Successful Project Management at the Executive Level

November 10, 2014 By in Project Management Tags: ,

The dream: A management team meets to deal with an opportunity or challenge. After some discussion a decision is made. Goals are decided. A project leader is appointed. A short number of weeks later the project leader calls a management meeting to present his deliverables. Management agrees that the deliverables have been met. The project is closed.

The reality (you know where this is going, don’t you?): A management team meets to deal with an opportunity or challenge. After some discussion a decision is made. Goals are decided. A project leader is appointed. Time passes. Nothing happens. The opportunity starts fading, or the challenge gets worse. More management meetings are called. The team leader gives his excuses. Management update the goals. This cycle is iterated until the opportunity disappears or the challenge becomes a crisis. Continue reading →

Family Business: Acknowledging Core Challenges

November 9, 2014 By in Family Business Tags: , ,

عربي

Family businesses have been the private sector economic foundation of the GCC. Their financial strength and contribution to national GDP is obvious. Their challenges, however, are usually private, hidden behind a family wall of silence. True, there have been a few public blow ups, but everything else is discreet. This is a shame, as these wonderfully successful family businesses deserve to remain successful across generations and a necessary part of that is open debate and discussion on the challenges faced by these families. How else can you learn?

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My Zawya Story: Finale

November 6, 2014 By in Private Equity Tags: ,

This post is part of the My Zawya Story series.

Saffar sold Zawya to Thompson Reuters in 2012. I have been asked many times how we positioned such a sale and how early we planned for it. My answer to any private equity exit is: build a great company and the exit will come. Talk of IPO versus strategic sale versus financial sale is meaningless. If you build the company right then all those options will be available. Build it wrong and no options will be open. Continue reading →

Why SMEs are Survivors

November 5, 2014 By in SME Tags: ,

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SMEs are a family’s lifeblood. They are built and run by families. They are not conglomerates with diversified business lines, they do not own monopoly agencies guaranteeing income, they do not have special connections to large clients securing lucrative contracts. SMEs are run by the blood, sweat and tears of the family members. If the SME fails then loved ones will go hungry. That is exactly why SMEs are survivors.

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My Zawya Story: Global Financial Crisis

November 5, 2014 By in Strategy Cornerstone, Strategy Tags: ,

This post is part of the My Zawya Story series.

The global financial crisis that broke in the latter half of 2008 was painful. At Saffar we had concluded negotiations on a partial exit of Zawya at a fantastic IRR but the crisis put an end to that transaction. The bad news continued as the crisis decimated Zawya’s core client group, financial services, and impacted revenue in multiple ways including a big decline in online advertising. We built the company and reached dizzying heights of success, where we about to now ride it all the way down again?

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The Principal–Agent Problem in Risk-Taking

November 4, 2014 By in Risk Tags: ,

The single greatest driver of business success is not a unique idea, innovation, marketing, networking, leading or managing. It is the willingness and ability to take calculated risks. There are many different definitions for risk but a useful one is: risk is the presence of an unknown negative outcome. Another point to make clear is that the key success factors are taking and managing risk, as opposed to simply the existence of risk. An example of this crucial point is the decision to introduce a new product is taking risk, whereas a new competitor entering the market is just the introduction of risk. Continue reading →

Adventures in the Money Markets: Godzilla's Return

November 3, 2014 By in Trading Tags: , , 1 Comment

In my post the Rise of Godzilla I explained how the UAE money markets work and the presence of a money center bank that I will call Godzilla. In my introduction I outlined a short squeeze that Godzilla had run against the whole UAE banking system, all fifty banks. In this article I will outline how a (then) midsize bank successfully fought off a bullying short squeeze by Godzilla.

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My Zawya Story: The Importance of Independent Board Members

November 3, 2014 By in Corporate Governance Tags: ,

This post is part of the My Zawya Story series.

I have written extensively about corporate governance (both on the board and on management) and will not repeat myself here. What might be useful is to talk a little bit about the human dimension and my Zawya experience provides a perfect opportunity. In the initial years the Zawya board was a mix of the Zawya founders and Saffar executives and appointees. As the company grew and matured two new directors joined: Steffen Schubert and Anthony (Tony) Mallis. They added tremendous value to the Zawya board and to the company itself. Continue reading →

My Zawya Story: Strategic Growth Decisions

November 2, 2014 By in Strategy, Strategy Cornerstone Tags: ,

This post is part of the My Zawya Story series.

If negative cash flow the main characteristic of the foundation phase of a start up and break even cash flow represents the institutionalisation phase then the third phase is growth represented by increasing positive cash flows. This is where the fun begins. All stakeholders are basically happy, assuming a lack of greed, and strong excess cash flow growing at close to a triple digit rate really opens up the options in achieving your vision. The three main choices, not necessarily exclusive, are pay dividends to the shareholders, invest in organic growth and grow via acquisitions.

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Adventures in the Money Markets: The Rise of Godzilla

November 1, 2014 By in Trading Tags: , ,

Money markets are the inter-bank market for short term borrowing and lending. Banks manage their strategic asset–liability mismatches as part of their overall long term plans for raising deposits and making loans. Short term reality however rarely tracks long term execution and tactical money market operations are necessary to mange the short term fluctuations of the balance sheet. Normally the money market desk of a treasury is considered boring, with excitement belonging to the currency desk. But once in a while a situation can develop that would challenge the most aggressive of currency dealers. This is the story of such a deal. Comfort with arithmetic is required.

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