With the rapid growth of Islamic finance there looms issues that have the potential of disrupting the current business models in play in the industry. This article explores 5 of these issues.

1. Joy Abdullah is a strategy professional with a passion for humanizing
organizations through their stories. He is the head of strategic planning
& corporate affairs at INCEIF- The Global University of Islamic
Finance and writes on leadership & culture, ethical brand marketing,
strategic brand management, employee-brand relationship and
sustainablebusiness strategies.
In a world reeling from a series of financial, economic, humanitarian
and natural crises, the world of Islamic finance is growing. In the past
decade the various projected global industry growth figures show the
Islamic finance industry going up, up and away. With rising
developments in the key sectors of the Islamic economy catering to the
global Muslim community, coupled with increasing interest in the
Islamic financial framework and its' related socio-economic benefits,
from emerging country economies, growth is now a given for Islamic
finance.
With such rapid growth a host of issues are beginning to appear on the
horizon that have possibilities of disrupting the current business
models the industry practices. Here's a look at five issues which do not
operateinthetechnicalrealmfortheIslamicfinanceindustry:
#1Learning&Development
Are the Islamic finance organizations really focused on developing the
learningforitstalentpoolandforitself?
In most organizations, where profitability is the end objective of all
activities, learning is often lost in the daily rush of what needs to get
done. Organizations in the Islamic finance industry are no different
from their counterparts in other industries and follow the same
profitabilitymaxim.Afterallthatisthepurposeofanybusiness.
Today's business landscape, impacted upon by technology and crises,
has brought about a renewed focus on talent and the work culture
prevalent. The public domain has a lot of stories on start-ups and
established corporates who have brought about beneficial change in
their business model based on the investment they have made in the
learning and development of their talent - stories that provide
significant learnings that the Islamic finance institutions can utilise in
ensuringlong-termprofitabilityandsustainability.
An environment of continuous learning by an organization's talent and
a progressive and positive-thinking work culture creates the
foundationforhavingastrongcompetitiveadvantage.
What's on the horizon
for Islamic nance?
By Joy Abdullah
IFT 15Islamic Finance Today - October 2016

2. Whilst the Islamic finance industry does undertake a significant
amount of training for its talent, there is a gap in the area of continuous
learning as part of the organizations' business strategy. Obtaining the
continuous professional development points through various
seminars, talks and forums in order to renew one's practising
competencyisdifferentfromknowledge-basedcontinuouslearning.
Given the huge opportunity that is available in the industry sectors of
the Islamic economy having a focus on developing a learning culture,
in the Islamic finance organizations, will hugely benefit both the
organizationanditstalent.
This is where the global industry and its related academia can get down
to collaborating effectively and with impact in order to create a win-
win environment that provides qualified and strategically competent
talent, product and regulatory development and aids in positive social
impact.
But in getting this going brings about the second issue facing the
industrynow.
#2Leadership
There is a lot on this topic going on across all industries given the
eroding trust in financial institutions and the financial scandals that
have surfaced. Hard questions about organizational leadership and
development of leadership skills are being asked. In the academia the
B-schools are re-looking at the various inputs of learning and
knowledge-transferthatisbeingoffered.
The Islamic finance industry, along with its academia, is not immune
to this and the necessity to groom strategic and visionary leaders, not
justcompetentmanagers,hasnow becomeacriticalneed.
For decades leadership in the Islamic finance industry has been similar
to the mainstream financial services industry—ensure compliance and
deliver profitability. Today this landscape has changed significantly
resulting in erstwhile leadership skills and tools not being able to
deliverwhatthedynamicsofthenewbusiness environmentrequires.
Leadership needs, at the helm in Islamic financial organizations, is still
about profitability but through transparent social impact, successful
adoption of digital trends and its related responsibility. Through these
the leadership is required to deliver strong organizational reputation
and profitability. Such demands have created a need for a different
mind-setandapproachtobusiness.
How dowedevelopfutureleadershiptalent?
The starting point for this would be to give the necessary value to
academically qualified Islamic finance professionals as knowledge-
workers.
IFT16 Islamic Finance Today - October 2016

