Women on Board Professional Certificate

Why boards need more women

Diversity on boards is critical for continued growth. This requires broadening the composition of boards to be able to hear and consider different points of views, which comes from members who have different backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives. Women on boards bring different perspectives to the current rapidly challenging economic realities facing today’s organizations. When Fortune 500 companies were ranked based on the number of women on boards, the organizations ranked among the top reported a %42 greater return on sales and a %53 higher return on equity than the rest. These findings were corroborated by an analysis conducted of the Financial Times Stock Exchange listed boards, the analysis showed that operational performance and share prices were both higher in organizations where women made up over %20 of board members than those with lower women representation.

Program Overview

Unlike any other program currently being offered in Egypt, this highly customized and interactive program gives a real view of what it means to be a board member. The program examines normal board duties as well as the challenges boards face in dealing with the unavoidable shocks and crises that arise in every company from time to time. Women executives will work with expert facilitators and experienced chairpersons who will share what works well through case studies of top performing boards and will challenge women executives to build their own insights based on their background, experience and knowledge. This program will assist women executives to broaden their understanding of board responsibilities and how to best present themselves as viable board candidate. The program is divided into three themes: 1) Personal and organizational leadership, 2) Business acumen, 3) Action plan.

Theme 1: Personal and Organizational Leadership (5 days)

• Integral Leadership (2 days) • Effective Decision Making in the Board Room (2 day)• The Negotiation Strategist (1 day)

Theme 2: Business Acumen (4 days)

• Effective Governance (2 days)• The Strategy Imperative (1 days) • Egyptian Legal and Regulatory Frameworks (1 day)

Theme 3: Action Plan (1 day)

The program will provide participants with the opportunity to create their individual action plans while receiving coaching from experienced facilitators. Women Executives will need to produce their final action plans within 4 weeks from program end date to be able to receive their program certification.

Women on Board will give executives insights into

• How boards function and how to trade effectively through a range of dilemmas and challenges• The roles and obligations of board members and the dynamics between the board and CEO• How board members work with management to oversee company strategy• The role and function of the sub committees of the board• Governance and its role in sustainable success for the organization • Develop board specific skills that contribute to the creation of an effectively performing board culture• How legal and regulatory frameworks affect boards• Design concrete action plans

Program Format

The program will be conducted at AUC New Cairo Campus, in an intensive mode over the period of 10 days (6 direct training hours per day) for two consecutive weeks. The basic nature of the program will be interactive experiential learning. Facilitators and participants will engage in case-study analysis and role-play activities. Guest speakers with relevant experience will share personal experiences and best practices with women executives throughout the different sessions and modules. The program total Continuing Education Units (CEUs) is 6.0.

Program Implementation

The following activities shall be conducted before and during the program:

• Readings of selected articles and case studies (prior to program start date) • Overview of relevant ideas and concepts in each area • Case studies analysis and discussions for local and global cases • Reflections • Group discussions and brainstorming• Developing individual action plans

Who is it for?

Current board members, individuals about to become board members, individuals who have ambitions of becoming board members or individuals who work with board members. This includes executive directors and non-executive directors.

Women on Board will give executives insights into

• How boards function and how to trade effectively through a range of dilemmas and challenges• The roles and obligations of board members and the dynamics between the board and CEO• How board members work with management to oversee company strategy• The role and function of the sub committees of the board• Governance and its role in sustainable success for the organization • Develop board specific skills that contribute to the creation of an effectively performing board culture• How legal and regulatory frameworks affect boards• Design concrete action plans

Program Format

The program will be conducted at AUC New Cairo Campus, in an intensive mode over the period of 10 days (6 direct training hours per day) for two consecutive weeks. The basic nature of the program will be interactive experiential learning. Facilitators and participants will engage in case-study analysis and role-play activities. Guest speakers with relevant experience will share personal experiences and best practices with women executives throughout the different sessions and modules. The program total Continuing Education Units (CEUs) is 6.0.

Program Implementation

The following activities shall be conducted before and during the program:

• Readings of selected articles and case studies (prior to program start date) • Overview of relevant ideas and concepts in each area • Case studies analysis and discussions for local and global cases • Reflections • Group discussions and brainstorming• Developing individual action plans

Who is it for?

Current board members, individuals about to become board members, individuals who have ambitions of becoming board members or individuals who work with board members. This includes executive directors and non-executive directors.

Program Content

Theme 1: Personal and Organizational Leadership

Integral Leadership

Integral Leadership is a process that allows a leader to address every event or organizational need within the context of interior and exterior dimensions in both the individual and collective realms regardless of the scope and ‘depth’ of the organizational situation or need. By learning and applying an Integral Framework of thinking, women executives will be able to analyze and assess even the most complex issues as board members in a balanced and comprehensive manner and act accordingly. This is what makes this approach so powerful and leading-edge.

