kmbs voice newsletter 4th edition

www.kmbs.edu.kw .1Issue 004. May 2011

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Is education over-rated? It is often asked whether education is over-rated; meaning, does education get you to places you have never been before? Education is the key that will open many doors for you. It will actually provide you with many keys to use during your career.

Kuwait continues to be a leader in the field of education, and for this reason, it has begun the “Thukhur” initiative, with the blessing of Sheikh Ahmed Al-Fahad – Minister of Planning and Development in Kuwait. This initiative is designed to enhance the development of future leaders within Kuwait. This, in our opinion, completes the missing piece of the puzzle, as it is impossible to develop buildings and instigate ambitious projects without qualified personnel to manage the developments.

KMBS is proud to provide 16 of its Alumni as participants in the Thukhur initiative. This is an indication of the level of professionalism that KMBS alumni hold, and the trust that the initiative is bestowing upon them. We will pursue our mission and commitment to our goal, which is to establish a non-profit, post-graduate institution dedicated to the improvement of the economy of Kuwait.

The Editor

KMBS VoiceA Globally Networked Management School

Issue 004 . May 2011

Editor Message

In This IssueInterview with a business pioneer: Maha Al-Ghunaim - Global Investment House - Chairperson & Managing Director.....................................................02

Success Story.....................................................05

KMBS Events.....................................................07

Setting Personal Goals by Sami Malallah ..................................................... 12

Do you enjoy your working life?by Dr. Roland .....................................................04

The KMBS Interactive learning experienceby Falah Al-Thuwaini.....................................................06

The Soft Power!by Terki AL-Azmi..................................................... 11

Students/Alumni Achievements..................................................... 15

KMBS voice team:

Abdullah Alenezi | Hamad Haji | Hana Hassan | Bader Thamer | Dia Mohammed

www.kmbs.edu.kw2. Issue 004. May 2011

Interview with a business pioneer: Maha Al-Ghunaim Global Investment House - Chairperson & Managing Director

Q: Can you please introduce yourself?

A: I grew up in a cosmopolitan environment. My father, a self-made Kuwaiti businessman had a life-long devotion to Government service and was Chairman of the Kuwaiti Parliament for two sessions. He provided us - four brothers and four sisters - with the best education in schools in Europe and the USA emphasizing equal opportunity, and allowing us to choose the field of study each of us wanted.

I graduated with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Mathematics, from San Francisco State University, California, USA, in 1982.

After graduating, I returned to Kuwait where I began working for KFTCIC, a company owned by the Kuwait Investment Authority, and quickly worked my way up the institutional hierarchy to become Head of the Portfolio Management department in 1988.

I gained valuable experience by being involved with huge projects, immense portfolios and widespread investments. Following the liberation of Kuwait, when the Kuwait Investment Authority merged two of its investment companies, I was promoted to AGM of International and Local Asset Management. In 1998, I joined forces with friends, colleagues and clients to found the Global Investment House (Global).

I have led Global to become one of the largest Asset Management and Investment Banking businesses in the region, with a large client base of individual and institutional investors based in the Middle East and beyond.

Q: You are ranked as one of the most influential and successful businesswomen in the world. What are your strengths and key success factors?

A: Global consists of a loyal team of professionals in various areas and branches, and this will remain the company’s main advantage in moving forward, overcoming challenges and becoming a stronger company, whilst offering

the best products and services to its clients. My success as a business personality is to a large extent a reflection of the support I receive from my husband, children and family.

Q: As a woman, what challenges do you face in our ‘Masculine Society’?

A: I believe that addressing assumptions and gender stereotypes are an integral part of day to day task management.

I have not been affected by discrimination as I progressed to where I am today, due to my commitment, hard work, dedication and the ability to enjoy the next challenge that comes my way which drives me to further excel. These attributes prove a women’s capability of closing the biggest deal, tackling the toughest post and managing the biggest companies, when put to task. There are several women in the world - not only in the business field - that hold some of the highest and most complex positions. To name a few, Angela Merkel, first women to become Chancellor of Germany, Indra Nooyi, Chief Executive for PepsiCo, and Lubna Olaya the Chief Executive for Olayan Financing. All and each of these women demonstrate both the skills and experience that enabled them to achieve the status that they hold today.

