The Cass MBA Perspective: Corporate Governance

A big welcome to this special corporate governance edition of the Cass MBA Perspective eNewsletter – all the way from Dubai. In this issue, we tackle many of the current disputes surrounding corporate governance, with features and articles from students, lecturers and alumni.

There’s a great feature by Santiago, one of our London students who took part in the UAE International Study Tour. This tour offers MBA students an opportunity to visit Dubai and Abu Dhabi, giving them the opportunity to enjoy all it has to offer, while finding out more about how business operates differently compared to the UK.

The tour has a financial focus and includes meetings at the Dubai International Financial Centre. At these meetings, several influential speakers cover the historical and cultural context of Dubai, along with an economic and political overview of the region. On this year’s tour, Nick Nadal, Head of Hawkamah (Institute for Corporate Governance in Dubai) gave an excellent overview of corporate governance in Dubai.

Corporate governance, in short, is the system that oversees and directs any large company. In this edition, Tim Travers (Cass EMBA Dubai alumus) examines the Shariah governance systems of Islamic financial institutions in different countries – and how they work in practice.

The Cass network helped Tim get his Business Mastery Project recognised by one of the leading Islamic Financial Institutions regulators, the Accounting and Auditing Organisation for Islamic Financial Institutions (AAOIFI). His highly relevant and informative research led to an invitation to sit on the subcommittee of the AAOIFI, responsible for corporate governance.

The Cass Executive MBA in Dubai prepares students for business in the Middle East and its neighbouring regions – allowing students to tailor their studies to match their career goals. They can choose from specialist streams, including Leadership and Change Management, Islamic Finance, Mainstream Finance, Entrepreneurship and Energy. The qualification offers excellent grounding for business in Dubai and the wider region.

I hope you enjoy this edition of the Cass MBA perspective newsletter. Don’t forget to comment and share your views on articles you find interesting.

Ehsan Razavizadeh 

Regional Director, MENA & Head of Dubai Centre

Shari'ah governance systems: An international comparative study

Shari’ah corporate governance, in its broadest terms, is the single most important current issue for the Islamic finance and insurance industries. There are many current drivers towards further developments. The global financial system continues in a state of flux and is not without further threats and stresses. Infrastructural changes to the way such a system works, and should work, have been, and remain, a source of major debate. An alternative, or parallel, financial system based on Islamic economic principles is one option. 

Corporate governance is generally in a constant state of change as graphically demonstrated by the trends in country and pan-country governance codes and guidelines issued over the last 20 years. 

Shari’ah corporate governance has special features in addition to the commonly accepted components of corporate governance as applied to conventional banking and insurance businesses, namely the ultimate stakeholder, Allah, the Investment Account Holders and observance of the Maquasid Al-Shari’ah (which is that the goals and objectives of Shari’ah law are to support five essential benefits to human and community life on earth). It also contains inherent overarching features derived directly from the core principles of Islamic economics. Finally, Shari’ah corporate governance has a further defining overarching feature, which is that Islamic Financial Institutions (IFIs) continue to operate within the institutional framework of a conventional financial system. Mirakhor and Krichene (2009) argue this is completely inappropriate as a regulatory and supervisory framework and challenge the industry to aspire towards a single global regulatory-supervisory framework for Islamic finance and insurance. 

Not only does good corporate governance require the existence of available models of good practice, but more importantly, corporate governance requires organisations to have a good stock of human resource capital throughout the organisation in order to be able to implement the corporate governance framework and execute in operational practice.

To read more on my report examining the different components of Shari’ah governance systems of IFIs in different countries and how they operate in practice please take a look at the following:

PDF - Download Shari’ah governance systems study (Part 2 Executive Summary)

PDF - Download Shari’ah governance systems study (Part 18 Survey and Analysis)

Tim Travers
Cass EMBA Dubai Alumnus

*Please note the context of this article is based on Tim’s report completed 1st November 2010.

Cass and corporate governance

In the last ten years since the corporate scandals at Enron and WorldCom, corporate governance has developed from an issue that was mainly (if not entirely) of interest only to compliance and audit professionals into a topic that has almost daily media coverage. Since the beginning of the financial crisis in 2008 public awareness has grown even more, and issues such as board behaviour and ethics are now regular discussion points in financial and popular media. Fortunately not all the current issues in corporate governance are defensive and negative: alongside the outrage and reaction to unethical and self-centred management practices are very positive and constructive initiatives to innovate and renew management principles and practices across the world.

