Ahmad M. Salih, DBA

Digital Business Strategy - Platforms and Ecosystems
Thinkers360
February 13, 2022

Digital transformation, as new business strategic direction, has been rapidly spreading globally. Moving from an option or strategies choice into a mandatory direction is quite obvious because of the Covid-19 pandemic. Therefore, all organisations, to a certain degree of, have started their journey.

Digital Leadership
Thinkers360
February 13, 2022

In the era of knowledge, globalisation and digital transformation, the digital Leadership, part of the digital leadership program, aims to develop in students a critical appreciation of leadership theory in the digital age. Sustainable and adaptive leadership in addition to leadership/followership e

Using Aikido to create an egalitarian mindset in the workplace.
Thinkers360
February 13, 2022

Workshop for the UAE Economic Department on Aikido and leadership

Cross-Cultural Leadership Being Effective in an Era of Globalization, Digital Transformation and Disruptive Innovation - By Adaptive and Sustainable Leadership for Event Management
Routledge
July 23, 2022

For many decades, management in its research and practice has been in need of an alternative approach and paradigm to understanding human behaviours. Many studies and books have attempted to provide solutions to the individual, which ended up being a cultural dilemma with little success. This book provides a novel approach to address this dilemma by linking aspects from three knowledge domains; Psychology, Anthropology and Sociology.

Cross-Cultural Leadership supports Cultural Intelligence (CQ) and makes it a practical construct and tool that both managers and researchers harness to understand what "cultural Chameleon" means. The book also renders support to Douglaisan Cultural Framework　 (DCF) by activating the role of the usually neglected fifth culture; the hermit by linking it to the metacognitive dimension of CQ. This link introduces for the first time the mechanism that individuals use to run through metacognitive processes to drive change.

This book is a tool for individuals to help them work efficiently outside their homeland. Being an adaptive or culturally hybrid leader is among the most important competencies of the effective leaders in the 21st century. By focusing on comprehending the five cultures as elaborated in DCF, leaders and managers will be relieved from the dilemma of having to understand each and every national culture of their employees. This book will be of value to researchers, academics, managers, and students with an interest in leadership, management, organization studies, globalization, and innovation

Cross-Cultural Leadership Being Effective in an Era of Globalization, Digital Transformation and Disruptive Innovation - By Leadership Perspectives from Practice
Routledge
July 23, 2022

For many decades, management in its research and practice has been in need of an alternative approach and paradigm to understanding human behaviours. Many studies and books have attempted to provide solutions to the individual, which ended up being a cultural dilemma with little success. This book provides a novel approach to address this dilemma by linking aspects from three knowledge domains; Psychology, Anthropology and Sociology.

Cross-Cultural Leadership supports Cultural Intelligence (CQ) and makes it a practical construct and tool that both managers and researchers harness to understand what "cultural Chameleon" means. The book also renders support to Douglaisan Cultural Framework　 (DCF) by activating the role of the usually neglected fifth culture; the hermit by linking it to the metacognitive dimension of CQ. This link introduces for the first time the mechanism that individuals use to run through metacognitive processes to drive change.

This book is a tool for individuals to help them work efficiently outside their homeland. Being an adaptive or culturally hybrid leader is among the most important competencies of the effective leaders in the 21st century. By focusing on comprehending the five cultures as elaborated in DCF, leaders and managers will be relieved from the dilemma of having to understand each and every national culture of their employees. This book will be of value to researchers, academics, managers, and students with an interest in leadership, management, organization studies, globalization, and innovation

Cross-Cultural Leadership Being Effective in an Era of Globalization, Digital Transformation and Disruptive Innovation - By Determinants of Disruptive Innovation That Influences Financial Service Performance
Routledge
July 23, 2022

For many decades, management in its research and practice has been in need of an alternative approach and paradigm to understanding human behaviours. Many studies and books have attempted to provide solutions to the individual, which ended up being a cultural dilemma with little success. This book provides a novel approach to address this dilemma by linking aspects from three knowledge domains; Psychology, Anthropology and Sociology.

Cross-Cultural Leadership supports Cultural Intelligence (CQ) and makes it a practical construct and tool that both managers and researchers harness to understand what "cultural Chameleon" means. The book also renders support to Douglaisan Cultural Framework　 (DCF) by activating the role of the usually neglected fifth culture; the hermit by linking it to the metacognitive dimension of CQ. This link introduces for the first time the mechanism that individuals use to run through metacognitive processes to drive change.

This book is a tool for individuals to help them work efficiently outside their homeland. Being an adaptive or culturally hybrid leader is among the most important competencies of the effective leaders in the 21st century. By focusing on comprehending the five cultures as elaborated in DCF, leaders and managers will be relieved from the dilemma of having to understand each and every national culture of their employees. This book will be of value to researchers, academics, managers, and students with an interest in leadership, management, organization studies, globalization, and innovation

Cross-Cultural Leadership Being Effective in an Era of Globalization, Digital Transformation and Disruptive Innovation - By Intercultural Work Settings: Which Competences for Managers, Leaders, and Teams?
Routledge
July 23, 2022

For many decades, management in its research and practice has been in need of an alternative approach and paradigm to understanding human behaviours. Many studies and books have attempted to provide solutions to the individual, which ended up being a cultural dilemma with little success. This book provides a novel approach to address this dilemma by linking aspects from three knowledge domains; Psychology, Anthropology and Sociology.

Cross-Cultural Leadership supports Cultural Intelligence (CQ) and makes it a practical construct and tool that both managers and researchers harness to understand what "cultural Chameleon" means. The book also renders support to Douglaisan Cultural Framework　 (DCF) by activating the role of the usually neglected fifth culture; the hermit by linking it to the metacognitive dimension of CQ. This link introduces for the first time the mechanism that individuals use to run through metacognitive processes to drive change.

This book is a tool for individuals to help them work efficiently outside their homeland. Being an adaptive or culturally hybrid leader is among the most important competencies of the effective leaders in the 21st century. By focusing on comprehending the five cultures as elaborated in DCF, leaders and managers will be relieved from the dilemma of having to understand each and every national culture of their employees. This book will be of value to researchers, academics, managers, and students with an interest in leadership, management, organization studies, globalization, and innovation

Cross-Cultural Leadership Being Effective in an Era of Globalization, Digital Transformation and Disruptive Innovation - By Factors Influencing IT Managers’ Acceptance of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Digital Transformation
Routledge
July 23, 2022

For many decades, management in its research and practice has been in need of an alternative approach and paradigm to understanding human behaviours. Many studies and books have attempted to provide solutions to the individual, which ended up being a cultural dilemma with little success. This book provides a novel approach to address this dilemma by linking aspects from three knowledge domains; Psychology, Anthropology and Sociology.

Cross-Cultural Leadership supports Cultural Intelligence (CQ) and makes it a practical construct and tool that both managers and researchers harness to understand what "cultural Chameleon" means. The book also renders support to Douglaisan Cultural Framework　 (DCF) by activating the role of the usually neglected fifth culture; the hermit by linking it to the metacognitive dimension of CQ. This link introduces for the first time the mechanism that individuals use to run through metacognitive processes to drive change.

This book is a tool for individuals to help them work efficiently outside their homeland. Being an adaptive or culturally hybrid leader is among the most important competencies of the effective leaders in the 21st century. By focusing on comprehending the five cultures as elaborated in DCF, leaders and managers will be relieved from the dilemma of having to understand each and every national culture of their employees. This book will be of value to researchers, academics, managers, and students with an interest in leadership, management, organization studies, globalization, and innovation

Cross-Cultural Leadership Being Effective in an Era of Globalization, Digital Transformation and Disruptive Innovation - By Cultural Spaces in International Business: Theories and Applications
Routledge
July 23, 2022

For many decades, management in its research and practice has been in need of an alternative approach and paradigm to understanding human behaviours. Many studies and books have attempted to provide solutions to the individual, which ended up being a cultural dilemma with little success. This book provides a novel approach to address this dilemma by linking aspects from three knowledge domains; Psychology, Anthropology and Sociology.

Cross-Cultural Leadership supports Cultural Intelligence (CQ) and makes it a practical construct and tool that both managers and researchers harness to understand what "cultural Chameleon" means. The book also renders support to Douglaisan Cultural Framework　 (DCF) by activating the role of the usually neglected fifth culture; the hermit by linking it to the metacognitive dimension of CQ. This link introduces for the first time the mechanism that individuals use to run through metacognitive processes to drive change.

This book is a tool for individuals to help them work efficiently outside their homeland. Being an adaptive or culturally hybrid leader is among the most important competencies of the effective leaders in the 21st century. By focusing on comprehending the five cultures as elaborated in DCF, leaders and managers will be relieved from the dilemma of having to understand each and every national culture of their employees. This book will be of value to researchers, academics, managers, and students with an interest in leadership, management, organization studies, globalization, and innovation

Cross-Cultural Leadership Being Effective in an Era of Globalization, Digital Transformation and Disruptive Innovation - By Entering into the Mind of the Entrepreneur The Hermit's Metacognition as an Entrepreneurial Driver
Routledge
July 23, 2022

For many decades, management in its research and practice has been in need of an alternative approach and paradigm to understanding human behaviours. Many studies and books have attempted to provide solutions to the individual, which ended up being a cultural dilemma with little success. This book provides a novel approach to address this dilemma by linking aspects from three knowledge domains; Psychology, Anthropology and Sociology.

Cross-Cultural Leadership supports Cultural Intelligence (CQ) and makes it a practical construct and tool that both managers and researchers harness to understand what "cultural Chameleon" means. The book also renders support to Douglaisan Cultural Framework　 (DCF) by activating the role of the usually neglected fifth culture; the hermit by linking it to the metacognitive dimension of CQ. This link introduces for the first time the mechanism that individuals use to run through metacognitive processes to drive change.

This book is a tool for individuals to help them work efficiently outside their homeland. Being an adaptive or culturally hybrid leader is among the most important competencies of the effective leaders in the 21st century. By focusing on comprehending the five cultures as elaborated in DCF, leaders and managers will be relieved from the dilemma of having to understand each and every national culture of their employees. This book will be of value to researchers, academics, managers, and students with an interest in leadership, management, organization studies, globalization, and innovation

Cross-Cultural Leadership Being Effective in an Era of Globalization, Digital Transformation and Disruptive Innovation - By The Role of Aikido and Cultural Intelligence in Harmonizing Leader-Follower Relationships
Routledge
July 23, 2022

For many decades, management in its research and practice has been in need of an alternative approach and paradigm to understanding human behaviours. Many studies and books have attempted to provide solutions to the individual, which ended up being a cultural dilemma with little success. This book provides a novel approach to address this dilemma by linking aspects from three knowledge domains; Psychology, Anthropology and Sociology.

Cross-Cultural Leadership supports Cultural Intelligence (CQ) and makes it a practical construct and tool that both managers and researchers harness to understand what "cultural Chameleon" means. The book also renders support to Douglaisan Cultural Framework　 (DCF) by activating the role of the usually neglected fifth culture; the hermit by linking it to the metacognitive dimension of CQ. This link introduces for the first time the mechanism that individuals use to run through metacognitive processes to drive change.

This book is a tool for individuals to help them work efficiently outside their homeland. Being an adaptive or culturally hybrid leader is among the most important competencies of the effective leaders in the 21st century. By focusing on comprehending the five cultures as elaborated in DCF, leaders and managers will be relieved from the dilemma of having to understand each and every national culture of their employees. This book will be of value to researchers, academics, managers, and students with an interest in leadership, management, organization studies, globalization, and innovation

Cross-Cultural Leadership Being Effective in an Era of Globalization, Digital Transformation and Disruptive Innovation - By Taking Stock of the Present and Looking Towards the Future Cultural Evolution in a Knowledge-Intensive and Digital Era
Routledge
July 23, 2022

For many decades, management in its research and practice has been in need of an alternative approach and paradigm to understanding human behaviours. Many studies and books have attempted to provide solutions to the individual, which ended up being a cultural dilemma with little success. This book provides a novel approach to address this dilemma by linking aspects from three knowledge domains; Psychology, Anthropology and Sociology.

Cross-Cultural Leadership supports Cultural Intelligence (CQ) and makes it a practical construct and tool that both managers and researchers harness to understand what "cultural Chameleon" means. The book also renders support to Douglaisan Cultural Framework　 (DCF) by activating the role of the usually neglected fifth culture; the hermit by linking it to the metacognitive dimension of CQ. This link introduces for the first time the mechanism that individuals use to run through metacognitive processes to drive change.

This book is a tool for individuals to help them work efficiently outside their homeland. Being an adaptive or culturally hybrid leader is among the most important competencies of the effective leaders in the 21st century. By focusing on comprehending the five cultures as elaborated in DCF, leaders and managers will be relieved from the dilemma of having to understand each and every national culture of their employees. This book will be of value to researchers, academics, managers, and students with an interest in leadership, management, organization studies, globalization, and innovation

Cultural intelligence: A dynamic and interactional framework - By A cross-national study of youth entrepreneurship: The effect of family support
International Studies of Management & Organization
December 06, 2018

Cultural Intelligence (CQ) scholars’ continuing reliance on static geo-ethnic (mostly national) conceptualizations of culture raises three dilemmas: (1) the practical challenge of managers having to adapt to as many national cultures as they encounter, (2) a superficial understanding of how cultural intelligence manifests itself in everyday life, and (3) the inability to elaborate upon the nature (transient versus profound) of and potential pathways for cultural adaptations. There is, therefore, an urgent need to liberate the CQ discourse from geo-ethnic confines a need which is met in our present article through the introduction of transactional anthropology-based Douglasian Cultural Framework (DCF). The DCF conceptualizes human behavior as grounded in social transactions as opposed to geo-ethnic affiliations. According to this framework, the ongoing interactions between an individual’s preferences on two social dimensions (grid and group) and social context results in the emergence of four worldviews. Integrating these four worldviews of DCF with the four dimensions of CQ (motivational, cognitive, metacognitive, and behavioral) results in an innovative DCF-based CQ framework. This framework not only refrains from constraining the CQ discourse to geo-ethnic confines but also satisfactorily resolves the three dilemmas emerging from conventional CQ literature. Thus, our article contributes toward enriching extant CQ and DCF literatures and simultaneously combines insights from anthropology and psychology, but it also recognizes this is one small step in the right direction and calls for efforts toward generating other geo-ethnicity-free cultural frameworks that will further enrich our understanding of CQ.

Cultural intelligence: A dynamic and interactional framework - By Incorporating Photovoice in the Marketing Curriculum to Increase Cultural Competence
International Studies of Management & Organization
December 06, 2018

Cultural Intelligence (CQ) scholars’ continuing reliance on static geo-ethnic (mostly national) conceptualizations of culture raises three dilemmas: (1) the practical challenge of managers having to adapt to as many national cultures as they encounter, (2) a superficial understanding of how cultural intelligence manifests itself in everyday life, and (3) the inability to elaborate upon the nature (transient versus profound) of and potential pathways for cultural adaptations. There is, therefore, an urgent need to liberate the CQ discourse from geo-ethnic confines a need which is met in our present article through the introduction of transactional anthropology-based Douglasian Cultural Framework (DCF). The DCF conceptualizes human behavior as grounded in social transactions as opposed to geo-ethnic affiliations. According to this framework, the ongoing interactions between an individual’s preferences on two social dimensions (grid and group) and social context results in the emergence of four worldviews. Integrating these four worldviews of DCF with the four dimensions of CQ (motivational, cognitive, metacognitive, and behavioral) results in an innovative DCF-based CQ framework. This framework not only refrains from constraining the CQ discourse to geo-ethnic confines but also satisfactorily resolves the three dilemmas emerging from conventional CQ literature. Thus, our article contributes toward enriching extant CQ and DCF literatures and simultaneously combines insights from anthropology and psychology, but it also recognizes this is one small step in the right direction and calls for efforts toward generating other geo-ethnicity-free cultural frameworks that will further enrich our understanding of CQ.

