Humble Date or Designer Delicacy?

It’s been a staple food of the Middle East for centuries, but the humble date has many guises. From dusty market stalls to high-end boutiques, some dates are sold for pennies, some for pounds. So what sets them apart?

The Corporate Network of the Future: Convergence 2.0

How convergence and the cloud will simplify network operations and drive business performance, but it won’t happen overnight

What do CIOs and their teams want from the corporate networking technologies of the future? Lower latency, enhanced reliability and higher throughput are all high on the IT department’s wish-list – but, above all, they say, what they’d really like to see is a single network infrastructure capable of handling all data, clustering and storage traffic. ¹

It sounds like a tall order, but it’s hardly surprising that many CIOs are taking a long, hard look at their current network infrastructures and finding them wanting. Today, their teams are typically managing two or three parallel networks: they have a storage network built for reliability, guaranteed data integrity and non-blocking performance.  And they have a data network whose characteristics include best-effort performance and unpredictable bandwidth, along with often-frustrating levels of complexity. Separate switches, host bus adapters (HBAs), network interface cards (NICs) and cables are required for each network. Read more

The Stevie® Awards invite entries for annual International Business Awards

• World’s premier business awards competitions honor workplace achievements
• Seven judging committee chairs announced; awards to be presented in Istanbul, Turkey

The Stevie® Awards, the world’s premier business awards competitions, have called for entries for the 7^th annualInternational Business Awards, which honor achievements in the workplace worldwide, from the executive suite to the factory floor.

The International Business Awards are the only global, independent business awards program. All organizations worldwide may participate – public and private, for-profit and non-profit, large and small. The entry deadline is 12 May. Late entries will be accepted through 9 June, and results will be announced in early July. Entry details are available at www.stevieawards.com/iba.

The 2010 awards will be presented this fall in Istanbul, Turkey and will recognize work since January 1, 2009.

Entries may be submitted in multiple languages and are accepted in various categories ranging from Executive of the Year and Most Innovative Company of the Year to Human Resources Department of the Year and Corporate Social Responsibility Program of the Year. New language-specific judging committees have been added to encourage organizations around the world to submit entries to the IBAs in their own languages. Read more

AUC’s Gerhart Center for Philanthropy and Civic Engagement Launches Corporate Sustainability Capacity Building Program

With over 150 leaders from the private sector, the public sector and civil society from Egypt in attendance, the John D. Gerhart Center for Philanthropy and Civic Engagement launched the Corporate Sustainability Capacity Building Program at the Semiramis Intercontinental Cairo Hotel, Garden City, Cairo.

The program has been developed to respond to the clear need for the private sector in the Middle East, North Africa and South Asia to not only understand what corporate sustainability means to their business, but also to acquire the skills necessary to implement sustainable business practices.  By doing so, they will be able to both implement and integrate corporate sustainability in a manner that will serve the bottom-line of their companies and positively impact the sustainable development of their surrounding communities. Read more

Dubai’s Strategy of Economic Diversification makes it a Sustainable Business Hub

The Middle East has seen a huge pick up in business ideas in the past years and is now turning to best business practices to ensure corporate sustainability, according to world renowned corporate strategy gurus.

Dr. David Norton and Dr Robert Kaplan, inventors of the Balanced Scorecard, have come to Dubai to run a 2-day Masterclass: ‘Managing Strategy and Risk in Dynamic Times’. The Masterclass is part of a 5-day Leaders Presents Balanced Scorecard Forum 2010 that is being held at the JW Marriott Hotel in Dubai from 27 March-1 April.

Senior executives, ranging from CEOs and directors of corporate strategy, through to finance and IT managers, have been discussing the direct correlation between clearly translating corporate strategy into measures and company performance. ‘Research shows that an organization that introduces a Balanced Scorecard can on average increase the level of shareholder value by almost 30%’, said Dr Norton. Read more

BSC Forum 2010 Encourages Organizations to Build a Strategy Map for Sustainable Growth

In the current scenario of economic slowdown, adoption of a strategy is meaningless, if not implemented well. The need of the hour is right understanding, implementation, employee involvement in the strategy and most of all retention of clients. These critical issues will be discussed by motivational speakers, Dr Robert Kaplan and Dr David Norton during the Balance Scorecard Forum (BSC) 2010, is held from March 27 – April 1, 2010 at the JW Marriott Hotel, Dubai.

The highlight will be the New Strategy Execution System, which will educate participants on building a Strategy Map. The two business management gurus – Dr Kaplan and Dr Norton – emphasize how it is essential for companies to develop new products and services, while also continuing to invest in technology, even during slow growth periods. Read more

Capital Club post client growth and an expansion of services despite the downturn

Capital Club Dubai, the region’s premier private business club and a member of the ENSHAA group of companies, has weathered the global economic crisis and is offering attractive new services to its distinguished client base, whilst continuing its commitment to providing further improvement in services, according to its CEO, Russell Matcham. Read more

Costa Cruises in Dubai

Costa Cruises – together with AIDA Cruises, the German brand and affiliate of the Costa Crociere S.p.A. Group – was the first Company , mentioned  in Cruise Travel Magazine,  to market regular cruises in the Arabian Gulf, turning Dubai into a major cruise destination and contributing to its growth as a tourist resort. Costa Cruises’ operations in the region were launched in winter 2006/2007 with the deployment of one ship – the Costa Classica (53,000 gross tonnage and 1,680 total Guests) – and were an immediate success; so much so, in fact, that Costa has increased its capacity in the region every year since then.  The number of Costa Cruises Guests in Dubai has risen from 44,000 in winter 2006/2007 to an estimated 140,000 in winter 2009/10, thanks to the presence of three ships – the Costa Luminosa, Costa Deliziosa and Costa Europa, with a total of 32 port calls. In winter 2010/2011 a further increase is expected with 31 calls and 150,000 passenger movements. The estimated economic impact in 2009/10 was around 14* million euros, derived from direct spending by Costa’s Guests, shoreside excursions, transport, port fees and expenditure on food & beverage. Read more

MEBA Awards Finalists revealed

This year’s top contenders for the highly coveted Middle East Business Achievement Awards have been finalised. The shortlisted contenders were announced today by Leaders Events, organisers of the region’s most prestigious leadership and business excellence awards.

Unlike in previous editions when a separate awards ceremony was held, this year’s MEBA awardees will be given their citations in front of a bigger audience, an elite gathering of the region’s top business leaders as well as the world’s most celebrated management thinkers, strategists and honorary guests. Dignitaries and management experts, on the first day of the conference, including Desmond Tutu, Gary Hamel and Chester Elton are set to honour MEBA winners on stage at the Leaders in Dubai Business Forum on October 26th, 2009 at Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre. The MEBA Awards platform, now in its third year, was created to identify and honour companies and individuals who are making a difference through leadership and innovation in their industry sectors. Read more

Dubai Holding realigning organisational structure

Dubai Holding announced today that it is realigning its organisational structure to streamline its operations and ensure the continued delivery of world-class projects and future growth of the organisation.
Building on its strengths and core competencies in four major operational specialisations, Dubai Holding is reorganizing its businesses into Property, Business Parks, Hospitality and Investments verticals. The realignment will deliver significant efficiencies as the group prepares for the economic upturn. Read more

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