10 May 2012
Join the debate
Corporate disasters/scandals/fraud - who is responsible? The auditor, the individual directors, the employees who ignored dealings?
Leave your comments below...
Cass Talks
Want a good example of Corporate Governance? Look East.
Professor of Internal Auditing, Rob Melville gives an enlightening overview of corporate governance in the Gulf.
News
Under the patronage of H.H. Sheikh Maktoum, third cohort of Executive MBA students graduate from Cass Business School Dubai
The Cass EMBA is a flexible part-time course aimed at managers in the Gulf region who wish to accelerate their career development while remaining in full-time employment. The course has the same content as Cass’s London-based Executive MBA, which in 2011 was ranked third in the UK and seventh in Europe by the Financial Times, with classes delivered by Cass academics who visit Dubai over a long weekend once a month.
This year’s cohort of students hail from a variety of industries, including energy, engineering, commerce, manufacturing, finance, legal and government. A total of 23 different countries are represented in this year’s graduating class, including students from as far away as Argentina, Australia, China and the USA.
His Excellency Abdulla Mohammed Saleh, Governor of DIFC, said: “I wish to take this opportunity to congratulate the Executive MBA programme students graduating from Cass Business School today. DIFC is proud to support educational programmes with Cass’s quality that build up human capital for the financial services sector in the region, and help us deliver on our mandate to place Dubai and the UAE in the top league of international financial centres. These programmes provide professionals with the opportunity to access the very best of global management thinking, research and practice, equipping them with the analytical tools and knowledge to face the rapidly evolving business world. We wish the new graduates the best of luck and look forward to their contribution towards the growth of the regional financial services industry.”
“It is with enormous pride that we celebrate the graduation of the third cohort of EMBA students from our DIFC campus,” said Professor Paul Curran, Vice Chancellor of City University London, of which Cass Business School is a part. “Since opening in 2007, the Cass Dubai Centre has established itself as a dynamic hub for business education in the Middle East, offering regionally relevant electives delivered by world-class academics. The class of 2012 join hundreds of fellow alumni who have earned the prestigious Cass EMBA degree and are now forging careers at the very top of the global business community.”
“Consistently ranked among the best in the world, the Cass EMBA programme is designed to unlock the potential of outstanding individuals and create an accelerated career path,” said Ehsan Razavizadeh, Regional Director, MENA of Cass Business School, part of City University London, and Head of Cass Dubai Centre. “I extend my congratulations to all our students on successfully completing the rigorous 24-month course, and I look forward to hearing about their progress at one of our frequent alumni events across the world.”
As the first EMBA programme in the world to offer specialisations in Islamic Finance and Oil and Energy Economics, the Cass EMBA is regionally-relevant, offering electives in Entrepreneurship, Leadership and Change Management, Advanced Corporate Strategy, Islamic Economics, Islamic Law of Business Transactions, as well as Mergers and Acquisitions, Advanced Corporate Finance and Private Equity. The Cass EMBA continues to increase in popularity, with student admissions to the programme in Dubai growing by 80 per cent since 2007.
News
Cass’s Dubai Centre targets potential entrepreneurs
Dubai, UAE; April 17, 2012: Cass Business School’s Dubai Centre today announced the introduction of an Entrepreneurship stream to its Executive MBA programme. The stream comprises three modules: New Venture Creation, Private Equity, and Innovation and Entrepreneurship, which Cass EMBA students can choose to pursue during the 24-month course.
Cass’s Entrepreneurship stream aims to provide students with knowledge and understanding of how new products, services and technologies are brought to the market. The module also covers the process for creating new ventures, including feasibility testing, marketing financial forecasting and securing finance.
“With the focus in the region so firmly on entrepreneurship, we are delighted to introduce the new stream to our EMBA programme,” said Ehsan Razavizadeh, Regional Director, MENA of Cass Business School, part of City University London, and Head of Cass Dubai Centre. “Here in the region, almost nine out of ten businesses are small and medium size enterprises, yet many often reach a plateau. Our new entrepreneurship stream has been designed specifically to overcome this and to help the next generation of the region’s business leaders turn their great ideas into successful ventures.”