Cultural intelligence: A dynamic and interactional framework - By Cross-Cultural Leadership Being Effective in an Era of Globalization, Digital Transformation and Disruptive Innovation
International Studies of Management & Organization
December 06, 2018

Cultural Intelligence (CQ) scholars’ continuing reliance on static geo-ethnic (mostly national) conceptualizations of culture raises three dilemmas: (1) the practical challenge of managers having to adapt to as many national cultures as they encounter, (2) a superficial understanding of how cultural intelligence manifests itself in everyday life, and (3) the inability to elaborate upon the nature (transient versus profound) of and potential pathways for cultural adaptations. There is, therefore, an urgent need to liberate the CQ discourse from geo-ethnic confines a need which is met in our present article through the introduction of transactional anthropology-based Douglasian Cultural Framework (DCF). The DCF conceptualizes human behavior as grounded in social transactions as opposed to geo-ethnic affiliations. According to this framework, the ongoing interactions between an individual’s preferences on two social dimensions (grid and group) and social context results in the emergence of four worldviews. Integrating these four worldviews of DCF with the four dimensions of CQ (motivational, cognitive, metacognitive, and behavioral) results in an innovative DCF-based CQ framework. This framework not only refrains from constraining the CQ discourse to geo-ethnic confines but also satisfactorily resolves the three dilemmas emerging from conventional CQ literature. Thus, our article contributes toward enriching extant CQ and DCF literatures and simultaneously combines insights from anthropology and psychology, but it also recognizes this is one small step in the right direction and calls for efforts toward generating other geo-ethnicity-free cultural frameworks that will further enrich our understanding of CQ.

Cultural intelligence: A dynamic and interactional framework - By A framework for culturally diverse teams and the importance of agility: findings from a qualitative study
International Studies of Management & Organization
December 06, 2018

Cultural Intelligence (CQ) scholars’ continuing reliance on static geo-ethnic (mostly national) conceptualizations of culture raises three dilemmas: (1) the practical challenge of managers having to adapt to as many national cultures as they encounter, (2) a superficial understanding of how cultural intelligence manifests itself in everyday life, and (3) the inability to elaborate upon the nature (transient versus profound) of and potential pathways for cultural adaptations. There is, therefore, an urgent need to liberate the CQ discourse from geo-ethnic confines a need which is met in our present article through the introduction of transactional anthropology-based Douglasian Cultural Framework (DCF). The DCF conceptualizes human behavior as grounded in social transactions as opposed to geo-ethnic affiliations. According to this framework, the ongoing interactions between an individual’s preferences on two social dimensions (grid and group) and social context results in the emergence of four worldviews. Integrating these four worldviews of DCF with the four dimensions of CQ (motivational, cognitive, metacognitive, and behavioral) results in an innovative DCF-based CQ framework. This framework not only refrains from constraining the CQ discourse to geo-ethnic confines but also satisfactorily resolves the three dilemmas emerging from conventional CQ literature. Thus, our article contributes toward enriching extant CQ and DCF literatures and simultaneously combines insights from anthropology and psychology, but it also recognizes this is one small step in the right direction and calls for efforts toward generating other geo-ethnicity-free cultural frameworks that will further enrich our understanding of CQ.

Cultural intelligence: A dynamic and interactional framework - By How Finnish and Filipino university students in business studies perceive leaders based on visual cues
International Studies of Management & Organization
December 06, 2018

Cultural Intelligence (CQ) scholars’ continuing reliance on static geo-ethnic (mostly national) conceptualizations of culture raises three dilemmas: (1) the practical challenge of managers having to adapt to as many national cultures as they encounter, (2) a superficial understanding of how cultural intelligence manifests itself in everyday life, and (3) the inability to elaborate upon the nature (transient versus profound) of and potential pathways for cultural adaptations. There is, therefore, an urgent need to liberate the CQ discourse from geo-ethnic confines a need which is met in our present article through the introduction of transactional anthropology-based Douglasian Cultural Framework (DCF). The DCF conceptualizes human behavior as grounded in social transactions as opposed to geo-ethnic affiliations. According to this framework, the ongoing interactions between an individual’s preferences on two social dimensions (grid and group) and social context results in the emergence of four worldviews. Integrating these four worldviews of DCF with the four dimensions of CQ (motivational, cognitive, metacognitive, and behavioral) results in an innovative DCF-based CQ framework. This framework not only refrains from constraining the CQ discourse to geo-ethnic confines but also satisfactorily resolves the three dilemmas emerging from conventional CQ literature. Thus, our article contributes toward enriching extant CQ and DCF literatures and simultaneously combines insights from anthropology and psychology, but it also recognizes this is one small step in the right direction and calls for efforts toward generating other geo-ethnicity-free cultural frameworks that will further enrich our understanding of CQ.

Cultural intelligence: A dynamic and interactional framework - By National Identity, Othering and Resistance: Host Country Manager’s Experience at a Japanese Multinational Enterprise in India
International Studies of Management & Organization
December 06, 2018

Cultural Intelligence (CQ) scholars’ continuing reliance on static geo-ethnic (mostly national) conceptualizations of culture raises three dilemmas: (1) the practical challenge of managers having to adapt to as many national cultures as they encounter, (2) a superficial understanding of how cultural intelligence manifests itself in everyday life, and (3) the inability to elaborate upon the nature (transient versus profound) of and potential pathways for cultural adaptations. There is, therefore, an urgent need to liberate the CQ discourse from geo-ethnic confines a need which is met in our present article through the introduction of transactional anthropology-based Douglasian Cultural Framework (DCF). The DCF conceptualizes human behavior as grounded in social transactions as opposed to geo-ethnic affiliations. According to this framework, the ongoing interactions between an individual’s preferences on two social dimensions (grid and group) and social context results in the emergence of four worldviews. Integrating these four worldviews of DCF with the four dimensions of CQ (motivational, cognitive, metacognitive, and behavioral) results in an innovative DCF-based CQ framework. This framework not only refrains from constraining the CQ discourse to geo-ethnic confines but also satisfactorily resolves the three dilemmas emerging from conventional CQ literature. Thus, our article contributes toward enriching extant CQ and DCF literatures and simultaneously combines insights from anthropology and psychology, but it also recognizes this is one small step in the right direction and calls for efforts toward generating other geo-ethnicity-free cultural frameworks that will further enrich our understanding of CQ.

Cultural intelligence: A dynamic and interactional framework - By SeeCC: An Online Cross-Cultural Communication Aid to Improve Communication and Cooperation Performance
International Studies of Management & Organization
December 06, 2018

Cultural Intelligence (CQ) scholars’ continuing reliance on static geo-ethnic (mostly national) conceptualizations of culture raises three dilemmas: (1) the practical challenge of managers having to adapt to as many national cultures as they encounter, (2) a superficial understanding of how cultural intelligence manifests itself in everyday life, and (3) the inability to elaborate upon the nature (transient versus profound) of and potential pathways for cultural adaptations. There is, therefore, an urgent need to liberate the CQ discourse from geo-ethnic confines a need which is met in our present article through the introduction of transactional anthropology-based Douglasian Cultural Framework (DCF). The DCF conceptualizes human behavior as grounded in social transactions as opposed to geo-ethnic affiliations. According to this framework, the ongoing interactions between an individual’s preferences on two social dimensions (grid and group) and social context results in the emergence of four worldviews. Integrating these four worldviews of DCF with the four dimensions of CQ (motivational, cognitive, metacognitive, and behavioral) results in an innovative DCF-based CQ framework. This framework not only refrains from constraining the CQ discourse to geo-ethnic confines but also satisfactorily resolves the three dilemmas emerging from conventional CQ literature. Thus, our article contributes toward enriching extant CQ and DCF literatures and simultaneously combines insights from anthropology and psychology, but it also recognizes this is one small step in the right direction and calls for efforts toward generating other geo-ethnicity-free cultural frameworks that will further enrich our understanding of CQ.

Cultural intelligence: A dynamic and interactional framework - By A color is worth a thousand words! A color-based tool to foster communication in culturally-plural teams
International Studies of Management & Organization
December 06, 2018

Cultural Intelligence (CQ) scholars’ continuing reliance on static geo-ethnic (mostly national) conceptualizations of culture raises three dilemmas: (1) the practical challenge of managers having to adapt to as many national cultures as they encounter, (2) a superficial understanding of how cultural intelligence manifests itself in everyday life, and (3) the inability to elaborate upon the nature (transient versus profound) of and potential pathways for cultural adaptations. There is, therefore, an urgent need to liberate the CQ discourse from geo-ethnic confines a need which is met in our present article through the introduction of transactional anthropology-based Douglasian Cultural Framework (DCF). The DCF conceptualizes human behavior as grounded in social transactions as opposed to geo-ethnic affiliations. According to this framework, the ongoing interactions between an individual’s preferences on two social dimensions (grid and group) and social context results in the emergence of four worldviews. Integrating these four worldviews of DCF with the four dimensions of CQ (motivational, cognitive, metacognitive, and behavioral) results in an innovative DCF-based CQ framework. This framework not only refrains from constraining the CQ discourse to geo-ethnic confines but also satisfactorily resolves the three dilemmas emerging from conventional CQ literature. Thus, our article contributes toward enriching extant CQ and DCF literatures and simultaneously combines insights from anthropology and psychology, but it also recognizes this is one small step in the right direction and calls for efforts toward generating other geo-ethnicity-free cultural frameworks that will further enrich our understanding of CQ.

Cultural intelligence: A dynamic and interactional framework - By Introducing Culture in the Context of International Business Studies Conceptualizations, Controversies, and Convictions
International Studies of Management & Organization
December 06, 2018

Cultural Intelligence (CQ) scholars’ continuing reliance on static geo-ethnic (mostly national) conceptualizations of culture raises three dilemmas: (1) the practical challenge of managers having to adapt to as many national cultures as they encounter, (2) a superficial understanding of how cultural intelligence manifests itself in everyday life, and (3) the inability to elaborate upon the nature (transient versus profound) of and potential pathways for cultural adaptations. There is, therefore, an urgent need to liberate the CQ discourse from geo-ethnic confines a need which is met in our present article through the introduction of transactional anthropology-based Douglasian Cultural Framework (DCF). The DCF conceptualizes human behavior as grounded in social transactions as opposed to geo-ethnic affiliations. According to this framework, the ongoing interactions between an individual’s preferences on two social dimensions (grid and group) and social context results in the emergence of four worldviews. Integrating these four worldviews of DCF with the four dimensions of CQ (motivational, cognitive, metacognitive, and behavioral) results in an innovative DCF-based CQ framework. This framework not only refrains from constraining the CQ discourse to geo-ethnic confines but also satisfactorily resolves the three dilemmas emerging from conventional CQ literature. Thus, our article contributes toward enriching extant CQ and DCF literatures and simultaneously combines insights from anthropology and psychology, but it also recognizes this is one small step in the right direction and calls for efforts toward generating other geo-ethnicity-free cultural frameworks that will further enrich our understanding of CQ.

Cultural intelligence: A dynamic and interactional framework - By Cross-cultural design teamwork: researching at the edge between design and cross-cultural management
International Studies of Management & Organization
December 06, 2018

Cultural Intelligence (CQ) scholars’ continuing reliance on static geo-ethnic (mostly national) conceptualizations of culture raises three dilemmas: (1) the practical challenge of managers having to adapt to as many national cultures as they encounter, (2) a superficial understanding of how cultural intelligence manifests itself in everyday life, and (3) the inability to elaborate upon the nature (transient versus profound) of and potential pathways for cultural adaptations. There is, therefore, an urgent need to liberate the CQ discourse from geo-ethnic confines a need which is met in our present article through the introduction of transactional anthropology-based Douglasian Cultural Framework (DCF). The DCF conceptualizes human behavior as grounded in social transactions as opposed to geo-ethnic affiliations. According to this framework, the ongoing interactions between an individual’s preferences on two social dimensions (grid and group) and social context results in the emergence of four worldviews. Integrating these four worldviews of DCF with the four dimensions of CQ (motivational, cognitive, metacognitive, and behavioral) results in an innovative DCF-based CQ framework. This framework not only refrains from constraining the CQ discourse to geo-ethnic confines but also satisfactorily resolves the three dilemmas emerging from conventional CQ literature. Thus, our article contributes toward enriching extant CQ and DCF literatures and simultaneously combines insights from anthropology and psychology, but it also recognizes this is one small step in the right direction and calls for efforts toward generating other geo-ethnicity-free cultural frameworks that will further enrich our understanding of CQ.

Cultural intelligence: A dynamic and interactional framework - By Strategies that Exemplary Elementary Dual Immersion Principals Use to Create an Organizational Culture of Inclusiveness
International Studies of Management & Organization
December 06, 2018

Cultural Intelligence (CQ) scholars’ continuing reliance on static geo-ethnic (mostly national) conceptualizations of culture raises three dilemmas: (1) the practical challenge of managers having to adapt to as many national cultures as they encounter, (2) a superficial understanding of how cultural intelligence manifests itself in everyday life, and (3) the inability to elaborate upon the nature (transient versus profound) of and potential pathways for cultural adaptations. There is, therefore, an urgent need to liberate the CQ discourse from geo-ethnic confines a need which is met in our present article through the introduction of transactional anthropology-based Douglasian Cultural Framework (DCF). The DCF conceptualizes human behavior as grounded in social transactions as opposed to geo-ethnic affiliations. According to this framework, the ongoing interactions between an individual’s preferences on two social dimensions (grid and group) and social context results in the emergence of four worldviews. Integrating these four worldviews of DCF with the four dimensions of CQ (motivational, cognitive, metacognitive, and behavioral) results in an innovative DCF-based CQ framework. This framework not only refrains from constraining the CQ discourse to geo-ethnic confines but also satisfactorily resolves the three dilemmas emerging from conventional CQ literature. Thus, our article contributes toward enriching extant CQ and DCF literatures and simultaneously combines insights from anthropology and psychology, but it also recognizes this is one small step in the right direction and calls for efforts toward generating other geo-ethnicity-free cultural frameworks that will further enrich our understanding of CQ.

Cultural intelligence: A dynamic and interactional framework - By Cultural Disproportionality in American Classrooms: The Lived Experiences of Non-Hispanic, White, Female Teachers with their Students of Color
International Studies of Management & Organization
December 06, 2018

Cultural Intelligence (CQ) scholars’ continuing reliance on static geo-ethnic (mostly national) conceptualizations of culture raises three dilemmas: (1) the practical challenge of managers having to adapt to as many national cultures as they encounter, (2) a superficial understanding of how cultural intelligence manifests itself in everyday life, and (3) the inability to elaborate upon the nature (transient versus profound) of and potential pathways for cultural adaptations. There is, therefore, an urgent need to liberate the CQ discourse from geo-ethnic confines a need which is met in our present article through the introduction of transactional anthropology-based Douglasian Cultural Framework (DCF). The DCF conceptualizes human behavior as grounded in social transactions as opposed to geo-ethnic affiliations. According to this framework, the ongoing interactions between an individual’s preferences on two social dimensions (grid and group) and social context results in the emergence of four worldviews. Integrating these four worldviews of DCF with the four dimensions of CQ (motivational, cognitive, metacognitive, and behavioral) results in an innovative DCF-based CQ framework. This framework not only refrains from constraining the CQ discourse to geo-ethnic confines but also satisfactorily resolves the three dilemmas emerging from conventional CQ literature. Thus, our article contributes toward enriching extant CQ and DCF literatures and simultaneously combines insights from anthropology and psychology, but it also recognizes this is one small step in the right direction and calls for efforts toward generating other geo-ethnicity-free cultural frameworks that will further enrich our understanding of CQ.

Cultural intelligence: A dynamic and interactional framework - By The Potential of Agility for Teams Findings on Cultural Diversity and Psychological Empowerment
International Studies of Management & Organization
December 06, 2018

Cultural Intelligence (CQ) scholars’ continuing reliance on static geo-ethnic (mostly national) conceptualizations of culture raises three dilemmas: (1) the practical challenge of managers having to adapt to as many national cultures as they encounter, (2) a superficial understanding of how cultural intelligence manifests itself in everyday life, and (3) the inability to elaborate upon the nature (transient versus profound) of and potential pathways for cultural adaptations. There is, therefore, an urgent need to liberate the CQ discourse from geo-ethnic confines a need which is met in our present article through the introduction of transactional anthropology-based Douglasian Cultural Framework (DCF). The DCF conceptualizes human behavior as grounded in social transactions as opposed to geo-ethnic affiliations. According to this framework, the ongoing interactions between an individual’s preferences on two social dimensions (grid and group) and social context results in the emergence of four worldviews. Integrating these four worldviews of DCF with the four dimensions of CQ (motivational, cognitive, metacognitive, and behavioral) results in an innovative DCF-based CQ framework. This framework not only refrains from constraining the CQ discourse to geo-ethnic confines but also satisfactorily resolves the three dilemmas emerging from conventional CQ literature. Thus, our article contributes toward enriching extant CQ and DCF literatures and simultaneously combines insights from anthropology and psychology, but it also recognizes this is one small step in the right direction and calls for efforts toward generating other geo-ethnicity-free cultural frameworks that will further enrich our understanding of CQ.