Every individual can achieve their goals or their desired position, however, it requires patience, hard work, and faith in their abilities. During the past few years, women have attained high ranks but they prefer not to talk about their gender and status quo because they simply don’t think about them.



Their actions are based upon their endurance and knowledge. However, much of the research conducted on entrepreneurs indicates that many women do encounter barriers due to their lack of requisite skills, training and family support.

Q: There are several investment companies in Kuwait. What differentiates Global Investment House from its competitors?

A: Global has always been committed to offer quality financial products and services. We seek to deliver at the highest standards in all that we do, and excellence is at the heart of our business. Our competitive pay practice recognizes and rewards results and achievements in line with comparable industry benchmarks.

We continue to grow and expand aggressively in the region, therefore attracting and retaining talent will always be a priority. Our success is the result of many things - our experience, knowledge, and the extraordinary talent of our employees, the strength of our management team, and of course, the quality and performance of our products and services. Our success is also very much the result of our values, which we are constantly working to reinforce and communicate to our employees, shareholders and clients.

Q: What are the reasons behind the current Global crisis?

A: Global like many companies and banks in the region and worldwide, was affected by the international financial crisis and defaulted on a syndicated debt in December 2008.

A weak macroeconomic environment negatively impacted upon Global’s operations, particularly the Principal Investment and Real Estate businesses. Reduced credit appetite and a lack of liquidity prevented the company from refinancing as principal payments became due.

Q: What steps did you tackle to deal with this crisis? What were the challenges, and how did you overcome them?

A: We followed a transparent approach. The company’s management immediately sprang into action and assigned an international financial advisor, initiating a process of debt rescheduling with its creditors.

Since then, Global has worked closely with its creditors and continued to service all coupons and interest payments in a timely manner. The company’s full cooperation and transparency with its lenders was recognized any appreciated by the banks, distinguishing Global from other borrowers in default, and setting precedents for other restructuring in the region.

Q: What are the key lessons learnt from this crisis?

A: To focus upon our core values, Global was, and still is very strong in Asset Management and Investment Banking, and we will continue to concentrate on, and develop these areas.

Q: How do you evaluate Global Investment House now, and where do you see it in 3 years?

A: Global is today a stronger company following the highest level of governance structure. In three years, I see Global as a more efficient company focusing upon the provision of world class products and services to its worldwide clients.

Q: What advice would you offer to business women?

A: The best advice comes from others who have been in my business position. If I can do it, certainly you can do it too. Women in business always encourage other business women to chime in with their own thoughts and ideas. Always have these key points in mind:

• Be realistic: You may need to start small within your own budget, but establish a long-term plan for success and identify your milestones of success

• Know your business opportunities and threats • Be gracious: Share and express your success

with others in order to motivate them • Don’t be afraid to fail. It is part of success and

learning • Learn to network with all - your clients and

your competition

Q: Is there anything else that you would like to add?

A: I would like to encourage everyone to continue to follow their ambitions and remember to do that, every individual will encounter hurdles on their road to success that will shape them, and inspire them to take advantage of more opportunities - and don’t forget your loved ones in the process.


Interviewed by Dia Mohammed


Ask anyone the above question and the answer could be much more multifaceted than meets the eye. As a member of the Arabian Society for Human Resource Management (ASHRM), I have often heard people discuss the notion of quality of work life from a rather philosophical perspective.

Many wonder if it really exists in their workplace. Research on the quality of work life suggests that there are different relationships between the satisfaction with work life and, for instance, employees’ engagement in and commitment to their work.

Employees perceive quality when fundamental expectations about the workplace and their job are adequately met. According to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, these expectations could range from the more immediate physical needs such as workplace facilities, to security needs such as compensation and benefits, to affiliation needs such as social-networking and collaboration opportunities, to esteem needs such as autonomy and decision making, to actualization needs such as strategic planning and involvement.

