stay connected - volume 2 issue 8 - june 2012

UOWD Alumni Newsletter n University of Wollongong in Dubai1 www.uowdubai.ac.ae

Stay Connectedi n s p i r e n i n n o v a t e n c o m m u n i c a t e n c o n n e c t

This Issue:

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13

10

Volume 2 / Issue 8 / June 2012

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7

I am delighted to introduce myself as the new President of the University of Wollongong in

Dubai. I came to UOWD with significant experience in higher education, most recently serv-

ing as the Pro Vice-Chancellor, Research and Innovation and Dean of the College of Science

and Technology at the University of Salford in the UK. My background reflects the multi-

cultural nature of UOWD - I was born in Lebanon and educated in Britain where I com-

pleted a Masters degree in construction and then a PhD in Construction Management and

IT at Loughborough University and now work for an Australian University in Dubai in the

U.A.E. I’m proud to be here and look forward to contributing and growing the UOWD.

In our effort to re-engage with our Alumni, Arpana Sharma the Manger of Presidential Alumni

Relationships organised a “Dinner with the President” for UOWD Distinguished Alumni on

23 May. At this event celebrating our distinguished alumni, I was reminded by His Excellency

Pablo Kang, Australian Ambassador to the UAE, that the word alumni comes from the root

word – alere meaning ‘to nourish, raise or bring up’. Our goal with all of you, our alumni, is to

build a lifelong relationship. To that end, we have ambitious plans to increase the scale and

scope of our alumni outreach program, including continued career development support,

greater networking between alumni, social activities and community involvement. I am

pleased to invite you to the following series of events:

· During Ramadan, I will be hosting an iftaar dinner for alumni

· We have scheduled interesting speakers to come in and share cutting edge topics in-

cluding renowned expert Anesh Jagtiani

· Our faculty leaders will be starting a new ‘Ask the Expert’ dinner series where you can

continue your education outside the classroom

· And finally, we have fun activities lined up as well – a place for you to relax and enjoy

Please stay tuned to your email and to the alumni events webpage where will be providing up-

dates on dates. We’re excited to welcome you back and look forward to staying in touch.

Meanwhile if you have any thoughts or suggestions on how we can best serve the needs of our

valued alumni community, I am open to your suggestions.

Please contact me at [email protected].

Looking forward to seeing you all!

Ghassan Aouad

We’re mighty proud that UOWD hasbeen making headlines locally and in-ternationally and we have a roundupof some of the most importantlaunches, events and reasons that havekept us in the news.

Dr. Melodena Balakrishnan, AssociateProfessor, Faculty of Business and Man-agement puts into perspective, the im-portance of Managing Reputation in thereal world and the price you'd have topay, if you don't!

Mohammed Murad takes center stageas our High Achiever. He currentlyruns three businesses, has multiple ed-ucational qualifications and is indeed asource of inspiration, considering hewas a college drop-out who turned hislife around.

It’s time to finally welcome our newEvents & Alumni Coordinator, MonaTeckchandani and we put her inSpotlight this issue to know whereshe’s coming from and where she’sheading.

Do you remember the initial days ofUOW back when the campus waslocated in Ghusais. Old-timerNatasha Fernandes gives us a blastfrom the past, sharing her memoriesfrom the Class of 98’.

Amina Radzhabova is the chosenCurrent Student this issue and ispretty busy living her life to thefullest handling three importantroles at Uni while she completesher BCom in HR.

From the President

UOWD Alumni Newsletter n University of Wollongong in Dubai

From the

Editor

2 www.uowdubai.ac.ae

We’re excited to bring you our 8th Issue of Stay Con-

nected and more so, because we are anticipating a whole

lot of new changes to the Alumni Community.

With Mona Tekchandani our new Events & Alumni Co-

ordinator now in office, there’s excitement in the air as we gear up for some regular

networking events, a meet and greet with our new President and then some more.

Considering Mona joins UOWD with extensive experience in handling Alumni Re-

lations, we can certainly tell you that there is a lot more to expect as we strive to build

up the 5000+ Alumni Network that the University has built up over the years, bear-

ing in mind we are celebrating our 20th Anniversary next year. Going back to the

humble beginnings of UOW, as it was then known before we got accredited by the

Ministry of Higher Education in the UAE, we’ve come a long way but the good old

memories seem to have attained a gold standard, as a few of the old-timers from

the earliest batches tell us in this issue (Mustafa Khan p. 14 and Natasha Fernandes

p 12). If you recognize them and can connect with those ‘good old’ days, then there’s

no doubt that we have something to cherish and hold on to because as they say, old

connections (flames or friends) die hard!

That said, we’ve talked to a number of

aspiring and inspiring individuals

(Amina Radzhabova, Nanesh

Undavia and Mohamed

Murad) who have worked

hard to reach where they

are and continue to excel in

their respective fields be-

cause they believe in reach-

ing for the stars (literally

speaking) and pushing the lim-

its to become pioneers in the in-

dustry. A read through this packed

issue is indicative of the strength and cal-

iber of the UOWD Alumni Network which poses a wealth of information and

knowledge, ultimately leading to new opportunities in more ways than one.

Before we leave you to flip through the pages, I suggest a good read on what Dr.

Melodena Balakrishnan says on ‘Managing Reputation’ as it bears extreme impor-

tance for business owners, given that we live in times when social media is spread-

ing like wild fire. And who better to tell you that than yours truly - the newly certified

Social Media Expert who just got done with an intensive course delivered by Abbas

Alidina on Social Media 360. If you haven’t already heard about it, take a look at the

short courses offered under ‘Pi’ on the university’s website and get on board.

Until next time,

Odelia Xavier

http://www.twitter.com/#!/OdeliaX

http://ae.linkedin.com/in/odeliaxavier

EdiTOr:

Odelia mathews-Xavier

(mib 2005)

[email protected]

dEpUTy / NEwS EdiTOr:

bahjat Aly Khan (mEm 2009)

[email protected]

dESigN dirEcTOr:

rita Jouaneh

[email protected]

NEwS cOOrdiNATOr:

rumana rahim ( miTm 2009)

[email protected]

cONTribUTOrS

dharini Kumar

(bcOm 2006)

[email protected]

Saima patwa

(bcOm 2006)

[email protected]

The Team:

mbA (mbA 2001)

Some people can attract you with their wit and Natasha was one

such personality in a room full of people from different back-

grounds and cultures. We met during the Social Media 360 Class

conducted by Abbas Alidina (who also teaches a 1 month course

at UOWD on the same subject) and instantly connected. It was

only later that we both realized that we were from the same uni-

versity, and once that was established, it was a roller coaster ride of memories and

ideas. Natasha is a seasoned individual with over eight years of experience in mar-

keting and communications, having worked on the agency and client side. Currently

in between jobs and making the most of the leisure time available before she heads

of to Germany in the summer, you can find her soaking up the social scene or levi-

tating at a meditation class, if not trying out a hypnotherapy session. In this issue,

she shares her views on university life back in the day and gives us all a real good

reason to connect with each other. Three social media platforms that have

you hooked? Facebook, pinterest and linkedin

mQm 2007

I love the feeling of utter surprise, when old friends write to you

out of the blue and re-establish a lost connection and I experi-

enced that very emotion (needless to say it was accompanied by

my 1000 watt smile) when Somayeh emailed to assist us with this

issue of SC. She was a driving force when we initially started out this newsletter but

work pressure kept her away. Now a good 7 issues down the line, she wanted to be

part of the fun and with time on her hands as she is in between jobs, it was fabulous

to catch up with her. Having worked with British American Tobacco for almost five

years until July 2011, Somayeh decided to take a break and travel and live in Europe

for a short period of time. “I managed some iconic Brands like Dunhill, B&H and

John Player Gold Leaf when I was working with BAT” she tells us from UK where

she is at the time of this release. Even though there are miles between us, Somayeh

is excited to touch base with the Uni because she met her best friend during her

studies at UOWD. “Renewing connections with the Uni is the most efficient way

of networking and keeping myself updated with the latest trends and changes in the

business environment” she says and we couldn’t agree better. Three places you

can’t wait to see in the world? New York at Christmas time, Tehran at the be-

ginning of Spring and then a visit to Peru.

Dear Friends,

New Contributors

JOiN US

For our next issue, joins us as we

compile ‘Alumni Class Notes’ to bring

you regular updates from your fellow batch

mates. If you’ve just got married, welcomed a

new child to the family, won an award, appeared

on the cover of a magazine or have written your

first book – send us your updates along with your

year of graduation and full name to be included.

