Qatar’s planned IPO bonanza may be socially driven but it looks a bit ambitious from a financial standpoint. The Gulf emirate is planning a wave of new listings on the local exchange. The aim is to boost the private sector and give Qatari nationals a chance to participate in the country’s global financial expansion. It may also be a way to modernise the traditional relationship between the absolute monarchy and its citizens.

Sovereign fund Qatar Holding is spinning off assets to create a new $12 billion investment firm, Doha Global Investment. Another firm, Infrastructure Investment, is expected to be marketed as a play on the $120 billion worth of spending the emirate is planning for the 2022 football World Cup. Finally, according to sources, Qatar Petroleum is preparing to spin off a number of assets in an offering.

The IPO wave is also designed to foster a more responsible spending culture among the nationals of one of the richest countries in the world. The government provides free education and healthcare, but three-quarters of its citizens still have large debts, mostly over $70,000, according to a government report. Instead of boosting savings, the emirate’s infamous public-sector salary increases keep luxury-car dealers busy and fuel inflation.

The listings will go some way to stave off any mumblings that the tiny local population of around 250,000 isn’t sharing the benefits of the state’s massive spending on everything from luxury department store Harrods to Egypt. Qataris are not complaining, but in the post-Arab Spring era, monarchs across the Gulf are anxious to give their citizens less reasons to complain.

However, with privately-owned firms said to be also eying the market, there are concerns that Qatar won’t be able to absorb all the new issues. The stock exchange has a total market capitalisation of $130 billion, but liquidity among the 40-odd stocks is poor, and the free floats tiny. What’s more, the emirate’s most recent stock issues haven’t gone well. Shares in Vodafone Qatar, which floated in 2009, trade at a 14 percent discount to its offer price.

At some point the emirate may realise that there are also other ways than the stock exchange to tackle its social issues.

Information is freely available, unfortunately people’s attention is not. Too much information, even when accurate, can hide important factors.

Information adds to complexity. When people are confronted with situations they perceive to be complicated, they become confused and find it more difficult to take action – they procrastinate.

Education increases information. Increased information can lead to over-confidence and optimism. The perception of mastery. Admitting your mistakes becomes more difficult as you see yourself as competent. You feel in control, and the last thing you need is contradictory evidence – so you ride roughshod over negative indicators and plough on with your decisions. I’ve heard it said that “optimism is a great companion but a poor guide” – I think we all need to remember this.

We’ve heard about the “law of averages” (which is actually the ‘law of large numbers’), but have we heard of the “law of small numbers”? This law causes us to draw strong conclusions from too little data (e.g. the past three years’ performance of a fund, or even our own decisions over the past year). Through this limited window of experience we exaggerate and over-value our own experiences and reduce what can be learnt through studying other people’s experience or longer-term trends.

Even today, the most well-used source of information remains friends and family – more so than books, websites, newspapers, newsletters and formal study. Ask yourself, “how much more do they really know than I do?” We often credit others with as much knowledge as we, ourselves, have – and then some, thus our decisions can be based on their judgements.

Experts and professionals make mistakes, too. They also suffer from problems associated with optimism and over-confidence – it’s no use them sounding tentative – who is going to pay them if they don’t at least give you confidence that they know what they’re talking about. And, to make a bad situation worse, studies have shown that decisions made with almost no expertise are often better than those made where stats are available. And these are often better than those made when the expert can have direct and personal contact with individuals involved.

And when it comes to finances, information can be especially dangerous. The need for correct, up-to-date information when it comes to money matters can not be underestimated. Here are some key pointers:

-          Be clear about what it is you are trying to achieve, and how much money you will need to achieve it

-          Take advice from a professional, qualified and competent adviser who has your best interests at heart

-          Protect your life, your health and your family (your real wealth)

-          Save money regularly so that saving becomes a habit, like breathing

-          Review your progress with your adviser

-          Be sure you stay in control of any advice you receive

Contributed by Peter Ellen, Operations Director at Nexus Insurance Brokers. MENA Insurance Awards 2013 Personal Lines Broker of the Year. Insurex 2008, 2009, 2011 & 2012 Personal Lines Insurance Broker of the Year. Best International Takaful Brokerage Award 2010. Recipient of the prestigious 2009, 2010 & 2011 Training Award.