In this article, I will share the key research findings of a longitudinal study that was conducted in USA over three years. We collected data from 140 working people who had decided to improve their career prospects and, thereby, their quality of work life, through professional education.

Eight distinct factors have been found to be of direct influence on the quality of work life, as follows:

Organizational cultureAn organizational culture of openness and trust provides employees with the spontaneity they need to recreate their identity through job enlargement and enrichment. The focus is on recognizing flexibility and creativity as sources of motivation for increasing individual competence and intellectual capacity.

LeadershipAppropriate leadership guides employees in aligning their individual goals to those of the organization. Such an alignment encourages individuals to view their day-to-day tasks in terms of making an impact on other strategic prospects of the organization. The focus is on promoting task significance through autonomy and empowerment.

CommunicationAn open communication system in an organization is the basis for gathering individual and collective voices. The focus is on understanding employees’ attitudes and opinions about their jobs and the environment to identify diversity in job functions for the achievement of various skills.

TeamworkTeamwork promotes cross-boundary interaction that creates opportunities for collaborative learning, problem solving, and decision making. The focus is on job redesign that provides the potential for division of labor and job rotation where experiential engagement in less-familiar work contexts helps an employee to realize each facet of knowledge, skills, and abilities.

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by Dr. Roland K. Yeo, PhDAssociate Professor of Organizational Behaviour & HRMKuwait Maastricht Business School

Do you enjoy your working life?


Job identityRecognition of jobs and the value they create for the organization is essential for increasing the commitment and involvement of employees. The focus is on creating value in job contribution, the impact it brings to work processes, and the significance it accords to organizational growth.

PerformanceAn appropriate measurement of performance at individual and group levels helps employees to identify their effectiveness in achievable ways. The focus is on harnessing a commitment to quality and productivity through job sharing, specialization, and standardization.

Rewards and recognitionThe worthiness of a job is often determined by appropriate reward and recognition apart from the more intrinsic aspect of its impact on the organization. The focus is on generating a commitment to excellence through job innovation where functions, processes, and outcomes determine the boundaries of job specialization.

Training & developmentLearning and development are key aspects of valuing human resources through the expansion of intellectual assets. The focus is on talent development that will have an influence on succession planning, employee retention and performance.

The above factors are as much of primary importance to employee development as organizational growth and renewal. It is no wonder these have become topics of increasing debate and interest in the region as facilitated through ASHRM, a non-profit professional society aimed at promoting the role of HRM in the Middle East and beyond. More information about ASHRM can be found on www.ashrm.com.

KMBS is not for everyone looking for an MBA degree in Kuwait. Studying at KMBS is not easy. It is only for students who crave for challenge, and seek to take the less-traveled route. It is extremely challenging to study at KMBS, but challenge brings out the best in people. It made me increase my level of intensity and give it my best shot. At the end, it was very rewarding to hear the panel of advisers complementing my presentation. It made all the difference to me, and I felt that my hard work was really appreciated and my choice to join KMBS was the right one. Now, it feels very good to be a KMBS alumnus. It makes me look for more challenges. I believe that over time, students who want the easiest way to get an MBA will not come to KMBS. The type of people who will select and graduate from KMBS will be accomplished and high potential professionals who will accept no shortcuts. If you are one of those people, you will feel at home when studying at KMBS. I liked the fact that my advisor--Professor Rodrigo Magalhaes--didn't give me specific instructions on how to write my thesis. Rather, he insisted that I think about it, and deliver an original work. I wouldn't have liked to have been closely directed, and I enjoyed the whole process of writing and making mistakes while completing my thesis as an original piece of work that I am proud of.

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by : Eid Al-Shihri

Success Story



KMBS students are mainly professionals in their early 20s to late 30s from the Middle East. They were motivated to enroll primarily for three reasons; to open new companies, to advance their career, and to facilitate their studies for PhD, or equivalent degrees. They did not pursue the MBA for the degree itself, but they sought the knowledge and tools they might gain to help them achieve their goals. So their expectations of education or knowledge are different from that of ordinary students.