We will also be putting out a Business Directory

for Alums who run their own business as a

way to encourage intercommunity con-

nections and we welcome your busi-

ness details for inclusion.

mib (2005)


Alumni

News


UOWD alUmni express gratitUDetO their alma mater

Past graduates, led by UAE nationals holding key

positions in major organisations, speak about the

University’s role in their success

Alumni of the 19-year-old University of Wollon-

gong in Dubai (UOWD), including Emiratis hold-

ing key positions in major organisations, expressed

their gratitude to their alma mater and relived

memories of their time as a UOWD student, at

an alumni dinner organised by the University’s

President, Professor Ghassan Aouad.

Addressing the gathering, the Australian Ambas-

sador to the UAE, H.E. Pablo Kang stressed the

importance of alumni networks, and described

the University’s move to bring together past stu-

dents for regular interactions as a great initiative.

Professor Ghassan Aouad, President of the Uni-

versity, in his welcome address, hailed the alumni

as the University’s best ambassadors and urged

them to stay connected. He announced that

UOWD would organise regular alumni events

from now on.

Arpana Sharma, Manager - Presidential Alumni

Relationships highlighted UOWD’s plans to work

with alumni on an ongoing basis as mentors and

by projecting them as leaders in their fields so that

they can inspire others through their success sto-

ries. “The journey has just begun, and there will

be many such reunions,” she added.

Invited to tell their success stories briefly, the

alumni paid glowing tributes to the University and

recounted how the learning enriched their lives

and helped in their career advancement.

Shurooq Al Banna, Marketing Specialist at Noor

Foundation, recounted how the networking skills

she learnt at UOWD helped her in a job that in-

volves running projects in remote villages in Africa

and Asia and raising funds for a project conceived

by Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum

with the goal of helping one million visually chal-

lenged people. Shurooq, who completed her Mas-

ter of Strategic Marketing degree, told the

audience: “Today, as I flit from Bangladesh to

Ethiopia, I am able to apply the skills I learnt at

the University to my day-to-day tasks and chal-

lenges. I am very proud of my association with

UOWD.”

Nazneen Maymoun, Director of Nursing at the

Sharjah Medical District, talked about how she

overcame personal tragedy to emerge stronger

and advanced her career through her MBA degree

from UOWD. Winner of Sheikh Rashid Award

for Academic Excellence, Nazneen was a science

topper before she did her MBA. “I had won a

scholarship at an overseas university, but I pre-

ferred to study in the UAE after the death of my

husband in a car accident,” Nazneen said. “I chose

UOWD and this marked a turning point in my

life, because it helped me get out of depression

and opened new avenues of self-development.

Today, as I run the whole of Sharjah Medical Dis-

trict, I am constantly inspired by what I learnt at

the University.”

Mohammed Shael Al Saadi, CEO, Business Reg-

istration and Licensing, Dubai Department of

Economic Development, revisited his fascinating

journey from a school dropout to a Master in

Quality Management. He joined the army at the

age of 13 after faking his age because he was trau-

matised in school, and rejoined school at a later

age and completed his Masters degree from

UOWD.

Yusuf Al Suwaidi, Director of Strategic Develop-

ment, Dubai Courts, who did his MBA from

UOWD in 1990, said the most important attrib-

ute the university gave him was ‘self-confidence’.

“It has been a long journey since my MBA from

UOWD, and I have been intensely involved in the

evolution of Dubai Courts. I am also proud to say

that there is an ongoing collaboration between

UOWD and Dubai Courts in developing case

studies. Hopefully, by the end of the year, two of

the case studies will be published,” said Yusuf.

Dr. Mohammed Ali Karkouli, who holds a Master

of International Business degree from UOWD,

related his experience as Corporate Emergency

Preparedness Manager, SEHA, Abu Dhabi Health

Services Company and a revolutionary project he

is working on. Ahmed A. Omer, a Master of Busi-

ness Administration holder from UOWD who

works as Senior Manager, Product Development,

Etisalat, recalled how his learning at the univer-

sity helped him in his career, including executing

a greenfield project for Etisalat in Nigeria. Fadi

Abdulmoein Al Sakka, an MBA, related his expe-

riences as Manager, Training and Development,

Dubai Airport Free Zone.


Dr. Mona Mustafa, Assistant Professor at UOWD

is currently researching on a dream that many of

today’s working people may have – working from

anywhere else outside the office! She is currently

researching on the idea of using Teleworking to

help Emarati women get absorbed in the job mar-

ket through remote employment. The idea of

Teleworking was first put into practice in the

1970’s during the US fuel crisis and has somehow

survived the impacts of globalization and cultural

difference in management styles of different

countries, but could now face a new challenge –

work life boundaries. “Traditionally, when we

leave the home and close that door to go to work,

you enter a new boundary, so traditionally people

had them separate but in the case of people work-

ing from home, these boundaries are sort of mix-

ing, which becomes challenging”, says Dr. Mona,

whose main area of interest in the research is

Boundary Management, and how Teleworkers can

maintain a healthy Work-Life balance. Her re-

search was also featured in the UAE’s local news-

paper, Gulf News.

teleWOrkingFOr WOmen

AlumniNews

here’s just the right amount of information to keep youup-to-date with the latest happenings at UOWD.

2 eDitiOn OF mOst pOpUlarCase stUDy bOOk laUnCheDFollowing the successful launch of its first volume in May 2011, the second edition of the case

study book series ‘Actions and Insights : Middle East North Africa’ was presented by Dr.

Melodena Balakrishnan, Associate Professor, Faculty of Business at UOWD to HH Sheikha

Lubna bint Khalid Al Qasimi, UAE Minister of Foreign Trade. The new volume which was

launched at the Ministry of Foreign Trade in Abu Dhabi features an article about ‘Managing

in Uncertain Times’ which is also the theme on which it is based and 12 exciting case studies

of companies such as Al Ain Dairy, Etihad Airways, Jumeirah Group, Abraaj Capital Lim-

ited, Advanced Technology Investment company, Haier and more. From describing com-

plexities of sales forecasting to the process of building a strong value based UAE brand, this

book covers a range of interesting topics and is available for purchase at Amazon.com. The

book was edited by Dr. Melodena herself along with Dr. Tim Rogmans from Zayed Univer-

sity and Immanuel Moonesar, Institutional Research Officer, UOWD and the cases featured

are currently being used in classes across the world. The book was published through the

funding generated through AIB-MENA and is in partnership with the UOWD Business

Case Centre and it’s worthy to note that many of the AIB-MENA cases are the most down-

loaded cases in the Emerald Emerging Market Case Studies Collection.

How awesome would it be if you could have

a purse with which you will never have to

worry about losing your cell phone, or laptop

or any personal belongings and it will remind

you of the things which you might need dur-

ing the day? – Pretty Awesome! When Man-

prabhjot Kaur and Rashida Daruwala, both

final year students at UOWD were deciding

on a topic for their project, their keen inten-

tion was to develop something which would

help people track lost items because they

themselves were always losing things. The duo

along with Dr. Mohammed Watfa, Assistant

Professor at UOWD then went on to create

the iPurse which uses the technology of

Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) to

keep track of things. Further to that the team

has also created an online calendar which can

be used with Gmail or Hotmail where you

programme your activities and the things you may need for them. “For example, if it’s cold and rainy outside

and your calendar is connected to the weather centre, it will check whether you have your scarf and umbrella

in your purse, if you don’t, it will send a message reminding you to take those items” says Dr. Watfa. This proj-

ect was recently featured in UAE’s local newspaper Gulf News and is under patent and has already received in-

terest from international companies who want to look at ways to commercialize the invention.

UOWD team Creates First-ever ipUrse

nd

Dr. Melodena & HH. Sheikha Lubna bint Al Qassimi

Dr. Mohammed Watfa shows the iPurse

www.uowdubai.ac.ae

Alumni

Accomplishments

Wherever you are and whatever you’re doing here’s what you should take pride in.

UOWD’s Legacy Team won the Gulf segment of the international KPMG ‘Ace the Case’ compe-

tition by beating six top UAE Universities and hence will be representing UAE in the finals which

will be held in Hong Kong in April. The team – Ali Khadim, Eoghen Hennessy, Fountain Abani

and Oluyinka Oreolowa, were given the case of PlanetTran, a US based Transportation Company

that uses hybrid vehicles in all its operations. The competition involved analysis of the business

case, finding a workable solution and presenting it to KPMG partners. “The success of the team

is a testimony of the teaching and learning philosophy that UOWD promoted, as a step towards

making them career ready. It was really rewarding to see the students bloom to the full potential”,

said Dr. Swapna Koshy, Assistant Professor, Faculty of Business and Management at UOWD and

the team’s Coach.

