Understanding of the Gulf region and its business opportunities is, for the most part, highly limited amongst senior management at multinational corporations. This lack of “GCC awareness” is somewhat understandable: the GCC union did not even exist until 1981 and the region has only been exciting from a commercial perspective since the 1970s.
Less excusable is the low level of GCC awareness amongst business students today. While working on Dubai & Co., the research team conducted a survey of students at an Ivy League university (with one of the world’s top MBA programs) asking what a set of international abbreviations stands for. How many could identify the GCC?
We expected that awareness of the “EU” and “WTO” would be nearly universal – and it was. “OPEC” and “ASEAN” were less recognized, but broadly known. And the “GCC”? Astonishingly, less than 10% of students surveyed could identify the Gulf Cooperation Council.
(For more on raising GCC awareness and on the survey itself, see Chapter 11 – “Bringing it Home: Raising GCC Awareness in the Head Office” – of Dubai & Co.)
A trailblazing program at the George Washington University (GWU) Business School is, however, setting a refreshing new example. In January, a group of MBA students will go to Dubai as part of a study abroad program, meeting business leaders, assessing the business environment, and – importantly – engaging in concrete projects for firms either already operating in the Gulf or seeking to enter it.
Prof. Salah Hassan, Chairman of the School’s Department of Marketing, is leading the initiative with colleagues from the faculty. The organizers were struck by the high level of interest in the Dubai program (over 100 students turned out for the information session) and by the quality of applicants. Admission into the program was highly selective.
The GWU program sets a model for international business schools in raising GCC awareness. Besides linking the program to tangible corporate projects and using a selective process to choose participants, the program has specifically drawn students with little or no direct exposure to the Gulf. I gave a presentation to the group earlier this month (they’re using Dubai & Co. as a main textbook), and was deeply impressed by the curiosity and passion with which they approach the region.
Ten days in the Gulf can have a lifelong impact on MBA students, raising their understanding of this increasingly key component of the global economy. Few, if any, will likely work in the region in the near future. A basic understanding of it, however, will allow them to shape global strategies that embrace the Gulf opportunity effectively.
As GWU’s example shows, MBA students today will recognize the importance of the GCC to global business if given the chance to learn more. It’s now time for business schools to foster and reflect this recognition in their curricula and academic programs.