Of course, then you began to notice a suspicious pattern. Your social timeline began to fill up with similar posts from others, all claiming to have received similar congratulatory messages from LinkedIn.

Kipp isn’t the first to pop that bubble we call our ‘digital ego’ but we certainly won’t be the last. It’s nothing more than a marketing scheme; and a clever one at that. You see, while LinkedIn has a lot to be proud of, their one insecurity seems to be the lack of active members. Yes, their user base may have just crossed 200 million but how many of those are as active as a social network would like their members to be?

We all know people that are hardly ever active on it, using it primarily to accept the odd invitation or two. In fact, you may be one of those people and LinkedIn wanted that changed. Still, as clever as this marketing stunt was – and as much as it initially spoke to users on a personal level – will it backfire now that we have begun to realise that we’re not that special after all?

“I think it’s very unlikely that it’s an outright lie,” says Ayman Itani, founder of MediaLab. “It could have been done differently, and it was unclear how it was calculated. That should have been clarified to the users.”

Ultimately, you can bash LinkedIn over this campaign all you want but ask yourself first whether you would have done the same. The main achieved objective was that it got a lot of people talking about them on other social profiles; something that incidentally hasn’t happened in quite some time, according to Itani. LinkedIn realised that by reaching out to customers, they’re more likely to be active or perk up their profiles a bit more. They were willing to take that risk. People love being congratulated, told that they’re special and more importantly, personally reached out to.

“Although LinkedIn’s latest marketing stunt was a bit of a gamble; in the sense that they risked offending some people who figured out that it was for publicity, it is still considered a smart campaign,” confirms Sarah Rassasse, Social Media Expert and Strategist at Prototype. “I think the number of people that figured it out is actually small compared to people who hadn’t spent much time analysing the message.”

What do you think? Do you feel put off by LinkedIn’s campaign?

This is how the VC industry is built – all around the probability that most businesses would fail but that a very few set of investments would sky rocket and make the good returns.

I do believe that with innovation and pushing of boundaries there are a lot of risks involved and the more risks, the higher the probability of failure.

But I am worried that we are giving young energetic entrepreneurs the wrong message. We shouldn’t encourage them to pursue crazy ideas that are bound to fail. We should guide them through the mine field of starting up a business to avoid common mistakes, and should encourage them to learn how to take calculated risks.

The best approach to necessary failures as the entrepreneur tests a totally new concept or new approach is to fail fast.

This helps in being able to learn from the small failures, rebound quickly from them and iterate the innovation process without it killing the business.

So the message to Entrepreneurs: If you have to fail – fail fast, but better not to fail at all!

Shadi Banna is the Co-founder of Potential.com, a company aimed at developing entrepreneurial culture, training and coaching for SMEs and Start-ups in the region.

The country’s Ministry of Finance placed 70 billion dirhams ($19.1 billion) with banks to shore up their balance sheets after the collapse of Lehman Brothers in September 2008 triggered a seizure of the world’s financial system.

But this support, which was converted into seven-year capital-boosting bonds in late 2009, was priced at a higher interest rate than the banks would pay if they borrowed money in today’s market.

For example, National Bank of Abu Dhabi, the UAE’s largest lender by market value, has a $750 million bond maturing in March 2017 that was trading on Tuesday at a yield of 2.36 percent – less than half the price it will pay this year on the 3 billion dirhams of government bonds it still has outstanding.

“If you look at how much banks are paying on the bonds compared to where their senior debt is trading, it is a significant difference,” said Timucin Engin, associate director for financial services ratings at Standard & Poor’s.

And the price for banks will continue to rise; they are due to pay 5 percent on the bonds this year and 5.25 percent in the final three years to maturity, having paid 4.5 percent in 2012 and 4.0 percent for the first two years of the bonds.

This price differential between the government bonds, which contribute to a bank’s Tier 2 or supplementary capital, and market prices for new debt is leading many in the market to conclude that banks will aim to use the current low interest rate environment to replace the more expensive obligations.

“Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank may kick off the bond sale round, but most banks in Abu Dhabi that converted the government deposits will follow,” a senior UAE banker said.