UOWD Alumni Newsletter n University of Wollongong in Dubai5

Winning the kpmg COmpetitiOn

UOWD viCtOriOUsat sympUlse 2012

The UOWD team comprising of 23 Undergraduate students

won various competitions at the Sympulse International sport-

ing and cultural festival in Pune, India. The UOWD throwball

team won the game against SIMC Pune, while Nitesh Lakhani

won the ‘War of the DJ’s’ competition and Sundeep Singh was

the runners up in the photography competition. Apart from

the usual sport competitions such as Throwball (women), Street

Football (men), basketball (women) and volleyball (men),

UOWD also competed in competitions of Photography, Fifa

PS3 and War of the DJ’s. “The students enjoyed some high class

sports and cultural events over the 5 days, providing them a new

benchmark for where the teams want to reach. The event gave

us an opportunity to show our sporting abilities and other skills

on an international stage”, said Erin Collins, Assistant Manager,

Student Services at UOWD.

it’s W.a.r time! At the recently held Wollongong Amazing Race (W.A.R) which was organized by the Student Serv-

ices Department (SSD), the students from the Faculty of Finance and Accounting emerged as win-

ners by beating other two teams from the Faculty of Computer Science and Engineering and the

Faculty of Business and Management. The W.A.R is a unique competition that tests problem solv-

ing, analytical thinking and organizational skills of the participants. Each team was given a list of tasks

which involved collecting unique items and taking pictures at different landmarks around Dubai

and returning back to deposit their pictures and items within six hours. The winners and runners

up prizes were distributed by Franky Baretto, Manager, Student Services at UOWD. The SSD plans

to make this an annual event and introduce more faculty grouped events where the students can com-

pete.


AlumniEvents

Celebrating aUstralia Day at UOWD

On the 1st of February UOWD celebrated Australia Day by lining up day long

fun activities for its students and staff. The day was filled with fun and exciting

competitions like Eat a Vegemite sandwich, Sip ‘Chai’ through a Tim tam, Dec-

orate a Boomerang, Sausage Sizzle, Lamingtons, Face painting, a drumming ses-

sion, Aussie music as well as Indian Entertainment. A friendly ‘six a side’ cricket

match was played between Teams ‘Australia’ and ‘India’ featuring students &

staff members. Batting first, Australia was all out at 42 while India went on to

win the match comfortably. Professor Ghassan Aouad, President of UOWD

was the guest of honor at the prize distribution ceremony. He gave away cer-

tificates to the winners of the annual Dean’s List and 98 scholarships to new

and re-enrolling students, valued at over AED 2.3 million thus bringing an amaz-

ing end to the Australia Day celebrations.

aWarDs FOr inspiratiOnal leaDership The 2nd Academy of International Business (AIB) MENA, which was a collaborated effort between UOWD & Zayed University, was attended by over 100 del-

egates from 24 countries and 89 Universities. Delivering the keynote speech, Mirza Al Sayegh, Director of the Office of His Highness Sheikh Hamdan Bin Mo-

hammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, called for a new mindset for ‘Managing in Uncertain times’. “The State Companies will be saturated in the near future, and

will no longer be able to employ new people. We will need a new crop of leaders and entrepreneurs, with more tangible ideas on starting one’s own business,

working from home or operating as freelancers”,

said Al Sayegh who also presented the AIB-

MENA Awards. The first Award – the AIB-

MENA Ghaf Tree Award was given to Abraaj

Capital in recognition of its commitment of

community development, the second award –

the AIB-MENA Windtower Award was pre-

sented to Professor Rob Whelan, former Presi-

dent of UOWD, Professor John Seybolt, Dean,

College of Business Sciences, Zayed University

and Frederic Sicre, Partner of Abraaj Capital.

Receiving the award Prof. Rob Whelan said, “I

am proud to have been honored by AIB-MENA

as a mentor. It is always good to be in at the

start of something big and to be told that one

has had a positive influence in mentoring and

industry support”. Delegates present at the con-

ference also discussed priorities in education,

research and organizational development as well

as the current state of business in the MENA

region.


managing repUtatiOn:

dr. melodena balakrishnan, Associate Professor, Faculty

of Business and Management, talks to us about the importance

of managing a business reputation and the devastating results of

not paying heed to the right communication methods. The parti-

cal solution provided is a great starting point for any new or es-

tablished business.

FacultyNews

TWO kEy POINTS OF CONSIDERATION

Somehow in the business world this concept

of “reputation management” has been lost

among the Finance and PR departments and

agencies. It seems to have been pulled out of

the purview of Top Management Leadership

Teams, Human Resources and Marketing de-

partments, which is very odd - because the

leadership team is the steward of values and

the keeper of the strategy flame. The HR and

Marketing Teams are value enhancers con-

tributing to the product or service of the firm.

Reputation is not purely a communication

campaign but it is the interpretation of the

long-term strategy and is built on the founda-

tion of organizational values! Communication

is important as a reputation that took years to

build can be threatened by a single event in a

very short period of time. Since we already

know the importance of communication – I

want to focus on the three other departments

I have listed up.

While the average investor may panic at the

sight of a global recession and a hint of scan-

dal – the reputation on a stock market in my

opinion is the emotional response of a lot of

people, most of whom haven’t read an annual

report, know nothing about the industry and

are just enjoying the highs and lows that come

with the concept of gambling or making a fast

buck. On the other hand financial journalists

– seem to derive their pay/bonus by the rating

– the more they get people to respond (noth-

ing gets a rise out of people more than panic),

the more viewership, circulation and hence

more sales and perhaps bonuses. What hap-

pened to the great GLOBAL pandemic SARS

in 2003? It hurt the travel industry in SE Asia,

impacted the hospitality

sector in Hong Kong went

to 37 countries and re-

sulted in about 1000

deaths. It was the reputed

World Health Organiza-

tion that was constantly

quoting the risks of SARS

leading to a healthy black

market in face masks, In-

dian spices and Tamiflu.

Just to put things in perspective – 3000 people

die due to road accidents (1); another 21,000

children die daily due to neglect, lack of help

after environmental issues like floods, earth-

quakes and tsunamis and man-made war (2);

3000 suicides occur daily according to WHO

(3). I don’t know – it may be me but I think

sometimes we need to think rather than react

to news – good editorials with multiple per-

spectives are getting lost among the sensa-

tionalism of news. Which brings me to point

No 1. We are dealing with the uncontrollable

in a crisis and our power to influence is vital

to weathering the storm!

point No 1: reputation management

needs a careful understanding of the

macro-environment and requires skill

to manage “uncontrollable factors”

and seek coalitions to reframe prob-

lem and find solutions.

Take the case of the case of the Taj Mahal

Palace and Tower Hotel (4). During the Ter-

rorist attack, Taj was faced with the challenges

of media covering the whole operation on live

TV, with customers in the hotel using cell

phones to give accounts live to media and even

worse – the ongoing nightmarish question

“how did the terrorist know their way around

so well?”. First of all, at an individual organi-

zational level – the PR nightmare would have

been too hard to handle and even worse would

have drained much needed resources that are

required for managing the crisis problem. The

priorities were “SAFETY & WELLBEING of

Customers – SAFETY & WELLBEING of

Employees; Safety of Possessions and Assets;

and then finally management of stakeholders”.

Taj and Tata’s reframed the problem into an

issue of National Security. It was not just

about them but about Mumbai and India –

this allowed them to get more champions into

the fray and change the emotional sentiments

from panic and futility to a more positive and

stronger emotion –patriotism and the feeling

“we will not be defeated”. This gave Media a

rallying call (still sold papers/viewership etc)

and Taj managed the murky line that is repu-

tation management. There are many other

things Taj did and you can read it in my paper

cited below.

Take the case of BP Oil. When the oil well

broke in Gulf of Mexico in 2010, there were


Faculty

News

over 4000 active wells (5) BP was unable to get support from the oil Industry

coalition and more surprising that of the US Government. The US Military is

considered to be the single largest user of petrol in the world (6). Considering

that the US Navy had most of the equipment to help BP it was surprising the

crisis took so long to resolve and BP was literally left on its own. The share

prices fell dramatically in 1 1/2 months wiping away £50bn off the company’s

market capital. Jon Rigby, a UBS analyst, wrote in a note to clients “The mar-

ket has become increasingly sensitive to speculation and unfounded claims,

highlighting the effect of the absence of hard facts on which to work.”(7) An-

other example would be the recent Japan tsunami and earthquake – the low

probability of the two events had fooled many strategists at looking at proba-

bilities – the crisis brought home the fact “Low probability is not NO PROB-

ABLITY”.

Very simply to be successful at reputation management you need an under-

standing of markets, the macro-environment and must be in a position of in-

fluence. This perhaps means that reputation management needs to be under

the purview of the Leadership Team – how many of them are trained in this?

