy construction and operations company with a team of more than 1,700 experts. ENEC focuses on bringing the best international experts and the most talented Emirati minds to make a nuclear energy company founded on safety and quality. We are also investing in the new generation of Emirati nuclear experts, with our Energy Pioneers program that teaches nuclear science and operations to talented students.

Q:

Can you provide us with a glimpse into the future of nuclear energy in the UAE?

Nuclear energy will have a strategic role in powering the future growth of the nation. On one side, it will provide up to a quarter of the electricity demand with near-zero PSE MAGAZINE • 30

emissions, which will contribute to a more sustainable future. ENEC is also working with local companies to qualify them to become nuclear providers by becoming NQA-1 certified. This means that the development of nuclear energy is helping to improve quality assurance across local companies and these will be able to provide products and services to Barakah and other nuclear energy projects globally.

Finally, nuclear energy in the UAE is creating access for thousands of talented Emiratis to have opportunities both in the UAE and internationally.

We also got Mr. Al Hammadi’s take on Sustainable Energy…

Q:

There is much debate about whether or not nuclear energy can in fact be classified as “green” because it is a low carbon power generation source. What is your take on this and how important is it for the UAE to diversify away from its reliance on fossil fuels?

From a sustainability perspective, if we look at the countries that perform the highest, there is a key set of criteria that needs to be taken into account. From one side, we have to look at the energy sustainability index of a country

and see how its energy generation is preserving natural resources.

Then, we also have to look at how this country can generate electricity without depending too much on foreign resources being imported.

Finally, we also have to look at how the energy generation portfolio is contributing to the wellbeing and economic growth of a nation.

The World Energy Council tracks the performance of these key elements for energy sustainability and the facts tell us that countries with peaceful nuclear energy generation are more energy sustainable than those who don’t have this, because nuclear energy is a reliable, near emissions-free technology. If we look at the results of the 2015 WEC Energy Trilemma Index, three out of the top five countries generate part of its electricity through peaceful nuclear energy.

It is also important to note that the nuclear energy industry needs to improve its role in educating and engaging with energy stakeholders and the population at large, in order to improve its public acceptance. The UAE understood this requirement and was founded with a commitment to educate the population on nuclear energy.

EMPOWERING EXCELLENCE al standards for operational efficiency and excellence by adopting nine international standards.

When combined with a leadership team that believes in its employees, the sense of pride and loyalty has resulted in outstanding level of commitment, passion and hard work by all teams in ENEC.

Q:

What are some of the key success factors that you would say sets ENEC apart from other participating entities and what advice would you give to your government peers in improving their organizational practices?

Q:

What are some of the key global benchmarks for establishing a leading practice nuclear energy programme and how has ENEC leveraged these global lessons learned?

The UAE’s program is based on the cumulative experience of the global nuclear energy industry, and the government has worked closely with the International Atomic Energy Agency, as well as responsible nations, to adopt and implement the best practices for efficiency.

The program is built on the most rigorous standards of safety and the UAE has received international praise for its policy commitments in the development of its nuclear energy program. Government officials, non-proliferation advocates, and energy experts worldwide have described the UAE approach as a model for countries interested in exploring nuclear energy.

The governance system of the UAE peaceful nuclear energy program has also been praised internationally. On one side, the UAE established an independent Federal nuclear regulator that reviews the work of entities such as ENEC. On the other side, the UAE established the International Advisory Board (IAB), which is a body mandated to provide an expert, independent as-

sessment of the UAE peaceful nuclear energy program.

We then turned our focus to some BIG news with ENEC recently receiving the award for best government entity in the 2015 ADAEP Awards…

Q:

Can you provide us with a brief summary of ENEC’s journey towards excellence?

ENEC’s journey towards excellence started from its inception in 2009, by building a robust quality assurance and management system to ensure the highest standards of safety, quality and efficiency. ENEC participated in the third and fourth cycle of the Abu Dhabi Excellence award where a plan for the participation for the fourth cycle has been developed and executed, ultimately resulting in winning the award as the most distinguished governmental entity.

Q:

What are some of the key results and achievements that have led to this great result?

The award is a culmination of effort and a culture of continuous improvement. Through this, ENEC has successfully implemented the highest internation-

We adopted the concept of excellence and quality by design, where we built best practices from different disciplines locally, regionally and globally into business processes in ENEC. ENEC leaders believe in the values created by adopting excellence practices and this belief is translated into behaviours and role model practices for their employees, where the main focus should be the continued improvement of the organization’s maturity.

Q:

How have the leaders and employees responded to this amazing result?

We have been delighted by the congratulations we have received from the leadership, our staff and our partners. Awards and recognition like this help us continue working towards achieving our goals and realizing our vision.

However, our focus and determination is to continue to improve and safely deliver the UAE peaceful nuclear energy program.

Winning this award is the result of ENEC’s vision, which is based on the highest standards of excellence, safety and quality, embedded across all divisions in our corporation. This adherence to high standards is what enables us to maintain our momentum and strive for continued success.

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IN FOCUS

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IN FOCUS

The UAE’s manufacturing sector was the second largest contributor to the UAE’s economy after oil and gas in 2014, representing an impressive 14 per cent of the national output.

T

he UAE government has been heavily investing in the manufacturing sector over the past few years as it realises the crucial role this sector has in diversifying the economy.

Apart from financial investments, the government has also invested brainpower in devising innovative policy initiatives to support the growth of the manufacturing sector. This includes the establishment of numerous successful free zones that have attracted large foreign direct investments and created a whole new economy in the UAE.