Cultural intelligence: A dynamic and interactional framework - By A colour is worth a thousand words! A colour-based tool to foster communication in culturally-plural teams.
International Studies of Management & Organization
December 06, 2018

Cultural Intelligence (CQ) scholars’ continuing reliance on static geo-ethnic (mostly national) conceptualizations of culture raises three dilemmas: (1) the practical challenge of managers having to adapt to as many national cultures as they encounter, (2) a superficial understanding of how cultural intelligence manifests itself in everyday life, and (3) the inability to elaborate upon the nature (transient versus profound) of and potential pathways for cultural adaptations. There is, therefore, an urgent need to liberate the CQ discourse from geo-ethnic confines a need which is met in our present article through the introduction of transactional anthropology-based Douglasian Cultural Framework (DCF). The DCF conceptualizes human behavior as grounded in social transactions as opposed to geo-ethnic affiliations. According to this framework, the ongoing interactions between an individual’s preferences on two social dimensions (grid and group) and social context results in the emergence of four worldviews. Integrating these four worldviews of DCF with the four dimensions of CQ (motivational, cognitive, metacognitive, and behavioral) results in an innovative DCF-based CQ framework. This framework not only refrains from constraining the CQ discourse to geo-ethnic confines but also satisfactorily resolves the three dilemmas emerging from conventional CQ literature. Thus, our article contributes toward enriching extant CQ and DCF literatures and simultaneously combines insights from anthropology and psychology, but it also recognizes this is one small step in the right direction and calls for efforts toward generating other geo-ethnicity-free cultural frameworks that will further enrich our understanding of CQ.

Cultural intelligence: A dynamic and interactional framework - By A AS NOVAS FRONTEIRAS DA GESTÃO DE ORGANIZAÇÕES: A GLOBALIZAÇÃO E AS DIFERENÇAS CULTURAIS
International Studies of Management & Organization
December 06, 2018

Cultural Intelligence (CQ) scholars’ continuing reliance on static geo-ethnic (mostly national) conceptualizations of culture raises three dilemmas: (1) the practical challenge of managers having to adapt to as many national cultures as they encounter, (2) a superficial understanding of how cultural intelligence manifests itself in everyday life, and (3) the inability to elaborate upon the nature (transient versus profound) of and potential pathways for cultural adaptations. There is, therefore, an urgent need to liberate the CQ discourse from geo-ethnic confines a need which is met in our present article through the introduction of transactional anthropology-based Douglasian Cultural Framework (DCF). The DCF conceptualizes human behavior as grounded in social transactions as opposed to geo-ethnic affiliations. According to this framework, the ongoing interactions between an individual’s preferences on two social dimensions (grid and group) and social context results in the emergence of four worldviews. Integrating these four worldviews of DCF with the four dimensions of CQ (motivational, cognitive, metacognitive, and behavioral) results in an innovative DCF-based CQ framework. This framework not only refrains from constraining the CQ discourse to geo-ethnic confines but also satisfactorily resolves the three dilemmas emerging from conventional CQ literature. Thus, our article contributes toward enriching extant CQ and DCF literatures and simultaneously combines insights from anthropology and psychology, but it also recognizes this is one small step in the right direction and calls for efforts toward generating other geo-ethnicity-free cultural frameworks that will further enrich our understanding of CQ.

Perceived Managerial and Leadership Effectiveness In UAE and Egypt: A Comparison Through The Combined Lenses Of Islamic Work Ethics and Islamic Leadership - By Single-rating, multi-rating 360° performance management and organizational outcomes: evidence from the UAE
Wiley and Sons: European Management Review
April 27, 2018

We conduct an emic replication study of managerial and leadership effectiveness in UAE, thereby addressing the paucity in extant literature of indigenous management research in non-Western countries. Second, we compare our findings from the UAE study with those from a similar study previously conducted by author 3 in Egypt, to reveal that there are considerable similarities in the perceived effectiveness and ineffectiveness of managerial behavior across these two countries, but also considerable differences. Finally and most importantly, we examine the findings from the two studies through the combined conceptual lenses of Islamic Work Ethics (IWE) and Islamic Leadership (IL). We find that more than half of positive and negative Behavioral Statements emerging from these studies are grounded in the principles of IWE and IL, implying that these principles exercise significant influence on followers’ Implicit Leadership Theories, and consequently their perceptions of managerial and leader behaviors. Theoretical and managerial implications are also offered.

Aikido For Leaders and Followers at Grenoble Ecole de Management
Grenoble Ecole de Management
March 06, 2024

This is the second evening online Aikido session to demonstrate and discuss Aikido concepts applicable to leaders and followers in the work space.

Aikido online session for Responsible Leadership Certificate Students - Session 1 Feb 2024
Grenoble Ecole de Management
February 13, 2024

This is the first evening online Aikido session to demonstrate and discuss Aikido concepts applicable to leaders and followers in teh work space.

Aikido online session for Responsible Leadership Certificate Students - Session 2 Mar 2024
Grenoble Ecole de Management
February 13, 2024

This is the first evening online Aikido session to demonstrate and discuss Aikido concepts applicable to leaders and followers in teh work space.

VIVA Examiner and DBA External reviewer: IRANIAN BAZAARS An Ethnographic Study of The Evolution of Culture in Iranian Bazaars
Grenoble Ecole de Management
December 14, 2023

Abstract of the DBA thesis by Mashianeh HatamAbadi
This study delves into the evolution of Iranian bazaars, emphasizing their historical significance and the cultural shifts they have undergone, particularly in the context of the Islamic Revolution of 1979. The research adopts an ethnographic methodology, incorporating fieldwork conducted in 2019 and supplementary data collection in 2021. This approach includes interviews, observations, field notes, and the examination of artifacts to provide a comprehensive understanding of the subject.
The core of this research lies in its exploration of the bazaars' transformation from a cultural and economic standpoint. Prior to the Islamic Revolution, bazaars exhibited an egalitarian-hierarchical structure, which evolved into a more individualistic and fatalistic framework post-revolution. This transition is indicative of a broader cultural shift within the Iranian society, reflecting changes in societal values and structures. The study highlights the economic implications of this shift, such as increased competition and reduced cooperation within the bazaar community, alongside the diverse responses of the bazaar's inhabitants to these changes.
From a societal perspective, this research uncovers significant alterations in Iranian cultural norms and values. The once unified cultural fabric of the bazaar has given way to a mosaic of divergent beliefs, impacting its social, political, and religious functions. The trend towards individualism has redefined societal operations and interpersonal relationships, with notable changes including increased autonomy for individuals and a marked shift in gender roles, exemplified by the growing participation of women in the bazaar.
However, the study acknowledges certain limitations. The findings are based on fieldwork and data collection within specific timeframes, which may not fully capture the ongoing dynamics of cultural transformation in Iranian bazaars.

In conclusion, this research offers valuable insights into the cultural evolution of Iranian bazaars, serving as a case study for understanding similar societal changes in other contexts. It underscores the importance of cultural theory in examining and navigating these transformations, contributing to a broader comprehension of cultural dynamics in response to socio-political shifts.

2024 Certification Program in Responsible Leadership and Followership in a Digital Era Grenoble Ecole de Management
Grenoble Ecole de Management
September 01, 2023

Part One: Workshop on Critical Thinking:
1: Defining Critical thinking/ Reasoning
2: Evidence
3: Alternative Explanation
4: Serious game/ Debrief of workshop

Part Two: Aikido sessions with case study work:
1- Embodiment: Self-management: How to align your body in such a way that facilitates a
the mindset which combined with the body-setting results in:
- Inner strength
- Integrity
- Self-confidence
2- Procedure: learning a simple 1, 2, 3 method to align your Body and the connecting mindset
 How to maintain this body alignment of your body and mind at the right distance
towards another in an ongoing communication/relation
Procedure: experiencing what is the right distance with your partner to maintain the integrity

3- How to maintain this in the role of leader of follower. In both roles, you learn and
experience to be able to maintain your Identity and integrity.
Procedure: using Aikido to understand the martial role-play between Leader and Follower,
while maintaining integrity for both (without falling into the trap of victim or attacker).

4- Which style of leadership and followership are grounded in your embodied system and
fits you and is the most effective for you and in a generation a natural team result
Procedure: which styles of leadership and followership suits your personality and gives you
natural power/charisma, without falling into the master/slave trap as opposed to be a leader
or a follower in the Aikido way.

5- Create insight into which kind of decision in being a leader of the followers are grounded in
your embodied system = your personality.
Procedure: according to several case studies investigates and experiment with this by self-awareness.

Part Three: Course module on Critical Perspectives on contemporary Leadership and Followership
1- Introduction and foundational concepts in Leadership
2- Contemporary Leadership: The good, the bad and the ugly
3- Leadership and power
4- Leadership in the digital era
5- Followership and Role theory approach
6- Contemporary Followership
7- Followership in the digital era
8- Frameworks of leadership and followership
9- Ongoing Discussions and sum up

Final Submission: Reflexive Report

Certification Program in Responsible Leadership and Followership in a Digital Era
Grenoble Ecole de Management
October 28, 2022

Part One: Workshop on Critical Thinking:
1: Defining Critical thinking/ Reasoning
2: Evidence
3: Alternative Explanation
4: Serious game/ Debrief of workshop

Part Two: Aikido sessions with case study work:
1- Embodiment: Self-management: How to align your body in such a way that facilitates a
the mindset which combined with the body-setting results in:
- Inner strength
- Integrity
- Self-confidence
2- Procedure: learning a simple 1, 2, 3 method to align your Body and the connecting mindset
 How to maintain this body alignment of your body and mind at the right distance
towards another in an ongoing communication/relation
Procedure: experiencing what is the right distance with your partner to maintain the integrity

3- How to maintain this in the role of leader of follower. In both roles, you learn and
experience to be able to maintain your Identity and integrity.
Procedure: using Aikido to understand the martial role-play between Leader and Follower,
while maintaining integrity for both (without falling into the trap of victim or attacker).

4- Which style of leadership and followership are grounded in your embodied system and
fits you and is the most effective for you and in a generation a natural team result
Procedure: which styles of leadership and followership suits your personality and gives you
natural power/charisma, without falling into the master/slave trap as opposed to be a leader
or a follower in the Aikido way.

5- Create insight into which kind of decision in being a leader of the followers are grounded in
your embodied system = your personality.
Procedure: according to several case studies investigates and experiment with this by self-awareness.

Part Three: Course module on Critical Perspectives on contemporary Leadership and Followership
1- Introduction and foundational concepts in Leadership
2- Contemporary Leadership: The good, the bad and the ugly
3- Leadership and power
4- Leadership in the digital era
5- Followership and Role theory approach
6- Contemporary Followership
7- Followership in the digital era
8- Frameworks of leadership and followership
9- Ongoing Discussions and sum up

Final Submission: Reflexive Report

Leadership for Master Degree students 2019
Heriot Watt University
September 11, 2020

Leadership is a popular research and general interest subject that generates lots of discussion and debate amongst academics, practitioners and the public. There are many leadership theories that attempt to describe how it works and why. Unfortunately, all of them are only useful for describing leadership in particular or narrow situations, none provide a universal formula for understanding how leadership works. Therefore, it is important to have a wide understanding of the different theories available. This course provides that broad overview of leadership and its contributing theories.
Many research studies have discovered a positive relationship between effective leadership and improved performance across a number of critical organisational activities like competitiveness, innovation, new product development etc. Relating practice to leadership approaches to understand, which theories are relevant and how they improve performance are examined in the course as well. Moreover, leaderships impact on four important contemporary organisational themes will be explored in the course. These important themes are gender, culture, teams and ethics. Finally, guest speakers are used to help bring to life the leadership approaches and issues discussed in the course.

Masters Degree Dissertation Supervision on Sustainable Knowledge Sharing
Heriot-Watt University
May 01, 2020

This research was conducted on retail industry by proposing the sustainable knowledge sharing using Salih's (2020) Model of dynamic cultural intelligence to assist retail managers and firms improving their knowledge sharing culture and overcome cultural obstacles, towards improvement and innovation.

Masters Degree Dissertation Supervision on adaptive leadership impacts employee wellbeing and happiness
Heriot-Watt University
September 13, 2019

This research talks about the effect of adaptive leadership on employee wellbeing and happiness in the organization and its subsequent impact on performance. The research is conducted in Dubai.

Masters Degree Dissertation supervision on Disruptive Innovation in coaching industry
Heriot-Watt University
August 31, 2019

This research is about how disruptive innovation has become key to understanding the increased number of new companies overtaking the market. The work explored the use of technology such as Artificial Intelligence in the coaching industry and showed how poor is the use of technology in this domain....

Masters Degree Dissertation Supervision on project management of events
Heriot-Watt University
August 18, 2019

This work explores the challenges faced by project managers in the events industry in the UAE whilst adopting Salih's (2018) Model of Adaptive Leadership in the event industry, within the UAE. Salih's model consists of effective leadership effectiveness and ineffectiveness, the meta-cognitive dimension of Cultural Intelligence (CQ) combined with the autonomous culture of the Douglasian Cultural Framework (DCF).

Masters Degree Dissertation Supervision on the influence Aikido and Cultural Intelligence (CQ)’s Mindfulness on leader-follower relationships
Heriot-Watt University
July 20, 2019

This research sheds light on the dynamics of leader-follower relationships. The Adaptive Leadership Model of Salih (2018) has been employed to interpret followership to this end, in order to bridge the gap between leadership and followership literature. As CQ’s metacognition is related to mindfulness and Aikido practitioners are known to possess mindfulness, the study has been conducted on Aikido practitioners.

Masters Degree Dissertation Supervision on the application of Adaptive leadership in sustainable project management
Heriot-Watt University
April 23, 2019

This piece of work explores the effect of Salih's (2018) Model of Adaptive Leadership on the project management sector in Nigeria. The aim is to achieve a sustainable project management practice in the country.

7th CONSTRUCTION TECHNOLOGY FESTIVAL | PROPERTY TECHNOLOGY FESTIVAL
b2b Connect
February 16, 2024

The goal of the Advisory Board is to share opinions in conversational format, on the key issues, trends, developments and experiences in the areas of digital transformation, data management and sustainability that will be translated into a market-driven, must-attend agenda and event.

CONSTRUCTION TECHNOLOGY FESTIVAL KSA: Injecting digital transformation into Saudi Arabia’s projects supply chain
Venture Connect
August 15, 2022

As an Advisory Board member, KI worked with others in the CONSTRUCTION TECHNOLOGY FESTIVAL KSA (CTF KSA) to bring together the Kingdom’s key government authorities, project developers, contractors, consultants and ConTech companies to share digital use-cases that design, build and operate major projects faster, cheaper and more efficiently.

Evolving Needs for a Rapidly Changing Industry
Technical Review Middle East
August 15, 2023

n the "Evolving needs for a rapidly changing industry" piece in Technical Review Middle East's latest issue, read what Dr. Ahmad M. Salih Salih, our Senior Director of Operation Excellence and Knowledge Management, had to say about how BIM is evolving to meet our industry's demands and the challenges in implementing it.

Dr. Ahmad stresses the immense potential for combining AI and BIM and the strength of their synergy in the Middle East's construction sector, which is critical to innovation, superior quality, and meeting the region's expanding infrastructure demands. He also emphasizes digital twins as an indispensable partner to BIM in modern buildings.

To learn more about the growing landscape of BIM and its revolutionary potential in the construction industry, go to page 16 and check out the full article: https://bit.ly/3EjFO5P.

Perceived Managerial and Leadership Effectiveness In UAE and Egypt: A Comparison Through The Combined Lenses Of Islamic Work Ethics and Islamic Leadership
European Management Review
April 18, 2021

We conduct an emic replication study of managerial and leadership effectiveness in UAE, thereby addressing the paucity in extant literature of indigenous management research in non-Western countries. Second, we compare our findings from the UAE study with those from a similar study previously conducted by author 3 in Egypt, to reveal that there are considerable similarities in the perceived effectiveness and ineffectiveness of managerial behavior across these two countries, but also considerable differences. Finally and most importantly, we examine the findings from the two studies through the combined conceptual lenses of Islamic Work Ethics (IWE) and Islamic Leadership (IL). We find that more than half of positive and negative Behavioral Statements emerging from these studies are grounded in the principles of IWE and IL, implying that these principles exercise significant influence on followers’ Implicit Leadership Theories, and consequently their perceptions of managerial and leader behaviors. Theoretical and managerial implications are also offered.