Instructors may believe that MBA students are considerably motivated to learn, taking responsibility for their own education, and working hard. Accordingly, they often structure a teaching experience based upon professionals conducting classes centered upon a lecturer teaching and students taking notes (Wetzel, 2009).

However, this traditional learning experience will not produce independent students with leadership qualities in an organization or in an individual entrepreneur. Traditional learning depends upon memorizing and unidirectional communication and does not invoke participation and thinking. Adults respond more proactively when instructors use motivating strategies and techniques (Wetzel, 2009). Teaching professionals requires more of a learner-centered approach, which involves the students taking an active role in the teaching and learning process. Students require the freedom to ask questions, contribute to the problem analysis and find solutions, considering prior knowledge and experiences, receiving feedback, and to be taught using strategies that address their individual learning styles.

In this paper, it is my wish to share our experience with Dr. Rodrigo Magalhaes, and commend his teaching style in teaching the "Strategic

Design within Organization" course, where all the theories and concepts were discussed in an interactive style. Students were encouraged to think, and use their common sense and knowledge in defining problems and finding solutions. We were encouraged to participate and to suggest factors that we believe were related to the concept, discussing the validity of each factor, together with the practical implications of theories applied to case studies that we were presented with in every lecture. This experience was replicated during the preparation of the thesis, where the role of the professor was in the coaching and engagement of students, offering general guidelines and insights without micro-instructing students, rather than a traditional style of dissemination of information. This style built the confidence of the supervised students, and enabled them to take decisions and to be accountable for those decisions. This confidence is required in both our practical and academic life.

I feel this experience created the necessary independence that is required in the practical business world, or in the continuation of our academic life. We need such implanted independence and confidence to have the necessary tools and knowledge to face and deal with problems that most of us applied for MBA to overcome, and to promote this experience within KMBS, and this part of the world.

ReferenceWetzel, D. (2009) 'Adult Education Learning Experiences - Teaching Adults Using Motivating Strategies and Techniques'. (Suite101 site), Available http://www.suite101.com/content/adult-education-learning-experiences-a151234(Accessed: 2011, 2March).

by : Falah Al-ThuwainiIntake 10 AlumniUSBC

The KMBS Interactive learning experience

“Believe that you will succeed, and you will.” - Dale Carnegie


In its continued effort to provide the best academic environment to the students and staff, KMBS has added one more service to the community by opening the KMBS Bookstore.

The KMBS Bookstore was inaugurated by Dr. Hernan Riquelme – Head of Academic Affairs, in the presence of Ms. Rosemary Lloyd – Director, and other faculty and staff members of KMBS.The KMBS Bookstore will serve the community by selling Curriculum Books / Textbooks, General Interest Books, Stationery and Magazines on Regional and International Affairs.

One of the most distinguished services of the KMBS Bookstore is the handling of Personal Book Orders that students or faculty wish to place for their extra-curricular reading or orders for their familes and friends. By having this facility on their doorstep, the student faculty and staff will be able to enhance their knowledge and skills, and apply those skills to their respective fields.All these services in the KMBS Bookstore are provided by the leading Book Supplier and only Campus Bookstore operator in the region, Growmore.Growmore is one of the best and most professionally operated Book Suppliers in the region, and currently runs 6 Campus Bookstores in Kuwait. KMBS would like to thank all the staff members, students, and especially the Management and Staff Members of Growmore for making this possible in a very short time, and with utmost professionalism.

Opening of KMBS Bookstore

KMBS Events

Centre of Continuing Education

The KMBS President announced the establishment of the newly- created Centre of Continuing Education and assigned Mr. Hamad Haji to be in charge of this Center.

The centre aims to develop the existing human capital in Kuwait by providing short-term professional courses and programmes. It will also strengthen the link KMBS already has with industry, and further enhance the favourable reputation that KMBS currently enjoys.



KMBS new website

A day of Bowling

On the 1st May, KMBS launched its new website to the public. The revised website is providing new services for students/alumni and general visitors to the site. There are many new services that the students and alumni can enjoy, so try it yourself to see the difference.