A commitment to expand this lucrative and pivotal sector of the economy is demonstrated by investments in industrial plans that amount to more than Dh127 billion. The number of industrial facilities has increased exponentially as well, now totalling more than 6,000 facilities that employ approximately 430,000 employees. The UAE has also bolstered its commitment to becoming a regional and international leader in this sector by agreeing to host The Global Manufacturing and Industrialization Summit which will be held in Abu Dhabi in September next year. It is

aimed at fostering the development of international standards for manufacturing and industrial innovation by bringing together representatives and leaders from various sectors and nations.

LOCAL BRANDS

The UAE has been very successful in achieving international standards of industrial excellence in a relatively short period of time, ranking 12th worldwide in the Global competitiveness report for 2015.

This is a major indication that the UAE has the potential to bePSE MAGAZINE • 33

IN FOCUS come a significant player in the global manufacturing scene in the near future.

In 2000, UAE-manufactured exports amounted to an impressive Dh30.5 billion according to the Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Fourteen years later, the Chamber reported over Dh290 billion in exports

ing industries include food and beverages, tobacco, chemicals, mineral products, paper products, textiles and clothing and wood products. Aluminium, cabling, petrochemicals, steel and marine industry products make up the list of the largest individual manufactured products.

Among the many local suc-

for 2014, a Dh5bn increase from 2013, and more than an 8 per cent increase from 2012.

An earlier report from the DCCI in 2013 said manufacturing accounted for 53 per cent of the UAE’s total non-oil exports in 2012, and 22 per cent of total exports including oil — with the GCC nations representing the largest export market, predominately Saudi Arabia. Other major export partners include Japan, India, and Iran.

More and more local organisations are becoming increasingly competitive and efficient, enabling local producers to penetrate international markets.

The main local manufactur-

cess stories is 25 year old RAK Ceramics, which is now posting US$1 billion in global sales annually, and date conglomerate Al Foah ships 80,000 tonnes of their products around the world every year. Other local giants include UAE’s big steel manufacturers Emirates Steel, EMAL, DUBAL, and Conares, and these local brands have made a tremendous contribution to the UAE’s status as the fourth largest aluminium producer in the world.

New and emerging local manufacturing industries are on the rise in the UAE. A prime example of a successful new entry with a positive fu-

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ture outlook comes in the form of Mubadala in the aerospace sector. Mubadala’s Aerospace & Engineering Services are competently taking the lead in establishing this new local industry with an overarching aim of innovating the sector and becoming a global player in the near future.

The UAE is also at the forefront of a regional push to build up domestic defence manufacturing capability to reduce reliance on imports. The country has established a small defence industry that includes maritime security and defence-related services such as maintenance and repairs. Over the past two decades this industry has now developed into the full scale manufacturing of a range of defence products from armoured vehicles to weapons and satellites, and more.

Strategic Manufacturing Hub The UAE has successfully played on several factors that make the country an ideal regional and international manufacturing hub. In terms of government policies and political factors, the UAE is seen a safe and easy place to do business, largely due to business friendly government policies that are very supportive. Among these is the development of low cost industrial free zones that are packed with great incentives, including access to state of the art port facilities across the Emirates that give manufacturers access to the world by sea, as well as the provision of relatively low energy and overhead costs.

There are currently 37 free zones in the UAE, with nine more currently in development.

Sectors have a wide range from goods trading, commodities, health care, education, infor-

IN FOCUS mation technology and finance to business services, media, advertising, vehicles and environment. The government is developing a number of integrated industrial zones and others large-scale projects for the establishment of a network of world-class transportation and road networks. In addition to this, a federal railway is being established to connect important residential and industrial centres across the country through a safe and reliable route. The government is also linking ports to create an efficient logistics environment that

serves transportation of materials and production inputs, as well finished products within the local market. With all this progress, the UAE is set to become an important commercial and logistics hub for manufactured goods.

The Ministry of Economy is constantly involved in strategic benchmarking and knowledge transfer initiatives with leading global players such as South Korea, Germany, the US and others. The quest is to basically import the best practices the world has to offer in manufacturing excellence; this in turn

will enhance the UAE’s productivity capacity and increase its competitiveness in international markets.

The Future of Local Manufacturing According to numerous sources and government spokespersons, the UAE aims to increase the contribution of the manu facturing sector to overall GDP from the current level of 11 per cent to an impressive 25 per cent by 2025.

The UAE’s Vision 2021 National Agenda is a focus on creating national policies that achieve sustainable growth, and

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IN FOCUS the manufacturing sector has been highlighted by this agenda as a priority for achieving sustainability through economic diversification towards sectors where the UAE can prove a lucrative competitive advantage.

Among the many factors that are set to boost this sector is the new UAE investment law, which allows for one hundred per cent ownership to foreigners, a move that will surely give massive interest and a boost to the manufacturing sector. The investment law, which is in the final phase of being drafted, is likely to be issued this year.

Meanwhile, the UAE’s plans to host the world’s first Global

Manufacturing and Industrialisation Summit in Abu Dhabi in 2016, shows a desire to enhance the status of the manufacturing sector even further in a move that will also help to develop local Small and Medium Enterprises. More than 1,000 government and industry leaders are expected to attend the event that will be hosted by the UAE’s Ministry of Economy in collaboration with the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (Unido) and the World Economic Forum’s Global Agenda Council for the Future of Manufacturing. Hosting of the summit is testament to the country’s growing role

in developing a global, knowledge-based economy that values human capital development and innovation.