3. Academic qualifications in Islamic finance should be looked at as part
of knowledge enhancement and should be, practically, separated in its
weightage, from functional skill competency programmes. Getting
this platform in place involves significant maturity on the part of both
the industry and academia as both need to work jointly towards the
greatergoodoftheglobalindustry.
The global industry as a whole needs to use the numerous global
forums and conferences to put together a globally recognised set of
standards and values with regards to academic and competency skill
programmes and in incorporating the necessary skills requirement
fromatechnicalcompetencyandleadershipperspective.
Doing this will automatically bring the multitudes of Islamic finance
academic qualifications on par with its professional counterparts from
themainstreamfinancialservices.
#3WorkCulture
“Company cultures are like country cultures. Never try to change one.
Try,instead,toworkwithwhatyou'vegot.”PeterDrucker.
For an organization, culture is created through the behaviour of its
leaders. Remember the phrase—monkey see monkey do?—People in
an organization manifest exactly what they see their leaders do. As
humanbeingsweareemotionallyhardwiredinthismanner.
Organization culture is the glue that makes institutions succeed or fail
and no amount of technical competency can aid in this process.Whilst
technical competency can get one ahead it's the cultural understanding
that aids an individual in having the ability to manage upwards and
downwards.
Given the increasing globalism of Islamic finance there is an ever
increasing need for understanding the cultural perspectives of people,
organizations and the various global financial centres in order to utilise
commercial opportunities effectively through the social impact those
activitiescreateleadingtofuturesustainability.
#4EmployeeAdvocacyoftheBrand
Employee advocacy is, possibly, the least discussed and visited area
amongst Islamic finance organisations. One wonders why when
organizations are brought to life through their employees. People are
the only asset that organisations can use to create competitive
advantage.
For an employee getting peer and social recognition leads to a huge
increase in commitment. This recognition, in turn, creates advocacy of
the organizations' mission in the form of its products and services that
impact positively on the bottom-line. There's a lot of literature in the
publicdomainonthis.
IFT 17Islamic Finance Today - October 2016

4. Yet the lack of specific employee advocacy strategies, within the
Islamic finance industry and academia organizations, leaves one
wondering about the value an organisation gives to its employees,
shareholdersandcustomers.
On one hand there are numerous reports of declining trust in the
financial sector and on the other we see a rising interest by emerging
markets in the Islamic finance framework. In such a scenario employee
advocacy becomes a critical success factor in an organizations'
operationsinestablishingitselfforthelongrun.
What best way is there, for an organization, than to have its own people
honestlyadvocateits'productsor services?
Advocacy of the brand by the employee goes a long way in obtaining
commitment, loyalty and creating motivation of the employee as well
asofthestakeholdersforanorganization.
#5 EffectiveCollaborationwithAcademia
There are numerous examples, from other industries, that show how
effective collaboration between industry and its academia has helped
the industry have innovation and business success. This is missing at
present and in order to tackle the changing business landscape the
global Islamic finance industry and its related academia need to join
forcesandcollaborateeffectively.
This translates to taking joint responsibility in providing recognition
and creating mandatory requirement in having talent with the right
Islamic finance qualifications and providing these talents the
continuous learning environment, through research and projects, that
aid both the individual talent as well as the organizations' learning
knowledgeandallowforinnovationstocomethrough.
Is ittimefor aparadigmshift?
Profit today cannot, any longer, come at the expense of the social
community within which any organization, be it an NPO; a
commercial business or an academic institution operate. Without a
simple and clear social benefit clearly articulating the sustainability of
the organization identified, the possibility of success for the
organizationwillbeshort-lived.
The five key organizational issues that can be seen looming in the
horizon for the global Islamic finance industry requires academia and
the industry institutions to cooperate, collaborate and aid each other in
doing what each does best—Identify and incorporate key areas of
knowledge into practice in order to generate the necessary
professional standards and these soft-skills learning in order to equip
the incoming generations of talent with the right tools to make a
significantdifferencetosociety.
The question is are we willing and able to collaborate effectively for
thebenefitofthesocietyandnotjustforprofits?
IFT18 Islamic Finance Today - October 2016