ADCB, the UAE’s fourth-largest lender by market value, which received 6.6 billion dirhams in government cash, is expected to launch a bond offering shortly, having picked banks to arrange the deal, two sources told Reuters last week. An ADCB official declined to comment.

Banks going to the bond market could either raise ordinary debt and use the cash to repay the government instruments, or sell a new subordinated offering.

The latter option would help retain the boost to a bank’s capital ratio, but the cost would be more expensive; three traders estimated NBAD would have to pay between 0.5 and 0.7 percent extra to issue five-year subordinated debt.

Also, UAE banks already have strong capital ratios, especially compared to their Western counterparts, so the need to replace the capital isn’t as great.

POSITIVE FOR PROFITS

Regardless of how banks replace the bonds, the desire among UAE bankers to do it now is heightened by the fact that the capital worth of the instruments has already begun to diminish.

Under the terms of the government bonds, the weight attached to the capital decreases over time. This year, instead of receiving 100 percent of the benefit as before, banks can only count an 80 percent boost to their capital.

This will fall further, by 20 percentage points each year, until the bonds reach maturity at the end of 2016, when they will be worth just 20 percent.

“We will have to do something about it at some point, because no bank wants to fall off a capital cliff down the line,” Surya Subramanian, chief financial officer at Emirates NBD, which has 12.6 billion dirhams outstanding, told a Jan. 31 conference call for the media.

Some banks have already begun addressing the bonds using their own cash resources. NBADoriginally converted 5.6 billion dirhams of support into bonds but repaid 2.6 billion dirhams last year, while National Bank of Ras Al Khaimah, the UAE’s ninth-largest bank by market value, repaid all its 684.5 million dirhams of support during 2012.

And with loan growth in the UAE economy modest, banks can use their liquidity to retire the expensive bonds instead of parking it in short-term investments or with the central bank, Engin said.

According to central bank data, loan growth across the UAE banking sector was 3.4 percent in the first 11 months of 2012, while certificates of deposit increased 12.8 percent.

Using such liquidity to repay the bonds, or just replacing them with new debt raised at current market rates, should have a marginally positive impact on profitability in 2013, said Sebastien Henin, portfolio manager at The National Investor.

“It will be positive as they will be able to raise cash at cheaper levels but, in terms of net profit, I don’t think it will be huge – a few percentage points maybe,” Henin said.

This, according to ENOC, avoids having to import Iranian condensate. To quote the release:

ENOC diligently adheres to all prevailing laws and regulations to ensure that its business is conducted in line with applicable sanctions, and has been continually studying the sourcing of alternative economically viable condensate feedstocks for its refinery in Jebel Ali.

As a result of various steps implemented by the management, ENOC has imported 20% less Iranian condensate in the second half of 2012 compared with the first six months of the year. One of the challenges in managing the crude imports was the availability of alternate grades in required volumes and prices.

By exploring partnerships with new suppliers, ENOC is highlighting its commitment to continually optimise its refinery operations, adherence to the highest ethical standards in all operational aspects and creation of long-term value.

Some commentators have inferred this may lead to the shuttered ENOC/EPPCO petrol pumps in the Northern Emirates re-opening, but there’s no evidence in here at all of that. ENOC’s under pressure to reduce its loss-making refining operations – hence buying crude from Iran in the first place – but has now come under pressure to find alternative sources.

That’s not about to make things any better ‘oop North’ and mean they can start selling profitable petrol from their forecourts. It’s more likely to be a ‘like for like’ pricing deal – and it would have been interested to be a fly on the wall of some of those meetings to see quite who was pulling the strings around here.

Perhaps an answer to that comes in the shape of those recent ENOC comments about alternative sources of supply, which coincided with a visit to the U.A.E. from David Cohen, the U.S. Treasury Department’s undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence…

Anyway, it doesn’t really matter that much. Everyone’s got used to there being no EPPCO stations and although the ADNOC stations are busy, the long and ironic queues from the original ‘petrol shortage in oil producing country‘ glee are a thing of the past.

First Published by Alex McNabb here.

Limelight answered the PR brief with a targeted and creative pitch, demonstrating their knowledge and insight of Dubai as a destination along with an understanding of its challenges and opportunities. They presented a comprehensive strategy combing media relations, visiting journalists and Landmark PR Activities focusing on Dubai’s USPs and altering the identified misconceptions about the destination.