While you may need a partner to execute strategy – it is critical you build strat-

egy from within (relationships are like assets and must be cultivated). Secondly,

the Marketing department is often a liaison between customers, suppliers, dis-

tributers and agencies like media. As an organization you need to start assess-

ing an employee’s level of influence with important stakeholders and their ability

to win goodwill through education and long-term activities. The Tata Equity al-

lowed major media to run some free advertisements on their campaign “I will

Prevail” which was an outcry on the terrorism attack. Johnson & Johnson’s

tamper proof packaging was an outcome of the Tylenol Crisis. Crisis are learn-

ing opportunities and organizations can take advantage of them to spearhead

change or innovation.

point No 2: it’s all about the people!

Here comes my second most important point. Reputation management is about

people management. Internally and externally. Personally, I think I would al-

ways manage reputation from within as a company that does not have the re-

spect and loyalty of its employees is a sinking ship. History is full of corporate

scandals that have destroyed companies because of whistleblowers. They exist

as they (1) do not respect the organization (what has the organization done to

get respect – paying a hefty salary is more like a bribe – better you build the or-

ganization on values) (2) they do not feel loyalty and some cases are willing to

take the risk to stand-up for their beliefs.

You never know when a crisis will occur so the first thing you want to make

sure is that whether your company can survive the storm. Use a simple Net Pro-

moter type question to find out. On a scale of 1-10, how likely are you to rec-

ommend your workplace to others? Answers 9-10 show employees have high

loyalty – they are called Promoters; score 7-8 are called Passives – satisfied but

not fervently loyal and scores below 6 are called Detractors – people who are not

loyal. If you want to know the reasons (always better to know them so you can

address them) ask them WHY. The only problem here in the Middle East

North Africa region is the fear that employees tend to sugar quote their answers

in fear of reprisal. A major international market research company here says

that answers here can be upto two points higher which means you may be eas-

ily not aware of what employees really feel. For this you need an empowered

and active HR team.

Again looking back at the “Taj” example;– one of the things they did to “re-

frame” the crisis was to turn attention to their people – their exemplary staff

who had sacrificed their safety, lives and family so that their guests would be

safe. There are many heartrending stories there that won the hearts of cus-

tomers, media and other stakeholders. Leading at the helm was none other than

the great man himself - Ratan Tata and all communication came essentially from

him or his office. After a crisis, employees need counseling. Taj arranged group

intervention and counseling (also for customers) and what resulted was a more

caring culture and a bond – “we survived this and got through this”. This can

only lead one way – better performance.

In 1999, there was a 7.6 earthquake in Taiwan and electricity and communica-

tion lines were cut off. My husband who was at that time Heading Human Re-

sources in Procter and Gamble managed to trace their 1200 employees through

a telephone and human tree even though many were in rural interiors and tele-

phone lines gave way. The last 30 employees were contacted using an outsourced

rescue party. Nothing in his past assignments had prepared him for this but his

fundamental belief was that people are most important to an organization and

his boss at that time supported him. Counseling was free for all employees and

Very simply to be successful at reputationmanagement you need an understandingof markets, the macro-environment and

must be in a position of influence.

“Crises are learning opportunities and organizations can take advantage of

them to spearhead change or innovation.”


Faculty

News


their families at both individual and group level. The organization supported

employees through relief materials and funds, undertook community support

projects like providing tents, water purification tablets, and tissue towels. P&G

came out of a national crisis stronger than before and these stories became part

of the folklore of the organization – an organization that cares!

Take examples like Enron – from being the most “innovative company” it dis-

appeared when no one including a majority of employees would stand by them

because that was the culture – “take advantage”(8). Unfortunately many em-

ployees lost their retirement funds and this impacted them severely. It’s not

just employees (in your organization or an organization you take over) that have

to manage, but also people involved in external relations. If people panic when

share prices slide – you want to be able to reassure major stock holders, insur-

ers, creditors, suppliers and distributors. You want to be able to get Media on

your side so a fair picture can be painted rather than a one sided story! A pop-

ular story circulating at the time of the BP crisis was that of the CEO Tony

Howard “enjoying” himself at an expensive yacht race. The public is very un-

forgiving in these cases and Tony eventually “resigned”. There was never any

mention in media of the support the organization gave to the 11 employees who

died at the rig explosion. You want to be able to work with regulators, legal par-

ties, influencers and industry partners to address the problem rather than symp-

toms and find rapid solutions. You want to talk to Communities as they can

rally and join with lobbyists and slow down the good work. Nothing hurts an or-

ganization’s morale more when its intentions are good and the public can’t see

the big picture and you are at loggerheads with them drowning in details in-

stead of focusing on resolution!

what should you do?

A report on Predicting Organizational Preparedness by Prof. Paul C.

Light(9)documents other studies on the lack of preparedness of senior man-

agers for crises. Organizations can begin a strategy by looking at Figure 1. You

need to assess where you are for multiple scenarios before you can plan for a cri-

sis. The challenge is always for growing organizations who are not able to pre-

dict their markets and don’t have enough time to devote to such an exercise.

More than once it has been shown that a robust Early Warning System helps

mitigate research and this requires information management. During a crisis

you want information to flow to the “Crisis Command Centre” but informa-

tion from the organization to be routed through designated spokespeople to

reduce uncertainty. But this is fire-fighting! The support you require during a cri-

sis depends on your ability to have assessed your risks, reduce their impact and

the existing relationships you have already developed. Start with employees and

industry stakeholders – create a relationship of trust rather than a transactional

relationship and this will help as there is one rule to a crisis – IT IS UNPRE-

DICTABLE!

Sources

“The support you require during a crisisdepends on your ability to have assessedyour risks, reduce their impact and theexisting relationships you have already

developed.

1)http://www.who.int/violence_injury_prevention/road_traffic/activities/roadsafety_training_manual_unit_1.pdf

2) http://www.globalissues.org/article/715/today-21000-children-died-around-the-world

3)http://www.who.int/mediacentre/events/annual/world_suicide_prevention_day/en/index.html

4) Balakrishnan, M.S. (2011), “Preventing Brand Burn during Times of Crisis: Mumbai 26/11- A case of the Taj Mahal Palace and Tower Hotel”, Management Research Review (for-

merly Management Research News), Vol. 34, No. 12, pp. 1309 - 1334.

5) http://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/explorations/06mexico/background/oil/media/platform_600.html

6)http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2010/apr/11/peak-oil-production-supply

7)http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/energy/oilandgas/7825131/BP-oil-spill-Largest-shareholders-cut-stake-as-price-falls.html

8) http://www.usatoday.com/money/companies/management/story/2011-12-03/enron-10-years-later/51592092/1

9)http://www.nyu.edu/ccpr/pubs/OrgPreparedness_Report_NyU_Light_8.18.08.pdf

Figure 1: managing reputation


Alumni

High Achiever


Building his LegacyFor a veteran who has come a long way over the last few decades, Mohammed

Murad (MBA – 2000, MQM 2001) is an inspirational role-model for those who

believe in perfection and pro-activeness. As the Managing Director of Tanseeq

Event Management, a company specialized in uber-luxurious weddings for the

rich and famous, he continues to set the benchmark with whatever he undertakes.

Here he goes down memory lane, taking us back to his humble beginnings in

good old Dubai, right through the years of his hard work and pioneering efforts,

all of which have paid off handsomely today.

There are three types of people in this world, just as renowned Author and

prominent Business Woman, Mary Kay Ash once said: Those who make

things happen, those who watch things happen and those who wonder what

happened. For our High Achiever this month, we have Mohammed Murad

who falls into the first category and there’s no doubt that he has left many

watching and wondering what happened. A proud Emirati who considers his

two daughters the apple of his eyes, Mohammed grew up like any other av-

erage child – not of this age, but of the yesteryears and that too, in old

Dubai. Being a resident of this city since my birth, I can tell you that it

meant playing on sand dunes, watching sunsets without the hustle and bus-

tle of city life and witnessing firsthand the true beauty of Arab culture with-

out the commercialism attached to it. “My childhood was a normal one,

born and grown up in Dubai,’ says Mohammed, “I used to play in the alleys

of the now famous Bastakia, which in those times had the authentic build-

ings. I am proud of being part of the history of this fine city in whatever

small way that I have contributed to it.” And if you look deeply into it, he

has done quite a bit for his homeland.

Starting at the basics

But before we go on to his accomplishments and accolades, we asked Mo-

hammed how it all started and were shocked to know that he was a college

dropout. Yes, you read right! The first school he ever went to was the Varkey

International School which was initially established in the Bastakia area in

Bur Dubai. Today, the same school is recognized as the Our Own English

High School. Soon after school Mohammed joined the Al Ain University and

after finishing only a year with them, he joined the Dubai Police. Unlike

what anyone else would do, it was not a matter of staying put and going with

the flow for someone like Mohammed because he stayed true to his own

needs and looked for solutions. “Few years later I felt the void in my educa-

tional level and went back to school and joined Ajman University College

and studied Computer Science. Then I was looking at pursuing a Masters

Degree and at that time the only available University that matched my tim-

ings and fitted the reputation and strength of studies was Wollongong.”

