News: Qatar National Convention Centre set to host one of the largest conferences in the world

Doha, 8 November: With less than three weeks to go, the Qatar National Convention Centre (QNCC) has intensified its preparations to take centre stage and host Qatar’s largest conference to date – the United Nations’ Framework Convention on Climate Change 2012 (COP18/CMP8). The event which will take place from 26 November to 7 December is expected [...]

News: Entrepreneurs Organisation Qatar, appoints new president

Doha, 7 November: The Entrepreneurs Organisation (EO) Qatar chapter has announced the appointment of Mohamed Jaidah as President to EO Qatar for the 2012-2013 year, under the international Entrepreneurs Organisation. The organisation brings together some of the most influential and socially aware entrepreneurs in Qatar, in an attempt to help their members learn and grow [...]

Interview: Khalid Al Jaber, A serial entrepreneur

As CEO of Innovation Group, Khalid Al Jaber is a 35-year-old Qatari who is involved in all four of his company’s divisions, in the information technology sector and filmmaking, as well model building for the construction, real estate and oil and gas industries, through the German-based Innovation GmbH. Al Jaber is also executive director of [...]

Virtualising Qatar’s Businesses

The virtualisation of business organisations and the challenges in the networking and data management industry TheEDGE spoke exclusively with Nimer Ghazal, country manager for Brocade Qatar about the virtualisation of business functions, the move to cloud based applications and the challenges for companies in managing their data in a time of information explosion. What is [...]

Qatar’s atomic future

Nuclear energy analyst provides evidence of Qatar’s atomic power ambitions by Jamie Stewart Evidence has emerged that the Qatar Ministry of Energy and Industry is moving forwards with its programme to develop nuclear power in the country. State-owned energy giant Qatar Petroleum is seeking to employ a senior nuclear energy analyst, with responsibilities including playing [...]

Is Management Ideology the last bastion of American hegemony?

Here is a tricky question: How many living management gurus did not learn their trade in North America? The London Business Schoolís Julian Birkinshaw, who has presented this condundrum to many of his esteemed international colleagues, writes that it is not easy to come up with a list of top experts who are not American, [...]

News: New NGO launched to enhance research and sustainability in Qatar

Doha, 25 October: As part of Qatar’s investment and long-term commitment to the environment, the Qatar Sustainability Network (QSN) was officially launched in Doha yesterday. At the launch, Nadia Aboul Hosn interim board member at QSN outlined the mandate as a network to cultivate a culture of research, science, and sustainability through active engagement of civil [...]

Vol 4 Issue 10 Oct 2012

This month’s cover story in about one of Qatar’s more contentious investments, The Shard, a skyscraper that sits on the bank of the river Thames in central London. We take a look at the differing sentiments it has generated from Londoners and Qatar’s role in the project. In this issue we also look at the [...]


RecentArticles: Business management

Is Management Ideology the last bastion of American hegemony?

Here is a tricky question: How many living management gurus did not learn their trade in North America? The London Business Schoolís Julian Birkinshaw, who has presented this condundrum to many of his esteemed international colleagues, writes that it is not easy to come up with a list of top experts who are not American, [...]

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The Start Up Prologue

What to do before you write a Business Plan   Business plans are often considered the lynchpin to starting a successful enterprise, but are no guarantee of success. The London Business School’s John Mullins believes entrepreneurs need to think more about their prospective business even before they write up their vision and begin to seek [...]

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Feature: The CMO of Consequence

Some executives feel that chief marketing officers (CMOs) have limited effect on corporate performance and do not add significant value to a firm’s bottom line. D. Eric Boyd, Rajesh Chandy and Marcus Cunha agree that while the CMOs role in many firms is in great peril, they also argue that their research has uncovered reasons [...]

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Managing Ethically In Corrupt Environments

In 2009 and 2010 the Mo Ibrahim Foundation announced that it was unable to award its annual Ibrahim Prize for Achievement in African Leadership. The foundation, which promotes ethics and good governance in Africa and recognises excellence, was unable to select a suitable laureate from the democratically elected former heads of state who met the [...]

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Profiting From Corporate Social Responsibility

One of the most asked questions in business today is whether there is a link between a company’s social responsibility and its profitability. Ioannis Ioannou’s research sheds new light on the subject. In recent years, the issues of ethics and morality in business have received a great deal of attention. This has often been of [...]

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Embracing ISO Standards to Deliver Quality

The implementation of ISO standards are important for Qatari businesses and organisations to compete internationally and deliver a high-end quality products and services. Erika Widén explains further how ISO standards can meet the requirements of a business and the broader demands of society. Having an ISO certification is important for any organisation. It is an [...]

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The Potential of Vision & Mission Statements

The concepts of a company having a ‘Vision’ and ‘Mission Statement’ are well known in business circles. But their contribution as a platform for growth and alignment, and thus to the bottom line and success of corporations, are often underestimated and underutilised, writes Janak Patwari In the early 1960s, when the race for space exploration [...]

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Lateral Business Alignment Pt 2: Get There Laterally

In Part One of our series on setting business goals, Julian Birkinshaw contended that alignment – where every person in an organisation moves together towards a common goal – may not be the best course for your business. Here in Part Two, he explores taking the lateral approach instead. Lateral objective setting is not a [...]

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Lateral Business Alignment Pt 1: Where are you going?

The ability to set goals is a basic management skill, and there is only one correct way to set them so that everyone in the organisation is aligned. Right? Not so fast, says Julian Birkinshaw, who, in the first of a two-part series, asserts that alignment may not be the best course for your company. [...]

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