A Dynamic and Interactional Framework Cultural Intelligence
International Studies of Management & Organization, Volume 48, 2018 - Issue 4: INNOVATIVE TRENDS IN CULTURAL STUDIES
April 17, 2020

Cultural Intelligence (CQ) scholars' continuing reliance on static geo-ethnic (mostly national) conceptualizations of culture raises three dilemmas: (1) the practical challenge of managers having to adapt to as many national cultures as they encounter, (2) a superficial understanding of how cultural intelligence manifests itself in everyday life, and (3) the inability to elaborate upon the nature (transient versus profound) of and potential pathways for cultural adaptations. There is, therefore, an urgent need to liberate the CQ discourse from geo-ethnic confines a need which is met in our present article through the introduction of transactional anthropology-based Douglasian Cultural Framework (DCF). The DCF conceptualizes human behavior as grounded in social transactions as opposed to geo-ethnic affiliations. According to this framework , the ongoing interactions between an individual's preferences on two social dimensions (grid and group) and social context results in the emergence of four worldviews. Integrating these four worldviews of DCF with the four dimensions of CQ (motivational, cognitive, meta-cognitive, and behavioral) results in an innovative DCF-based CQ framework. This framework not only refrains from constraining the CQ discourse to geo-ethnic confines but also satisfactorily resolves the three dilemmas emerging from conventional CQ literature. Thus, our article contributes toward enriching extant CQ and DCF literatures and simultaneously combines insights from anthropology and psychology, but it also recognizes this is one small step in the right direction and calls for efforts toward generating other geo-ethnicity-free cultural frameworks that will further enrich our understanding of CQ.

Knowledge is Precious
Self
June 28, 2019

Knowledge is the root of all good!
— Ali Ibn Abi Talib.

Learning process is reciprocal. We learn from each other! leaders learn from followers and teachers learn from students.

Advisory Board Member for the Construction Technology Festival (ctf-uae.com) & Property Technology Festival
Construction Technology Festival & Property Technology Festival
June 14, 2022

The advisory Board member role includes share your insights into the following:
- Market trends impacting different regions such as Saudi Arabia
- Overall theme and narrative for the event
- Key topics in innovation, sustainability and digital technology that must be included in the agenda
- Digital use-cases/experiences that you are working on within your organisation that might make good case studies – particularly in KSA
- Must have speakers and sponsors

Digital Leadership: Evidence from Theory and Practice
Routledge
February 13, 2024

In the evolving landscape of leadership, factors from both environmental and cultural dimensions play a crucial role. In the contemporary era of digitalisation and globalisation, the impact on leadership has expanded significantly. This places greater pressure on leaders to succeed. The integration of technology and knowledge management adds complexity, demanding not only effectiveness but also cultural adaptability for navigating digital organisational changes.

Effective leadership prerequisites endure, regardless of technological influence. Amid the push for digital leadership in modern organisations, it's essential to acknowledge the complexity of defining and analysing leadership. This treatise emphasises adaptability and intelligence as foundational for digital leaders and followers. Organisational ambidexterity underscores the simultaneous need for digital alignment and adaptability in effective leadership.

This book emphasises followership's natural evolution in individual growth. It delves into the intricate interplay between leadership and followership within the globalised, digital context. Core to the narrative is the 'intelligently learning organization,' a concept explored throughout and conclusively in Chapter 7. While technological prowess benefits leaders, it's vital to recognise its limitations in achieving organisational growth.

The text highlights 'digital dexterity,' a concept evaluating internal capacities for embracing digital trajectories. This nascent concept is vital for modern digital leaders to embody.

Cultural Spaces in International Business: Theories and Applications
Routledge
April 15, 2022

Culture studies in international business are passing through difficult times of scrutiny and critique. This is due to the fact that the paradigms, approaches, and methods used so far to study culture have been limited in their scope. For several decades now, approaches that consider national cultures and geo-ethnic origins of interacting individuals have dominated management literature.

This book distinguishes itself from other books on Culture in International Business (CIB) studies in two important ways. First, it illustrates how Mary Douglas’s Cultural Theory framework (referred to commonly as DCF) can be used to explore different aspects of international business. This sets the stage for future scholars to consider DCF as an alternative tool of cultural sense-making as opposed to limiting themselves to categorical frameworks grounded in static notions of national and/or corporate culture. The second unique feature is that it focuses on the complexities of the applied side of culture (i.e., it takes a culture-in-practice perspective), while simultaneously emphasizing the dynamicity and diversity of culture. The book concludes by offering suggestions for the future of CIB studies. This domain, it predicts, may witness significant changes in the way culture is seen as influencing workplace relations. It also identifies other areas on which CIB scholars may need to focus attention in the future: culture in an increasingly digitalized world, culture and the organization as a system, and culture and the intelligent/knowledgeable organization.

It will be of interest to researchers, academics, and students in the fields of cross-cultural management, international business, human resource management.

Cross-cultural Leadership: Being Effective in an Era of Globalization, Digital Transformation and Disruptive Innovation
Routledge
July 08, 2020

For many decades, management in its research and practice has been in need of an alternative approach and paradigm to understanding human behaviours. Many studies and books have attempted to provide solutions to the individual, which ended up being a cultural dilemma with little success. This book provides a novel approach to address this dilemma by linking aspects from three knowledge domains; Psychology, Anthropology and Sociology. Cross-Cultural Leadership supports Cultural Intelligence (CQ) and makes it a practical construct and tool that both managers and researchers harness to understand what" cultural Chameleon" means. The book also renders support to Douglaisan Cultural Framework (DCF) by activating the role of the usually neglected fifth culture; the hermit by linking it to the metacognitive dimension of CQ. This link introduces for the first time the mechanism that individuals use to run through metacognitive processes to drive change. This book is a tool for individuals to help them work efficiently outside their homeland. Being an adaptive or culturally hybrid leader is among the most important competencies of the effective leaders in the 21st century. By focusing on comprehending the five cultures as elaborated in DCF, leaders and managers will be relieved from the dilemma of having to understand each and every national culture of their employees. This book will be of value to researchers, academics, managers, and students with an interest in leadership, management, organization studies, globalization, and innovation

Entering into the Mind of the Entrepreneur: The Hermit’s Metacognition as an Entrepreneurial Driver
Routledge
April 15, 2022

In this chapter, a novel approach toward understanding how entrepreneurs act to draw new business horizons when faced with new opportunities or challenges is introduced. In the current decade, there has been much emphasis on strengthening individuals’ capabilities to move them into the space or mindset of entrepreneurs. The work in this chapter builds on previous attempts where the metacognitive dimension of Cultural Intelligence (CQ) is employed to help entrepreneurs plot the right strategies toward achieving their self-gains. Furthermore, the work adds another building block to previous achievements and draws a new horizon by explaining how a change can happen in individuals’ mindsets to transform themselves into adopting a competitive or entrepreneurial culture. This chapter calls for a paradigm shift in approaching, understanding, explaining, and boosting entrepreneurship among individuals by deploying Douglasian Cultural Framework-based Cultural Intelligence. Moreover, it lays out a set of behaviours and a process individuals could follow to achieve their sought-after transformation to become entrepreneurs and follow opportunities globally.

The Role of Aikido and Cultural Intelligence in Harmonising Leader-Follower Relationships
Routledge
April 15, 2022

Aikido is a modern Japanese martial art founded by Morihei Ueshiba in the 1920s and
internationally promoted in the 1950s. It differs from other marital arts: Aikidokas (Aikido
practitioners) not only practise mindfulness but also live within a culture of social and spiritual
harmony, discipline, focus, and direction. On the mat, Aikidokas free their minds from any
prejudicial thoughts and indulge in a no-mind state during the training. In this chapter, Aikido is
linked with Cultural Intelligence’s metacognition and Douglasian Cultural Framework’s
egalitarian culture. By so doing, it highlights that an egalitarian culture can help employees blend
in a healthier work environment and increase their productivity. Additionally, in this chapter, the
concept of flexecution, which links flexibility to execution, is discussed, and how this concept,
which has its roots in Aikido, can help in improving the decision-making process in the business
environment is shown

Taking Stock of the Present and Looking Toward the Future: Cultural Evolution in a Knowledge-Intensive and Digital Era
Routledge
April 15, 2022

In this concluding chapter, we attempt to summarise the overall value of the book by focusing on the significant concepts of each chapter from the knowledge management and intelligence lenses. Furthermore, the chapter lays out some genuine trends that cultural studies would encounter in the near future. Such trends range from conceptual, methodological to pragmatic. First, the way culture is approached needs to change to become more comprehensive. This implies that studying culture needs to be done using aspects from different knowledge domains and also by deploying multiple paradigms. This is because culture is a multi-faceted and complex construct, and cannot be looked at studied using one paradigm. Second, future cultural studies may witness change in the way culture used in the workplace to harmonise the relationship between managers and employees, to name a few. Finally, we recommend in this chapter that cultural studies need to take a proactive stance in dealing with new areas of practice such as culture in a digitalised/platforms world, culture and the organisation as a system, and culture and the intelligent/knowledgeable organisation

Adaptive and Sustainable Leadership for Event Management
Goodfellow
June 01, 2021

Event Management, as a field of study, is relatively nascent. Attempts have been made by some scholars to define a workable framework that includes collaboration from different knowledge disciplines or industry services (Getz, 2000). However, as with many other fields of study, research reacts to the phenomena happening in the outside world, and attempts to find the right solution to standardize individuals’ and organisations’ practice. While we understand the gap between academia and practice, where the latter is always advancing due to actual needs on the ground, we also believe that adopting a proactive approach in research to provide the right solutions and run proper training programs, can help to bridge this gap and provide real value to practice.

Adaptive and Sustainable Leadership for Event Management
GoodFellowPublishers
February 01, 2021

Due to the fast-changing economy globally, and technology impact on business and individuals, the events industry became much more complex especially with governments involvement and increased regulation (Bowdin et. al, 2006). By nature, events are ephemeral, and even if they do repeat, they are a separate project every time. Therefore, events can be considered as fast-track projects with many activities and stakeholders engaged for a short period. One important aspect that impact the delivery of successful events is leadership. In this chapter, hence, we shed some light on the main challenges faced when implementing events in Dubai. Given the multi-cultural nature of working in the events industry in Dubai and the different types of events conducted every year, our study attempts to understand how project leaders within the events industry use adaptive leadership across cultures to produce successful outcomes and/or meet project deliverables. Event management as a field of study emerged in response to the growing events industry, and is yet to be mature (Getz, 2002). Moreover, attempts were made to examine the effect of cognitive, social and environmental psychology, sociology and anthropology knowledge disciplines to understand the differences between the field’s subdivisions (see Getz, 2007 and 2012). For this purpose, we focus on the behavioural aspect of event management, I.e. events leadership, and propose a novel approach to the challenges faced by both academics and practitioners. We emphasise on the adaptive leadership aspect of managing events following Salih’s (2017; 2020) Model for Sustainable and Adaptive Leadership as the mechanism to be used by individuals and organizations, and by so doing, we attempt to synch theory and practice. The Model comprises three main components: Hamlin’s (2004) model for leadership effectiveness and ineffectiveness, the meta-cognitive dimension of Cultural Intelligence (CQ), and the autonomous culture (hermit) of the Douglasian Cultural Framework (DCF). There has been much research done on culture, project management and adaptive leadership however, there is a paucity of literature on events management in Dubai.

Sustainable Leadership in Multi-Cultural Teams
Goodfellow
August 22, 2020

Description
The current shift towards digital transformation that guides the building blocks of the digital economy, has made it imperative to review some of the current theories, frameworks and paradigms. This applies to the different contexts of business management, where effective leadership is crucail, including project management and more so, sustainable project management. The authors’ current work, which is directed at both academics and practitioners, calls for a new paradigm in approaching Sustainable Leadership Effectiveness, that brings aspects from three knowledge domains (Anthropology, Sociology and Psychology) which are important for understanding human behaviors (in response to Murdock, 1971). The new paradigm and approach take leadership effectiveness practice, training and development into new dimensions, and embed them within an intelligent process with the Douglasian Cultural Framework (DCF)-based Cultural Intelligence at the center. Leaders focus should harness past and present experience to make a better future (Senge, 2008 cited in Tideman et al., 2013). This implies that for leadership to be considered sustainable, it must be formed around two important factors: adaptability and intelligence (Tideman, 2013). Accordingly, the journey that readers will be guided through in this chapter, is about novelty in thinking and practicing leadership which is different from the mainstream of leadership and Cultural Intelligence discourse and practice. The aim is to have managers and leaders not only understanding how to be effective, but how to behave intelligently in a challenging global context. In the introduction, the chapter presents the debate about leadership from the globalization lens, illustrating the obstacles that leadership research is facing. The chapter then provides the reader with a general review about Cultural Intelligence showing the dilemmas that the construct is facing, leading to the main theme of this chapter where the leadership adaptability framework is presented.

Toward forming Leadership Intelligence and revoking the individual in leadership studies
Sixth International Engaged Management Scholarship Conference Organized by the Executive DBA Council
September 08, 2016

Extant literature on leadership behaviour and Cultural Intelligence (CQ) continues to be grounded in static geo-ethnic conceptualisations of culture (e.g. national culture). This practice is proven problematic because it leads to the dilemma of ‘losing the absolutes’ (Gelfand et al., 2008) – the concern that irrespective of their versatility, international leaders or managers cannot be expected to know or master all national cultures with whom they may be called upon to interact. To overcome this dilemma, we offer to integrate Yukl’s (2012) leadership behavioural framework with Sternberg & Detterman (1986) Loci of Intelligence; a culture-agnostic framework; as solution to this important gap and form a new construct of Leadership Intelligence (LQ). The paper discusses the potential advantages of this integration to individuals and organizations. Accordingly, this theoretical contributions to management and leadership literature bridges the gaps between theory and practice (Yukl, 2004), along with a discussion of managerial implications and suggestions for future research.

Should an intelligent leader in the 21st century be a cultural chameleon? A call to disentangle national culture from
The International Conference on Organization and Management ( ) 2015 Conference Theme: Innovative Management Practices: Challenges & Opportunities in
November 22, 2015

Extant literature on leadership behaviour and Cultural Intelligence (CQ) continues to be grounded in static geo-ethnic conceptualizations of culture (e.g. national culture). This practice is problematic because it leads to the dilemma of ‘losing of absolutes‘– the concern that irrespective of their versatility, international managers cannot be expected to master all national cultures with whom they may be called upon to interact. To overcome this drawback, we offer to integrate Yukl’s (2012) leadership behavioural framework with Sternberg & Detterman (1986) loci of intelligence as a solution to the important gap and form a new construct of Leadership Intelligence (LQ). Integrating these two frameworks results in an innovative framework of leadership behavioural studies with many advantages to individuals and organizations in the 21st century who either operate across borders or are obliged to respond to the cosmopolitan pressure in their homelands as in the case of United Arab Emirates. Thus, our paper offers theoretical contributions to management and leadership literatures. We end the paper with a discussion of managerial implications and suggestions for future research.

From local to cross-cultural to global, challenges that face UAE nationals in the 21st century. The role of transactional framework of Cultural Intelligence.
ICSB 2015 World Conference Proceedings ISBN13: 978-0-9819028-7-6 ISBN: 0-9819028-7-1
June 06, 2015

Extant literature shows that the GCC region as a whole, and mostly so the United Arab Emirates suffer from the scarcity of management studies in general and Cultural Intelligence (CQ) studies specifically. While most of the studies are either US or western based (Jackson, 2005), Tsui et al., (2007) call to conduct indigenous research in indigenous context. In response to this need, we offer an in-depth study on the effect of transaction framework of CQ (Salih & Patel, 2015) on Emirati citizens to help them overcome the dilemma of “losing the absolutes” (Gelfand et al., 2008) when dealing with a globalized environment present locally at their doors, and at the same time to help them protect their own national culture from being negatively affected. Thus, our paper offers theoretical contributions to management and CQ literatures by applying this context-free of CQ framework in UAE. We end the paper with a discussion of practical and theoretical implications and suggestions for future research.

HOW TO MEASURE PERCEIVED MANAGERIAL AND LEADERSHIP EFFECTIVENESS & INEFFECTIVENESS WITHIN UAE PUBLIC AND PRIVATE SECTORS IN CONNECTION WITH DOUGLASIAN CULTURAL FRAMEWORK
GRENOBLE ECOLE DE MANAGEMENT Category: 15 CONFERENCE GENERAL TRACK >> 15_00 CONFERENCE GENERAL TRACK
January 13, 2015

Access to this paper is restricted to registered delegates of the EURAM 2014 (European Academy of Management) Conference.