The Entrepreneurship stream, available to students from April 2012, will be taught by Cass Professors of Entrepreneurship Vangelis Souitaris and Julie Logan and Cass Senior Fellow Guy Fraser Sampson. Students will travel to London for the New Venture Creation module, taught by Professor Logan.
“I’m very excited to be here in the UAE which has a true entrepreneurial spirit at its core,” said Professor Souitaris. “The timing of this new module could not have been better. As pro-business reforms take effect across the Middle East, I foresee a sharp rise in start-ups in the region. This, in turn, will lead to increasing demand for entrepreneur-focused business programmes at a level and scale never seen before in the Middle East.”
“There are wonderful opportunities for young business leaders in the UAE and in the wider Middle East region,” said Fraser Sampson. “Entrepreneurship remains a buzz word across the Middle East region and we at Cass Business School are confident that the newly launched module will help enormously to groom business leaders of tomorrow.”
Prof Logan continues: “This EMBA stream provides would-be entrepreneurs the grounding they need to flourish. With the New Venture Creation module taught in London, candidates will have opportunities to exchange ideas and network with a diverse cohort of similarly entrepreneurially-minded individuals.”
Dr. Ahmed Mokhtar, an EMBA student, who is graduating in April 2012 said: "The pitfall with most EMBA courses is that the modules are designed keeping in mind the business needs of large organisations. This does not help if you work in a small company or have an intention to start your own business venture. I’m glad that Cass Business School EMBA programme has introduced a module on ‘Innovation and Entrepreneurship,’ which will undoubtedly prove to be a great advantage.”
During the two year Cass EMBA programme, students pursue between three and six electives, as per their areas of interest. Students can choose a General Management stream, a specialist Islamic Finance stream, Mainstream Finance, Energy or the new Entrepreneurship stream.
News
Singapore elective gets underway
Cass students have flown in to Singapore for an intensive weekend elective that gets underway today. MSc and EMBA students have travelled to Asia's wealth management capital for a four day elective on monetary policy.The elective, which was launched last year, is run jointly by Cass and Singapore Management University's (SMU) highly-rated Lee Kong Chian School of Business. This year will also see students from Cambridge University's Judge Business School join the elective for the first time.
MSc Programme Director Susan Roth, said: "Singapore is a key pin in our international strategy. We are delighted to be working with SMU and Judge to create new learning and networking opportunities for our students in such an important financial region. Given that many of the students on this elective are in full-time employment, they often find the trip is as important for their companies as it is for them."
Almost 50 students from Cass, SMU and Judge will take part in a series of lectures delivered by Cass Professor of Asset Management, Andrew Clare, and SMU Economics Professor, Kim Song Tam.
Among the topics they will cover include an overview of the Asian markets, the role money plays in a modern economy, the operation of monetary policy and the current challenges monetary policy faces across the globe.
The lectures will be blended with a series of seminars from top executives at two of Asia's leading financial institutions, OCBC and UOB, together with visits to their offices on Shenton Way, Singapore's equivalent of Wall Street.
Students will also get the chance to put theory into practice with a computer simulation where they play the role of an Asian monetary authority, making a series of interest rate decisions for their virtual economy.
Dominic Loureda, from the Cass MSc in Finance and Investment, said: "This elective is an important networking opportunity given Singapore's huge financial importance. There's a possibility that we could be making money in this region or even working here which is why it's good to get to meet new contacts and exchange information and ideas."
The monetary policy elective is open to students on Cass's part-time MSc in Finance and Investment and Executive MBA courses.
News
Cass Dean recognised for services to education
Richard Gillingwater CBE, Dean of Cass Business School, which is part of City University London, has been appointed by decree of the Prime Minister of France to the rank of chevalier dans l'ordre des Palmes académiques for services to education.L' ordre des Palmes académiques was established in 1808 by Emperor Napoleon I. Its three ranks, Knight, Officer and Commander, were later extended to include those who make distinguished contributions to the expansion of French culture and education around the world.
Dean Richard Gillingwater discovered he was to receive this award in a personal letter from French Minister of Education, Luc Chatel.
