This presentation highlights the immense leadership deficit that our region suffers from. It also demonstrates how our educational and training institutions, both at corporate and government levels, fall short in catering for the enormous leadership development requirements in the region. The presentation sheds light on a new strategic initiative to establish a world-class executive and leadership development institution which aims at bridging this gap. The initiative aims at building local intellectual capital and is based on a business model that ensures sustainability and provision of high quality, affordable and relevant life-long development opportunities to our future business leaders. The Madinah Institute for Leadership and Entrepreneurship (MILE) was initiated as one of Savola Group’s CSR programs. MILE is a non-profit organization and will be established at the heart of the Arab and Muslim World at the Madinah Knowledge Economic City. MILE’s first pilot program which attracted more than 150 senior executives from 16 countries has provided strong evidence of the viability of the proposed model.

2. Lack of Corporate Universities: Multinational companies enjoy the economies of scale which enables them to establish corporate universities offering the needed development for a large number of their executives across the globe. The great majority of business organizations in our region are considered to be either medium or small in size (with few exceptions; e.g. Aramco, Sabic, Emirates Airlines, Savola …etc) which make establishment of in-house training facilities non-economical. Few large companies managed to establish in-house training capabilities to equip their new recruits with the required technical skills and to sharpen the skills of their supervisors and middle managers. The majority of our local large business corporations do not have in-house capabilities to offer needed developmental support to their senior executives and in most cases they -or the fortunate ones- are enrolled to attend Executive Education programs offered at top business schools in the US and Europe.

3. The Limited Role of Multinational Companies: Many multinational companies are operating in our region. As indicated earlier a majority of them employ best practices in offering executive development programs. Benefiting from such programs is however limited to those working for them. Usually those “fortunate” local managers who have working experience at one of the multinational companies are considered to be a target for head hunting by local companies with high price tags on their heads.

4. Lack of localized Executive Development tools: There is an obvious lack of local business case studies and qualified local trainers who have both academic and practical experience. Majority of professors at local business schools do not have the practical exposure to real business life either in practicing or consulting roles. There is also a lack of autobiographies or documentary films that portray success stories of local role model business leaders.

5. The Limitations of International Executive Development Programs: Sending local senior executives to participate in Executive Development programs offered at the world top business schools provides the opportunity to acquire state-of-the-art management techniques and leadership skill; however this option has its own downside. The cost of participation is prohibitive. In a cost survey conducted by the author (see Appendix A), the average cost of participating in one program (excluding travel cost) is SR 97,524 with an average cost per day of SR 7,717. In addition, some of the topics covered have weak relevance to our local needs. Most of the presented case studies and portrayed business leader role models are not related to our local culture and challenges. The networking opportunities during these programs are usually of top quality, however are not practically relevant for doing business or sharing ideas in the future. Visa restrictions in the last decade were also a major barrier for many local executives to make it to the programs they have enrolled in.

7. What is in it for them:

8. A cost-effective CSR project to achieve the highest return on investment

9. An opportunity to give their executives a priority in benefiting from MILE services

10. Developing case studies and applied research for the sponsor company

11. Publicizing donors logos in all of MILE’s publications

12. What is in it for MILE:

13. Financial contribution to the endowment

14. Guarantee participation in MILE programs

15. Leading Business Schools

16. What is in it for them:

17. A channel through which Business Schools can offer and promote their programs

18. The opportunity to participate in joint research

19. Offering joint programs of interest to multinational executives who are/plan doing business in our region.

20. Facilitate internship opportunities for their MBA students in local corporations.

21. Development of case studies for local companies

22. What is in it for MILE:

23. Cutting-edge content, case studies and lecturers

24. Access to on-line resources.

25. Cross listing of joint programs

26. Management Consulting Firms: Most top world management consulting firms have regional offices in our region. Consulting firms usually have their own best practices knowledge base and are usually paid high fees to undertake major consulting assignments for large local corporations. These assignments provide an excellent resource for live-case studies. To test the viability of this assumption, MILE has invited 5 international management consulting firms in its first Executive Development Program to co-present case studies jointly with a senior executive representing the ‘client’ corporate side. This not only gives credibility to the presented methodology but provide in addition a relevant case and a channel to feed the outcome of the participants’ discussion to the concerned corporation.