KMBS Alumni Association recently organized a day of bowling, which took place at the Cozmo Bowling Discovery Mall. The event was sponsored by KMBS, and Alumnus had the opportunity to meet, network and develop relations with MsM alumni from intake 1 to 9 in a casual and relaxed setting.The results were as follows: For males, Omar Al-Radhwan (Intake 10 alumni) won first place as best scorer, Ramez Skiek (Intake 12 group representative) won second, and Hani Abu Daqer (Intake 10 alumni) won third place. For females, Yasmeen Hayat (Intake 10 alumni) won first place and Viktoria Marafi won second place.

The awards were presented before Mr. Zeyad Al-Sanousi – Cozmos Bowling Group owner and Intake 1 Alumni, as well as Mr. Adel Al-Ameeri.

The President of the Association thanked KMBS and especially KMBS President Mr. Khaleel Al- Abdallah for his generous sponsorship of all the association activities which contribute to developing social relationships between alumni.


In an effort to strengthen students’ understanding of Strategic Management, KMBS was proud to invite Dr. Adel Al-Yousifi who is the Senior Vice Chairman and Managing Director of EHY and Sons Co., and the founder of the Engineering Services Group Co.,

York. Like many international Business Schools, KMBS frequently invites guest

speakers who are ‘captains of industry’ to Kuwait and Dr Adel Al-Yousifi is such an experienced person with diverse interests, including researching road traffic signs in order to reduce road accidents.At the core of his speech was the need to improve traffic signs so that there can be international standards and

for commuters to be able to interpret traffic signs even if they do not understand

the foreign language used. He emphasised that the fundamental problem with many traffic signs is the lack of feedback by commuters and a lack of standardisation of traffic signs.

Educare Exhibition

KMBS participated in the annual Education Exhibition “Educare” that took place during the period from 7th to 10th March. This annual exhibition took place at Kuwait International Fairs, Mishref, where the aim was to highlight local and international universities, helping students decide which university to join. The participation of KMBS was based upon the commitment that it has to raise its profile and provide visitors with information about its programmes.

Intake 10 students defended their thesis during the period from 26th to 31st March. There was a great deal of anticipation and students were excited to have reached this stage. As part of the defense panel, KMBS hosted 3 MsM professors who contributed as members of the panel. Well done, and congratulation to all students.

The Admissions Unit is currently accepting applications for Intake 16, which will commence on 9th October. Places are limited, so those interested in joining are advised to submit their applications as soon as possible.

KMBS Host Dr. Al-Yusifi

Intake 10 defend their thesis

KMBS is accepting applications for October intake



The Kuwait Maastricht Business School (KMBS) was proud to invite Mr Peter G. Rurick, the Deloitte’s Change Manager for Kuwait, as a guest speaker to The Consultancy Process course. Mr Rurick is an experienced change management professional with over 10 years of industry and project experience

managing large-scale change and transformation programmes in a number of industries, notably the finance services, resources and public sectors.

Deloitte is one of the leading consulting firms that provide consulting, financial advisory, tax and assurance and risk services to clients worldwide. In the Middle East, it has 26 offices in 16 countries including Kuwait and therefore to become acquainted with its consulting methodologies was a particular privilege for KMBS students, some of whom will be working as external or internal consultants. The Consultancy Process course was the last course delivered by Dr David Madzikanda for the Intake 11 students, and therefore it was a good opportunity for students to interact with practitioners, network and get to know some of the big change projects happening in Kuwait, which they could also be part of in the future.

Dr. Roland received two prestigious awards

Dr. Roland Yeo, Associate Professor of Organizational Behaviour and International Business at the Kuwait Maastricht Business School, has won two Emerald Literati Network Awards for Excellence in 2011.

The first is the Outstanding Reviewer Award for Development and Learning in Organizations: An International Journal. Each year, Emerald names and rewards outstanding reviewers who contribute to the success of the journals. Each journal’s editor has nominated the reviewer he/she believes has been that title’s most outstanding reviewer. Dr. Yeo has been selected for the very impressive and significant contribution he has made as a reviewer to a particular journal throughout 2010.