What do you think are the most common misconceptions of Dubai?

In 2011 we conducted our own consumer and trade focused research. The research revealed that unfair misconceptions about Dubai exist amongst both consumers and the trade alike. We have identified key misconceptions relating to suitability for families, affordability, lack of culture, ongoing development work and restrictiveness (visitors arrive in Dubai expecting that they cannot drink, cannot wear a bikini, cannot hold hands with their loved one etc).

What are the three main aspects that attract Brits to Dubai?

Dubai is a mid-haul destination, just a six and a half hour flight from the UK with a vast selection of affordable and luxury hotels and self-catering accommodation for all tastes and budgets.

Year-round sunshine

The tax-free shopping and abundance of both outdoor and indoor activities for both adults and children; world class theme and water parks, desert excursions and world class beaches. The City also has a calendar of world famous International events from sports races and tournaments to shopping and food festivals and International Music concerts to rival any other international cities offering.

Ian Scott,UK & Ireland director, Dubai Department of Tourism & Commerce Marketing, said of the appointment: “I am delighted to have Limelight on board to help us achieve our business goals and PR objectives.” What would you say their PR objectives are? 

To challenge and eliminate the misconceptions identified amongst consumers and trade who have never visited the destination and thus grow visitor figures to the destination from the UK and Ireland.

Obviously one of the perceived notions about the emirate is that it can be restrictive as well as not the most family-friendly of cities. Whether or not that’s true isn’t up to us to decide but as a PR agency, how do you plan to handle that notion?

By undertaking a number of key PR initiatives to dispel such misconceptions. The agency will highlight the family friendly accommodation and restaurants with dedicated children’s menus and events; the fantastic array of child friendly activities and facilities from water parks and theme parks to museums and desert adventures; to family friendly events and shows.  They will showcase Dubai’s vibrant and cosmopolitan nightlife, award-winning restaurants and bar and café culture whilst also illustrating the similarities between East and West regarding lifestyle, dress, beliefs, culture and attitudes.

There are many UK residents that have either been to Dubai or have heard enough about it but just hypothetically, how would you sell Dubai to a UK resident who has never been and knows little to nothing?

Dubai has all that the Emirate has to offer: year-round sunshine, golden sandy beaches and arid deserts full of adventure. Dubai has a reputation as one of the world’s leading destinations and boasts an array of indoor and outdoor activities for both adults and children alike.

Local culture, world class shopping, a selection of hotels and self-catering accommodation ranging from affordable to some of the most luxurious in the world, award winning restaurants and vibrant nightlife and a calendar of world famous International events. What more could you want from a holiday destination?

Finally, is there any part of your PR campaign that is meant to attract people to come and live here, or is it purely focused on the tourism aspect?

The main role is to attract new UK and Irish visitors to the city, who will then become repeat guests, however we also have a commerce brief to increase the number of UK businesses setting up offices in Dubai.

Over a dinner discussion with some friends, I met a couple over who were both strongly against Facebook and other social networks.  I haven’t come across such a strong sentiment in a while.  My first thought was: it will be difficult for you to guide your young kids on use of social networks.  There are many elements where we rely on the educational system to teach our kids; however, not in Social Media education. Schools are putting an effort to stay on top of latest Internet trends and continuously evolving classes to catch up. However, Internet technologies evolve at a very fast pace that schools need assistance from home in terms of education.

Another parental argument over dinner was:  “we can forbid them to participate in “Facebook” (the definition of social networking) like we forbid them to participate in other things”.  Social Networks will most likely evolve in the direction of Google+ where they become built-in across online services and as such won’t be a stand-alone entity to deny the use of. Add to that the concept of Internet of Things where devices and your physical environment becomes Internet aware, how do you deny the use of those elements?

Some of the training we give at Think Media Labs is for families with focus on understanding how Social Networks work, how information spreads, elements to focus on and discuss with kids, how to interact with them as parents online while minimizing risk of being blocked or black listed by your child. The discussions we have with parents are filled with concern and willingness to do whatever it takes to learn social networks they are unfamiliar with to better communicate and educate their young children.