27. What is in it for them:

28. An opportunity to present their experiences and capabilities

29. An opportunity to display the portfolio of their products and services

30. An opportunity to offer a community service and have their logo displayed throughout the programs in which they participate.

31. What is in it for MILE:

32. Adding to MILE intellectual capital a documentation of real-life case studies

33. Educating participants on the state-of-the-art management consulting techniques

34. Having senior consultants offer Webinars or moderate MILE’s blogs or forums.

35. Arab and Muslim Professor at World Top Business Schools

36. What is in it for them:

37. An opportunity to serve their original home countries and contribute to their development

38. An opportunity for Muslims to visit Makah and have a short stay in Madinah

39. An opportunity to enrich their business network

40. An opportunity to conduct applied research on local organizations

41. An opportunity to develop local case studies

42. What is in it for MILE:

43. Having faculty members to contribute in MILE’s programs who understand or appreciate local values, culture and traditions

44. Having distinguished faculty offer Webinars or moderate MILE’s blogs or forums.

45. Given the special and unique value of the City of Madinah, MILE could be able to attract business professors of Arab and Muslim origin to contribute to its programs.

46. Local Business Schools

47. What is in it for them:

48. Providing the opportunity to motivated local business professors to participate in MILE program and have the opportunity to shadow invited speakers in order to transfer knowledge and experience in delivering Executive Education

49. Encouraging local business professors to develop local case studies

50. MILE can play a major role in facilitating the coordination between academic research and the business community

51. What is in it for MILE:

52. Local professors can act as tutors and supervise follow up activities

53. Developing local capabilities

54. Multi-national Corporations: It is worth noting that Nestle is the largest global producer of halal food and that HSBC Bank is the largest global financial institution offering Shareeah Islamic financial services. Such corporation should be more inclined to enroll their senior executives, especially those assigned to work in our region, to attend MILE’s programs. This gives them the opportunity to have first-hand exposure to our local culture and the opportunity to build a network which is critical for their success in their local operations.

55. What is in it for them:

56. Contribute to MILE intellectual capital through their Corporate Universities. Contribution can be in the form of speakers, training tools, or high productivity tools.

57. An opportunity to offer a community service and have their logo displayed throughout the programs in which they participate.

58. Have their managers enroll in MILE’s programs

59. Sponsor events or offer Scholarship programs for MILE’s programs.

60. What is in it for MILE:

61. Contribution to MILE programs in the form of speakers or case studies.

62. Access to knowledge resources available at MNC’s Corporate Universities

63. Sponsoring of MILE’s events and participants.

65. Produce documentary of successful local business leaders

66. Provide guidance to invited speakers on areas of adjustments needed in their training tools and materials to suite local requirements

67. Develop the skills of local university business professors in offering Executive Education programs

69. Teaching Team: a very well selected team of speakers who represent four different categories:

70. Renowned business university professors

71. Senior Management Consultants

72. Role model successful local business leaders

73. Professional trainers

74. Well selected set of business case studies

75. Pre-event on-line learning style assessment to enable participants to understand their learning style and develop approaches to make the best use of the program to accelerate their learning. This process was supported by MILE’s Personal Development Advisor who provides personalized coaching

76. On-Line personality profiling

77. One-on-one coaching and Personal Development Planning advice during the program

78. A variety of training techniques: role play, case studies, simulation, lectures, and videos

79. My Strength Mirror: A tool to enable participants to provide positive feedback to each other by highlighting each other’s areas of strength.