The eagerness to educate himself was so strong that Mohammed returned

to UOW to pursue his Masters in Quality Management and consequently

signed on for a number of courses, both locally and internationally there-

after, only because he realized that there was nothing more valuable than

being a lifelong learner. Even after achieving his first and second degree,

there has been no stopping for Mohammed and he continues to better him-

self even until now. Mindful of the impact of education he says, “Lately, I

completed my Diploma in Event Management and I am pursuing a Certifi-

cation Program in Coaching now. Education has made me what I am today;

it has shaped my life, not only my career.”

patriotic and passionate

As most of our readers would already know, Mohammed Murad is an ex-ser-

viceman and back in the day he was widely recognized for his efforts within

the Dubai Police Department. A simple google search will show you a list of

his achievements, but to hear it from him in his own words, he says, “I

started my career by becoming a police officer and served 20 years before

asking for voluntary retirement. In the beginning of my police career, I was

working in the Criminal Investigation Department (Dubai Police), so I was

part of upholding the reputation of Dubai in being the safe city it is now.”

Doing things with great pride and a quest for perfection was what was of

utmost important to Mohammed, especially because he believed in giving

each task he undertook the time, patience and attention to detail, while

moving up the ladder, one step at a time. When starting out his career in

Dubai Police, Mohammed joined in as a cadet officer and moved from de-

partment to department, learning, developing and bringing change along the

way. After years of hard work, his last prominent position, and that too, one

of great importance was in him being the Director of Emergency Medical

Service (EMS). In the capacity of his role, he went on to establish the pro-

tocol and measures required for the Emirate of Dubai of which he proudly

says, “I went on to become the Director of the Ambulance Department and

I am proud to have contributed in establishing a world-class service in that

arena. With my team of super stars, we had established a system for the

Alumni

High Achiever


Building his Legacy

Emergency Medical Services for the whole city of Dubai. At that time we

were the only EMS provider citywide. We were the first to have acquired an

ISO 9001-2000, on the police department level in the whole of the Middle

East. The team also was instrumental in transforming the training system

and care standard from a transportation service to an actual medical care

service with measurable criteria.”

Then it was in 2003, after having worked for a good two decades for the

Dubai Police that Mohammed decided to move onto something different

and he retired with a Lt. Colonel Rank. As most would think with the aver-

age retirement, Mohammed was nowhere remotely near the end of his career

growth and in fact, it turned out to be a new beginning in an area previ-

ously untraveled. Given that Dubai was fast emerging as a global destina-

tion with an influx of tourists and blue-chip clients wanting to make the best

of the tax-free zone, the focus was much more than ever on the social

changes taking place in society. For that very task, Mohammed was roped in

as the Chief of Performance and Excellence at the Community Develop-

ment Authority (CDA) in 2008. Looking back at the task entrusted to him,

Mohammed explains, “I joined CDA in the establishment stage, and the vi-

sion was to create a social arm for the government, so the team at that time

worked together to put down a robust strategy and operational plan for the

future. My main task was to ensure that processes are laid to correspond to

quality standards that Dubai is known for and integrate the work of CDA

with the Dubai Strategic Plan.” As with all major tasks, this one too was not

devoid of challenges and because of its very nature, the onus lied not only

in creating a vision but also in keeping up with the team work to achieve

that vision but Mohammed and his team made it one step at a time and he

confidently tells us, “What you can be certain of that work is well under way

to make Dubai a better place to live in”

The present day

For a few people an education begins outside the classroom and for Mo-

hammed, this was undoubtedly the fact, as he continues to chart his pro-

fessional growth by setting goals and achieving them in due time, all while

keeping his family in the loop. After a voluntary resignation from the Dubai

Police, he started out his own Event Management Company, Tanseeq - with

just three people, a great vision and some hard work and sound quality to

back it up. He says, “I am a partner with my wife in the company, and I take

care of all the logistics and management side of things, where my wife is the

creative one. The business was a natural progression to what we had at the

time of my retirement. We had a garments outlet and a beauty salon, and

what best could compliment the two than a wedding decoration company.

The vision was to create a world-class company that would handle high-end

high-capacity weddings that are turnkey and customized to fit the customer

requirements.”

Today, the company is recognized as a pioneer in the market and has pub-

lished two books – Wedding Arabia and Mesmerize, which is sold worldwide

and showcases the nature and quality of the events. With clients that in-

clude a number of Royals there is no doubt that Tanseeq has etched out a

space of its own in a city that is known for its glamorous events, but even

then, that isn’t where Mohammed has stopped as he tells us, “Now I run

three businesses and I am starting a Consultancy and Training firm which is

my passion.”

On a last note, we ask him if he is willing to mentor anyone who is inspired

by his story. Least do we expect such a welcoming answer from such a busy

man, but judging by the tone in his voice when he says ‘Sure’ we are certain

that it comes with a smile it makes believe that he lives up to his own motto

in life, every single day. That motto is: In order to succeed, one must always

help others.

If you would like to get in touch with Mohammed Murad for business or en-

quiries, you can contact him at [email protected]

“Back then UOWD was a small institute like entity and while completing

the 2 degrees I saw the campus develop and the facilities become largerand more technology oriented. Everyone

knew everyone and the sharing of experience was something that lifted the

level of learning”

“My main task was to ensure thatprocesses are laid to correspond to quality

standards that Dubai is known for and integrate the work of CDA with the Dubai

Strategic Plan.”


Spotlight

On


Tell us a bit about yourself, your family and educational back-

ground?

My husband, Vikram, and I moved to Dubai in October. He’s been working

in Doha on and off for the past 5 years, so we’re familiar with the region. I

completed my MBA (with Distinction) from University of Michigan (Michi-

gan, USA) and did by BA from Stanford University (California, USA).

what made you join UOwd and when did you start work here?

I started work at UOWD in February and I am really enjoying it! I worked

for 5 years at Stanford University (my alma mater) in alumni relations so I’m

ready to hit the ground running in this role.

How about your career? where did you previously work?

Before working in higher education, I was in strategy consulting for 10 years.

My last clients were United Airlines and Delta Air Lines – I was helping

with their bankruptcy restructuring. It was high profile, very gratifying

work, but I always knew I wanted to work in a university environment and

give back in the education sector.

what is your current role at UOwd and what are your re-

sponsibilities?

As the Events & Alumni Coordinator, I am responsible for the biannual

graduation ceremony. I am also really excited about re-starting the alumni

efforts. Look out for events and activities! And let me know what you want

– I’m here to serve!

As the new Alumni Officer, what new changes would you like to

implement?

I think we could use consistency. I realize there have been various starts and

stops with alumni work – I’m looking forward to putting a long term plan

in place.

How about your hobbies?

I love to travel (who doesn’t?!) Since arriving in October, we’ve been to

Rome, Munich, Beirut, London, Detroit, Mumbai, Chennai, Bangalore,

Amman, Petra, Aqaba and Moscow. More to come, for sure! I also love In

dian Classical Dance. As soon as I’m well settled at work, I look forward to

taking more Bharata Natyam classes.

Are you involved in any philanthropic activities that you’d like

to share?

I am very interested in green/environmental efforts. Back in California, I

served on the board of Caltrain, a regional rail provider, with approximately

38,000 commuters per day. I am looking for new activities, now that I’m a

bit more settled.

what message do you have for the UOwd Alumni Network?

I can’t wait to get started on alumni activities. Let me know what you are

interested in and we’ll get planning.

A few books you highly recommend?

I love reading – mostly fiction, but a good book on business as well. Bel

Canto by Ann Patchett is short and well written. I also love Stephen Covey

books – they are classics for a reason!

Shortly after moving base to Dubai in October 2011 and joining UOWD as theEvents & Alumni Coordinator in February this year, Mona joins the UOWD familywith much gusto, eager to meet new people and inject a fresh perspective into every-thing. Backed by substantial skill and knowledge of handling Alumni Relations with heralma mater, we were thrilled when we met her during a brief and initial encounter.Here she opens up just a little bit more to tell us where she’s coming from andwhere she’s heading.

“I realize there have been various startsand stops with alumni work – I’m looking

forward to putting a long term plan inplace. “

Mona Tekchandanievents & alumni [email protected]

JOiN US

For our next issue, joins us as we

compile ‘Alumni Class Notes’ to bring

you regular updates from your fellow batch

mates. If you’ve just got married, welcomed a

new child to the family, won an award, appeared

on the cover of a magazine or have written your

first book – send us your updates along with your

year of graduation and full name to be included.

We will also be putting out a Business Directory

for Alums who run their own business as a

way to encourage intercommunity con-

nections and we welcome your busi-

ness details for inclusion.