In terms of drivers of manufacturing excellence, human capital, along with physical and financial capital, is widely regarded as the basis for higher productivity and sustainable economic development. In an effort to develop the future of this sector, the UAE University, in conjunction with Tawazun, began offering an MBA in manufacturing excellence in 2012.

These reflect just some of the initiatives that are expected to turn the UAE into a global centre for manufacturing excellence.

UAE MANUFACTURING SECTOR FIGURES

12% GDP

DH290 Bn Exports (2014)

DH127 Bn Public Investment

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25%

by 2025 6,000 Facilities

430,000 Employees

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LET’S BENCHMARK

M

anufacturing is one of the most telling ways to judge a countries global standing and it will remain the strongest differential for many years to come as countries are rated on their competitiveness.

With this in mind, it is interesting to look at a new study on future global competitiveness, by Deloitte Global and the U.S. Council on Competitiveness, that has predicted that the U.S. is shaping up to replace China as the most competitive manufacturing nation in the world by 2020.

According to Craig Giffi, a leader in the Deloitte US consumer & Industrial products group, and a co-author of the report- “Manufacturing competitiveness, increasingly propelled by advanced technologies, is converging the digital

PSE MAGAZINE • 38

and physical worlds, within and beyond the factory to both customers and suppliers, creating a highly responsive, innovative, and competitive global manufacturing landscape” Though emerging markets continue to pile pressure on the leaders, the findings reflect the strength of the manufacturing powerhouses of the 20thcentury, with the United States, Germany, and Japan holding three of the top four positions currently.

Giffi remarks on this by remarking, “If you add in Singapore and Canada, which are also part of the top ten most competitive manufacturing nations, it really emphasises the ‘back to the future’ theme of these research findings. It also suggests that the BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India, and China) – with the exception of China – seem to have lost their

LET’S BENCHMARK allure as highly competitive manufacturing locations today, based on the views of executives responding to this study.

India, however, is projected to move back up to the top five in the world, demonstrating executive optimism for the country in the future.”

As well a ranking the countries, there were also findings in the report that highlighted the principal drivers of manufacturing competitiveness. Talent was the leading driver, with access to skilled workers widely regarded by executives as the most important factor. This was followed closely by the cost of wages and materials. The third most important driver was Productivity of the workforce, with the availability of a quality local supplier base coming in at fourth.

Talent coming out as the most important aspect of global manufacturing competitiveness is nothing new. Craig Giffi’s part-

ner at Deloitte and co-author of the report, Tim Hanley, has stated that the findings on talent are “consistent with the sentiments of senior executives that we have surveyed worldwide

over the years. It underscores the changing nature of skills needed as manufacturers increasingly adopt advanced technologies to innovate their future products, services, and business models.”

The 2016 Global Manufacturing Competitiveness Index forecasts that the top eleven countries will remain relatively consistent between now and 2020, but there will be some exchange of rankings.

DRIVERS OF GLOBAL MANUFACTURING COMPETITIVENESS

Drivers

Talent Cost competitiveness Productivity of workforce Supplier network Legal and regulatory system Educational infrastructure Physical infrastructure Economic, trade, financial and tax system Innovation policy and infrastructure Energy policy Local market attractiveness Healthcare system

2016 Rank 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

Mexico Mexico is renowned for its electronic manufacturing and Guadalajara’s capital city, Jalisco, is regarded as the hub of this industrial sector. Over $14 billion has been invested over the last 15 years in attempts to strengthen Mexico’s manufacturing sector and it looks as if efforts will continue to be made to ensure efficiency and growth.

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LET’S BENCHMARK

South Korea South Korea is perhaps most known in manufacturing for its biopharmaceutical industry. 2010 saw the South Korea government provide both capital and regulatory support in attempts to boost the industry. They have also set an ambitious yet at this rate achievable

target for Korean pharmaceuticals to capture 22% of the global biosimilars market share by 2020.

Samsung is one of the prominent players in the sector, and it announced earlier this month that is plans to open its third biologics manufacturing plant in the country.

19% of Japan’s GDP comes straight from manufacturing.

Recently all three subsectors of the manufacturing industry— consumer goods, intermediate goods, and investment goods— saw substantial growth.

The country also has high

hopes for its aviation industry, with growth expected. One recent milestone in the sector saw Mitsubishi Aircraft Corp’s new jet embark on its maiden flight, fifty years after the country last introduced a new passenger plane.

Japan

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India

Companies should no longer only consider India as a supplier of software and call centre services. India is the third-largest economy in purchasing power parity after the U.S. and China and additionally it has a large population of engineers and factory workers. Its intellectual property is also widely respected, and it is easy to find plenty of English-speaking managers there.

One example of a large multinational finding India attractive is Abbott Nutrition, who recently built a manufacturing facility in Jhagadia, Gujarat, in order to compete in India’s large growing nutrition market.

LET’S BENCHMARK

Germany China Germany is looking to guide its leadership in industrial production research and development toward “smart production” and it plans to do so with such concepts as ‘INDUSTRIE 4.0’, which is aiming to establish Germany as a lead market and provider of advanced manufacturing solutions.

The country plans to build on its strong manufacturing, in particular automation and software-based embedded systems to reach become an even stronger global powerhouse by 2020.

Shenzen, a large manufacturing centre near Hong Kong, is a prime example of China’s continued growth in the sector. Building on the success of its nearby plants, it is ranked fourth in China for its industrial output. Machinery and transportation equipment are seen as the core products of Chinese exports, as proven by China’s leading export sector from 1996 to 2006. Unfortunately, with a recent cut in interest rates though, it is very possible that China will struggle to hold on to its place as the world’s leading manufacturing sector in 2020. Cue, the proposed number 1…

By 2020 the U.S will overtake China to earn the top spot for the most competitive nation in the world.