Cass has long been a strong advocate of corporate governance, and it has been a central part of our MBA programme for many years. During this time both academics and students have carried out ground breaking research into the key issues that managers in all types of enterprise need to address. Two major themes that have emerged recently; are how businesses should react to the financial crisis and be better prepared for the future, and the development of the body of knowledge of governance and Islamic finance.

It is clear in hindsight that while there was no single cause for the financial crisis; it follows that there will also not be a single solution. But some clear issues can be identified as helping to create the conditions that were necessary for systems to break down as catastrophically as they did. These issues can be placed in both organisational and personal contexts: poor or ignored corporate governance principles, and a low appreciation and acceptance of ethical principles. This is not to say that enterprises deliberately set out to act unethically or illegally, rather that core principles of trust and respect for stakeholders were placed behind personal gain. A very positive investigation into how the problem of trust among businesses was initiated by the Lord Mayor of London last year, and several Cass academics were actively involved in a major survey of city institutions and individuals from some of London’s best known companies. Our findings will contribute to how individuals and companies can raise the profile of ethical standards and the recognition that actions do not take place in a moral vacuum.

Our research into Islamic financial systems, and in particular the related corporate governance issues has grown massively since we established our MBA programme in Dubai. For several years now collaboration between students, local and regional businesses and Cass academics has been examining the infrastructure and implementation issues of Islamic finance. This research has led to contributions to the knowledge and guidance that professionals from all over the world need to understand in order to understand this important area. Recent activities include practical guidance to support Sharia compliant financial practice, development of corporate governance codes for Islamic financial services, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives in the Middle East and the governance of sovereign wealth funds in the Gulf. There has never been a more important, nor as interesting a time to be involved in corporate governance research.

Professor Rob Melville

News

Under the patronage of H.H. Sheikh Maktoum, third cohort of Executive MBA students graduate from Cass Business School Dubai  

 

Dubai, UAE; May 1, 2012: The third cohort of students from the Cass Business School Dubai Executive MBA (EMBA) programme have graduated in a ceremony held at the Dubai International Financial Center (DIFC) under the patronage of H.H. Sheikh Maktoum Bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai and President of DIFC, and attended by H.H. Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum.

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

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.

News

Lord Mayor of London addresses Cass Business School’s Dubai Centre

The Right Honourable David Wootton joins students, alumni and faculty members to celebrate Cass’s achievements in the Middle East and North Africa

Dubai, UAE; February 23, 2012: Cass Business School announced today that the Lord Mayor of London, the Right Honourable David Wootton, attended an alumni event to celebrate the school’s achievements in the Middle East and North Africa.  The Lord Mayor of London led a delegation of UK business leaders, in his capacity as Chancellor of City University London, of which Cass Business School is a part. 

The Lord Mayor addressed students, alumni and faculty members as well as senior members of DIFC at an event that took place in the Capital Club, Dubai. The theme of his speech was the important role that education plays in furthering strong bi-lateral ties between the UAE and the UK. The Lord Mayor also took time to interact with attendees about the key issues that currently affect the global financial landscape.

Rt. Hon. David Wootton, the Lord Mayor of London said, “As Lord Chancellor of City University London and its Cass Business School, I am delighted to attend the Cass Alumni reception in Dubai. The popularity of the Cass and City programmes - with over 1800 alumni and students in the Middle East and North Africa - is a testament to the Institution’s excellent reputation.” 

“The Cass Dubai Centre has established itself as a dynamic academic hub at the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC). We hope the brightest and best young people will continue to apply to the programmes at Cass, both in London and Dubai, in order to help maintain its world leading reputation.”

The Lord Mayor’s reception has become an annual highlight in the Cass Business School Dubai Centre’s calendar. Its state-of-the-art campus was opened in the Dubai International Financial Centre in 2007 and has been home to over 250 executives and professionals studying on Cass’s international acclaimed Executive MBA programme.  Cass’s EMBA programme was the first in the world to offer specialist modules in Islamic Finance and Energy.     