Social Media education is important to embrace as social networks evolve and as young generations come into age.  Although I may be able to assist other parents with Social Media Education, I can really use help in child education in other non-digital aspects:  how to interest Lea and Jad in becoming avid readers, how to deal with personal feelings of discomfort when my 2 year old daughter likes to play with older boys on bikes when in the park. And how to “free your mind” as a parent of the weight of the day when communicating with your kids in the evening after a long day at work. If only there was an on/off setting I can toggle for that in my parental profile setting.

Written by Ayman Itani, Founder and CEO of ThinkMediaLabs.

Well, actually there is one issue. And it’s a serious concern for all of us. Let me ask you, how much oil and gas is burnt for electricity generation in Saudi alone? Take a guess. Daily, approximately fifteen percent of the oil pumped out of the ground is used in Saudi’s power plants. That’s over a million barrels a day. And then there’s the environmental impact. Kuwait, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates are among the world’s biggest carbon emitters per capita.

If you factor in a steady increase in demand for electricity of around eight percent per year until 2020 then it’s simple to see that there’s a problem. It’s almost a catch 22 situation, in that the region needs the energy on tap to fuel the commercial and industrial growth as well as more construction for residential housing. However, as the percentage of oil and gas that is diverted to utilities increases governments will subsequently realize a significant drop in state revenues.

The Gulf’s residents and businesses enjoy some of the lowest electricity rates in the world, thanks to generous government subsidies. Bahrain’s residential tariff is the lowest in the Gulf, and homeowners will pay at least a third to a half less for their power bills compared to consumers in the United Kingdom or Europe. For many of us, the price of our electricity is so low that we hardly think about the wider cost of the region’s energy model.

The trouble is that electricity waste is a problem for all of us. Low energy prices, summer weather in excess of 40 degrees centigrade and little in the way of effective energy conservation measures has resulted in levels of electricity usage that are unsustainable. Saudi Arabia and Kuwait have suffered energy outages in the summer as their transmission and distribution networks become overloaded. As a result, the Gulf has embarked on a multi-billion dollar project (worth more than one hundred and twenty billion dollars according to some estimates) to build more power stations and substations.

There’s two ways to make electricity customers rationalize their energy usage. The first is to use the stick and raise prices. Would this be popular? No, but the present situation whereby the region’s governments lose billions of dollars to subsidize electricity production is simply unsustainable.

The alternative is for us all to make an effort to reduce our electricity consumption both at home and at work. This can either be done on a corporate level, through the adoption of new technologies such as smart building systems to reduce energy wastage or, as is more likely, by the actions of individuals who do realize that we’re consuming more than we need. Simply changing an incandescent light bulb with a compact fluorescent lamp would be enough to reduce lighting costs by up to eighty percent.

The Gulf’s utility providers are aware of the need to reduce per capita consumption and Dubai Electricity and Water Authority, Bahrain’s Electricity and Water Authority and the Saudi Electricity Company have implemented educational awareness campaigns to drive home the message that we as consumers need to better manage our electricity usage. But they cannot force us to change our ways. Either we begin to behave differently and start to think about how we can save rather than waste energy, or we’re going to be hit by electricity price rises.

The issue of the Gulf’s electricity subsidies isn’t new, but governments have been loathe to raise prices for reasons of domestic politics. Sooner or later, subsidies will have to be reduced. As consumers and businesses, we can either take the lead ourselves and reduce our energy consumption patterns or we can continue to leave the lights on and lower the temperature setting on our air conditioning.

What we waste today we will end up paying more for tomorrow in more ways than one. The greater our per capita usage of electricity, the more that the GCC’s governments have to burn off from the existing oil and gas reserves. If we continue to demand more power both at home and at work oil exports will be threatened. One study by researchers at Chatham House has predicted that Saudi Arabia may not be able to export oil by 2038 if the status quo remains. The question may not even be do you want higher energy bills anymore. Put another way, do you want the region’s growth to be sustained? If the answer is yes, then please do show your support by throwing out that incandescent bulb and turning off the light as you leave.