The reason for this ranking, according to Deloitte and the U.S. Council on Competitiveness, is due the country’s investment in research, technology, and innovation.

“Manufacturing competitiveness, increasingly propelled by advanced technologies, is converging the digital and physical worlds, within and beyond the factory to both customers and suppliers, creating a highly responsive, innovative, and competitive global manufacturing landscape,” says Craig Giffi.

United States PSE MAGAZINE • 41

LOCAL ENTERPRISE

A Local Expat’s Startup Story TESTING THE WATERS

For many expatriates, the UAE is seen as a safe and secure place to earn a good living and enjoy a great quality of life.

It is generally understood that as long as you respect the local laws and culture, expats can live in harmony with the locals, but most choose to keep a comfortable distance.

However, for many of us, including our Local Enterprise interviewee of the month Omar Fouz, the UAE is home. “Many of us were born here or have lived PSE MAGAZINE • 42

most of our lives here. We grew up with locals, we studied together, grew older together, and work together. There is no Local/Expat divide” Omar insists. In the mid 80’s, when Omar was four, his father moved to the UAE from Sri Lanka. Born to a Sri Lankan father and British mother, Omar attended a local school in the very “local” neighborhood of Jumeirah where they were living at the time. Omar recalls fondly how he used to get along so well with his local friends in the neighborhood, even though he did not speak, “We were all kids.” He says, “We

enjoyed the same things, went to the same school, and became great friends.”

In 7th grade, Omar met Qasim, an Emarati friend from his neighborhood who would soon become a lifelong friend and business partner in numerous ventures in Dubai. The two shared similar interests, mainly any machine with an engine, especially cars! Qasim got started early in his experimentation with entrepreneurial ventures and he would always be on the lookout for good car deals and license plate numbers. He would

It was a small start.

But we had a much bigger picture in mind

then buy them cheap, enjoy them for a few weeks, then sell them for a good profit. “He always had a knack for spotting value. And somehow, he would always find these great deals on random stuff” Omar remarks with a grin on his face. “I remember once, out of the blue, he called me and said: Hey Omar, you have 50,000? This guy I know wants to sell 4 brand new jetskis he doesn’t want, much cheaper than market price. I didn’t even hesitate,” he recalls fondly. “If Qasim said it was a good deal, I knew it was a good deal!”

After graduating from high school in 2001, Omar went to Switzerland to continue his education and landed an internship in Barcelona thereafter. Soon, Omar decided to return back to Dubai where he hoped to start

his career- “This was a great opportunity to learn how the world works and to take back some lessons with me to Dubai” he recalls. Upon his return, Omar got into the booming Dubai real estate market. During this time, Omar reconnected with Qasim and opened up a real estate company in 2009 that would go on to manage an impressive portfolio of local properties. This would be their first official, registered company they established together.

WITH A LITTLE HELP FROM MY FRIENDS

In November 2012, the two scraped together whatever savings they had to open up a small service centre they called “Diablo Mechanics”.

The shop targeted high-end car owners, offering them full service care packages that

included cosmetic work and art decals. Qasim had studied Mechanical Engineering in the US and so with his background in engineering, meant the pair had some of the essential know-how required to set up a garage. Qasim understood the basics, but it came down to their love for cars and growing up in the UAE that enabled them learn what people wanted… Next, they just had to figure out how give to them!

“Learning how to run a business on our own was a huge learning curve for us” Omar says of their first foray into the start up world. “With so many factors to worry about, from HR to Infastructure, Suppliers, Purchases, and Managing Finances with a small budget, this was a whole new ball game for us!” he adds. When reflecting on how their first proper business PSE MAGAZINE • 43

LOCAL ENTERPRISE was run, Omar says, “admittedly, we were a bit old school.

Paper, cash, face to face, and phone calls were our main management tools. After our second year, we eventually managed to systemize our processes and streamline our operations.”

“It was a small start. But we had a much bigger picture in mind.” Omar reflects. “Within six months, we had grown out of our locations. We could not fulfil all the orders we were getting and had to move to a space double in size. And with this new space came more space for creativity and out of the box thinking! We rebranded as ‘Foil X’ and started experimenting with car wraps.

Wraps, or Foiling, was trending at the time. People have a lot of wealth here and enjoy personalized luxury goods. So, since owning a Lamborghini is not that uncommon, what do you do to stand out? You get your car foiled! And we were always one step ahead of everybody else in terms of creativity and design ideas!” Omar recalls in an enthusiastic tone.

With a limited budget, the two knew that the majority of their money was going to go towards rent. “We had to be very careful with spending.” Explains Omar. “We managed to get the heavy equipment on a financing plan, starting off with 3 jacks and a few essential machines for basic mechanical services and got to work! We were doing work on cars before we even had the garage outfitted!”

Omar says with a laugh. “There are reputable people in the market, but there are also a lot of “cowboys” who can take you for a ride. The way I see it, if you don’t get burned at least a few times, you won’t really learn.”

GO BIG OR GO HOME PSE MAGAZINE • 44

“When we first opened, it was just me and Qasim” Omar explains. “We took our employees from Diablo, six in total including a manager. A good friend of ours, Khalid, then approached us a year after starting Foil X and was interested in investing with us as a silent partner. This really gave us a big boost!” he states. “With this investment, we were able to buy extra materials and hire more staff to take on more and more projects. Just before selling off our business in June 2015, we had a total of 33 employees!”