Toward a Dynamic and Interactional Framework of Cultural Intelligence - Best Paper
AIBMENA 5th conference: Bridging the Divide - Cognitive dissonance between management theory and practice - Developing relevant and impactful research
January 13, 2015

Extant literature on Cultural Intelligence (CQ) continues to be grounded in static geo-ethnic conceptualizations of culture (e.g. national culture). This practice is problematic because it leads to ‘losing of absolutes‘– the concern that irrespective of their versatility, international managers cannot be expected to master all national cultures with whom they may be called upon to interact. To overcome this drawback, we offer the Dougalsian Cultural Framework (DCF) as an alternative framework of culture. Integrating the dynamic conceptualization of culture offered by DCF within the CQ construct results in an innovative framework of CQ with many advantages. First, being grounded in a transactional/interactional approach to culture, this framework allows us to break away from static geo-ethnicity based frameworks of culture. Second, our framework explains, how despite having different cultural affiliations, culturally intelligent individuals shift from one culturally-appropriate behavior to another as part of the adaptation process in intercultural interactions. In so doing, we expose the merits of the often-neglected fifth cultural type of DCF- the hermit. Thus, our paper offers theoretical contributions both to CQ and DCF literature. We end the paper with a discussion of managerial implications and suggestions for future research.

Design of Risk Management Process
Khatib and Alami
July 01, 2021

Designed a comprehensive and dynamic projects' risk process. The process follows PMI standards and organizational best practice. The process included a workflow that is included within the risk register along with a process.

BIM Practice Manual
Khatib and Alami
May 15, 2020

Remote Working Procedure
Khatib and Alami
March 31, 2020

At the beginning of the pandemic, companies started to panic and everyone started to look ways to survive running projects, keep connecting with clients, manage resources and most importantly maintain a winning position in the market.

As response to this situation during the Covid-19 pandemic, I developed a new Way of Work with specific steps and mechanisms to keep everyone connected and maintain projects success. The new Way of Work; remote working procedure; included policies, strategies, tools and mechanisms for users to follow.

The procedure was implemented successfully and Khatib and Alami was a pioneer in the market in this regard. Moreover, the procedure was lent to some of our clients who were looking for similar solutions.

Project Managers Assessment Toolkit
Khatib and Alami
October 13, 2019

Having the overall project management capability building and accreditation process embarked by K&A’s senior management, evaluating how project management practice is conducted and followed in K&A becomes imperative. Understanding how project managers interact with projects, clients and people is of high importance to evaluate, prior to commencing the Projects Managers development process. Below is the main steps described in a bit more detail:
1- The questionnaire/evaluation criteria: Projects Directors, Senior Projects Managers, Projects Managers and Associate Projects Managers will be requested to evaluate themselves against the (9) areas of knowledge and practice laid out in the attached questionnaire. These areas are:
1. Qualification and accreditation
2. Client Management
3. Project Cost/Financial Management
4. People Management & Development
5. Project Delivery & Quality Management
6. Effective Communication
7. Knowledge Management
8. Commercial & Risk Management
9. Safety, Health, Environment & Sustainability

Each one of the knowledge areas mentioned above is devised into (4) categories reflecting the level of seniority of K&A’s Projects Managers.

2- Weight of the Knowledge Areas: Out of 100%, a dedicated weight for each of the 8 knowledge areas is assessed and kept confidential for committee use in the calibration process.

3- Self-Evaluation Process: Every Projects Manager is requested to rate himself according to the 8 knowledge areas above and provide a rank from (1) to (4), where (4) represents the highest mark in the rank and (1) is the lowest.

4- Supervisor Evaluation: The same process described in point no. 2 above shall be conducted by the Projects Managers’ supervisors. The results shall be compared and calibrated with that provided by the Project Manager. A meeting shall be requested to be held with the Project Manager and his supervisor to discuss the results if required.

Winning Proposal Procedure
Khatib and Alami
August 01, 2019

This procedure was designed to take proposals managers and teams to prepare successful proposals to ensure a winning mode.

Effective Performance Appraisal System
Khatib and Alami
January 01, 2018

A novel approach to Performance Appraisal that was designed based on leadership effectiveness, dynamic cultural intelligence, digital transformation and work ethics. the system was conduced and applied on almost 3500 employees. 60 hours training conducted by the author in four regions. Detailed analyses were driven to show how and where employees can best fit within the organization

Design Centers' Operations: Policy and Procedure
Khatib and Alami
December 14, 2016

This procedure has been developed to sets up the K&A Policy in terms of the Design Centers chargeability and collaboration with sectors across all locations. It places even greater emphasis on the initial decision taken by K&A’s CEO and the Board to consider and subsequently implement the Cost Effective Design Centers as active centers that are meant to carry out the execution of all K&A detailed design works across all sectors. Market sectors, therefore, are requested to comply with this instruction. Market sectors are urged to take responsibility for:
1. Effectively collaborate with their teams at the design centers to ensure competitive projects pricing.
2. Making sure that design centers chargeability does not fall below 85%, and
3. Market sectors are responsible for producing optimum quality projects’ submission accepted by K&A clients regardless in which design center the work is carried out.
The Operation units across K&A, supported by Strategy, shall be following up with all Market Sectors to ensure proper implementation and ongoing monitoring of this policy and procedure. Violations shall be reported to the CEO immediately and corrective measures shall follow accordingly.

Design Project Management Manual
Khatib and Alami
June 23, 2010

The purposes of producing the design project management manual are mainly to:
1) Improve the projects performance and quality
2) To provide the manual holders with essential information on K&A’s practices for managing projects.
3) Determine all aspects of interaction among project management sections and other company departments.
4) To provide an effective training tool for the new employees.

CAD Manual
Khatib and Alami CEC
January 01, 2000

Following the National CAD Standards (NCS), a CAD manual was developed to allow all architects and engineers including newcomers to work seamlessly on running projects. The manual included a layering system, colours, line weights, and drawings of standard title blocks among other drafting configurations.

SAP Finance Business Process leader
Khatib and Alami
August 26, 2022

SAP business leader for CPM/PS
Khatib and Alami
July 26, 2022

leading the CPM/PS business process and solving, with the team involved, the challenges that face project managers, department heads and the operational excellence team when delivering projects.

SAP Business Leader for C4C module
Khatib and Alami
July 26, 2022

Leading the Cloud 4 Customer module of SAP within Khatib and Alami.

International Aikido Federation membership
International Aikido Federation
January 01, 2022

Part of the AfriMENA Workgroup within the International Aikido Federation (IAF), I am responsible to encourage nations in the region to enroll under the AIKIKAI and IAF umbrella after having them establishing their national Aikido identity.

Design of Enterprise Content Management System
Khatib and Alami
July 11, 2021

Lead a team from IT, project managers, quality assurance, document controllers, design and construction supervision team to design and implement an enterprise and content management system based on Microsoft SharePoint. The system included four main verticals; proposals, projects, Knowledge repositories and Business Management System.

The system is now in th implementation phase.

Establishing digital academy
Khatib and Alami
April 01, 2021

Link Learning Management system to digital courses delivery. The Digital academy proposal was designed to employees performance appraisal designed and career path planning at K&A.

Establishment of Knowledge Lab
Khatib and Alami
January 21, 2020

The following are the aims of the Knowledge Lab:
1. Project management and control – understanding when the system should be updated, when critical items e.g. contract value, start/end dates, invoicing schedule changes etc. are permitted to be changed
2. Change and VO management – management of changes in contract from PMs (letters of extension when the project is delayed, changing scope when contract value is adjusted etc.)
3. Stakeholder management –understanding of how to influence clients and who we should be escalating issues to
4. Financial management – capability and knowledge of finance and its importance for project management

Projects Budgeting for a $400M value
Khatib and Alami
November 01, 2019

Lead a team from finance, project management and project controls to prepare a bottom up budgets for all running projects of the company.

Three Years Growth Plan
Khatib and Alami
August 09, 2019

A three years growth plan was developed to set the guidance to align geographies and engineering sectors with the overall market and company targets.

Talent Development System
Khatib and Alami
May 29, 2019

Head of PMO for Organizational Design
Khatib and Alami
December 01, 2018

Lead the organizational design with the CEO of the company and Mckinsey to drive organizational redesign, operational efficiency, sales process design and grading system redesign.

Head of Digital Transformation office
Khatib and Alami
September 07, 2018

Head the Digital transformation Initiative and the transformation office in general.

Career path development
Khatib and Alami
March 01, 2018

For 3500 employees, I have established a career path development program based on employees' strengths, challenges and potential. The program included the creation of digital learning spaces which can be linked to HR system.

Certified Chief Innovation Officer (CCInO)
Global Innovation Institute GInI
March 17, 2017

GInI Certified Chief Innovation Officer (CCInO) is GInI’s recognition of senior business leaders who have demonstrated an advanced understanding of key topics relating to enterprise innovation, innovation strategy, innovation groups, innovation spaces, management and workplace innovation, and other leading innovation practices.

Proposals development workshop
Khatib and Alami
April 09, 2016

In this workshop, proposals managers from across K&A business units were introduced to the new Way of Work of the Winning Proposal Procedure. The new operating model (modus operandi) of the proposals units was demonstrated and discussed.

Wrench Solution Implementation
Khatib and Alami
July 01, 2009

Led a team from IT and project management to implement Wrench solution for project management, knowledge management, document management and collaboration management system. The process included conducting many customizations to the system to adapt it to the working environment of the company. Workflows were set within Wrench to enforce quality control.

Project Management Office establishment
Khatib and Alami
March 01, 2006

In 2006, I established a PMO within K&A to manage all design projects. Projects types manages range from small to large scale and include residential, retail, hospitality, healthcare, mixed-use, educational, infrastructure and urban planning projects.
The PMO unit grew and accommodated more than 8 project managers and many planning engineers. Establishing the PMO introduced a major change in projects operations and lead to better project delivery.

Training Officer
Khatib and Alami
January 01, 2002

As a rotating training officer, I was responsible for leading the process of collecting all training requirements from all design and corporate departments, collaborating with them to assign the right resources and coordinating with external parties to conduct the required course.

Certificate in Responsible Leadership and Followership
Grenoble Ecole de Management
April 17, 2021

segregation, and with ever increasing questions being raised regarding (un)ethical and ineffective practices of leaders, it becomes important to think critically about leadership practices. It becomes equally important to sensitize followers of their inherent power in bringing about positive change. It is therefore necessary to question the so-called dichotomy between ‘leaders’ and ‘followers’. It is also necessary to explore the dark side of both leadership and followership. It is equally important to reflect on the positive and progressive concepts of leadership that are emerging in literature and which seem better suited to our times as opposed to the authoritative (top-down) styles that have dominated the business sector in the last century. It is, moreover, imperative to give voice to those groups or segments of the workplace and of the larger society that have been marginalized over the course of time, and to address the implications of cultural sensitivity and emotional intelligence among both leaders and followers.
These objectives are consistent with Grenoble Ecole de Management’s identity as a ‘Business Lab for Society’ and its dedication to serving the interests of and creating a positive impact on its local as well as international stakeholders. They are also consistent with the ideas of critical thinking, reflexivity, and making students responsible for their own learning and future.
Therefore, with the aim of meeting these objectives, I propose the creation of a 'Certificate in Responsible Leadership and Followership' for ESC students. The program could gradually be repackaged appropriately for Executive Education programs, and could eventually lead to the creation of an Institute/Partnered Chair in Responsible Leadership and Followership.

BIM Organization of the year
Construction Technology Awards
June 09, 2022

Winning this award as a result of the successful strategy and implementation of BIM as part of the overall digital transformation initiative.

BIM organization of the year
Ventures Connect
June 08, 2022

I have set the strategy for K&A to start a BIM configuration and implementation journey. For that, we have been named the BIM Organization of the Year, recognizing our commitment to a holistic approach to BIM strategy, planning, management, and execution throughout all project phases. 

Chief Innovation Officer CCInO
Global Innovation Institute (GInl)
April 30, 2018

Finalized the requirements for the GInI Certified Chief Innovation Officer (CCInO). CCInO is GInI’s recognition of senior business leaders who have demonstrated an advanced understanding of key topics relating to enterprise innovation, innovation strategy, innovation groups, innovation spaces, management and workplace innovation, and other leading innovation practices.
CCInO certification affirms an individual's proficiency at executive-level innovation practices and methods. This includes enterprise innovation programs, the GInI Enterprise Innovation Architecture, innovation strategy formation, the GInI Strategic Innovation Compass, the GInI Strategic Innovation Roadmap, strategic innovation portfolios, management and workplace innovation, the GInI Experiential Human Innovation Framework, innovation group design, innovation space design, outcome-driven innovation, discovery-driven innovation, and innovation maturity.

Project Management Professional (PMP)
Project Management Institute
June 29, 2009

Productive Microstation Instructor
Bentley Systems
August 25, 1999

Certified Instructor for Miscrostation CAD application developed by Bentley Systems

Secretary General of the UAE Aikido Committee
The Uae Aikido Committee
January 01, 2016

Acted as the Secretary General for the UAE Aikido Committee responsible for orchestrating all the national and international registrations and seminars. Also organized the committee recognition at the AIKIKAI in Japan.
In this capacity, I was responsible for coordinating with International Aikido, Iaido and Jodo instructors (Sensei and Shihans) to conduct international seminars in Dubai.

Top 50 Global Thought Leaders and Influencers on Change Management 2023
Thinkers360
May 21, 2023

Change Management 50
2023 Annual Ranking


Find and work with the World’s Premier B2B Thought Leaders, Advisors, Analysts, Authors, Influencers & Speakers (100M+ followers combined). Join Enterprise Lite to work with all of these experts!

Top 50 Global Thought Leaders and Influencers on Procurement 2023
Thinkres360
May 21, 2023

Applying Parametric design with BIM automation in complex projects
Construction, Digital Construction
January 10, 2024

Design automation can help alleviate resource shortages by saving the manpower hours in repetitive design components and enforce quality by eliminating human error and optimising 1000s of potential design routes. Taking new and innovative approaches to design management can provide a simultaneous review process and oversight including real-time reporting – leading to better designs.

Khatib & Alami, an engineering company, has been at the forefront of digital technology adoption for over three decades, with a strong focus on integrating technology such as Building Information Modeling (BIM) into their design processes. In this presentation, Dr Ahmad Salih, Senior Director Knowledge Management and Operational Excellence, Khatib & Alami shares real-world use cases where they’ve harnessed technology to revolutionise design and construction practices. He sheds light on the successful implementation of digital twin project management and emphasises the pivotal role BIM plays in their digital strategy.

Dr. Salih elaborates on how these technological advancements have translated into tangible benefits, saving projects a staggering 7,700 hours through automation and compressing certain processes from a lengthy 97 days to a mere single day. Furthermore, he elucidates the seamless transition of project designs from one technology to another, ensuring a streamlined and highly efficient design practice.

As the construction industry undergoes rapid evolution, driven by an escalating demand for innovative solutions to tackle the intricacies of contemporary construction projects, it becomes imperative to explore transformative technologies like parametric design and BIM automation. In this blog, we embark on a journey to understand how these cutting-edge technologies are reshaping the construction landscape.

Understanding Parametric Design
Parametric design is a design approach that uses algorithms and mathematical relationships to generate and manipulate design elements. In the context of construction, it allows architects and engineers to create and evaluate multiple design options by changing parameters, such as dimensions, materials, or environmental conditions. This process is highly iterative and can lead to more efficient and innovative design solutions.

The combination of parametric design and BIM automation is transforming the construction industry by offering an efficient way to address the complexities of complex construction projects. Through optioneering and quality assurance, these technologies empower project teams to make informed decisions, reduce costs, and deliver high-quality, sustainable buildings. As the construction industry continues to evolve, embracing parametric design and BIM automation will become increasingly essential for staying competitive and meeting the demands of the modern built environment.

Panel Moderator - Dealing with the human factor
Construction Technology Festival in UAE 2023
May 31, 2023

As part of the Construction Technology Festival hosted by Ventures Connect, Dr. Ahmad M. Salih, our Senior Director of Operation Excellence and Knowledge Management, will moderate a keynote discussion on “Dealing with the human factor” with other industry experts. The panel will focus on how the construction industry can overcome the challenges of adopting new technologies and strategies for increasing acceptance of new technologies at all levels of the organization.

Join him and other #ConTech experts on May 31 at the Conrad in Dubai as they define greener, faster, and more efficient asset and project delivery methods. K&A is a proud Design Innovation Partner and Sponsor for the event, co-located with the #PropertyTechnologyFestival.

Register here: https://bit.ly/3ND8w7N.

#ConstructionTechnologyFestival #ctf #DigitalTransformation #SustainableBuiltEnvironment #Sustainability #DigitalConstruction #Digital #Innovation #KhatibAndAlamiExperts #KhatibAndAlami

Ventures ONSITE
Ventures Middle East (VME)

Leading projects in a cosmopolitan environment
PMI MENA
December 05, 2022

A successful project manager in construction will ensure that their team meets deadlines, reaches targets, and adheres to set budgets. Develop power project management skills who can deliver solid business results by attending The Big 5 Project Management Talks track.

