UAE Strategy Through Photographs: The Event

Part of the team and their honoured guest.

I have been a bit behind in blogging - but I got the final grades for this class in at least and will now blog their group-project/event. How I teach Strategy (well, how I teach everything) is to "force" students to look at the world around them in a different way. Analyse what they are seeing and how it reflects the strategy of a company (or country), the leadership goals of a manager or the "gap" between what is said and what is done.

I also want my students to learn the "theory" of management or strategy as it was been done here in the past (before oil and ex-pat managers if you will) to find if there was a different way/philosophy of doing things than the Western model we teach them from the textbooks. I want them to understand both the Western and the Traditional way of managing, leading, strategising and then find their own path.

I am thinking of writing a strategy handbook this summer about the stories we have learned about the past - that is if my summer ever starts :)

OK, back to this event that I missed being a super nerd in Jordan (which I blogged about and enjoyed so much it made me re-want to be a professor and researcher all over again). The students organised a photography event (first blogged about here First blogpost) to:

1. Raise money for charity
2. Show that the implementation of Abu Dhabi Plan 2030, UAE 2021 and the other Emirate's plans is happening all around us
3. Learn about the challenges of organising a biggish event (especially when we have JBI running the show)

Each small group of students had specific tasks, and yes, there were challenges - they worked through them as a group. They made plans to show the photos on the girls' side too (thanks for the help as always Mariam) but the two day sale was such a success on the boy's side that they decided not to go ahead with it.

They sold a lot - and raised enough money to fund drilling three water wells in Sri Lanka (which is very fitting with all the talk of water in class). They used their own funds to print the photos up and donated the unsold photos to the university.

Here are some photos of the event. I hope you enjoy them and I hope you are beginning to realise that Emirati men (even the young ones) are not like their stereotype that is being propagated even into the New York Times. I will miss them of course, and hope to see them again in the future - and I hope to be invited to sit as the "academic nerd" on their Boards of Directors in a few years' time!

Day 1: already 7 sold in pre-sale

Special visitor Dr. Sulaimann the VP of Zayed University

The one with the blue line (Sheik Zayed Bridge) is in my bedroom!

Banner they had made