Recounting the story, Omar goes on to tell us: “Foiling was picking up at this time, and we decided to take advantage of this. So rather than outsourcing, we decided to open up a Foiling Division with 3 designers on board and invested in a printer equipped with a laser cutter for printing large stickers and foil to use for vehicle branding. This was something that many other garages were not doing. Paint

booths are expensive. But we managed to get one on instalments and began to take on small projects. Within the first year, we had so many different kinds of projects and services lines that we had to take a step back”. But they didn’t stop there.

Omar continues, “We decided to focus on Foiling. We got rid of our mechanic works and hired more designers for our foiling services. This was a great decision as foiling was really picking up, and we were one of the first to offer high quality foiling services at great prices. When I look back now, it amazes me that we did very little in terms of marketing and advertising, especially compared to others. We did the typical ones, advertising on Autotrader, a lot of social media marketing using Instagram in particular which was a huge contributing success factor.”

Social media clearly had a profound effect on interest, and Omar tells us “People were shar-

ing and commenting on our cars and we would see this translate into business all the time. We were getting about 1000-1200 likes every time we posted a picture. When we sold in 2015, we had 34,000 followers on Instagram!” Omar tells us how the brand grew and grew, “We initially had our brand @FoilX on some of our favourite projects, with permission of the customer, which would be then seen by these car spotters who would take pictures and upload them online and mentioning us. We even had some people ship their cars to us from oversees for a foil job, adding to the Foil X frenzy.”

Inspiring stuff!

Omar attributes the team’s main strengths to their network of contacts and a great understanding of the local market. Growing up in the UAE, the two had a large network of like-minded friends. “Our friends were among the first to try out our new foil designs, and once their cars were back on the street, people started

to take notice and ask about us.

From there, it just kept growing and growing.” One of the biggest publicity boosts came earlier on when Top Gear contacted them to supply cars for an episode on Dubai’s luxury car lifestyle. “After Top Gear, the rest just came forward. We were contacted by Gumball 3000 (UK Based International Rally Organization) and other international brands and we were getting great local contracts as well, such as Skydive Dubai and members of the Royal Family!” Omar adds, spiritedly.

UAE: START-UP SANCTUM

We asked Omar what he felt about the local entrepreneurial scene and what advice he had for aspiring entrepreneurs. In response, Omar gave this: “If you are starting in Dubai or Abu Dhabi, I would say that you have a lot of opportunities here that you may not have elsewhere in the world! Competition is also relatively low and

the UAE makes it attractive to set up shop here. Start-up costs are relatively low and there is a big supply of affordable labour.”

“Many expatriates choose to go the free zone route when establishing a business in the UAE! However, I would definitely advise expat entrepreneurs to seriously look into working with a reliable and trustworthy local partner” adds Omar. “Working with Qasim was a great learning experience where we were able to complement each other’s strengths and weaknesses. I feel that if you look at some of the success stories of where expats have partnered with locals, you will find that many have developed great personal and professional relationship.” He leaves us with one final valuable piece of wisdom, “at the end of the day, locals know the country better than any of us. They can open doors that would otherwise be shut including huge networks of loyal local clients and supporters!”

PSE MAGAZINE • 45

BUILD YOUR DIGITAL PROFILE

F Is Your Mobile Strategy in Place?

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o r the first time in history, mobile devices now officially outnumber people. This milestone highlights one crucial fact for entrepreneurs: as the number of mobile devices rises, so do their importance.

Eighty-five percent of consumers believe their mobile devices are essential to daily life. Clearly, the mobile interface is vital for consumers, and the savvy businesses that hope to connect with them increasingly choose to do so via smartphones and tablets.

In the current climate, companies are now able to interact with customers anywhere, any time, and start a meaningful dialog with them.

Rather than throw a bunch of advertising messages out and hope customers see them and the ultimately act on them, you now have the opportunity, via their mobile devices, to directly engage the precise information needed to influence a buying decision.

That alone should read as a convincing reason to develop a comprehensive mobile first strategy right away.

In the public sector, apps are an opportunity to do more with less and can become an effective part of redefined budgets for public sector organisations.

Apps possess a huge potential for boosting collaboration, information sharing and generally improving the services delivered by the public sector.

With all that in mind, let’s look at a few components

BUILD YOUR DIGITAL PROFILE that would help all organisations embrace a broader view of what a mobile first strategy really looks like:

SIZE MATTERS!

You probably have a mobile website and a main website for your organization.

But chances are they don’t look good on all the various size smart phone and tablet screens because they aren’t adaptive.

Therefore, make your site adaptive so it automatically adjusts to the size screen the user has.

People are increasingly making decisions using their phones and tablets more so than on their laptops. The smart phone and tablet trend will only continue to grow, so think mobile first when you redo your website, not desktop or laptop.

FIRST IMPRESSIONS COUNT

Focus on delivering a customer experience that enables users to interact with your brand in new and exciting ways. The majority of users expect their apps to load within two seconds, and 85 percent of users prefer an app to a mobile website. You’ve probably experienced the frustrations of viewing a mobile website with a distorted layout and difficult navigation. So develop your app with the goal of alleviating these frustrations and providing users with a painless experience.

Align your mobile experience with your webpage experience so users can switch between devices. Only 16 percent of users will try a bug-riddled app more than twice, so the transition should be smooth.

BETTER SAFE THAN SORRY

If you handle customer

data, information security is crucial. Implement data encryption, and address customer privacy when you consult with cloud vendors. With an increase in bring-your-own-device practices, the array of devices and platforms makes you vulnerable, so do everything you can to secure confidential data and give your customers the peace of mind they deserve.