The Integral Model integrates the four major theories of business management:

• Theory X - Individual/ExteriorStresses individual behavior; Individual/Tangible• Theory Y - Individual/InteriorFocuses on psychological understanding; • Cultural Management - Collective/InteriorStresses organizational culture• Systems Management - Collective/ExteriorEmphasizes the governance systems, processes and structures There are four key components of integral leadership:

• Personal Mastery• Capability Mastery• Cultural Mastery• Strategy Mastery

Effective Decision Making in the Board Room

Most executives make decisions based on intuition and past successes even in complex and risky situations. The rigorous analysis of facts and risks tends to be neglected, so the outcome often does not meet expectations.

In this module, women executives will examine their distinctive decision making pattern and familiarize themselves with the latest decision making concepts. They will enhance their ability to break down crucial decision making situations into manageable parts, effectively analyze the information at hand, assess alternatives, and, above all, never lose sight of the objectives they want to achieve. Women executives will practice different frameworks and tools for decision making through the intensive use of interactive exercises and simulations. Extensive discussions will follow, with the objective of reflecting on the learnings and its applications inside a boardroom.

The Negotiation Strategist and Influencer

The negotiation strategist approaches business problems from a different angle to those working in other functions. It is often a question not of what my objectives are, but of which of my objectives are possible in this situation and how they will be achieved. As Chester Karrass put it, “You get what you negotiate, not what you deserve”, or, as expert negotiators summarize their years of experience by stating: “Sometimes you get what you want, sometimes you get what you need, and other times you get what you get”. Negotiation is about trying to do better than just “getting what you get”. Anybody who says that negotiation is “easy” obviously is the kind of person who makes do with “what they get”, which is not quite the same.

This module will focus on creating the conditions that enable women executives to get closer to what they want; it is about learning from mistakes without having to make them first, as well as influencing and shaping behaviors that result in mutually satisfying agreements for all. Women executives will acquire useful tools that can immediately be incorporated into their work and everyday life.

Theme 2: Business Acumen

Effective Governance

Board members today face a number of challenges in the boardroom, among them, increased regulation, pressure from activist shareholders, and corporate governance reforms. This module will provide women executives with practical steps that board members can take to make their corporate performance most effective. The module provides stimulating insights into corporate governance, giving women executives the knowledge they need to be a high performing board members who adds significant value to the company. Women executives will gain a new perspective on corporate board governance and what constitutes a strong board.

The module will cover the following topic:

• Corporate Governance Evolution & Best Practice• Board Member Duties & Responsibilities• Potential Liabilities / Conflicts of Interest• Role & responsibilities of the Board• Decisions Reserved for the Board / Delegated Authorities• Board Composition / Board Committees• Board Induction Training• Board Dilemmas• Types of Board Members: Executive, Non-Executive, Nominee, Alternate, Shadow• Risk Management• Board Development and Performance Evaluation

The Strategy Imperative

Boards members have an important role in strategy. While management is responsible for setting, refining, and executing the organization’s strategy, the board’s role is to provide oversight and guidance to the direction of the strategy and to weigh its inherent risks. This module will enhance women executives’ ability to understand the environment & accordingly evaluate an organization’s strategy and its inherent alternatives and risks, and provide the tools needed for board members and executives to interact productively when defining and refining strategy.

Egyptian Legal and Regulatory Frameworks

Basic understanding of the legal framework is essential for board members to be effective. The legal responsibilities of board members, the new investment law, management of capital companies, types of taxes on commercial companies, contracts and commercial obligations are few of the elements which will be covered under this module which is comprised of the following topics:

• Overview of commercial companies under the Egyptian law• Taxation on legal persons’ activities• Contracts and commercial obligations • Bank accounts

Theme 3: Action Plans

Theme 3 will focus on developing an impactful action plan. Upon the completion of Themes 1 and 2, participants will be required to develop their own action plan with the help of experts who will coach them as they work on developing their own context-specific plan.

Amira El Saeed Agag

Amira is the corporate governance operations officer for the IFC’s Corporate Governance Projects for the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), World Bank. As such, she focuses on providing technical assistance and advisory services to banks and companies on good corporate governance practices, in particular through training events as well as corporate governance assessments and improvement plans. Amira has significant academic and hands-on experience in the Education and Training field; as a visiting faculty in the American University in Cairo, Lecturer, and training lead faculty. Amira has presented in various Regional and International conferences, and written numerous articles on corporate governance-related topics in various Egyptian and Regional economic newspapers and magazines. She holds a doctorate Degree in Business Administration; she is Level Two Candidate, Certified Financial Analyst, CFA Institute, USA.

Amr Fawzi Hamed

Amr has more than 25 years of professional experience in multinational firms such as Oversees Bechtel, Mobil-Oil and ExxonMobil corporations. His sound managerial and professional experience has qualified him into the leadership and change management training and consultancy area, where he acquired a strong business understanding of corporate dynamics and culture changes as well as delivering different training program and consultancy jobs to various clients in Egypt and the Middle East Region in the fields of production, pharmaceuticals, banks, petroleum companies and other growing industries.

On the consultancy side, Amr has specialized in Change Management projects working as a senior consultant and change management advisor to several reputable firms. Moreover, Amr has been certified as a “Change Management Practitioner” from PROSCI, one of the leading consultancy and training firms in the field of change management.