80. Learning Logs: Each participant was provided with a Learning Log to document the key learning and decisions that he/she intend to execute upon the completion of the program. Speakers allowed time for participants to use the learning log properly

81. Physical:

82. Offering healthy food throughout the program which constitutes more fiber and less cholesterol.

83. Dietary advice

84. Medical checkup

85. Early morning aerobic exercises

86. Mid-day stretching exercises.

87. Emotional:

88. Effective ice breaking to boost start rapport building among the group

89. Teambuilding exercises

90. Networking opportunities among the group during breaks and extracurricular activities

91. Gala networking dinners with local business leaders

92. Spiritual:

93. Leading by values

94. Visits to holy places

96. Sound business model based on best use of the endowment fund

97. Forging long term win-win collaborations with multiple stakeholders

98. Strategic Theme (7) Role Modeling:MILE aspires to be a role model through employing best management practices and adhering to the highest standards of business ethics.<br />References<br />(1) Arab Human Capital Challenge – The Voice of the CEOs, Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Foundation, UAE, 2009<br />Appendix (A) Sample Cost of Open Executive Education Program at top Business Schools<br />UniversityProgramDuration DaysTuition in USDTuition in SRAccommodationTotal CostCost per dayHarvard Business SchoolAdvanced Management Program4060,000225,000225,0005,625INSEADInternational Executive Program3054,129202,98511,250214,2357,141Harvard Business SchoolGeneral Management Program2055,000206,250206,25010,313Stanford Graduate School of BusinessThe Stanford Executive Program3054,000202,500202,5006,750Wharton University of PennsylvaniaAdvanced Management Program2550,000187,500187,5007,500INSEADAdvanced Management Program2041,802156,7567,500164,2568,213INSEADThe Challenge of Leadership(COL) Program1942,510159,4137,125166,5388,765London Business SchoolSenior Executive Program2038,901145,878145,8787,294Harvard Business SchoolProgram for Leadership Development1037,500140,625140,62514,063London Business SchoolAccelerated Development Program2035,500133,125133,1256,656Oxford SAID Business SchoolThe Saudi Oxford Advanced Management Program1532,500121,875121,8758,125Oxford SAID Business SchoolThe Oxford High performance Leadership Program1532,500121,875121,8758,125Ashridge Business SchoolAdvanced Management Program1226,40099,00099,0008,250Oxford SAID Business SchoolThe Oxford Advanced Management & Leadership Program1525,20094,50094,5006,300Oxford SAID Business SchoolThe Oxford in Organizational Leadership1525,20094,50094,5006,300Wharton University of PennsylvaniaExecutive Development Program1224,75092,81392,8137,734London Business SchoolEmerging Leaders Program1524,50091,87591,8756,125Stanford Graduate School of BusinessExecutive Program for Growing Companies920,00075,00075,0008,333Ashridge Business SchoolSenior Executive Program917,80066,75066,7507,417INSEADThe Leadership Transition(LT) Program713,88752,0752,62554,7007,814Ashridge Business SchoolDeveloping Business & Leadership Skills1013,50050,62550,6255,063Wharton University of PennsylvaniaNIDA/Wharton Leadership Program512,50446,88946,8899,378Harvard Business SchoolHigh Leadership Potential Program511,50043,12543,1258,625Stanford Graduate School of BusinessExecutive Program in Leadership511,00041,25041,2508,250London Business SchoolHigh Performance People Skills for Leaders510,70040,12540,1258,025Harvard Business SchoolLeadership for Senior Executives410,50039,37539,3759,844Harvard Business SchoolThe Corporate Leader Program59,75036,56336,5637,313London Business SchoolEssentials for Leadership59,70036,37536,3757,275Wharton University of PennsylvaniaLeading Organizational Change47,45027,93827,9386,984Ashridge Business SchoolAccelerating Management Effectiveness56,10022,87522,8754,575INSEADLearning to Lead (LLD) Program35,52620,7241,12521,8497,283London Business SchoolCoaching for Performance24,00015,00015,0007,500Average1325,76096,59997,5247,717<br />