WALLETS ARE A THING OF THE PAST

In person payments are definitely a thing of the past. Credit cards are easy, but e-wallets are easier. Currently, Google has a mobile wallet that works with Citi MasterCard, and in the future it will work with other credit cards. It is secure and enables you to make payments with your smart phone. In the near future, we will move very quickly from a leather wallet to a smart phone wallet. One example of an enabling technology is NFC (nearfield communications chips),

which is being built into smart phones to enable contactless payments. They allow for secure and easy payment, so be ready for it.

EXCELLENT E-SERVICE

Customers do not want to leave the comfort of their own home just to go to your company in person and process a transaction or receive a service. Whether it be a public service or retail product, make sure that customers have access to as many e-services as possible via your mobile app or mobile-friendly website. Customer should be able to apply, cancel, pay, get a refund, and shop wherever they are, straight from their smartphones or tablets.

ANALYSE MOBILE TRENDS

When and how users view your content on mobile affects a number of decisions — everything from the length of your videos to where you place certain content. Tracking behavioural patterns and page

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BUILD YOUR DIGITAL PROFILE flow among mobile users informs your decisions for many of these adjustments.

Consumers behave differently on smartphones and tablets, because they have distinctive functionalities and capabilities.

Marketers need to analyse behaviour and experiences across the entire spectrum to understand the best move for web or app design.

APPS FOR EVERYONE!

Apps are not just for consumers. They can make employees more productive too! Rather than have customer service reps stuck to a computer at a counter, you can give

them a tablet with key apps that enable them to help customers on the floor in real time. With these apps, they can see if products or services are available, provide information, process simple requests, and do almost everything that’s usually done at the customer service counter. Leading retailers have taken the lead in this area and are using smart phones and tablets as their point of sale (POS) device saving customers time.

A safe and secure ‘Bring Your Own Device’ policy is also great for employees so they can access data and applications using their own devices wherever they are, even on the move!

THE FUTURE OF MOBILE

Make no mistake- it is clear that tablets and smart phones are quickly becoming people’s main personal computer. Therefore, you want to create a mobile first strategy that utilises the power of these devices to your benefit.

The mobile marketing industry has a lot to look forward to in the coming years in terms of innovation, creativity, and increasing mobile commerce. If you haven’t already, you are going to learn to meet consumers where they want to be met and adapt your marketing strategy to their desires.

Mobile Marketing Statistics You Need To Know Everyone is connected 80% of all online adults now own a Smartphone & 47% own a Tablet.

Mobile search is growing

Smartphones and Tablets combined now account for 60% of all online traffic.

Mobile consumers want Local 38% of mobile users search at least one time per month for a local business.

Mobile users are searching for YOUR business

Mobile users are searching for all types of local businesses, but restaurant / cafes (58%), general shops (32%) & doctor / dentists (27%) are the most popular.

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Don’t ignore mobile friendliness 61% of consumers are more likely to contact a local business if they have a mobile optimized site.

Mobile users are active buyers!

78% of mobile searches for local businesses result in a purchase.

Mobile searchers also purchase OFFLINE 78% of Local Mobile searches result in offline purchases.

Mobile consumers love DEALS 75% of mobile shoppers have used a mobile coupon.

Mobile ad spend to overtake desktop In 2015, paid search clicks on mobile account for over 50% of the overall paid search market.

For more information call 800 555 or visit abudhabi.ae

IDEA WATCH

A

lthough virtual reality is still far from the mainstream, 2015 was a big year for the industry as new headsets were introduced—some full-featured and powerful, some simple and portable—and companies announced new ways to control and capture VR imagery, too.

Throughout the year, investors poured money into companies developing the technology, content creators figured out how to make everything from films to advertisements in VR, and millions of people experienced virtual-reality technology for the very first time.

Virtual reality has grown immensely over the past few years, but 2016 looks like the most important year yet and it will be the first time that consumers can get their hands on a number of powerful headsets for viewing alternate realities in immersive 3-D. To get a sense of how quickly virtual reality is PSE MAGAZINE • 50

moving toward the mainstream, consider this: in early January, more than 40 exhibitors will be showing off their technology in a dedicated ‘Gaming and Virtual Reality Marketplace’ at the International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. The trade group that puts on the show, the Consumer Electronics Association, says this is a 77 percent increase over what it saw in 2015.

2016 and Beyond: The Future of Virtual Reality 2016 will see technology giants from Samsung to Facebook and Sony launch their headsets. Samsung’s Gear VR launched for mobile last month, while the simple £10 Google Cardboard can also give you a taste of the VR experience on your phone. Facebook’s Rift will launch early this year, followed by the HTC Vive and Sony’s PlayStation VR in April. For all the headset makers, the clear target market is serious gamers. But in-

dustries ranging from education to medicine, architecture and defence are applying the technology to patients, veterans, designers, submariners and students.

Here are some of the ways in which virtual reality is going to change the world over the next five years:

IDEA WATCH

Gaming

Games are big business! If you’re a gamer, the appeal of immersing yourself in a virtual world might be obvious. Strap on a headset and you could instantly find yourself in a 3D death match with opponents who could creep up right behind you!

Oculus is one of the first com-

panies to successfully bring virtual reality to the consumer at affordable rates. With the Oculus Rift and the Oculus Gear VR for Samsung devices, users can engross themselves in virtual reality gaming experiences by simply putting on the device and playing their favourite game.