Abdulla Mohammed Al Awar, CEO of DIFC Authority said, “In this dynamic and fast changing world, professional education and development is more critical and important than it has ever been. With the transformation taking place across our region and indeed across the world, professionals must ensure they have the skills and tools required to remain at the cutting edge of innovation in their respective sectors. There is no template or a textbook to chart the landmark roads to success. There are however tools to use, such as the programme at Cass Business School. We, at DIFC, are proud to be place a premium on professional development”.

Ehsan Razavizadeh, Regional Director of Cass Business School said, “We are delighted to welcome our Chancellor to the UAE. The Lord Mayor’s visit is an excellent opportunity for our ever-growing body of students and alumni to gain valuable insights into the global financial industry. Today, graduates of Cass Business School’s Dubai EMBA programme are employed the world over, but the City of London remains a key destination for many of our alumni.” 

The annually-elected Lord Mayor is the head of the City of London Corporation and acts as ambassador for the UK-financial services industry, typically spending three months a year leading City business delegations overseas and promoting London’s business credentials abroad.  

News

Career workshops in Dubai to help EMBAs get ahead

A series of workshops took place at Cass Business School in Dubai for the EMBA students to learn skills for their future careers. The workshops ran throughout February and the topics ranged from job search strategies to networking and negotiating skills. 

The February workshops consisted of:

Job search strategies

This careers planning session was designed to equip students with the tools and techniques to manage their careers for the long-term as well as to increase their success within their current company. Networking skills Research shows that networking is the number one route for MBAs to secure a new job. Students learned how to effectively extend and manage their network to help develop their career. Personal advice sessions Tailored sessions to cover topics such as CV and cover letter review, job search advice, interview advice or do a mock interview. Middle East recruitment overview A representative from a leading Dubai based recruitment firm spoke on topics such as 'the Middle Eastern Recruitment Market' and 'How to work with Recruitment Firms'. Successful negotiation Successful negotiation workshops were run as one day sessions. A selection of feedback from the  individual one to one career coaching sessions which Cass conducted can be found below:  'very open discussion - good suggestions and advice but more importantly a clear plan with steps to follow up the progress' 'thank you for a very insightful discussion' 'one of the best sessions' Keep up-to-date with what is going on in your area through Cass Careers Online and ensure you are using the resources available to you.

News

Executive MBA Dubai Class Intake 2011 enjoy a Desert Barbecue

Date: 17.12.2011

Location: Dubai

News

The Cass Dubai Centre - a leading resource for the Middle East and North Africa

Established in May 2007, Cass's Dubai Centre is a regional centre of educational excellence for the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). We offer a number of courses, including a highly rated Executive MBA. 

Located in the prestigious Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC), the Cass Dubai Centre was officially launched on 5 May 2009 under the patronage of His Highness Sheik Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai.

Now fully established in the region, Cass has emerged as a market leader in postgraduate education for employers and employees alike. We have achieved this by creating a unique environment in which students benefit from the expertise of business leaders while accessing outstanding networking opportunities and career enhancing connections.

Visit us: Sunday - Thursday from 09:00 - 17:00

Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC)
Gate Village, Building 2, Level 3
P.O. Box 482070, Dubai, UAE 

News

Cass Business School Dubai welcomes fifth Executive MBA class

Dubai, UAE, September 25, 2011: Cass Business School Dubai today welcomed the fifth intake of its Executive MBA (EMBA) programme, ranked the 10th best in the world by the Financial Times. The class of 2011-13, comprising 61 students from 24 countries, will study at the Cass Dubai Centre in DIFC.

This year’s EMBA programme began with a four day induction at the Cass Dubai Centre in DIFC, including an introduction to the faculty, the unique Cass virtual learning environment, Moodle, team building and professional development workshops and a social reception hosted by the school at the Capital Club. The students also enjoyed a formal welcome to the course in the presence of DIFC Management and Guy Warrington, HM Consul General.

Abdulla Mohammed Al Awar, CEO of DIFC Authority, said: “We would like to welcome Cass’s fifth intake of its EMBA programme. As part of its mandate to contribute to the development and growth of the financial sector in the region and to UAE’s economy, DIFC supports educational programmes that help in the creation of knowledgeable, experienced and talented professionals. The Cass programme indeed complements this mandate. We look forward to congratulating the new intake on their successful completion of the programme to having their eventual contribution to the growth of the regional financial services industry”.