Amr is also a Certified Trainer from EM Leadership & Development Center, ExxonMobil Corporation. As a senior facilitator, he has delivered several workshops in leadership, sales, customer service, change management and effective operations controls. He has recently specialized in training and coaching executives and directors through partnering with reputable firms. In 2016, Amr has been certified as a Life and Executive Coach from the UFV Spain University (Universtad Fransisco Di Vitora). He is specialized mainly in Executive and Career coaching assignment, helping directors and high potential people though out their career. Moreover, Amr has become an Accredited Instruction Designer, in 2017, for designing training programs and corporate curriculum from SEGA-team international. Amr has attended Storytelling techniques workshop in Amsterdam – Holland.

Facilitators Biography

Bashar is an internationally accredited Organizations and Relationships Systems Coach, Master Trainer and Facilitator. He brings with him over 35 years of experience in the field of management and personal and organizational development. Bashar’s work is expansive and includes projects in the Middle East, Europe, Russia, the Far East, the USA and South America. He is specially noted for his expertise in the areas of designing and facilitating learning programs, thematic workshops, team and executive systemic coaching.

Bashar Alsafadi

Dr. Hesham O. Dinana

Dr. Dinana has over 30 years of working experience in strategy, marketing, information technology, customer care and hi-tech manufacturing. In addition, he has more than 15 years of teaching experience both in undergraduate and graduate degree levels His industry experiences include; Healthcare, ICT, Real Estate, Food & Agribusiness, Oil & Gas, Furniture, and FMCG. Dr. Dinana has active research agenda in various marketing areas with a focus on Digital Marketing, Entrepreneurship & SMEs Marketing and the use of the Internet-of-Things in Marketing. He has supervised many MBA theses and DBA Dissertations in those areas.

Dr. Dinana is a Certified Management Consultant (CMC) by the UK Institute of Management Consultancy; a Certified Board Director by the Egyptian Institute of Directors; a Certified Balanced Scorecard Consultant; a Certified Management Simulation Trainer and is a member of the American Management Association, Academy of Management, Association for Service Managers, American College of Healthcare Executives, Egyptian Engineers Syndicate and the Egyptian Society for Quality in Healthcare.

Mohsen El Kotby

A highly accomplished Skilled lawyer with over 34 years of legal experience in contracts, credit facilities, credit loans & agreements, litigation, regulations, intellectual property, and employment law. A proven experienced manager and effective team member. Thorough knowledge of hedging & other financial instruments. Ability to draft & negotiate contracts, securities and legal related provisions. Ability to manage multiple teams & projects while maintaining a commitment to integrity.Granted an exceptional rewards for his participation in drafting a syndication loan agreement in 20, formation of shares of the bank’s capital for the outstanding efforts during the years 2010 till 2016, and exceptional promotion to Assistant General Manager for the year 2015.Mr. El Kotby is a Member of the Egyptian Bar Association (Cassation since 2005) and LMA (Loan Market Association).

Walid Eid

Dr. Walid Mohamed Eid is the Chairman of Integrated Training and Business Solutions of Egypt (Intr@st), the sub franchisee of New Horizons Computer Learning Centers in Alexandria and Mansoura, the world largest independent IT training company with more than 300 locations worldwide. Since he graduated from the Arab Academy for Science and Technology and Maritime Transport (AAST&MT) in 1995, he decided to drop the opportunity of joining the family business, and to start his own business in the Information Technology sector. In 2000 he earned the MBA degree from AAST&MT, and in 2015 the Doctorate of Business Administration from the University of Liverpool UK upon the successful dissertation of the thesis: A market-based approach towards supporting entrepreneurship in developing countries: Assessing the business accelerator model in Egypt.

In addition to teaching management in AAST&MT for the undergraduate and postgraduate students as a part-time lecturer, his entrepreneurial journey extended over the years, where he has experienced the startup of several companies in different sectors such as retail, food and beverages, business consulting, and business incubation and acceleration services. With regard to the business community, Dr. Walid Mohamed Eid was one of the founders of Entrepreneurs' Business Forum which was founded in 2014 as the first NGO in Egypt concerned with Entrepreneurship. He is also a member of the Digital Economy and Technology division at the Egyptian Federal Union of chambers of commerce, and member of Alexandria Business Association and Egyptian Junior Business Association.

Program Schedule

Program Fees: EGP 15,500

Contact Information:

Topic Date

Effective Decision Making In The Board Room January 14-15, 2018

Integral Leadership January 16-17, 2018

Egyptian Legal And Regulatory Framework January 24, 2018

The Negotiation Strategist January 21, 2018

The Strategy Imperative January 18, 2018

Action Plan Design and Discussions January 28, 2018

Effective Governance January 22-23, 2018

Please send the filled application form to:

Karim MohamedyK.mohamedy@aucegypt.edu

The American University in Cairo School of Business, Executive Education

113 Kasr El Aini St., P.O. Box 2511, Cairo 11511, Egypt tel 20.2.2797.6700/6701www.aucegypt.edu/business/execedexeced@aucegypt.edu