Companies are now developing a number of games and other experiences to go along with these

new virtual-reality headsets.

Sony, HTC, and Microsoft are just a few of the big names that are due to release their versions in 2016. Stay tuned.

Business and marketing solutions

Early explorations of Augmented and Virtual Reality for PSE MAGAZINE • 51

IDEA WATCH sales and marketing typically used QR code cases, such as launching a video from a poster or product. In 2015, we saw some successful applications of this new technology with great campaigns like the Skoda Fabia, where passers-by were able to customize their own car using a touch display; the National Geographic Campaign that saw the Rotterdam Central Station invaded by virtual astronauts, leopards, and even dinosaurs; and the Walking Dead Campaign that saw a trap stop in Vienna transformed into a creepy shelter that was invaded by virtual zombies. In 2016, expect to see businesses and marketers get even more creative and use Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) to solve real business problems such as big data collection and analysis, inventory reduction, experiential communication, and advertising.

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Healthcare

Healthcare professionals are utilising virtual reality to treat a range of medical conditions from phobias to phantom limb syndrome. A great example of this is Argentinian-American entrepreneur Fernando Tarnogol, who has founded Psytech- a company that has created a special VR environment to research and

treat specific phobias and anxieties. This is expected to have a profound effect upon conditions such as agoraphobia, acrophobia, ornithophobia, claustrophobia, and more.

VR technology also offers new ways to train for complicated procedures, with practically no risk to patients. When using virtual reality in healthcare, an individual enters a comput-

IDEA WATCH er-generated simulation of a 3D world, using helmets, gloves and other sensors to interact with this virtual environment. A few examples of the diverse applications of VR include responses to a severe allergic reaction in an outpatient clinic, disaster response with multiple casualties, high-risk endovascular procedures such as carotid stenting, delicate heart surgeries and other complex procedures.

Architecture

Virtual reality will soon become an essential tool for architects. Currently, a few lucky digital experts are using VR for two purposes: hyper-realistic walkthroughs of project plans as well as on-going constructions with clients, and even full design work using virtual reality.

For designers, VR headsets are used to test out specific aspects of building structure.

For example, if an architect wanted to build a shading device designed specifically for a building, they may want to check out the view and the lighting with Oculus headgear. Seeing it in virtual reality will allow him/ her to verify and adjust the designs from a perspective that has never before been possible.

Journalism

Just strap your phone into your Google Cardboard device, and you can be instantly transported anywhere from North Korea to Syria, reliving some of history’s strangest and most defining moments, from a bomb in a busy Syrian marketplace, to a military anniversary march in Pyong Yang.

News reporters are starting to comprehend a new type of “immersive journalism” using virtual reality - a way to bring

the viewer right into a moment with them. While the legal and ethical aspects of transporting young and unsuspecting viewers into the middle of a war zone are yet to be figured out, virtual reality could change how we consume news, perhaps taking us closer to news stories than most would be comfortable with!

Defence

The military - in the UK, US and many parts of Europe - is a major funder of virtual reality for

applications ranging from training to recruitment. VR has been used for a number of projects including training submariners for the British Navy, to developing simulators to train soldiers about how to detect explosive devices.

The British Army also used VR in their recruitment campaign earlier this year, where Oculus Rift headsets were donned in an attempt to immerse people into military life, with experiences ranging from a live fire drill to driving a Challenger-2 tank.

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OFF TOPIC

Best of Dubai International

Film Festival

2015

December saw the 12th incarnation of the now revered Dubai International Film Festival. With over 130 films from 30 countries and 54 world premieres, the 2015 DIFF promised

to be the biggest yet and it didn’t disappoint. One of the most refreshing aspects of the festival is the highlight on filmmaking in the UAE and this years event saw six feature films screened

that were financed, produced and shot in the UAE. With so much on offer it was difficult to choose just a few stand-out films but here are PSE’s top picks.

cast to create a truly unique and exciting cinematic experience.

COUNTRY: UAE LANGUAGE: ARABIC WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES

Zinzana (Rattle The Cage) This stylish thriller from Majid Al Ansari was touted as one of the most anticipated at the festival and was picked to kick-off proceedings at this years DIFF. Saleh Bakri plays Talal, a conflicted man who inexplicably wakes up in a cell in a small town police station. The situation only worsens when a strange, supposed officer Dabaan (Ali Suliman) arrives and starts causing trouble in the tiny milieu. The film utilizes 1980’s neo-noir techniques and great PSE MAGAZINE • 54

OFF TOPIC

Mountain Cry Mountain Cry, based on the award-winning novel of the same name, is a tender tale about the relationship between a mute young widow and the man who has accepts responsibility for killing her husband. The setting of a remote village in Northern China in 1984 makes for an interesting choice as the film deals with issues concerning domestic violence, the portrayal of women and overall life in post-revolution China.

COUNTRY: CHINA LANGUAGE: MANDARIN WITH ENGLISH AND ARABIC SUBTITLES

Dheepan

Dheepan, by French director Jacques Audiard was awarded the prestigious Palme d’Or at the 68th Cannes Film Festival.

This powerful drama deals with immigration and violence in a

story that depicts Antonythasan Jesuthasan as a Tamil Tiger Soldier fleeing the brutality of the Sri-Lankan Civil War. Potent, thought provoking and contemporary, Dheepan is a film not to

COUNTRY: FRANCE LANGUAGE: ENGLISH, FRENCH AND TAMIL WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES

PSE MAGAZINE • 55

OFF TOPIC

The Daughter

The Clan The latest offering from Argentinian director Pablo Trapero (Lion’s Den), featuring Guillermo Francella, is a true story about a family of vicious kidnappers. The film picked up immediate attention by winning the Silver Lion at the 72nd Venice Film Festival and this hype is by no means undeserved. Trape-

Concussion

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This striking familial feud drama was adapted from the stage version of Henrik Ibsen’s ‘Wild Duck’

by Simon Stone. The story concerns two families whose grave secrets happen to be spilled in a narrative rife with themes such as absent relatives and addiction.