The second is the Highly Commended Award for a paper published in Industrial and Commercial Training Journal, entitled “Leading through problems: Recognizing the potential of getting their hands

dirty”. Every year, Emerald invites each journal’s editorial team to nominate what they believe has been that title’s outstanding paper, and up to three highly commended papers from the previous 12 months. Dr. Yeo’s paper has been selected as it was one of the most impressive pieces of work the editorial team has seen for a specific journal throughout 2010.

Both the outstanding reviewer awards and the award-winning papers are chosen following consultation amongst each journal’s editorial team, many of whom are eminent academics or managers.

KMBS Host Mr. Peter G. Rurick from Deloitte


Kuwait and other Arab countries have faced dramatic changes in their way of life and in their organizational culture. The most important change to have affected these countries is the cultural change within organizations. Although there are many studies that have been conducted on Arabic organizations, they have not yet understood the reasons beyond the changes that have shaped the unusual practices seen especially at the organizational level.

Most researchers and scholars have taken Hofstede studies on culture as a basis for their research, as I did in my PhD study, but not taking it for granted where I concentrated upon the power distance aspect, and had gone through the critiques of Hofstede. The reason I (with all respect to the findings of Hofstede studies), do not see such studies are feasible is based upon the fact that Hofstede studies are only addressing the hard-wiring of people though surveys and such a quantitative approach does not reveal the soft side of humans, i.e. feelings, emotions, body language, etc.

When such an approach is followed by the leaders of those organization or even the societies, they are not seeing the most effective part of it, the causes of our behaviour. This element remains the focus of ongoing research.

Culture, by its definition, is derived from the beliefs and values of individuals, and numbers do not represent the real picture of individuals or groups.Kuwaiti organizations are becoming negatively affected by the moral state of leaders, who control the present operation in the short term, neglecting the long term visionary aspect, which is confirmed by Hofstede.

Leaders are coming to organizations in a variety of ways: Political Influence of the group, family, sects or the party the candidate is part of, Owners or major shareholders, or from the government under pressure of parliament members or group … this leads us to believe that leaders loyalty will remain to

the group that appointed him/her to the leadership position, and not to the organization. From here, the mal-practices continue, and of course the lack of corporate governance and auditing, steering committees and other controlling mechanisms/practices/forms/structures driving such bad behaviour and wrong decisions. This can be seen clearly through the government bailing out of some organizations to overcome their losses as a result of bad management!!!

I believe organizations within Kuwait have an urgent need to investigate individuals fully, whether they be members or leaders who work and shape the culture of each organization. I also recommend that organizations avoid relying upon Western programmes or consultancies, since they are all derived from different norms and cultures, which cannot be applied here in Kuwait!! The soft power which we are trying to explore here is the communications that demonstrate the internal communication and present transparency and honesty within the leader, managers and members as well, the process of decision making which needs to be via group, and not the leader as an individual.Soft power comes from interviewing organizations’ members and leaders, more emphasis on the effective communication and group decision-making process based upon clear corporate governance and higher standards that leave the floor for high level professional practices not the ones we are experiencing through WASTA and one-man-show mal-practices!

A good example on the effectiveness of SOFT POWER is the transformational moves that took place in Arab countries like Egypt where Twitter, Facebook and openness in chatting websites which touched the ‘soft part of humans’ and led to change!For a better life, soft power needs to be considered if we are targeting the boundaries of perfection at all levels, and I hope that we all support such power, Insha’allah.

by : Terki AL-AzmiIntake 2 Alumni

The Soft Power!



Many of us have assembled a toy or a piece of furniture before. You probably completed the assembly with the help of an instruction sheet or a drawing which was folded inside the box. Researchers found that many people spend a long time planning their vacation, and take care of the small details to ensure their enjoyment of every hour of their vacation, although the same people would not spend half of that time to plan their lives.