Professor Roy Batchelor, Associate Dean MBA programmes at Cass, said: “On behalf of everyone at Cass Business School, I welcome the 2011-2013 cohort of students to the Dubai Executive MBA. The group can look forward to two years of world-class business education, delivered by internationally recognised academics, and the opportunity to build their international network of business contacts. With a wide choice of electives, students can tailor the content of the programme, meaning the course will take them wherever they want to go in their career.”

Ehsan Razavizadeh, Regional Director for Middle-East and North Africa said: "In just five years, the Cass EMBA programme has earned an enviable reputation in the UAE and across the region. This reputation is once again reflected in the hugely impressive educational and professional backgrounds of our student intake.  Many of our alumni are already taking major strides in the professional world, and I am confident this year’s class will join them and become the region’s next generation of business leaders.” 

News

Cass and Hawkamah partner in Dubai

Cass Business School has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Hawkamah, the Institute for Corporate Governance in Dubai.

The agreement was signed during a ceremony at the Dubai International Financial Centre by Hawkamah Executive Director, Dr. Nasser Saidi, and Cass Regional Director MENA region, Ehsan Razavizadeh.

Cass and Hawkamah will collaborate to raise awareness of corporate governance through the joint hosting of workshops, seminars and networking events. The two organisations will also conduct research into corporate governance in the Middle East, with Hawkamah supporting the work of Cass students with, for example, their dissertations.

According to research by Hawkamah, 56% of the region's listed companies and banks are in emerging or under developed corporate governance practice. However, most of the region's capital market regulators and central banks have issued corporate governance codes, regulations and frameworks that need to be implemented by these companies.

Dr. Saidi said: "Clearly, there is a lot more work that needs to be done that focuses on corporate governance implementation. As a think-and-do-tank devoted to bridging the corporate governance gaps in the Middle East and North Africa region, we are delighted to formalise our partnership with Cass Business School through this MoU. In the past few years, we have been working with Cass professors and their students to bring more focus to corporate governance research on the region, a much needed endeavour in order to further identify current practices and develop policy and practical solutions to push better corporate governance practices. We look forward to further collaborations and engagement with Cass Business School, and are excited about the prospects of our partnership."

Razavizadeh said: "Thanks in great part to the work of Hawkamah, corporate governance in the Middle East has come into sharp focus over recent years. As such, it has become an imperative to ensure business leaders in the Middle East are equipped with the skills and knowledge to implement corporate governance best practice. Aligning our expertise with that of Hawkamah means we will be able to offer students the most comprehensive grounding in corporate governance available anywhere in the region."

Cass Business School and Hawkamah have a longstanding working relationship. Three students from the first Cass Business School Executive MBA programme in 2007 conducted their Business Mastery Project in collaboration with Hawkamah. The project focused on analysing and corroborating the corporate governance practices of Islamic banks and financial institutions, with the research findings providing an important pillar of Hawkamah's Policy Brief on Corporate Governance for Islamic Banks.

News

Dubai - Guest Speaking events at the Capital Club


The Capital Club and Cass Business School presented a number guest speakers on a variety of topics in the last couple of months. These topics covered insider trading, business models and lessons from the financial crisis, allowing the audience to have an in-depth discussion on current topics of the business world.

14/09/11 Insider Trading: Should the regulators legalise insider trading?

Based on extensive research on the topic, Professor Lasfer lead a debate on Insider trading
considering the importance of insider trading in increasing market efficiency, whilst trying to maintain
and protect the interest of outside/minority shareholders' interests.






26/09/11 What business models do we need for success and how do we get there?


In this evening debate Charles Baden-Fuller explored what the threats are to the current business models: in terms of the way companies need to think about value creation and value capture. And he looked at the challenges to managing business model adoption, and critically, the role of top management and the board of directors in setting the right agenda.




10/10/11 Investment Lessons from the Financial Crisis…
with Steve Thomas

With the crisis entering a new phase and the global economy facing a possible double-dip, why are policymakers so helpless and why has macroeconomics and finance theory been shown to be so lacking in credible solutions? And are there investment strategies which can secure reasonable returns despite the ultra-volatile market environment?