Arrestingly symbolic cinematography and a haunting score only compliment the brooding emotional tension in a film that feels like a fully realised package.

ro’s work is an unflinching, Scocese-esque thriller that tells the tale of the Pucio family, a middle-class clan who exhort money by kidnapping those more fortunate than themselves. With commanding performances and a strong script, this was certainly one of the standout offerings at DIFF 2015.

COUNTRY: USA LANGUAGE: ENGLISH WITH ARABIC SUBTITLES

COUNTRY: ARGENTINA LANGUAGE: SPANISH WITH ENGLISH AND ARABIC SUBTITLES

Truth

Concussion stars Will Smith as Dr. Bennett Omalu, in a biographical sports drama inspired by a 2009 GQ expose. The film’s subject matter concerns Dr. Bennett’s attempts to fight against the National Football League and their blocking of his research on long term brain damage and disease suffered by professional football players as a result of repeated blows. A pretty harrowing subject matter is dealt with deftly by award winning investigative journalist Peter Landesman. Coupled with a strong performance from Will Smith, this film may well receive more than a couple of Oscar nods.

The on-screen coupling of Robert Redford and Cate Blanchett bring a splendid sense of gravitas to James Vanderbilt’s directorial debut. Truth centres on the Killian documents controversy and how the reports concerning President Bush not being drafted to fight in Vietnam led to the end of the CBS career of legendary journalist/presenter Dan Rather. A complex and interesting film, Truth is driven by its cast but, with a strong real-life story at its backbone, it is by no means reliant on them.

COUNTRY: USA LANGUAGE: ENGLISH WITH ARABIC SUBTITLES

COUNTRY: AUSTRALIA AND USA LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

OFF TOPIC

The Man Who Knew Infinity

fessor G.H Hardy (Jeremy Irons), Ramanujan excels in mathematical theory and pioneers some of the 20th centuries most important numerical findings. A sturdy and accessible biopic that will surely appeal to many.

Based on the 1991 book of the same title by Rober Kanigel, The Man Who Knew Infinity stars Dev Patel as Srinivasa

COUNTRY: UK LANGUAGE: ENGLISH WITH ARABIC SUBTITLES

Ramanujan, a poor Indian man who manages to secure a place at Cambridge University during WWI. With the help of his pro-

Bilal This animation from Dubai based Barajoun Entertainment, is the first entirely produced and financed in Dubai. The film is the heartwarming tale of 7-year-old Bilal, who once a slave, manages to become a companion of the prophet. The film’s aesthetics are stunning and it has real depth with a beautiful message that preaches about the inclusivity and morality of Islam.

COUNTRY: UAE LANGUAGE: ENGLISH WITH ARABIC SUBTITLES PSE MAGAZINE • 57

JOIN THE DEBATE

Join the Debate:

Q

: Should HR be allowed to ask questions about an applicant’s marital status, religion, age, and medical history?

Here are our favorite submissions:

I would argue for. I believe the most important factor that determines the answer to this question is the labor law in the concerned country. I think that employees, particularly expatriates who wish to work in a certain country should respect law and regulations of that country. One must consider that even though we might not agree with them, some of the aforementioned questions may be deemed important to protect national interests as well as the interests of local employers including government entities.

Furthermore, for many jobs including manual labor that require a degree of physical fitness, factors like age and medical history are important to consider.

Age is also required to understand the candidates’ wealth of experience and ability to undertake certain tasks. As for marital status, this question could be asked for planning purposes i.e leaves of absence for marriage, pregnancy, maternity leave etc.

Last but not least, these questions are important to get to know the candidate better and to see if he/she will be a good fit for the organization and culture.

Meisa S. , Dolphin Energy

As an advocate for equal opportunity hiring and anti-discriminatory hiring practices, I am against the use of such questions. I think some of these questions are an invitation for discrimination and should be avoided and are prohibited by anti-discrimination laws and regulations in some countries.

Furthermore, these questions are not indicators of a candidate’s potential or professional credentials. Therefore, I don’t think there is a need to ask these questions for hiring purposes, especially religion and marital status which I feel is personal information that does not affect one’s ability to perform a job and should be up to the candidate to share or not.

As for the age question, I am 63 and risk losing my job soon because of my age (Retirement Age: 65). I am healthy and a great performer at work so I think the current retirement age in the UAE should be reviewed.

In the DIFC and the ADGM free-zones, employers must not discriminate against any person on the basis of their: Sex. Marital status. Race. Nationality, Religion, Mental or physical disability, Age (in the ADGM only). I believe this is a good practice that should be shared across all employers in the UAE. Ali A. , ADNOC Group

NEXT ISSUE QUESTION: Do we need a minimum wage so that companies don’t take advantage of their employees?

SUBMIT ANSWERS TO info@psemagazine.com NOW AND JOIN THE DEBATE!!

PSE MAGAZINE • 58

Whether you choose to stroll amongst the cafĂŠs of the Corniche, or savour the hustle and bustle of the Central Market, a serene oasis awaits your return.

You will be captivated by Arabic splendour and tones and textures as warm as the welcome you will receive.