Register now for free entry: https://lnkd.in/dWqBtweE

Digital Leadership in a cosmopolitan workplace
Zigurat Institute Local Hub
November 18, 2022

Discover the possibilities of new technology within project management
Greyfly.ai
November 24, 2023

Gain insights into what the future holds for project management including AI and where your company should consider its focus. Whether you’re a project or business leader, or simply curious about the future of Project Management and AI, this webinar is your gateway to valuable knowledge and practical insights.

Reserve your spot now, and understand the future of technology within Project Management. Register for the event in the link.

We will discuss:
Use cases, current technology and limitations
Future technology and currently available

Poll: Biggest need for AI in Project Management
Where should a company prioritise investment?
Q&As
Take aways

Navigating the Digital Era: Insights from a Leading Construction Expert
ProjectPro
September 15, 2023

The construction sector stands at the forefront of transformation in an era of innovation and technology reshaping industries.

Digitalization has become a driving force, revolutionizing how construction professionals approach their work.

To gain valuable insights into the evolving landscape of the construction industry, we sat down with an industry expert – Ahmad M. Salih, who shares their thoughts on digitalization, sustainability challenges, and the potential of cutting-edge technologies.

Evolving needs for a rapidly changing industry
Technical Review Middle East
August 14, 2023

BUILDING INFORMATION MODELLING (BIM) is perhaps one of the most important construction technologies available in the market. And rightly so, as it comes with a huge set of advantageous features. The technology is constantly evolving to meet the industry’s demands.

According to Ahmad Faeq M. Salih, senior director at engineering company Khatib & Alami, “BIM is a centralised platform for data sharing and real­time information exchange; stakeholders can work harmoniously within the BIM environment, facilitating seamless communication and coordination.”

Interview: Dr Ahmad Salih of K&A on breaking the shackles of a traditional environment with BIM
ITP Media Group
August 15, 2022

IM appeared as a solution to time, cost, and transparency-related concerns about a decade ago, but at the time, the region was reluctant to embrace the technology. Firms that led the move into the digital space, as true innovators on the Rogers’ innovation adoption curve, have now established themselves as titans within the construction industry. This is to be applauded and acknowledged as the way forward, given the digitisation of the world we all live in.

We speak with Dr Ahmad Salih, senior director of Strategy, Knowledge Management and Operational Excellence at Khatib & Alami, to find out how a BIM-triggered organisational culture change helped the multidisciplinary consultancy in the successful and efficient delivery of their projects.

Breaking the shake of traditional environment - BIM
ITP Media Group
August 05, 2022

In my interview with MEP Magazine Middle East, I discussed how BIM (Building Information Modelling) is vital in the creation of large-scale smart infrastructure and advancing technology at an organizational level.

How to lead in the digital era: Digital leadership and digital strategy
Self
May 16, 2022

In this interview, I discuss important concepts, competencies and practices that leaders need to consider when they lead digital transformation initiatives or lead their organizations into a totally platform environment. enjoy the talk.

A novel look at culture from an anthropological lens.
Heriot Watt University
July 30, 2021

In this interview with Professor Taran Patel from Grenoble Ecole de Management, we discussed a novel approach to the way we are looking for making sense of human behavior than the categories we so commonly rely on. The concepts of Dame Mary Douglas (1970s) of Cultural Theory were illustrated.

Thinkers 50 membership
Thinkers 50
April 16, 2022

Academy of International Business (AIB)
Academy of International Business (AIB)
January 01, 2015

International Leadership Association (ILA)
International Leadership Association (ILA)
January 01, 2014

Academy of Management
International Leadership Association (ILA)
January 01, 2014

Project Management Institute PMI
Project Management Institute PMI
January 01, 2010

Advisor on organization Structure of procurement department
Khatib and Alami
June 15, 2021

Provided advisory service to a large-scale client in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia about how to design the procurement department organization structure based on project delivery and materials supply.

Projects procurement in construction industry integrated with SAP
Khatib and Alami
January 01, 2021

Advised a large scale client in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia about the formation of the procurement unit and strategy to take care of projects-related procurement such as sub-consultants, materials, suppliers, technology, etc..

Advisor about Vendors management within SAP
Khatib and Alami
January 01, 2021

Worked with a large-scale client in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to establish the basis for a vendor management system in integration with the SAP system.

Mentoring a startup on digital health
Self
January 01, 2021

The CEO and fonder of Intersection Bioscientific Software started developing applications but needed guidance to transfer the way he thinks about apps development into a platform way of thinking. This mentorship lasted from more than a year and led to fantastic outcomes. The CEO was capable at the end of developing a marketing system open for others to participate in and work with.

Leaders development in Project Management
Khatib and Alami
April 01, 2017

After establishing the project management within K&A, I spent eight years leading it where strong project managers were professionally developed. I worked on strengthening their soft skills and capabilities to stand out and represent the company in the tough projects world. Moreover, I worked, after I left the department in 2015, with the new head as a coach and mentor to raise her management skills to be able to continue the roadmap and do even better.

DBA prospect students at Heriot Watt University
Heriot Watt University
May 22, 2022

In this gathering, we met MBA graduates in addition to new prospect students. I walked some students through the journey of the DBA research and what it takes to achieve such an important milestone in their lives.

DIGITAL TWIN 2022 MARCH 21, 2022 | DUBAI, UAE | IN-PERSON CONFERENCE
Heriot Watt University and Safe events
March 21, 2022

The first dedicated, in-person conference on Digital Twins in the MEA region! Focus on Smart cities and construction sector.

Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) automation
Khatib and Alami
March 31, 2020

To solve the issue of negligence of WBS development at the proposal’s stage and the proper distribution of man hours per deliverables or activities, in addition to assigning the right resources to them, and automated formulas was was developed that takes into consideration the level of effort needed for each deliverable or activity. This enabled proposals’ teams to easily create almost accurate WBSs and hence, prepare proper costing structure.

Leadership Seminar: Advancing Water Infrastructure with Digital Solutions
ProjectPro
October 17, 2023

Learn how industry leaders are leveraging digital technologies for a sustainable and efficient water future in the Middle East. Gain insights into innovative strategies, case studies, and practical solutions addressing the challenges of water scarcity, aging infrastructure, and technology advancements.

Selecting Optimal Technology for AEC
MENA CONSTRUCTION 4.0 FORUM
May 24, 2023

Dr. Ahmad M. Salih, Senior Director of Operation Excellence and Knowledge Management, is one of the industry professionals speaking at the upcoming MENA Construction 4.0 Forum 2023 in Dubai on May 24.

In the "Selecting Optimal Technology for AEC" panel discussion, Dr. Ahmad will share his expert insights with other industry specialists on how to embed holistic and impactful technologies in construction projects and how in-house technology development needs a thorough evaluation of companies and experts' resources and equipment to be acquired.

Learn more: https://lnkd.in/dCJ3Mu9A.

#MENA #AEC #Architecture #Engineering #Construction #InnovativeTechnologies #SustainableFuture #KhatibAndAlamiExperts #KhatibAndAlami

Global Project Experts Discuss the Implementation of AI in Project Management
greyfly.ai/
March 31, 2023

This 2nd online panel event featured a panel of global project management experts discussing the implementation of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in project management. The discussion focused on the benefits, use cases, and challenges of integrating AI in project management. The panelists shared their knowledge and experience on how AI could improve project management by reducing project delivery time, optimizing resource allocation, enhancing decision-making, and improving project quality. They provided plenty of use cases across multiple industries.

The event delved into the challenges such as data security and ethical considerations, as well as the need for the appropriate workforce. Our panelists discuss how and if AI tools and techniques such as machine learning can overcome these challenges to maximize benefits. The webinar concludes with a discussion on the future of AI in project management and how it is poised to revolutionize the field. Our panelists share insights on emerging trends and advancements to improve project success.

Listen to this webinar to equip yourself with an overview of how can be applied to your projects, PM and PMO functions to stay ahead of the curve

PMI Roundtable Discussion: Impact of disruption on industries
PMI - Venture Connect
September 20, 2022

The purpose of this roundtable which will be organized by PMI is to examine the current disruptions and their impact on the construction, energy, and transportation sectors and dig deeper into the opportunities and challenges that these industries are facing.

Contracting, Risk Management and New Opportunities
PMI
August 26, 2022

This panel will discuss the challenges facing the contracting sector, the best practices and processes that help in managing and mitigating the risks and what some of the creative dispute resolution ways exist. In addition, how are they helping in optimizing the lifecycle to bring more efficiency?

Construction in the cloud - the next digital revolution or not?
Ventures Connect
June 07, 2022

It was approved to participate in a panel discussion on the future of the construction industry during the industry 4.0 era.

BIM for Owners conference - Dubai 2022
Autodesk
May 09, 2022

Participated in Autodesk’s BIM for Owners event. The panel discussion Provided a perspective on how customers and partners can collaborate and integrate within the digital ecosystem. Here we mean clients, consultants, contractors, manufacturers and suppliers.
#EDUCATE
#COLLABORATE
#INTEGRATE
#CONVERGE
#INNOVATE

BIM Collaboration as a knowledge Management initiative
Khatib and Alami
May 01, 2022

BIM implementation team was made part of the company’s Global Knowledge and Digital Services team, giving them better reach to impact all subsectors and other services.
This brought together a highly motivated team to run the BIM initiative as a community of practice (CoP) across all design centers and geographies. A level 4 Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) was created to assign tasks against team members to ensure proper and time-bound implementation. Multiple dashboards were introduced to present the implementation results to the whole company (design) on weekly basis, and the CEO/BIM Steering Committee. This ensured clarity was created at all levels, challenges faced were illustrated and discussed, progress was reported in a dynamic manner and stakeholders’ expectations were adequately managed. The WBS and the dashboards were integrated within Microsoft Teams and SharePoint, where the Community of Practice is created.
Learning Objectives
1. Why and how to consider BIM as a Knowledge Management component
2. Why Knowledge Management and how it is linked to digitalization
3. How to establish Communities of Practice and how to manage them
4. How to overcome cultural obstacles with knowledge sharing

Beyond Digital Twinning; Value creation and realization for owners
Khatib and Alami
May 01, 2022

The integration between BIM and GIS has given the implementation another dimension. It enabled K&A to enforce Digital Twins creating that can be spatially managed and enhanced. K&A has great experience in GIS and is ranked as platinum partner with ESRI worldwide. To that end, K&A has built internal capabilities that allowed creating a brand-new digital service line to clients. Having BIM integrated with GIS enabled K&A to implement Large-scale projects in the Gulf region and in North America. The range of integration included urban planning, building and infrastructure design. The integration enabled the development of smart mobility, smart utilities, smart environment, smart buildings, smart security and smart tourism. Notwithstanding, the utilization of Internet of Things (IoTs), cloud computing, Artificial Intelligence among many other technologies made such offering happen. We helped building command centers at clients' premises to monitor and control running and completed projects

Learning Objectives
How BIM and GIS can be integrated to produce smart buildings and infrastructure
Why digital twins are not the final destination, looking at the value creation
Build smart digital twins to manage physical buildings
Smart cities can also have digital twins

BIM Collaboration benefits: Lessons learned from the Pandemic
Khatib and Alami
May 01, 2022

We estimate that real-time cloud collaboration during the design process saves our team between 30 – 40% IN TIME EFFICIENCY. This isn’t just a win for the projects in hand, but also for the company, because we can utilize our experts on other projects. In addition, it has significantly improved decision-making and project performance leading to reliable, clash-free, sustainable projects that benefit from low maintenance costs, risks, and higher revenue streams. During the Pandemic, BIM cloud collaboration enabled the business to continue working without disruption, with no loss in time. In addition, the travel savings amounted to almost $4M IN 2021 COMPARED TO 2019 and although travel will increase post-pandemic, it will only be used where absolutely necessary. The % of saving by using BIM is calculated taking into consideration the project’s whole lifecycle starting from concept until construction completion.

Learning Objectives
How BIM collaboration can become a ruling factor that drives companies' success during crises
How much time and effort BIM collaboration can save for your projects
Impact of BIM collaboration on increasing efficiency
How to handle mega or giga scale projects without disruption during hard times.

Cultural change to facilitate DX: Aikido and Cultural Intelligence
Khatib and Alami
May 01, 2022

Majority of Digital Transformation initiatives fail due to the absence of proper change planning and management. This dilemma, although prominent but can be solved. In this talk, we present a novel approach to cultural transformation using a dynamic approach to cultural Intelligence which is based on individuals' behaviors and rooted in Anthropology, psychology and Sociology. The embodiment of Aikido techniques in the workplace helps change champions and agents become more flexible, adaptive and influential. The concepts discussed in this talk are first practically proven where DX and BIM were implemented at Khatib and Alami, and secondly, they are based on strong theoretical underpinnings published in the presenter's books and papers internationally.
Culture, if not strategically approached can lead to a chaos and increase users' resistance to digitalization and disruption of the status quo. Taking people out of their comfort zone is the most difficult matter that leadership face.

Learning Objectives
Put the right strategy in place for large-scale change program when introducing digital transformation
Acquire practical techniques and tools to handle cultural transformation during the digitalization process
Learn skills to handle conflicts and promote harmony in the workplace during the digital transformation process
Learn why digital transformation initiative fail.

Project Management Training
Khatib and Alami
March 01, 2022

Prepared full roadmap for projects managers training that connects PMI principles, SAP integration and organizational best practices.

Project Managers Assessment and Training Program
Khatib and Alami
December 19, 2019

I led this initiative with Mckinsey to undergo the ways of working overhaul with implications on required skills for Project Managers. This includes:
K&A does not currently have a baseline of PM capabilities
There is a need for K&A to understand the skillset of PMs and bring them to a common baseline of skillset
Develop an understanding of the core strengths and development needs of all PMs
Develop a tailored capability-building program for different cohorts of PMs
Ensure PMs are allocated on projects that match
their skillset

Course Leader and Coordinator: Digital Business Strategy: Platforms and Ecosystems MSc in-person course - Winter 2024
Heriot-Watt University
January 01, 2024

This course is part of the digital leadership program and it targets individuals sitting the drives seats in their organisations whether C-suite leaders or Board members who participate in drawing the overall strategy for their organizations. The content used represent an effective mix of highly recognised books, papers, research and media interviews with worldwide known leaders in the digital transformation, platforms and ecosystems fields, such as Dr Marshall Van Alstyne, DR Alex Fenton, Dr Nicholas D Evans, Dr Nabila Altunisi, Mr Simone Cicero, Mr Haider Ogaili and Dr Najib Khatib among many other names.
Furthermore, the content includes resources from leading industry digital providers such as Gartner, Microsoft and AutoDesk spread throughout the modules as need and as applicable to add the practical dimension to the course.
Another aspect we were keen to avail is providing real life example and case studies from leading firms who were successful in their digital journey and startups who embed new technologies such AI and machine learning in their daily routine while developing their apps.
Finally, the course showcases two centers from Heriot-Watt University, namely the Centre of Excellence in Smart Construction (CESC) and the Centre for Networks and Enterprise Excellence (CNEE). These two centers represent, although considered as part of Heriot-Watt University overall digital program, reflect a shining image on the collaboration between research, practice and networking between academia and both public and private sectors to develop, serve and teach digital solutions not only to students, but to industry institutions.

Course Leader and Coordinator: C11DL-Digital Leadership (online) -Winter 2024
Heriot-Watt University
January 01, 2024

My role is to fully manage the course Canvas, interaction with students, putting exams questions and markings.
The course examines what it is that defines leadership in general and digital leadership in particular, the difference between leadership and management, and it explores how digital leadership can be applied to develop organisations both strategically and operationally to create an impact on organisational development.

The course itself is considered unique and disruptive in the way we used to understand leadership or to the way we look at the effect of technology on people. The concept of disruption is becoming essential to absorb and adopt so that we can achieve the right change at the right time. The disruption process, however, is dynamic and based on an intelligent framework as will see during our journey throughout the course. It touches basis on the way we think about leadership and followership in general and on digital leadership in particular.

Certification Program in Responsible Leadership and Followership in a Digital Era 2024
Grenoble Ecole de Management
October 31, 2023

Part One: Workshop on Critical Thinking:
1: Defining Critical thinking/ Reasoning
2: Evidence
3: Alternative Explanation
4: Serious game/ Debrief of workshop

Part Two: Aikido sessions with case study work:
1- Embodiment: Self-management: How to align your body in such a way that facilitates a
the mindset which combined with the body-setting results in:
- Inner strength
- Integrity
- Self-confidence
2- Procedure: learning a simple 1, 2, 3 method to align your Body and the connecting mindset
 How to maintain this body alignment of your body and mind at the right distance
towards another in an ongoing communication/relation
Procedure: experiencing what is the right distance with your partner to maintain the integrity

3- How to maintain this in the role of leader of follower. In both roles, you learn and
experience to be able to maintain your Identity and integrity.
Procedure: using Aikido to understand the martial role-play between Leader and Follower,
while maintaining integrity for both (without falling into the trap of victim or attacker).