Richard says: "This is a real honour for Cass which recognises the role the School has played in educating French students and the effective partnerships we have been able to forge with several major French business schools, such as I'ESCP and ESSEC. It is an important recognition of the growing reputation of Cass Business School in Europe."
News
Cass helps Financial Times launch new digital learning software
Cass Business School has been a key institution in helping the Financial Times launch new software to aid students' learning and understanding of real world financial events.
Cass academics and students were specially selected to take part in the beta-testing phase of MBA Newslines, a new digital learning tool that allows lecturers to annotate FT articles online, submit comments and share them with their class or other schools.
Professor Scott Moeller said the tool helps students to relate real world events to coursework and understand views from students and faculty in other parts of the world.
Professor Moeller said: "Using this annotation tool, I can highlight articles and M&A stories for my students that reinforce points that I make or will make in class. This allows me to demonstrate how the material we are covering is timely and that the issues are relevant to companies right now."
Cass MSc Finance student, John Stockel, said: "Case studies are frequently used in courses to bridge the gap between theory and real world application. MBA Newslines complements these by giving students the opportunity to witness cases unfold before their eyes with the direction of annotations from Cass professors. As students, we are always on the go, trying to collect and interpret the vast amount of news and events that cycle throughout the day on top of our daily studies. MBA Newslines is a great way for academics to bring attention to key takeaways from articles that might have otherwise been overlooked."
News
Dubai guest speaking event 18th March
Professor Scott Moeller; 18th of March on “Global Outlook for Mergers and Acquisitions in 2012”
Jointly hosted by Capital Club and Cass, the discussion forum provided an in-depth look at situations arising from the recent economic turbulence as businesses are hopeful for attractive opportunities to undertake well thought-out and carefully executed mergers and acquisitions transactions.
News
Dubai guest speaking event 22nd April
Guy Fraser-Sampson on 22nd of April on “Sovereign debt, deficit financing and liquidity worries”
Guy Fraser-Sampson who shed light on the current status of sovereign debt, deficit financing and liquidity worries shared his views on what does it mean for investors around the world. Delivering the talk on “Is this a new stage of the financial crisis?” on April 22, the Senior Fellow at Cass Business School shared his analysis of the present situation and his thoughts for the future.
6 Mar 2012
The Cass MBA Perspective: Women in business
While it’s true that challenges still exist for women in business, there have never been more opportunities for women to enjoy a successful career. Recognising this fact, Cass is celebrating International Women’s Day with a Women in Business seminar Journey to the Top on 8 March.
At the event, the next generation of talented and ambitious women will be encouraged to make use of the opportunities available to them, including the tried and tested route to business success – an MBA.
In the recent 2012 Financial Times rankings, the Cass Full-time MBA programme was listed as having the highest percentage of woman on any full-time MBA in the world
and this is partly down to Cass’s ethos of collaboration rather than excessive competitiveness. Cass is a dynamic place to learn – you feel that as soon as you walk in. We attract ambitious and forward thinking women and our teaching is in tune with our position as the intellectual hub of the City – practical, current and industry leading.
In terms of female recruitment, Cass practices what it preaches with the Full-Time MBA Course Director (Sionade Robinson) and MBA Programme Director (Erica Hensens) in post, along with many other female academics and professional staff members like myself.
The Women in Business seminar, part of the ongoing Leadership series, will be held at Cass on 8 March. Join us for an inspiring evening to celebrate the success of today’s Business Leaders, and encourage the next generation of talented and ambitious women to make use of the opportunities available to them.
For more information and to register for the Leadership series, click here.
Viola Polakowska
Full-time MBA Advisor
Full-time MBA Advisor
A Special Interest Group with a female focus
During my MBA degree as Cass, I served as the president of Cass Women in Business (WiB); a very active Special Interest Group (SIG) within the Cass community. The reason I joined this group is because I am passionate about overcoming obstacles and creating opportunities for women in business. In addition, I wanted to contribute to the student life and make a difference.
The group which was formed in 2009, encourages constructive debate between male and female students, as well as leading professionals from a variety of sectors (e.g. investment banking, marketing, consulting, etc), in topics related to women in business. WiB’s mission is to explore the challenges women are facing in the workplace and promote awareness among the future managers, directors, and board members.