Planning our life and careers should begin by identifying our short-term and long-term goals. We should articulate the goals, and then set a plan to achieve them.

We need to select achievable and realistic goals to improve our life. You will be able to set your personal goals and write a plan to achieve them by simply reading the text below and following the simple guidelines.

GENERATING IDEAS Some goals we do not need to think about, or list them on paper. Such goals are either ongoing goals like the spiritual goals that we practise every day, or an overwhelming desire that we constantly think about, and work towards achieving every day. These goals we need to plan in a timely manner and assign milestones for them to help us establish our current state of completion.

by : Sami MalallahChemical Engineering University of Dayton (USA)

Setting Personal Goals Easy to set and easy to achieve?

Read 1 book permonth

Learn touch typing

Participate in CSRProgram

Learn new skillevery year

Monthly report within1 week

Ask Boss forcoaching

Update CV bi-annually

Ask for feedbackfrom co-workers

Do daily prayers

Donate money

Volunteer in one dayper month

Family

Go out with familyevery weekend

Spend 2 hours withkids every day

Go to GYM daily

Eat healthy food

Visit 3 times per week

Plan one weekvacation for them

Self

Parents

Goals

2 Career

3 Spiritual

1 Personal

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BrainstormingThe individual should sit in a quiet place with a writing tool to note the ideas and goals that come into his or her mind. The goals should be written freely. We should dismiss the thought "this is impossible" or "I will never achieve this" or "This goal needs ten people to achieve it!" this negative thinking does not help the individual to set his or her goals, but rather limit the imagination and reduce the possibilities of finding new ideas and valuable goals.

List goals or projects that come into your mind, then sort the goals into categories or types. The suggested major categories would be: personal, spiritual and work goals. Put each category in a separate list, then, rank the list according to its importance and urgency.The “important but not urgent” should have more attention than the other goals, because if we delay these goals then they will become "important and urgent." The “important and urgent” should be targeted for early completion before we have to stop our regular work to achieve these urgent goals. Some of the “urgent but not important” goals are imposed upon us by others or assigned to us by the organization to achieve somebody else’s goals or to help finish jobs that not related to us or the organization. We may not like doing these urgent goals because they are not ours, but we have to complete them as part of the overall job development and personal satisfaction.

WHAT KIND OF GOALS DO WE HAVE?Goals are different in their importance and urgency. Some goals are nice to have and some are important to have, but there are few goals which we must have.Wishful thinking We have many thoughts and ideas that cross our minds from time to time but when we start a brainstorming session we should jot down these thoughts but they will remain as "wishful thoughts". Some good examples of wishful thoughts would be:1. Be the best father in the world. 2. Win the lottery. 3. Have baby boys only with my future spouse. 4. Replace my home furniture every year.

These wishful thoughts can be a good seed for future goals, but they will be considered as wishful thoughts for now.

Nice to haveSome goals are nice to have, and should be targeted if we have extra time and effort to pursue them. An example of these goals would be learning calligraphy to enhance our handwriting. This goal would improve our note- taking and would be useful when we write personal notes to others. Lately, most of the notes are typed and sent electronically, so handwriting improvements would be nice goal to target, but not important.

Important goalsImportant goals are as named "important" but they might not be urgent. We need to achieve these important goals in the future but they are not urgent now. Planning these important goals would be more important than achieving the urgent goals. Important goals are usually delayed or postponed until they become important and urgent. At that time we will be searching for time and energy to achieve these goals. For example, many of the executives and leaders are postponing learning the necessary and basic computer skills because they can do most of their work without using a computer. They usually ask their assistants to type, print and prepare whatever they need on their laptop. Those managers and executives will need to work outside their office more frequently in the future and may need to travel a lot. Their

Think

Write

SetPriority

SetUrgency

WorkDaily

AchieveGoal

SetDate

UrgentGoals

MustDo

WorkRelatedGoals

WishfulThiking

Somebodyelse Goals

Importantto Do

Nice toHave

BrainStorming


personal assistant will not be around them to prepare their work or do last minute corrections. At that moment they will be struggling, and realizing the need to learn the minimum skills needed to use the computer functions.