4- Which style of leadership and followership are grounded in your embodied system and
fits you and is the most effective for you and in a generation a natural team result
Procedure: which styles of leadership and followership suits your personality and gives you
natural power/charisma, without falling into the master/slave trap as opposed to be a leader
or a follower in the Aikido way.

5- Create insight into which kind of decision in being a leader of the followers are grounded in
your embodied system = your personality.
Procedure: according to several case studies investigates and experiment with this by self-awareness.

Part Three: Course module on Critical Perspectives on contemporary Leadership and Followership
1- Introduction and foundational concepts in Leadership
2- Contemporary Leadership: The good, the bad and the ugly
3- Leadership and power
4- Leadership in the digital era
5- Followership and Role theory approach
6- Contemporary Followership
7- Followership in the digital era
8- Frameworks of leadership and followership
9- Ongoing Discussions and sum up

Final Submission: Reflexive Report

Course Leader and Coordinator: Digital Business Strategy: Platforms and Ecosystems MSc in-person course - Fall 2023
Heriot-Watt University
September 12, 2023

This course is part of the digital leadership program and it targets individuals sitting the drives seats in their organisations whether C-suite leaders or Board members who participate in drawing the overall strategy for their organizations. The content used represent an effective mix of highly recognised books, papers, research and media interviews with worldwide known leaders in the digital transformation, platforms and ecosystems fields, such as Dr Marshall Van Alstyne, DR Alex Fenton, Dr Nicholas D Evans, Dr Nabila Altunisi, Mr Simone Cicero, Mr Haider Ogaili and Dr Najib Khatib among many other names.
Furthermore, the content includes resources from leading industry digital providers such as Gartner, Microsoft and AutoDesk spread throughout the modules as need and as applicable to add the practical dimension to the course.
Another aspect we were keen to avail is providing real life example and case studies from leading firms who were successful in their digital journey and startups who embed new technologies such AI and machine learning in their daily routine while developing their apps.
Finally, the course showcases two centers from Heriot-Watt University, namely the Centre of Excellence in Smart Construction (CESC) and the Centre for Networks and Enterprise Excellence (CNEE). These two centers represent, although considered as part of Heriot-Watt University overall digital program, reflect a shining image on the collaboration between research, practice and networking between academia and both public and private sectors to develop, serve and teach digital solutions not only to students, but to industry institutions.

Course Leader and Coordinator: C11DG-Digital Business Strategy; Platforms and Ecosystems (online) - Fall 2023
Heriot-Watt University
September 12, 2023

My role is to fully manage the course Canvas, interaction with students, putting exams questions and markings.
This course is part of the digital leadership program and it targets individuals sitting the drives seats in their organisations whether C-suite leaders or Board members who participate in drawing the overall strategy for their organizations. The content used represent an effective mix of highly recognised books, papers, research and media interviews with worldwide known leaders in the digital transformation, platforms and ecosystems fields, such as Dr Marshall Van Alstyne, DR Alex Fenton, Dr Nicholas D Evans, Dr Nabila Altunisi, Mr Simone Cicero, Mr Haider Ogaili and Dr Najib Khatib among many other names.
Furthermore, the content includes resources from leading industry digital providers such as Gartner, Microsoft and AutoDesk spread throughout the modules as need and as applicable to add the practical dimension to the course.
Another aspect we were keen to avail is providing real life example and case studies from leading firms who were successful in their digital journey and startups who embed new technologies such AI and machine learning in their daily routine while developing their apps.
Finally, the course showcases two centers from Heriot-Watt University, namely the Centre of Excellence in Smart Construction (CESC) and the Centre for Networks and Enterprise Excellence (CNEE). These two centers represent, although considered as part of Heriot-Watt University overall digital program, reflect a shining image on the collaboration between research, practice and networking between academia and both public and private sectors to develop, serve and teach digital solutions not only to students, but to industry institutions.

Leadership Fall Semester 2022 - Course Leader
Heriot-Watt University
September 12, 2022

This course is offered on a range of programmes within Edinburgh Business School. Regardless of study
discipline or career choices, leadership is an area of research that crosses time zones and business sectors. A
significantly debated and extensively studied area, this course covers both traditional and contemporary
theories and models and explores additional themes around gender, followership and ethics in leadership.
The course also provides a great deal of practical activities and discussion intended to support the
application of the theories and models in business as well as personal reflection on areas of strength and
development in a leadership context.
Leadership and its development is a very personal journey for all of us and this course uses established and
new theories and models to support your development and your self awareness of your own approaches and
preferences to leadership and how you might develop these in your career. The most important aspects of
this course is self reflection and honesty with yourself and a willingness to get involved and fully participate
in the course so that we can all learn and develop together.

Digital Business Strategy: Platforms and Ecosystems MSc in-person course - Fall 2022
Heriot-Watt University
September 12, 2022

This course is part of the digital leadership program and it targets individuals sitting the drives seats in their organisations whether C-suite leaders or Board members who participate in drawing the overall strategy for their organizations. The content used represent an effective mix of highly recognised books, papers, research and media interviews with worldwide known leaders in the digital transformation, platforms and ecosystems fields, such as Dr Marshall Van Alstyne, DR Alex Fenton, Dr Nicholas D Evans, Dr Nabila Altunisi, Mr Simone Cicero, Mr Haider Ogaili and Dr Najib Khatib among many other names.
Furthermore, the content includes resources from leading industry digital providers such as Gartner, Microsoft and AutoDesk spread throughout the modules as need and as applicable to add the practical dimension to the course.
Another aspect we were keen to avail is providing real life example and case studies from leading firms who were successful in their digital journey and startups who embed new technologies such AI and machine learning in their daily routine while developing their apps.
Finally, the course showcases two centers from Heriot-Watt University, namely the Centre of Excellence in Smart Construction (CESC) and the Centre for Networks and Enterprise Excellence (CNEE). These two centers represent, although considered as part of Heriot-Watt University overall digital program, reflect a shining image on the collaboration between research, practice and networking between academia and both public and private sectors to develop, serve and teach digital solutions not only to students, but to industry institutions.

Course Leader and Coordinator: C11DG-Digital Business Strategy; Platforms and Ecosystems (online) -Semester1
Heriot-Watt University
September 05, 2022

My role is to fully manage the course Canvas, interaction with students, putting exams questions and markings.
This course is part of the digital leadership program and it targets individuals sitting the drives seats in their organisations whether C-suite leaders or Board members who participate in drawing the overall strategy for their organizations. The content used represent an effective mix of highly recognised books, papers, research and media interviews with worldwide known leaders in the digital transformation, platforms and ecosystems fields, such as Dr Marshall Van Alstyne, DR Alex Fenton, Dr Nicholas D Evans, Dr Nabila Altunisi, Mr Simone Cicero, Mr Haider Ogaili and Dr Najib Khatib among many other names.
Furthermore, the content includes resources from leading industry digital providers such as Gartner, Microsoft and AutoDesk spread throughout the modules as need and as applicable to add the practical dimension to the course.
Another aspect we were keen to avail is providing real life example and case studies from leading firms who were successful in their digital journey and startups who embed new technologies such AI and machine learning in their daily routine while developing their apps.
Finally, the course showcases two centers from Heriot-Watt University, namely the Centre of Excellence in Smart Construction (CESC) and the Centre for Networks and Enterprise Excellence (CNEE). These two centers represent, although considered as part of Heriot-Watt University overall digital program, reflect a shining image on the collaboration between research, practice and networking between academia and both public and private sectors to develop, serve and teach digital solutions not only to students, but to industry institutions.

Course Leader and Coordinator: C11DL-Digital Leadership (online) -Semester1
Heriot-Watt University
September 05, 2022

My role is to fully manage the course Canvas, interaction with students, putting exams questions and markings.
The course examines what it is that defines leadership in general and digital leadership in particular, the difference between leadership and management, and it explores how digital leadership can be applied to develop organisations both strategically and operationally to create an impact on organisational development.

The course itself is considered unique and disruptive in the way we used to understand leadership or to the way we look at the effect of technology on people. The concept of disruption is becoming essential to absorb and adopt so that we can achieve the right change at the right time. The disruption process, however, is dynamic and based on an intelligent framework as will see during our journey throughout the course. It touches basis on the way we think about leadership and followership in general and on digital leadership in particular.

Examiner of Digital Business Strategy: Platforms and Ecosystems MSc online course-Aug 2022
Heriot-Watt University
August 18, 2022

As an examiner, I am responsible for designing the questions, marking rubric and marking for master's degree students. The process also includes using Heriot-Watt University VLE, Turnitin and marking reporting on the system.

Examiner of Digital Leadership MSc online course - Aug 2022
Heriot-Watt University
August 18, 2022

As an examiner, I am responsible for designing the questions, marking rubric and marking for master's degree students. The process also includes using Heriot-Watt University VLE, Turnitin and marking reporting on the system.

Dissertation Supervision: Creating an Advanced Circular Economy for Construction & Demolition Waste
Heriot-Watt University
August 16, 2022

In this research, the students critically discuss the growth of the world’s economic demands and the population that has led to an increase in the construction activities worldwide. Such increases have led to protruding concerns which are the wastes generated by such activities, also known as Construction and Demolition waste (C&D).

Dissertation Supervision: Overcoming performance barriers, by bridging CQ and Adaptive Leadership within the UAE hospitality sector
Heriot-Watt University
August 16, 2022

In this research work, I worked with the student to apply a proven theory of adaptive leadership in the context of the United Arab Emirates. The Adaptive Leadership applied is based on Salih's (2020) work which includes leadership effectiveness and Cultural Intelligence (CQ).

Dissertation Supervision: Advantages and dis-advantages of Digital Leadership
Heriot-Watt University
August 16, 2022

The main aim of the research paper is to analyse the manner in which digital leadership allowed effective management of employees rather than adopting traditional leadership tactics.

Paper Review: A Cross-National Study of Youth Entrepreneurship: The Effect of Family Support
The International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation
July 31, 2022

Still under review

Prize for pedagogic innovation - GEM - 2022
Grenoble Ecole de Management
June 28, 2022

On 28th June 2022, I won, along side with professor Taran Patel and Mr Wilko Vriesman (Chairman of the Internal Aikido Federation) the pedagogic innovation award at Grenoble Ecole de Management for the for the Certificate of Responsible Leadership and Followership. The award has been given due to the associated reflection of the proposal submitted, as well as the very positive energy presented by the team for teaching and skills development of GEM’s students. The award is a natural outcome for the successful program which has been running for the second year now. The Responsible Leadership and Followership certificate program was a winner of the pedagogic innovation competition held at GEM in 2019

Jury member for Doctorate Degree student defense - External Examiner for Cultural Ignorance in Leadership
Grenoble Ecole de Management
June 20, 2022

The work of this DBA student discusses the ineffective behaviors of leaders in the workplace, with a focus on culture impact on such behaviours.
As a jury member and external examiner, my role was to evaluate the doctoral work and submit a report to the doctoral school.

Developing and Executing Strategy - June 2022 intake
Heriot-Watt University
June 05, 2022

Developing and Executing Strategy is the capstone course in the MBA programme. The course is designed to help you think and operate at the strategic level in a range of organisational settings, through integration of ideas across core business disciplines you have studied in other parts of the MBA. We achieve this by using strategy as a ‘lens’ through which a variety of business and management issues can be viewed.

Leadership Theory and Practice 2020
Heriot-Watt University MBA 2020
June 05, 2022

The Leadership Theory and Practice course aims to develop in students a critical appreciation of leadership theory and the role of leadership in practice in a range of organisational, social and cultural contexts.

The course critically examines the concept of leadership in organisations, explores major theoretical developments in how leadership is understood and provides opportunities for managers to reflect on real-life leadership issues.

The course is divided into eight modules. Having explored what we mean by ‘leadership’ in the first module, the course then considers key developments in leadership theories and how they apply to modern organisations. Leadership is enacted differently depending on the context, and the course hones in on some example settings for practice, including creative industries and projects, to explore alternative approaches to leading. The role of leadership in setting and shaping organisational strategy is also explored, and contemporary issues of gender, culture and ethics are discussed. The course ends by considering how leaders and leadership can be developed and provides insights into current trends and future directions.

Leadership Theory and Practice - Jan 2022 intake
Heriot-Watt University MBA 2022
June 05, 2022

The Leadership Theory and Practice course aims to develop in students a critical appreciation of leadership theory and the role of leadership in practice in a range of organisational, social and cultural contexts.

The course critically examines the concept of leadership in organisations, explores major theoretical developments in how leadership is understood and provides opportunities for managers to reflect on real-life leadership issues.

The course is divided into eight modules. Having explored what we mean by ‘leadership’ in the first module, the course then considers key developments in leadership theories and how they apply to modern organisations. Leadership is enacted differently depending on the context, and the course hones in on some example settings for practice, including creative industries and projects, to explore alternative approaches to leading. The role of leadership in setting and shaping organisational strategy is also explored, and contemporary issues of gender, culture and ethics are discussed. The course ends by considering how leaders and leadership can be developed and provides insights into current trends and future directions.

Examiner of Digital Leadership MSc online course - Dec 2022
Heriot Watt University
June 03, 2022

As an examiner, I am responsible for design the questions, marking rubric and marking for master degree students. The process also includes using Heriot Watt University VLE, Turnitin and marking reporting on the system.

Examiner of Digital Business Strategy: Platforms and Ecosystems MSc online course - Dec 2022
Heriot Watt University
June 02, 2022

As an examiner, I am responsible for design the questions, marking rubric and marking for master degree students. The process also includes using Heriot Watt University VLE, Turnitin and marking reporting on the system.

Examiner of Digital Leadership MSc online course - Dec 2021
Heriot Watt University
December 31, 2021

As an examiner, I am responsible for design the questions, marking rubric and marking for master degree students. The process also includes using Heriot Watt University VLE, Turnitin and marking reporting on the system.

Examiner of Digital Business Strategy: Platforms and Ecosystems MSc online course - Dec 2021
Heriot Watt University
December 31, 2021

As an examiner, I am responsible for design the questions, marking rubric and marking for master degree students. The process also includes using Heriot Watt University VLE, Turnitin and marking reporting on the system.

Examiner of Digital Business Strategy: Platforms and Ecosystems MSc online course - Aug 2021
Heriot Watt University
December 31, 2021

As an examiner, I am responsible for design the questions, marking rubric and marking for master degree students. The process also includes using Heriot Watt University VLE, Turnitin and marking reporting on the system.

Training Program on Cultural Transformation in Healthcare Industry
Digital.in.Health
December 31, 2021

A comprehensive training program was designed to train change champions and agents so that they can cascade and disseminate the digital-first culture within the Rwandan Healthcare Sector nationwide.

Board advisor for Intersection Bioscientific Software
Intersection Bioscietific Software
January 01, 2021

Act as a board advisor to set rules for marketing the applications developed by Intersection Bioscientific company. The advisory includes setting the right path for platform development and inducing the power of network effect within the developed platform for marketing affiliate system.

Advisor to Gartner GCC Symposiums Board
Gartner
March 01, 2019

The Advisory board is a group of selected C-level executives and Industry IT leaders who provide input and feedback on the Gartner event program as we develop it.

Activities include:
 2-3 conference calls before the event either with the full board or individually in the coming months
 A few email exchanges on follow up topics/questions
 Review of the final sessions of the agenda to get your personal view on our content
 A “live” board meeting at the event, to review the event and discuss some ideas for the future; this doubles up as a strong peer interaction as well

The objective of the advisory board activity is to integrate the Industry requirements into the event content as well as validate the relevance of our existing content with knowledgeable leaders such as yourself.

The benefits include:

 Visibility/recognition as a board member during all Gartner marketing communications
 Access to the Gartner Symposium ITxpo as a special invitee
 Priority booking for “registration required” activities (Event sessions as well as analyst one on one meetings, workshops, roundtables)
 First opportunity to submit case study proposals
 And of course the opportunity to have visibility on and input into the development of the cutting edge event agenda

Yearly Business Planning workshop
Khatib ana Alami
March 01, 2015

Pepper and conduct yearly business planning process and workshop that brings together 68 business units to align targets together.
The outcomes from this yearly repeated process is the overall strategy of K&A.

Member of organizational PMO for reorganization
Khatib and Alami
July 12, 2014

in 2014, K&A has contracted Strategy& to implement a company-wide reorganization and development. My role was of two folds; the first fold was part of the PMO who managed the whole process. The second fold was leading the corporate planning initiative which included training business units heads and lead the corporate planning process for four years after that.

