Client case studies 

We worked with 120 of the most senior SABMiller executives from around the world to deliver a programme which would enlarge the business context for senior management, establish macro environmental and scientific threads of meaning and reflect on the consequences of these for the SABMiller Group. We were originally approached by the CEO of SABMiller’s European business to design a programme that would cover a range of issues that could be described as 21st century challenges. These included: climate change, water resource management, genetics  and stem cell research, nanotechnology, competing ideologies, the future of  democracy, DNA, alternative energies and others. The intention was to expose senior management to a ‘larger conversation’ than might be presented by their current range  of business issues so that management would be able and prepared to engage in new challenges that might emerge for the business from any and all of these areas at some time in the future. The other specifications were that it should involve ‘real science, not dumbed-down material’ and should be conducted in a ‘rigorous  interactive form as characterised by an Oxford tutorial’.  Finally they wanted it to take  place in an Oxford college in order to imbue a real sense of new learning. All of these  specifications were met and the CEO’s comments after the first programme in the series, that was attended by their European board, was that it had ‘far exceeded their  expectations’.

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Over a number of years we have worked with 600 participants worldwide to engage management at all levels in the transformation of Standard Chartered Bank globally through exposing participants to new ways of thinking about and reframing both the collective challenges involved and the personal implications of engagement in this transformation programme. The ultimate aim was to turn the company into a high performance organisation as judged by global banking standards by focusing on the personal challenges involved and to build the leadership capabilities of the organisation.

We were approached by the bank to help in a transformation of this long established  institution that had stalled in its growth over recent years and had ambitions to re-establish itself as a top global bank. Since 2000 we have run a series of highly customised programmes, closely tied into the bank’s strategic agenda, that have exposed participants to experiences that have helped them reassess their roles and  ways of engaging in the personal challenges that they face.

The programmes have  produced some significant improvements in participants’ personal effectiveness as leaders. Within the series we have run, programme design continuously evolves to  reflect and respond to the shifting strategic context  of the bank. The bank has  achieved impressive growth over this period and is now a FTSE top 25 institution and has outperformed the global banking sector over the past three years. Senior executives at the bank have on a number of occasions given credit to the School for the critical role we have played in the transformation.

By Neil Selby, from Business at Oxford magazine, to view a pdf version click here.

Everyone in Abu Dhabi is in a hurry. The capital of the United Arab Emirates is determined to become a role model for the region over the next five years. Most visibly, tall cranes are building imposing developments on almost every part of the Abu Dhabi island that lies in the blue waters of the Persian Gulf. Shopping malls rival the best in the world. One of the world’s most photographed hotels, The Emirates Palace, greets guests and sightseers from all around the globe.  Less visibly, there is an equally fundamental transformation happening within the government of Abu Dhabi, one in which Oxford University’s Saïd Business School is playing a role. The first transformation of Abu Dhabi happened some 50 years ago after oil and gas were discovered in enormous quantities off the coast. Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, former ruler of Abu Dhabi, saw the need to build a new regional state and founded the United Arab Emirates in 1971. In doing so, he transformed the Bedouin tribes of the area into a modern and progressive nation.

Following Sheikh Zayed’s death in 2004, his transformational legacy was continued by his sons, led by his eldest son Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the United Arab Emirates and Ruler of Abu Dhabi, and the Crown Prince, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan. It is His Highness Sheikh Hamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Chairman of the Abu Dhabi Crown Prince’s Court, whom I met to discuss the creation of case studies and a leadership programme for Abu Dhabi.

Dressed in a traditional white kandura, Sheikh Hamed was welcoming and gracious: “We aim to be a top five government over the next five years,” he says and points to recent progress in the United Arab Emirates which includes: the privatisation of water and electricity industries, now acknowledged as a model of efficiency in the country and a role model for the region; the achievements of the management of Al Foah in turning around the date palm industry from a half billion subsidy to a substantial profit in two years; the development of an eco-city designed by Lord Norman Foster and set to become the world’s first self-sustainable metropolis; and the role of the Department of Civil Service in implementing human resource best practice across all departments of the government.

It was against this background that Oxford University was chosen from a shortlist of the best executive education providers in the world to work alongside the Abu Dhabi Department of Civil Service to help identify and fulfill the development needs for Abu Dhabi’s next generation of leaders. The first “Abu Dhabi Leadership Development” delegation arrived in Oxford on 4 January 2008, barely six weeks after the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding. Rashid Mubarak Al Hajeri, Chairman of the Civil Service, says, “It is one of the fastest programmes we have ever developed. We couldn’t have managed it without the commitment of everyone at the Saïd Business School. I’m delighted the first programme went so well.”

Those on the first Leadership Development Programme represented all areas of Abu Dhabi government from leadership in finance to regional administration. All were passionate about their responsibility to their people. It is this passion, purpose and sense of urgency that is most impressive about those we meet from Abu Dhabi. It is infectious. I asked Sheikh Hamed what drives him. “I fear not poverty for my people. What I fear is poor leadership,” he said citing the Prophet Mohammed. “This is a wisdom we have to carry with us for our families, for our wealth, for our countries, for our religion. Our people survived the harsh environment of the desert for many hundreds of years. We love this place. We can achieve the transformation to be a world-class government. We will make it happen.”