Reflecting on a year in Dubai

Dubai, September 2009: the 3^rd cohort of the Cass EMBA in Dubai bustling together in the exclusive lounge at the 1^st floor of the Dubai International Financial Centre’s building 2. All were looking rather dashing in formal attire, chatting attentively and politely to the person closest, happily unaware of the 18 months that lie ahead. 

Fast forward those 18 months, and meet the 3^rd cohort - there at that 1^st floor – a tight knit group of people from all walks of life, joking, discussing – no formal attire in sight (some even in shorts) and all proud, happy and very relaxed. Being accustomed to the uniqueness, quality and luxury of Dubai, Cass has not let anyone down. It has been a unique, personalized and very intense experience with grueling but inspiring lectures (forgetting QM, anyone?), performance of arts (economics coursework presentations, flooring everyone with laughter), competitions (remember who won Markstrat?) and enough laughter and fun to fill a much longer article than this one.

What 3^rd cohort might not realize is that they are unique! Well, most cohorts are unique, but this is not any run of the mill cohort – close to 40% of the students are budding entrepreneurs with fascinating, exciting and potentially high impacting business ideas for this region! It might be a reflection of the Middle East – entrepreneurship has always been a natural, and mostly necessary, means to support families and the close community - it might be Cass’ emerging markets focus, the strategy teachings and the entrepreneurship and innovation focus, all supplying a framework for the students; or simply that this cohort has the right entrepreneurial DNA to build unique businesses! 

No doubt, that even if a few high profile entrepreneurial success stories have come out of this region, many more are needed to showcase that this region is full of well educated, incredibly focused, extremely creative and highly inspiring leaders. I bet you that you will meet some of the Cass Dubai, 3^rd cohort in future breaking news stories of entrepreneurial success, and I will be forever proud to have been sitting next to them at Cass Business School!  

Bettina Frimann Larsen

News

Dubai - Guest Speaking Event on 5th June

In association with Cass Business School and Capital Club, one of Cass's strategy experts Dr Gianvito Lanzolla gave a personal view on the latest findings in Strategic Management Research on how to successfully conduct your company in uncertain times.

Held on Sunday 5th June 2011, the seminar explored whether corporate diversification is an answer
to uncertainty and shedded some light on its advantages, and limits. The seminar also briefly discussed how the strategy formulation process may be adjusted to deal with uncertainty.

News

Success Stories from Dubai

Three Business Mastery Projects (BMP) from the Executive MBA in Dubai Cohort 2008 were of such a high quality (and incidentally, achieved the highest marks awarded on the Dubai EMBA) that Prof. Rob Melville, Professor of Internal Auditing, recommended to the authors that they develop them as academic papers to be presented at appropriate conferences and for publication.

• Kishore Jaichandani and Neeraj Teckchandani produced a BMP about potential links between governance and performance in the GCC. From this, an abstract was produced for a paper ‘Where Corporate Governance And Better Firm Performance Meet: Empirical Evidence of Public Listed Companies in the GCC Region’. This was submitted to the 9^th Internal Auditing and Corporate Governance conference in London, April 2011 a peer reviewed event with an acceptance rate of only one in three. It was received very positively, and was awarded the conference prize of £500 for best paper. Competition included many experienced academics from internationally recognised universities.
• Tim Travers produced a BMP about Shar’ia law in Islamic financial insitutions. This was developed into a paper that was put forward for the 1st International Conference on Organisational Governance, organised by the Centre for Research into Organisational Governance (CROG) at Leicester Business School, De Montfort University, Leicester, September 2011. This is a peer reviewed conference, and the organisers are very well known in the CSR and governance reseacrh community.
• Thomas Hodgson and Damien Kriteman developed their BMP on corporate governance in sovereign wealth funds. Their paper based on the BMP ‘The Importance of Good Governance and Corporate Governance to the Government Investment Vehicles of the United Arab Emirates’ has also been accepted for the CROG event. Both theirs and Tim’s will have the opportunity to be published in specialist CSR journals as a result. 

Corporate governance and CSR are two of the key strategic issues for many very well known companies, and Islamic finance and governance is among the major areas for research, especially how it is developing in MENA, London and SE Asian locations. These three projects have made a vital contribution to the understanding of governance and show clearly that Cass' MBA students can compete as both extremely effective practitioners and as researchers of the highest quality.