CAD Standardization
Khatib and Alami CEC
January 01, 2000

led a team of architects, engineers and draftsmen to design and implement Microstation across all trades. The process took two years to transform the whole engineering environment into the new Way of Work.

Influencing Technology to Benefit Construction Community
Ventures Connect
March 05, 2024

“CTF is the biggest event on digitalization in the region.” - Ahmad M. Salih, Senior Director Strategy of Khatib & Alami

The buzz is real! The 7th edition of the #ConstructionTechnologyConFexUAE is set to make a grand return to Dubai. Mark your calendars for an event that's defining the future of the industry!

️ Date: 3-4 June 2024
Ritz Carlton | JBR Dubai

Find out more: https://lnkd.in/d6g3TW8K

In what ways can BIM technology be used to overcome the major challenges facing projects?
ITP Media Group
August 05, 2022

BIM isn’t a magic pill and it can’t overcome every issue, but if used in the right way it can help to improve virtually every challenge that we typically associate with large construction projects: timescales, budgets, complexity, quality, safety, stakeholder collaboration.

Impact of Covid-19 Pandemic on accelerating technology adoption
Khatib and Alami
November 24, 2021

Visibility was improved for project managers, ensuring they are better equipped to monitor and control project tasks and schedules. Although K&A’s digital transformation was already well underway, the pandemic was responsible for catalysing adoption, both technically and behaviorally.

Appreciation Token for participating in Roundtable discussion
Elets Digital Learning
February 06, 2024

The award was given as an appreciation Token for participating in Roundtable discussion about Lifelong Learning and Curriculum Evolution: Meeting the Educational Needs of a Changing Workforce in Higher Education

Lifelong Learning and Curriculum Evolution; Meeting the Educational Needs of a Changing. Workforce in Higher Education
Elets World Education
February 05, 2024

Round Table Discussion Points:

The changing nature of skills demanded by the workforce and how higher education can keep pace through flexible, adaptive curricula.
Role of micro-credentials, nanodegrees, online/blended learning models in facilitating lifelong upskilling and reskilling.
Developing lifelong learning mind sets and competencies like self-directed learning, problem-solving, critical thinking in students.
Industry-academia collaboration models for regular curriculum reviews and innovations informed by emerging jobs/technology.
Strategies for integrating experiential, project-based learning approaches that develop trans disciplinary, soft skills.
Accreditation frameworks and policies supporting flexible, stackable/modular courses, programs.
Cases of universities re-engineering curriculum delivery - inter-disciplinary schools, skill-badged courses etc.
Role of credentialing bodies, learning ecosystems in formalizing skills, experiences gained outside the classroom.

Design automation & innovation case study in KSA
Venture Connect
December 14, 2022

Khatib & Alami + Wrench Solutions: Project Management and Technology use
Project Management Institute - Arabian Gulf Chapter (PMI-AGC)
January 24, 2011

C4C Steering Committee - End to end Sales process
Khatib and Alami
May 01, 2022

The role of this Steering Committee is to head and direct the design and implementation of the projects pipeline and bids review process within the SAP C4C system.

Buildings materials and vendors management
Khatib and Alami
May 01, 2022

Chairing a committee to decide on up to date building material and the technology used to fix them in buildings and infrastructure projects.

Establishing the Group Construction Supervision Manual (CSM)
Khatib and Alami
April 01, 2022

This Construction Supervision Manual (CSM) provides our framework approach to supervision services across the Khatib & Alami (K&A) Group.
The manual was developed and agreed by a Global committee made up of representatives from every K&A Geography that provide our supervision services. It prescribes the responsibilities, arrangements and minimum expectations for all K&A Geographies to follow.

QA and QA Committee for Design Centers
Khatib and Alami
January 01, 2020

This committee is responsible for overseeing the implementation of K&A's procedures and processes in the design centers including those related to digitalization to ensure work efficiency and clients' satisfaction.

SAP Implementation Change Management Committee
Khatib and Almi
July 18, 2019

The main responsibility of this executive committee is to define and execute the the following:
1. Change champions and agents roles and responsibilities
2. Change Champions and Agent functions description
3. set the rights criteria for the selection of Champions and Agents
4. Define the challenges that would face SAP implementation
5. prepare a detailed effort evaluation and implementation schedule
6. Set a communication plan and design the right communication vehicles

ERP System PoC, design and implementation in Engineering industry
Khatib and Alami
January 01, 2019

A member in the ERP Steering Committee and the business owner of the procurement process within SAP where I designed an agile procurement process and implemented it, with my team across the company.

As a member of the Steering Committee, I have participated in all the critical decisions and guided the overall process design and implementation.

Project Management for Design Managers and Engineers
Khatib and Alami
July 11, 2021

Trained, across all design centers, almost 400 design architects and engineers from all engineering trades including proposals teams, on the principles of project management such as Earned Value management, WBS development and maintenance, resources allocation and client management.
The training was conducted via Microsoft Teams during the Covid19 Pandemic.

MicroStation 3D training for architects and Engineers
Khatib and Alami
January 01, 2003

Trained many groups of architects and engineers on Bentley's Microstation.

MicroStation 2D training for architects and Engineers
Khatib and Alami
July 01, 1999

Trained many groups of architects and engineers on Bentley's Microstation.

The Art of the Possible: Future PMO Technologies
Greyfly.ai
February 01, 2024

Al in Project Management The Art of the Possible: Future PMO Technologies
Global Project Management experts Dr. Saadi Adra, Dr. Mazin Gadir a n d Dr. Ahmad Salih explore the future of PM tech whilst dissecting Al and evolving applications. Learn about the importance of upskilling and t h e synergy of human expertise with Al's transformative capabilities.

Digital Leadership Program at Heriot-Watt University
Heriot Watt University
May 16, 2022

This webinar, conducted with my colleagues Professor Paul Hopkinson and Sarah Beatie from Heriot-Watt University, provided the attending prospect students with insights about the Digital leadership program.

Digital Leadership Program introduction webinar for M.Sc. students
Heriot-Watt University
August 14, 2021

As the courses designer and leader, I have participated in a webinar to introduce and market the newly developed digital leadership program at Heriot-Watt university's for prospective students. The program includes digital leadership, and digital business strategy; platforms and ecosystems course.

Cultural Transformation to streamline Digital Transformation in Healthcare Industry
Self
December 01, 2021

I have designed a novel approach to transform the Rwandan healthcare sector (nationwide) employing the Dynamic Cultural Intelligence (Salih, 2020).

Design automation strategy
Khatib and Alami
July 12, 2020

A strategy and roadmap were developed to increase the level of automation in the architectural and engineering design and delivery for more than one reason:
1. Increase efficiency and reduce errors.
2. Save design and production time.
3. Save costs of projects

Leading effectively in the era of globalization, digital transformation and disruptive innovation
Autodesk
December 16, 2019

The workshop was conducted at the Autodesk University Middle East event. It provided the audience with some practical tools to manage conflicts at the workplace and enforce harmony between leaders and followers

Aikido Seminar under International Aikido Federation
UAE AIkido Committee
December 14, 2019

Arranged and led the international Aikido seminar that was held in Dubai under the patronage of the International Aikido Federation and the Aikikai. The seminar was attended by many Aikido practitioners from the UAE and the region. Aikido instructors flew from Japan, France and the Netherland to conduct the seminar.

How Aikido can induce harmony in the workplace
Autodesk University
December 12, 2019

How to develop winning proposals
Khatib and Alami
August 01, 2019

A workshop was held including all proposals managers from all geographies and sectors to implement the Winning Proposals Procedure. Scenarios were played to increase the learning outcomes.

Aikido for leaders
Edinburgh Business School
April 14, 2018

I conducted a workshop at Edinburgh Business School for MBA students about how Aikido principles can be embodied in the workplace to resolve conflicts and promote harmony among leaders and followers.

Aikido for Leaders workshop for MBA students
Edinburgh Business School 2018
April 14, 2018

Taught conflict resolution and centering techniques for MBA students as part of their leadership course.

Culture is active not passive
Thinkers360
May 07, 2022

From a transactional lens, culture is related to, or built from people’s accumulated actions over the years. These actions, however, change in response to motivations and threats internally and externally. This notion does not fit with the static approach to culture as discussed earlier. Many examples can be illustrated here; Price and Thompson refer to how individuals may take a unified stance against an external threat while they may not be in agreement, and adopt contradicting positions in normal days. Mars (2008) provides the example of the lady CEO who adopts different behavioural stances at work and home.

What I want to say here is that life is dynamic and so we are. Therefore, stereotyping or providing cultural scoring according to certain dimensions may not work. This approach has already been put under great level of scrutiny by many scholars and practitioners such as Brendan McSweeny.

The work of Mary Douglas in the 1970s and that of Michael Thompson afterwards introduced a new perspective to the way we look at culture. Mary Douglas offered an alternative approach to understanding culture and called it The Cultural Theory. Douglasian Cultural Theory is deeply rooted in anthropology and applied in social structure where the relationship between the individuals, in general, and their surrounding environment is organized and governed. the theory is based on two social dimensions called ‘Group’ and ‘Grid’ where people focus their ideas and interests. If we draw this on a matrix, the X axis or the horizontal co-ordinate represents “Group”, while the Y axis or vertical co-ordinate represents “Grid”. The group axis measures the degree to which people are tied to their community or affiliations, and the extent to which people are restricted in thought and behaviour by their commitment to their social unit. A collective type of mind can be found at the right-end side of the axis- where community boundaries are of paramount importance. People at this end devote a lot of their time interacting with other unit members, which requires long-term commitment.

Each individual is expected to act or behave on behalf of the collective whole, while the unit is expected to act in the normative interest of its members. Individuals experience a hierarchical culture. The ties to the group become weaker as we move toward the left-end side of the X axis. Individuals at this end enjoy freedom from group ties and boundaries. They can negotiate their culture independently without being constrained by, nor reliant upon, any significant group. The low group experience is a competitive, entrepreneurial culture.

On the Y axis grid, we find an index that measures the extent to which individual behaviour is constrained by role differentiation, regardless of any enrolment or membership in any group. When moving to the top end of the grid axis, we find rules and classifications governing gender, age, and family. These rules define how people relate to one another and therefore limit their life chances and opportunities; here, people experience strong grid cultures. This limitation is attenuated when we move down the grid axis where people ere have the freedom to find jobs based on their merits; here, people experience weak grid cultures.

Now, the group and grid setup has resolute with five main cultural spaces or ways of life only;hierarchical, competitive, egalitarian, fatalistic and, at the center, lies the autonomous culture or the hermit (see figure 1, taken from salih, 2017). These five cultural spaces the only cultures that people need to understand and apply wherever they go.

Will continue the discussion in the next blogs about each culture in detail and show how Douglasian Cultural Theory was integrated within the overall framework of Cultural Intelligence.

Talk soon!

The Dilemma of Project Management
Thinkers360
April 24, 2022

Organization, nowadays, exaggerate in overloading project managers with role’s requirements and obligations. Unfortunately, many organizations do respond proactively to the market development in the same speed markets grow. As clients become more and more sophisticated in their structure, consultants maintain the same old image about project managers thatchy inherited twenty years ago. 

If we map the main project management obligations, we can then, somehow, imagine the dilemma. Project managers, basically, are required to manage clients’ relationships and expectations, resources, time, budget and risks. For a simple project such as a small building or utility line, a project manager can manage and full all mentioned obligations. However, on the other extream, in the case of a mega or even giga project where the client is represented by multiple stakeholders, the project manager finds herself handicapped. This is because, focusing only on managing the client relationships can eat up all her time and maybe more. This is when a more than one layer in project management will be required. I.e. assigning a project director to deal with the client and project manager to follow up on other tasks.

The point is, if not organization figure out how project management, as a practice and culture, can be set, they will keep reacting to clients’ demands and face failure. From my experience, I can say it is not easy siren this is a multi-level change and goes unto the higher level of authority within the organization. Building a project management practice is linked to enhancing the organizational structure, establishing a dynamic set of procedures that adapt to the type of project and, of course, providing the right support to the project manager.

More in the coming blogs.

Culture and Cultural Intelligence
Thinkers360
April 17, 2022

In my first blog, I raised a concern about the issue of culture and how we blindly accepted stereotyping nations and groups of people just because we see it easier to justify our understanding to human behaviour. Following that cultural intelligence, when it was formed at the beginning of the 21st century, has fallen in the same trap. Cultural intelligence or CQ, promised to solve the previously discussed dilemma. CQ, which is rooted in the psychology domain of knowledge claimed to focus on the individual as the unit of analysis instead of relying on anthropological surveys that generalize facts about human being. However, CQ, in the writings of Christopher Earley and his colleagues, or David Thomas and his colleagues did not pay attention to an important aspect related to the core of their paradigm, which is culture. What does it mean and how can it be represented or interpreted.

When CQ was formalized, it gave a big hope to organizational HR departments to create training programs that can prepare those who are given international assignment to deliver their work smoothly. For somebody to adapt to as many cultures as possible and become a cultural chameleon, as CQ allegedly assume, must learn all the different culture she or he encounter and change her or his behaviours accordingly. This is, unfortunately is a a dilemma. In literature, it called the dilemma of losing the absolutes. It means that if someone learns a new culture, she or he ends up losing his own one. Therefore, many scholars and practitioners reached a conclusion that the cultural chameleon is just a myth.

In view of the above, the need to have a brand new look at culture and cultural intelligence has evolved in the past few years. The basis for this new look or approach must abandon stereotyping people, groups or nations. It should also refrain from treating people based on their geo-ethnic origins, and third, it needs to look at human behaviours from more than one anger, or in other words, study it from more than one lens as Murdock advised back in 1971. Murdock called for engaging more than one knowledge domain to understand human behaviours. i.e. anthropology, sociology and psychology. According to him, we must not rely on one knowledge domain in studying human behaviours. This is because studying individuals’ actions through the lens of anthropology, for example, would lead to relying on having generalized characteristics of the supra-individual conducted via anthropological analysis. This approach proved to be insufficient as it ignores the social and personal effects, and results in having anthropological and sociological mythology that Murdock refers to. Alternatively, relying only on psychology as the field of study provides a better advantage over anthropology and sociology because it focuses on experimental techniques. It puts it in a better position to understand and discover the mechanisms of human behaviours. However, focusing only on the individual as the unit of study and ignoring the environment leads to psychological mythology. From there, Murdock advised that both directions need to be followed; discovering the mechanisms of human behaviour and the environmental conditions that surround that. Engaging one discipline at a time would either lead to reductionistic mythology in the case of psychology, because of its narrow focus on the mechanisms only, or cultural/social mythology in the case of anthropology, because it ignores the findings on the mechanisms of human behaviours reached by psychology. 

I think by now, we have framed out the issue of studying, using and interpreting culture in a more detailed manner. what is next is I will be presenting the alternative that developed and published many papers, chapters and books about. Stay tuned.

Is culture a burden? if yes, how can we turn it to an opportunity
Thinkers360
April 09, 2022

For the past decades, management studies and practices were stereotyped with cultural dimensions developed by some scholars such as Hofstede, Fons Trompenaar, the GLOBE project and lately Erin Meyer. These dimensions, although simplify the way we look at culture but are problematic at the same time and lead to serious dilemmas. Judging people based on their national background although seems an easy way to understand how people think or behave but might not be realistic. looking at others based on their geo-ethnic background means stamping them with static images that they can never get out of it. This approach contradicts with any change management theory or practice. If we consider culture as a static phenomenon means we can never change ourselves or others which is against human nature. The second factor that affects our understanding to culture, is what does culture include? Does it include values, habits, traditions, folklores, kitchens, eating habits, etc.. By putting everything on culture without any distinction is not fair and makes not good for us.

The impact that organisations and academic institutions suffered, and keep suffering, from following the above paradigm led to a lot of frustration and ineffectiveness in many of the training programs that they prepare for leaders for one simple reason; what individuals are taught differs from what they find on the ground. Especially in nowadays world where working outside ones homeland has become the new norm. Furthermore, as many organizations and educational institutions have decided to move into the digital space, treating culture the same old way would definitely won't work. Consumer behaviours need to be understood in an explorative manner. Judging how consumers may react to certain product need to be stopped and restudied to figure out what best suit them, etc.

The above questions I raise in this blog are basic and they are raised by both academics and practitioners and alternatives are proposed but how we accept those new alternatives, this is the 1 million dollar question. However, for this blog, I would stop here. The aim is shake our understanding and create a discussion about the subject before illustrating some working solutions.

Appreciate receiving your comments and see you soon.