CEO Roundtable, Dubai, 2014
The second day of the Strategy Leaders Forum hosted a roundtable of Chief Executive Officers, discussing about ‘Driving sustainable growth through strategic innovation’. The three speakers, invited to address the subject, were:
- Ousama Fansa, CEO, Roots Group, Saudi Arabia;
- Abdullah Al Majdouie, President, Al Majdouie Group of Companies, Saudi Arabia;
- Mark Adams, CEO, Anglo Arabian Healthcare, Gulf Cooperation Council.
Discussion topics:
- ‘dos’ and don’ts’ for strategy execution and formulation;
- the role of a CEO in strategy formulation and execution;
- strategy flexibility.
Mark Adams suggests not to outsource and not to buy the strategy without taking into account the organization’s culture and internal features. Abdullah Al Majdouie considers patience, wisdom and persistence to be essential in order to have a strategy composed of internal contributions. He argues that this type of strategy will ensure that the ones who contribute will be, in the end, the ones who execute. He recommends to walk the talk and to create a strategy taking into account the next generations.
Ousama Fansa views the CEO as the captain of an airplane and the executive board as ground control. Saying that we live in a turbulent period, he considers the CEO must be a responsible and strong person, for the board to trust his performance. The concept of trust is also brought into discussion when it comes to the CEO’s trust in the board delivery.
In terms of strategy flexibility, Ousama Fansa mentions that a company should be adaptive and quick. Mark Adams suggests rethinking what the company is doing, when necessary. Abdullah Al Majdouie recommends a fixed global strategy and miniplans, which represent the dynamic part of the strategy.
Tags: IIRME, Performance in Dubai, Performance in UAE, Strategy Leaders Forum, The KPI Institute