Equally important for WiB is to create mentoring and networking opportunities as a way to inspire and support the next generation of high potential women. For this reason, we worked hard to create an effective business leadership network connecting Cass students and the business professionals in the City.
As the president, I was responsible for the communication between the WiB team, the high-profile speakers from the events we hosted and our supporters within Cass. My main concern was to organise impactful events. Part of my job was to select interesting topics and attract inspirational speakers who were willing to share their insights. For those professionals, WiB events offer an opportunity to share their career successes and knowledge with the next generation of managers and directors and also to get exposed to new ideas.
Women in Business is the biggest of the SIGs at Cass but there are plenty of other great and very active groups that offer an exciting environment to share ideas and refine leadership, communication and people skills. As a member of a SIG team, one has opportunities to work alongside students with similar interests as well as industry professionals. This platform is also a great place to put in practice all coursework. For example, tasks like securing sponsorship demand good marketing; clearly communicating what the group represents and what it aims to achieve, and strategy skills; who will be targeted and how the potential sponsor will be approached, etc. Being part of a SIG can help students gain business experience before they sail into the real world. Lastly, being involved with a SIG means you gain access to events organised by SIGs in other business schools, professional networks in the city or companies. Thus, your network expands quickly beyond the Cass community.
Maria Nikolou PhD, MBA.
President of Cass Women in Business (2010 - 2011)
Are women seen but not heard?
I couldn't sleep one night, so I switched on the radio and heard the end of ‘Today in Parliament’ – a review of the matters of interest discussed by MPs on that day [3rd Feb 2012]. I heard female ministers, columnists and commentators discussing if, in the 21st Century the minority group in parliament –women – felt patronised by the media.
The majority of the debate focussed on how women were more likely to be reported because of their appearance rather than what they had to say. Take for example, the incident of Lisa Nandy. She was in the House in April 2011 to introduce her ten minute rule bill on exports and human rights, a serious subject worthy of report. The Daily Mail headline the following day was: The Labour MP Showed a Little Too Much of her Front Bench. It went on: “She probably thought that her choice of outfit would capture male MPs attention …….But Labour MP Lisa Nandy's decision to wear a low cut top showing off a little too much cleavage has done rather more than that.”
There was nothing about her Bill or human rights.
Back to the late-night radio discussion and Janet Street-Porter [Journalist] waded-in to say that women only had themselves to blame: “Intelligent women being photographed… Caroline Flint for example, who can forget that ridiculous outfit she wore … if she wants to be taken seriously... why oh why!!! What we have to ask is; would a man do the same thing?”
Which was jumped-on by the ‘twice married mother of three’ wearing a ‘leather-fronted £485 Dolce & Gabbana skirt and £271 silk blouse by L’Agence [with] heavy dark eye make-up’ (Daily Mail – again!) woman of the moment on this subject Louise Mensch: “Absolutely yes! The PM appeared on the front page of GQ and Tony Blair on the cover of Men’s Vogue.”
This reminded me of several things. One was a talk I attended at Cass when a female board director of a financial services company spoke about what it takes for a woman to get to the top. One of her pieces of advice was about clothes. She pointed to what she was wearing: “My uniform” (of which she said she had half-a-dozen) - a neat, trendy but grey suit, buttoned to the neck. As Ann McElvoy [Columnist and Commentator] said: “It is dreary, but you do have to think about how you present yourself. I would take the PC line about cleavage and just put it away.” Women do have to think about appearance more than men if they want to be heard.
Then there was the conversation I had with a group of women MBA alumni reminiscing. They were enjoying memories of their Colour me Beautiful session which was an option on their MBA programme. The point, they said in response to my curiosity, was confidence. The session had convinced them that when they were comfortable they were looking their best and expressing something of their personality; they could be the best.
Which takes me back to Laura (didn’t catch the rest of her name) and my midnight radio habit, she said: “We are our own worse enemies. We need to be tougher and not get so upset. Men are not so precious about this. It’s like a muscle I think, the more you do it the more it helps.” Psychologically, women generally do feel hurt and remorse more than men.
Dr Julie Verity
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)