du’s first leadership forum hosts Harvard professor Christensen

 Prompting a tremendous response from attendees at the first forum in the du leadership series, du’s CEO Osman Sultan welcomed more than 100 CEOs and key business leaders from different companies in the UAE. The event, which took place at Al Meydan Hotel on Tuesday, 30 March, focused on disruptive innovation and growth opportunities in the local and regional markets, with Harvard Business School Professor Clayton Christensen sharing his views on ‘Innovating to create Growth and Shareholder Value’. 

 

Sultan expressed his gratitude in welcoming the guests and said:”I am excited to present our very first leadership series event. Today, we are here not to talk about du, but to enjoy the privilege of meeting with top leaders from the region and to bring management gurus, such as Professor Christensen who is with us today, to discuss and think about business opportunities in this part of the world. With his wealth of expertise, Professor Christensen will be guiding us through the theory and practice of disruptive innovation and its role in the growth of companies.”

 

During his presentation, Professor Christensen stressed on the importance of innovation as a factor that will open the doors for wider growth opportunities, and will maintain the UAE as one of the main business hubs in the Middle East. Furthermore, he highlighted the role of Governments in supporting disruptive innovation by eliminating red tape, minimising bureaucracy, and facilitating the process of innovating and gaining market share. 

 

Christensen spoke about disruptive innovation, a term which he himself coined: “An innovation that is disruptive gives a whole new segment of consumer’s access to products and services that were historically only accessible to wealthy and educated people. Characteristics of disruptive businesses, at least in their initial stages, can include: lower gross margins, smaller target markets, and simpler products and services that may not appear as attractive as existing solutions when compared against traditional performance metrics.” In addition, Christensen highlighted the importance of outsourcing, but added that companies should be aware of what exactly should be outsourced and advised companies to focus on their core competence before outsourcing the rest. 

 

The event aimed to provide a forum for customers and colleagues to share views about the concept of business innovation and its role in driving growth in various economic conditions, with the opportunity of meeting key decision makers from the region. As part of the forum, du introduced its new Customer Advisory Board (CAB), a concept which brings together a selected group of eminent business leaders from leading enterprises, on a periodic basis, to discuss industry trends, business priorities and strategic direction, as well as listening directly to the voice of the customer. 

 

Under the aegis of leadership series, du aims to regularly host a number of forums and round-table discussions, which will bring in some of the worlds foremost thought leaders to speak on a variety of subjects including capital management, strategy, human capital and technology, among others.