Alumni

View Point


I have to admit, I am the last person who thought about connecting with anyone.

I always seemed to think – Hey, if someone really wants to talk to me, they will -

Right? Well sometimes that works and sometimes you just have to take the initia-

tive to connect with that person. Now you must be wondering that this girl seems

to have way too much time on her hands. Right again! But then, that’s what got me

thinking. Why wasn’t I really connecting with anyone else from my past, what held

me back - studies, work, marriage, responsibilities, kids? I’d tick probably 3 out of

5 on that list and that’s what surprised me. I suddenly had this freed up time (I’m

job hunting at the moment, no kids – you get the drift?) and you know what, I was

suddenly meeting people from my past. Some I took the initiative to keep in touch

with and some I just randomly met at places I hadn’t thought or considered.

Now a couple of those friends were from Wollongong. Yes I had long forgotten I

had made a few friends there while studying for my MBA course back in 98’. Aha

don’t try and guess how old I am now – there’s plenty of time for that later, but

coming back to the point, here was this woman who I met recently at a meditation

class who just shouted out my name and for the life of me, I was trying to figure out

how I know her. Seems we were in the same class together. Now there I was all em-

barrassed because she remembered me and I didn’t and it got me thinking, how

connected was I at that point in time that I forgot about her? A few days later my

amnesiac memory suddenly poured in with briefs moments of our encounter.

Yes she was in my class. Yes I do remember her and yes she was who someone I

couldn’t have missed. How did I forget her then? Should I attribute age to this?

Yeah I thought about that, but no, it’s just that I didn’t spend as much time con-

necting with her as she did with me. Brings me now to the question - Who all have

I forgotten? It seems quite a few as I looked back realising while I made quite an

impression on a number of people, I didn’t take the time to get to know them.

When Wollongong was based near Ghusais (wayyy back then) we were just a few

students in the class. We barely started with using the internet for emails and the

likes to which mobile phones got introduced. I remember mine – the old Sony Er-

icsson handset which had big buttons and an sms feature. That was it. I actually re-

membered people’s phones numbers – the ones that I wanted to keep in touch with

that is. So from” Bricks to iPhones” one would think – hey I’m so connected, I can

reach hundreds of people at the tip of my finger.

So now with the social media “explosion” joining the likes of Facebook, Twitter,

Linkedin and a whole bunch of various other apps and associations , you’d think we

would probably have crossed paths at some point. The reality of the fact is I hadn’t

searched for them. I hadn’t even looked. I had assumed I was connected to every-

one on my facebook at least, and then I met this girl at the meditation and I realised

that while I jumped a considerable number of schools, colleges and universities,

here was one that I missed. The joy of meeting her, reviving old memories, about

how we were amongst the initial batches to study at Wollongong, to the classes we

took, the professors we liked, the ones we didn’t like and the ones who actually

made us sleep. (Yes guilty! I fell asleep for the first time in my life and he saw me–

front row, right under his nose if you can imagine that, till of course I heard him say

“I guess it’s time for a break folks”. Don’t know how my ears caught that but it did!!)

To my defence I was working and studying at the point, but I guess the day got the

better of me. (The class in itself was amazing) So yeah, we laughed about it and you

know what? Suddenly we connected!

You are always connected to your past in some form or the other. Education is

great. It helps us learn, grow and evolve into the kind of people that we were meant

to be and it is also one of the places where we made our connections. Those con-

nections could have been in the form of deep rooted friendships, marriage or maybe

even a business associate. And that’s the beauty of being part of an Alumni. You get

to associate all over again, connecting with old friends or even making new ones -

people that could possibly add more value to your life.

Whatever the reason I think it’s time we start to call each other. Search old diaries,

whatever form they maybe in, pick up the phone, call an ex “Gong” if I may say so,

and just put a smile to someone’s face. We may have an alumni coming up soon so

let’s get together to share our memories, our achievements or just simply to have a

cup of coffee together. Whatever your reasons are, come and connect.

We all have busy schedules, we have various responsibilities and you might think –

hey I’ll just let one of the alumni people do the work and probably then consider

connecting. Guess what? It takes each and everyone of us, and that does include you

to make it possible. So my request to you is, take out a little time, even if it’s just 5

minutes, find an old classmate, call him or her, connect again and tell them you’ll

meet them at – you guessed right – the University of Wollongong, Dubai!

And to reiterate my sentiments, here is a little something to go by:

“You can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking

backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future.

You have to trust in something - your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This ap-

proach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life.”

Steve Jobs

With that I’ll simply say, Stay connected and see you around soon.

How well are you Connected?

Natasha Fernandes (MBA 2001) was amongst one of the first batchof graduates that UOWD produced. If you happen to have studied in thesame campus, class or batch, feel free to reach out and make a connectionby emailing her on [email protected]

“And that’s the beauty of being part of anAlumni. You get to associate all over again, connecting with old friends or even makingnew ones - people that could possibly add

more value to your life. “


Current

Student


For any average teenager you’d find it hard to believe that they’d have a ten

year plan chocked out ahead of them, but then – that’s just your average

teenager who’s carefree and clueless, just taking life one day at a time.

Well, brace yourself readers as we give you Amina Radzhabova – a spirited 17

year old lady who is Russian by birth and currently calls Dubai her home and

UOWD her second home. Not only does she have a 10 year plan set up, but

Amina also has her hands full with studies on one side and three important

titles on the other side, these being the Communications Officer of the Stu-

dent Representative Council, the External Interactions Officer at the Stu-

dents’ Club Management and the President of the Dancing Club at UOWD.

Amina first came to our attention dubbed as the ‘most popular’ girl on cam-

pus because she is involved in a lot of things that put her at the COA (Cen-

ter of Attention), but least did we know that this enthusiastic ‘it’ girl of the

moment has a lot more to her than go-getter’s attitude and a vision that could

rival that of a CEO! “I received my school education back in Russia. At the

same time, I was engaged with studies in Europe and UK, because I was plan-

ning my future there,” she says, adding that her decision to join UOWD in

2009 was because ‘it was love at first sight’. Her fearless nature and ability to

make the best of every possibility is what drives her to new limits and per-

haps that is why she is so loved by her peers and friends. She says, “Since year

2011 I have been the President of the UOWD Dancers Club. We are aiming

to achieve a point where we can inspire dance. Currently we are one of the

most active Clubs in the university as we actively participate in campus

events and represent our University in various Inter-University competi-

tions.”

If she isn’t busy dancing or speaking her way into everyone’s heart, then you’ll

find Amina engrossed in a class by one of her three favorite professor’s - Dr.

Payyazhi Jayashree, Dr. Mike Newnham and Dr. Arijit Sikdar.

What intrigues us most about Amina is her 10 year plan which is to enter

the HR industry in one year, then in three years to allocate her personal tal-

ent within a particular company for the long-run, followed by a 3 to 5 year

goal of establishing her reputation in a given company and growing person-

ally and professionally and then finally, to achieve a top management position

in a ten year period.

Should you want to connect with Amina, catch her tweets on Amicha1994 or check

out her youtube channel http://www.youtube.com/user/TheBestAmina/videos

The Dancing

Amina RadzhabovaBCom - Human Resource ManagementRussian ([email protected])

Zodiac: Aries

proud of: Always staying positive about

things no matter what happens

best memory at UOwd: Christmas

2011 for Special Guests

Favorite movie:Alexander.

Top 5 songs on your ipod: Medina-

you and I, Outlandish- I am calling you,

Florida – Good feeling, Ne-yo – tonight,

Nero – guilt .

can’t live without: My iPad!

Hobbies: Dancing, especially salsa.

Hidden Talent: Baking.

dream career: To be a Police-woman

proud moment: When my first book was published.

QUEEN

“Since year 2011 I have been the President of the UOWD Dancers Club. Weare aiming to achieve a point where we can

inspire dance. “


Alumni

Who, When, Where

Witty and jovial, Mustafa

khan has always done what

he enjoys doing the most.

“At the time when I fin-

ished school, we didn’t

have much of a choice in

Dubai, in terms of higher

education, and more im-

portantly there were no

universities that were

awarding international

degrees. And UOW, as it

was called then, was the

most feasible choice” he

recalls. Reminiscing about university days takes him into a different zone to the

point of making him almost teary-eyed as he brings to mind the great fun he ex-

perienced. “I cannot emphasize enough on how memorable my university days

were, especially the first 2 years. The old-schoolers would agree that the Beach

Road campus was where the fun really was. But yeah, it was the whole experience

….” he tells us.