"Must Do" goalsThese goals are similar to the important goals described in the previous section, but with one major difference. The must-do goals are required now and cannot be postponed for later time. A good example for the must-do goals would be studying for the final exam or preparing the research material and survey for the term final paper. Urgent goalsUrgent goals are drawing valuable energy and precious time because of their urgency. Some of the urgent goals are not important, but we have to complete them now because they were imposed upon us as part an emergent work. Mistakes, breakdowns and accidents are major contributors to the urgent jobs. As discussed before, some of the urgent goals were not urgent, but our procrastination made them urgent.

Somebody else’s goalsSometimes we receive unfinished work which was assigned to another team member but it could not be finished for various reasons. The reassigned work would be part of the organizational overall goals which we have to prioritize over our personal goals. In addition, new work is usually assigned to us when it is either due or going to be due shortly, so we need to use our extra time and special skills to manage the extra work along with our original work.

PLANNING THE EXECUTIONAt this point, we should have identified the goals and ranked them according to their importance and urgency. We should focus upon the top 3-5 goals from the list. We check each goal and ask ourselves if we have the talent and the resources to achieve the goal. We identify the skills and resources that are required for the goal then plan learning these skills and getting the resource on a time line. We may need to read books, attend training courses or even earn an academic degree. Some of the required resources we can buy off the shelf in the market. Other resources can have to be brought in, or made especially for the task. The time, effort and cost will be set on the timeline to check if we can meet the target date because some of the requirement may need more time than is available to us. Time may be one of elements that makes a goal realistic and achievable, or not.

We need to set milestones or check points in the plan to alert us if we deviated from the plan. We should think of the milestones as smaller goals that we need to achieve. If we are trying to write a book, then completing each chapter would be a good milestone to watch for.

We should reward ourselves for achieving our goals. Also, if the goal is big then we should reward ourselves for achieving the major milestones in the goal's time line. For example, I will reward myself with a hot chocolate brownie and a big scoop of vanilla ice-cream when I finish writing this material.


Students/Alumni Achievements

Anoud

Mohammed

Safia

Maziad


Anoud Al-Hathran – Intake 2 Alumni

Anoud was recently promoted to the position of Vice Chairman of the Commercial Bank of Kuwait. This promotion clearly demonstrates the trust that the bank has in Anoud’s skills. Well done Anoud!

Development of leaders’ initiative

Recently, the Government launched a new programme called “Thukhur”. The aim of this programme is to prepare leaders for the future who will play a significant role in the development process. 16 out of the 150 carefully- selected candidates for the programme were KMBS Alumni. KMBS is proud to be a provider with talented people, who are motivated and inspired to drive Kuwait to a new era. Well done. Safia Al-Bokhary – Intake 14

Safia Al-Bokhary was a participant in a poetry night that was hosted by the Association of Writers in Kuwait. Safia writes her own poetry, and she shared one of her poems during the evening. Well done Safia!

Maziad Al-Khaldi – Intake 10

Among his series of lectures about patterns of leaders of the Middle East, Maziad Al-Khaldi presented a seminar at Johnson Wales University in Denver, USA. In the lecture, he talked about the role of his highness the Amir Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah in building peace in the Gulf region between UAE and Oman. Al-Khaldi went on to list the characteristics of his highness as a charismatic leader and a political presence that no one can deny during his life. Maziad is a renowned speaker, who frequently presents lectures in a number of different universities.

Mohammed Abu Suliman – Intake 15

As an Information Technology - Risk Subject Matter Expert, Mohammed Abu Suliman is one of our students from intake 15. Recently, he had an opportunity to join in the worldwide efforts to help review the latest Certified Risk and Information System Control Manual for 2011 for the Information Systems Audit and Control Association<http://www.isaca.org/>-ISACA.Abu Suliman says “It was a great privilege and golden opportunity to have my name put in this manual as being one of the experts who reviewed the said Manual, which has given me worldwide recognition today.”


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