He pursued a General Degree in Business Administration at UOWD as he be-

lieved it involved a lot more common sense and understanding of the business en-

vironment. Mustafa also adds that another reason for pursuing a General Degree

was because it would aide him in finding that ‘first job’ in a more varied and diverse

job market. He was particularly inclined towards Management and Marketing but

in retrospective says that he should have given a thought to Economics as well in

order to help him understand today’s tumultuous economic climate. Nevertheless

whatever he did gain from his educational experience did go to great lengths. “After

I got into Aviation, I would have been restricted to just flight-deck/cockpit duties

had I not had a degree in Business. The aviation industry has been experiencing tur-

bulence since 2008 and hopes and chances of getting a break have greatly dimin-

ished. To my advantage at least, the degree and previous work experience actually

landed me this job,”says Mustafa.

While studying at university, Mustafa was part of a local radio station wherein he

was co-producing and co-hosting a rock/metal show. He had also freelanced with

some event companies and met many favorite artists/bands in the process. After

graduation, he landed his first job at an Advertising Agency as a Marketing Exec-

utive but as it wasn’t a very pleasant experience he gave it up soon, without any re-

grets. It was almost as if luck rode with him because he landed an amazing job with

Emirates Airlines as a Product Development Executive where he worked for 14

months. He says, “I got to work with some of the nicest, knowledgeable and hum-

ble individuals and that really helped me grow. To this day, I’m in touch with my

ex-bosses and whenever I’m back in Dubai, we all make it a point and meet up.’

Even though he made the best out of whatever came his way, it seemed that fate

had other plans and his heart ruled his head because he decided to move to South

Africa to pursue flying - his dream. “I got done with my training in 2008 and that’s

when the economy went down the drain. The aviation industry was badly hit and

any chances of a pilot with zero commercial experience went out of the window”

he tells us. But given his go-getter attitude, come recession or rain nothing was

stopping Mustafa from following his heart. Meanwhile he took to managing a

Motor Club and also briefly worked for Souq.com, whilst helping a friend for TV

Commercials and doing a second radio show. While he was rather engrossed in

the experience, lady luck came knocking once again and this time, she came with

a hard-to-resist offer. “Finally in January 2011 the biggest opportunity came along

to help start up an airline in some obscure part of Africa,” he says, “I was ap-

proached by an old friend who was made in charge of an airline in Africa (Djibouti

Air) and the rest is current.”

His greatest achievement, something that’s more fulfilling than an award to

Mustafa, was the compilation of the Operations Manual for Djibouti Air. Recall-

ing the incident he tells us: “The airline being a new setup, the Operation and Pro-

cedures Manuals were yet to be compiled and published. This is mandatory for all

airlines. Once that is done, the next step is to send these manuals to the Civil Avi-

ation Authority for review and requires regular checks and amendments. Now this

task is normally done by individuals who have decades of experience and are very

well versed with the intricacies of it all. As it was a new setup and since we were

terribly short-staffed, the task of compiling one of the manuals fell on me. With

guidance from one of the Captains, I toiled and successfully managed to accom-

plish the daunting task in a little over a month and it was published and to me,

that is a huge feat. It’s more of a personal recognition, coupled with the acknowl-

edgements from your colleagues, superiors and board members that made the work

all the more worthwhile. And honestly, to me, that is a lot more fulfilling than an

award.”

It was Mustafa’s dream to fly in the sky but he never thought it would really ma-

terialize because, quite ironically, he has a fear of heights. But now that he has

been flying it seems irrelevant and does not affect performance, says Mustafa. Also,

his main inspiration to be a pilot comes from his father who has served the avia-

tion industry for more than 38 years and he learnt a lot of technical aspects from

his father before his actual training.

Besides flying, Mustafa has a huge passion of collecting Diecast model cars and

cds. He has a 5000+ collection of original cds and also hunts for old and new diecast

cars, irrespective of their condition, while travelling. Adding to this exciting list of

interests is adventure, cars, movies, music, food, travelling and animals. On an

ending note, one of his advices to the current students at UOWD is - “DO NOT

BE IN A RUSH TO GRADUATE SOONER. Unless you already have a job lined

up for you, make sure you acquire some sound work experience whilst you’re study-

ing as it will make finding that first job all the more easier.”

bbA (2005)

djibouti Air

pilot + Flight Operations manager

If you wish to contact Mustafa, you can reach him at:

[email protected]

Now that I have been flying, working in an office enduring a deskjob makes me want to throw an epileptic fit of epic proportionssimply because when you have your office in the sky, everything

else seems ‘grounded’.


Almuni

Who, When, Where


Young, ambitious and most defi-

nitely charming, Bojana Batricevic is

an adventurous lady waiting to ex-

plore opportunities and the world.

She arrived in Dubai three years ago

after acquiring her Bachelors De-

gree in Economics from the Re-

public of Serbia, her native town.

Considering she speaks English,

French, Spanish, Italian and then

some Arabic, this pretty-young-twentysomething is a cocktail of sorts with inter-

ests as varied and diverse as her childhood dreams. “As a child I wanted to be a pilot

just like my dad, and then I wanted to be a football manager, an actress and many

other things, but in the end I decided to change the course to economics and mar-

keting” she tells us. Coming from a small family of four, she has a brother who is two

years younger to her and is grateful for the support she receives from her stay-at-

home mum who gave up her career to be with the family.

Today, Bojana has embarked on her chosen career in the food industry and wants

to remain with the industry as she has some dreams for the future too. Being the

Advertising Coordinator at Al Rawabi Dairy, she is in charge of dealing with the

advertising agency and coordinating all advertising and market related jobs with

them. This being her first full-time job, she says, “Working in Al Rawabi is some-

thing very different. It is like working with nature and we have around 10,000 cows

at the moment. It is the first serious job I had, as the rest were only part time jobs

or internship programs. One of the most interesting part time jobs was for Dubai

Film Festival. It was truly an amazing experience. I met many interesting people

and learned so many new things.” Although still in the learning process with her

current job, she thinks of her own venture in line with food production and agri-

culture back in Serbia. She says they are just ideas at this point in time and she is

currently looking forward to gaining more experience in a multinational company

in the Middle East or South America.

Going back to the days at UOWD, Bojana recalls her two years of intensive stud-

ies at the Uni where the thoroughness of assignments and case studies attracted

her. Of this she says, “We did a lot of case studies, which I consider to be more im-

portant than just sitting and learning from the book. We had a lot of discussions dur-

ing our classes and most importantly, most of the case studies were taken from

current world issues, so that we were up to date with all marketing news around the

world.”

Talking about interests and hobbies (and she can’t be more thrilling than this we

think) we learn that she is a sport’s person at heart. She used to play basketball, ten-

nis and even Karate and she loves watching sports, especially football! When not

kicking the ball or dreaming about being a coach, Bojana enjoys reading and trav-

elling. She has travelled all across Europe and would now like to explore South

America.

master of Strategic marketing (2009)

Al rawabi dairy

Advertising coordinator

“I see the UOWD Alumni Network as abenefit for ex-students to connect andshare their UOWD experience andmaybe create a potential business

relationship. It definitely can benefit allstudents and is a big plus for UOWD.”

If you wish to contact Bojana you can reachher at [email protected]


Alumni

Who, When, Where


Like all of us, Nainesh too was in a

dilemma regarding which university to

choose to pursue his further studies.

After touring a couple of campuses in

Dubai and having unlimited conversa-

tions with friends and family, Nainesh

knew it had to be UOWD for obvious

reasons. “I choose to do my masters in uowd because it is one of the

most reputed University’s in Dubai and the quality of teaching was

highly appreciated by people” he says.

Since the very beginning, Nainesh has always had a keen interest and understand-

ing of finance and its various aspects. After finishing his studies from the Indian

High School in 2004, he went on to pursue his Bachelor’s Degree in Finance &

Marketing from the Gujrat University in India in 2008, Nainesh joined UOWD

for his Masters in Banking & Finance which he completed in 2011 and while he

studied was also working as an Accountant in Economic Exchange.

Nainesh presently works with RAK Bank, a leading name in the banking industry

in the UAE, with the ever growing Operations teams where he applies his knowl-

edge to the day to day operations of the bank. Talking about his current responsi-

bilities he says, “The work includes posting accounting entries, reconciliation,

issuing cheques based on the customer’s request, etc.” With previous experience as

an accountant and being backed by a degree from UOWD, it was fairly easy for

him to enter the banking industry. Not only was the degree his entry ticket into the

industry, but with the insight and practical knowledge of the traditional market

mechanisms gained there, he was able to make his foundation firm. When asked

about his 5 year plan, he says rather optimistically: “I intend on becoming the man-

ager of the department in the next 5 years while still working to gain other experi-

ences which will lead me to grow in every stage of my life.”

Studying at the UOWD is a part that will always remain close to his heart. Recol-

lecting his days from the University, he particularly misses studying till late hours

with friends in the Library, going for short coffee breaks at the nearby Bakemart

store and picking up a snack from 24/7.

As many of us can relate, Nainesh too had to juggle his time to maintain a balance

between work related deadlines and handing-in assignments by the due date. How-

ever the most difficult and challenging part was to stay awake preparing for an exam

the next day and looking fresh and alert for an important presentation the same

morning.

The two subjects that caught most of his attention were Portfolio Management

where one learns about strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats in the

choice of debt vs. equity, domestic vs. international, growth vs. safety, and many

other tradeoffs encountered in the attempt to maximize return at a given appetite

for risk, while the other subject - Multinational Financial Management, focuses

more on currencies, swaps and issues related with current markets. Furthermore, his

father owns an exchange house in Dubai and that was one of the main factors that

added to the motivation.

Time spent at the University has not only been a stepping stone in his further de-

velopment, but has also taught Nainesh many practical and vital lessons apart from

the knowledge gained through classrooms. Interacting with a mixed bag of nation-

alities in the form of lecturers, tutors and classmates at UOWD, today he feels con-

fident to mingle with any group of associates.

Confident with his skills and knowledge acquired, in the near future Nainesh sees

himself higher up in the banking industry. Apart from punching in numbers all the

time, Nainesh likes to read books by Chetan Bhagat, from which

‘3 mistakes of My Life’ is his top favorite and the one that inspires him.

On any given weekend, Nainesh can be spotted in nightclubs enjoying time with

friends or with family.

If you’d like to connect with him, he can be reached at [email protected]

“I intend on becoming the manager of thedepartment in the next 5 years while still

working to gain other experiences which willlead me to grow in every stage of my life.”

masters in banking & Finance (2011)

rAK bank

Operations controller

One of the characteristics of a developing country

is that communicating information is an unre-

solved problem for business and government. I

first made this observation when I owned and

managed a public relations company in Poland in

the early 1990s after the first democratically-

elected government was installed. Everyone from

the Prime Minister to the Minister of Privatization

came from the Solidarity camp. These people had

been fighting to dislodge the Communist party and

its Soviet allies for more than 20 years. A prime

complaint of everyone who supported the Solidar-

ity movement was that the government lied to the

people; information was not provided; problems

were covered up. The most blatant example had

been after the Chernobyl disaster in 1986 when

news about how much radiation was released in

the air at the Ukrainian

nuclear site came from

foreign sources outside

of the region. Poland

was next door, breathing

the same contaminated

air, but because the So-

viet Union stayed quiet

and then tried to control

the news and minimize

its effects, the Polish

government spent days

denying the problem and

revealed some of the

truth slowly in bits and

pieces. The full story

came out several years

later after Poland’s Com-

munist government and

the Soviet Union were

gone.

Solidarity was going to

rule differently, and it

did. Today, more than 20

years later, Poland is one

of the success stories of the 1989 revolutions, po-

litically and economically. But it took much longer

than I expected for the years of not revealing in-

formation to be replaced by something like recog-

nizing the public’s right to know what is going on

in the country or the public’s right to know the

truth. Interestingly, companies, both private and

government-owned, were the first to start answer-

ing questions and lifting the veil of secrecy.

One of the vehicles for churning out information

was corporate communications or more generally

public relations. I was a founder of the Polish Pub-

lic Relations Association (PSPR) which helped

many people learn how to handle professional

communications for companies and government

agencies. The reason for starting PSPR was that

few people understood what public relations does.

They were used to information as propaganda, by

definition not to be believed, and not something

that anyone decent would want to be associated

with.

Public relations is not propaganda. Public relations

means conveying information in a variety of direc-

tions, first of all to a company’s employees, the pri-

mary stakeholders, and then to all the others from

clients to regulatory agencies to shareholders.

Underlying the practice of public relations is the

idea that sharing information is beneficial to the

source of the information as well as to the recipi-


The

Last Word

Corporate Communications...and why it’s wise not to undermine itsimportance

“The financial crisis inDubai in 2008-9 wasmade to appear worse

to the outside world because so many questions were not

answered by those whocould. In an open society

like Dubai’s where foreign journalists arefree to visit and report,an absence of informa-tion is a dangerous thing.The reporters who cometo find the real story will

rely on rumours andgossip if no one serious

will talk to them.”

The

Last Word


ents. This is where companies operating in developing countries sometimes

lose their nerve. Because there hasn’t been a tradition of passing on and shar-

ing information, the executives in charge are reluctant to start doing it. Doing

something different can get you into trouble. Why risk it? The problem is

compounded when international companies appear in a foreign market and

employ people of many nationalities who bring their past experiences and cul-

tural tendencies to their jobs. It always seems easier to not say something, to

bark ‘No Comment’ if buttonholed by a reporter, and to hide behind closed

doors and answering machines.

When I arrived in Abu Dhabi in 2005 to live in the Middle East and GCC for

the first time, I expected to find great differences between what I had been

used to growing up in the United States and working there and then in East-

ern Europe. I found the differences that I expected, but I also found similar-

ities that surprised me, one of which was the lack of clear cut communications

at many levels and in most contexts.

The parallel between Poland in the 1990s and today’s UAE goes only so far. Po-

litical systems are different, religion, language, and history too. But Poland

then and the UAE today are similar in consciously working on developing and

reorganizing their economies in a region of the world that is itself undergoing

political and economic changes.

Along with that, in the UAE today as in Poland earlier and perhaps still to

some extent, is the problem of communicating information. In every country

there are stories that are not fully told for reasons of national security. Once

past those inescapable limits, a mountain of information can be provided on

almost every subject by those who know the facts, be they corporate or gov-

ernment employees.

The financial crisis in Dubai in 2008-9 was made to appear worse to the out-

side world because so many questions were not answered by those who could.

In an open society like Dubai’s where foreign journalists are free to visit and

report, an absence of information is a dangerous thing. The reporters who

come to find the real story will rely on rumours and gossip if no one serious

will talk to them. Once those kind of stories start to circulate outside the

country, inevitably leaders here comment that Dubai is being treated unfairly.

Perhaps so, but reporters have to come up with stories. By not giving reporters

what they need, those who could talk shouldn’t be surprised if stories tend to

be exaggerated. It would have been easy for Dubai to gain sympathy by ad-

mitting mistakes and explaining how the mistakes would be rectified.

The financial crisis has lifted. Dubai is back as recent headlines and rising real

estate prices show. However, it’s not yet certain that the lessons of communi-

cation have been learned. In an April 11 column in The National, Frank Kane,

one of the best observers of the local economic scene, writes that the Dry-

docks World application for restructuring its debt at the Dubai International

Financial Centre court is an opportunity “in the interest of transparency,

which is at the heart of continuing concerns among international investors

about the emirate” for a “thorough review of the company’s predicament.”

A few years ago Drydocks World made huge investments in Singapore and In-

donesia. Kane and others who follow the economy want to know, Why? How

much was lost? Where did the money go? Questions like this are asked by in-

vestors and by those of us who live here and would like to understand how

Dubai works and how the entire UAE works.

The people who can help provide those answers are all around us. In fact, they

are us because we all have knowledge of our organizations which are parts of

the whole. We can contribute by not limiting our knowledge of our own com-

pany to our desk or the cubicle in which we work. We can ask questions and

give answers. More importantly, we can talk to our colleagues and friends

about what we do and share knowledge. We can help create a culture of open-

ness and free communication around us. Such a culture is catching and

spreads.

And if we are working in any area of corporate communication or public re-

lations, we can spread the word about the benefits of providing information

– not trade secrets or any private matters – but the good news about our or-

ganization to our employees, clients, suppliers, and other stakeholders.

Dr. Alma kadragic is the Academic Program Di-

rector at UOWD and also conducts two short

certificate courses under UOWD’s Pi (Professional

Institute). These are - Corporate Communications:

PR for Tomorrow’s Managers and Starting your

Own Business: The Entrepreneur’s Tool kit. Dr.

kadragic has owned and managed a PR agency and

worked with entrepreneurs in Europe and USA. As a former journalist

and the current Editor of the Middle East Media Guide published by

UOWD, she is a proclaimed expert in the field of Public Relations.

“Public relations is not propaganda. Public relations means conveying information in a

variety of directions, first of all to a company’s employees, the primary

stakeholders, and then to all the othersfrom clients to regulatory agencies to

shareholders.”

“The people who can help provide thoseanswers are all around us. In fact, they areus because we all have knowledge of our

organizations which are parts of the whole.We can contribute by not limiting ourknowledge of our own company to ourdesk or the cubicle in which we work.”

stay connected - volume 2 issue 8 - june 2012

Documents

u n i c

word alumni

alumni events webpage

uowd distinguished alumni

t e n c o n n e c tthis

alumni outreach program

newevents alumni coordinator

uowd hasbeen