A British national with Arabic roots, Alex has spent ten years in the Gulf and has lived in Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Lebanon, Jordan, Syria and the United Arab Emirates. Alex lost his heart to journalism years ago but he has worked with a range of multinational companies in the technology, energy and financial sector to develop their marketing and communications approach to the region. He’s currently based in Dubai but can often be found at Dubai International Airport flying back home to Bahrain or some other (hopefully exotic) destination.

Corporate wellness refers to the integration of activities, sports and fitness to increase and improve health among the workforce. The results are far reaching and have a positive impact on productivity, team building, staff retention and of course fitness and health. It can also be viewed as a value added programme offered by an employer to its employees to highlight the importance of the team’s wellbeing.

How do UAE companies fare in comparison to their global counter parts when it comes to corporate wellness?

There’s certainly increasing interest in improving and introducing these programmes, but there’s still a long way to go to increase awareness. There are groups that are making big strides toward making corporate wellness a priority such as the Abu Dhabi Health Services Company which DUPLAYS has been working with to offer programmes to more than 15,000 employees. We’ve worked with several large groups and aim to encourage more local and international groups to look into corporate wellness.

Companies in the UAE still need to understand that employee wellness can lead to other benefits in the bottom line – decreased sick leave, increased retention (lowering training costs of turnover) and team cohesiveness. These are intangibles that have financial gain but are not realized in the top line.

 Prioritising health and fitness is bound to be a popular resolution for most in 2013.What are three ways businesses can help their employees to be on top of their game?

Companies have traditionally provided gym subsidies or rented fields. Both these methods lead to results that cannot be measured (is the employee using the gym and getting results). Social interaction (team activities) lead to better results because there is a social stigma attached to attendance. But most importantly – fund employee wellness to show their employees that they do care about them.

How does an understanding of corporate wellness benefit a business?

As mentioned previously the programmes bring staff together by breaking hierarchical work boundaries, boosts morale, aids staff retention and with the increases in health and fitness people are more likely to be more productive in the work place. Organizations need to understand that those key benefits listed above do lead to financial gains in the bottom line that may not be entirely visible in top line numbers.

How has the DUPLAYS Corporate Wellness/Leagues program been received?

DUPLAYS corporate wellness has grown to the largest segment of our business. Multinationals have been very receptive as corporate wellness programs are part of their global HR policies. Large local organizations have taken the lead over the last year because they are looking to best practices abroad to compete for great talent.

Which is the most popular request and which program do employees enjoy the most?

Organized intra-company sport leagues are the most requested activities; employees forming teams within an organization and playing each week across a variety of sports. DUPLAYS handles all team formations, scheduling, facilities, equipment and corporations simply lend us their employee contacts. Employees tend to respond the best when team activities are organized because it becomes water cooler talk and creates buzz within the organization itself.

 How is DUPLAYS developing its Corporate Wellness scheme in 2013?

Many corporations don’t know what their employees are interested in. We are now creating internal surveys to gauge interest levels but also to evaluate which activities, when to conduct them and where is convenient. This is a free service to all corporations.

We are creating standardized packages so that corporations can simply select off a menu based on goals and budgets. We will then be able to customize each package based on objectives.

DUPLAYS is also adding more individual activities such as swimming, running (training), fitness classes, etc. to expand its offerings beyond sport. In addition, we’re adding more one and two day events for companies that want to go beyond a dinner or lunch for employees and actually incorporate a fun day out to allow employees to bond.

Business psychology, as defined by Jack C. Naylor, is the “scientific application or extension of psychological facts and principles to the problems concerning human beings operating within the context of business and industry”.  Put simply, it applies psychological knowledge to understand behaviours and tackle problems at work.

So, how can psychology help organisations?

As well as describing and explaining workplace behaviours, as a science,  psychology functions to uncover some of the motives behind past behaviours.  In addition, it is robust enough to predict – through use of reliable and valid measures – future behaviours.

The benefits of being able to foresee behavioural outcomes, preferably ahead of them being outplayed in the workplace are huge.  Imagine knowing how employees are likely to respond to change; or, knowing what to do to prevent employees from resisting change?  After all, “misunderstanding and poor management of change” is, according to Clarence W. Brown,  ”one of the major reason why so many change initiatives fail, causing detrimental harm to the success of the organisation”.

Through use of psychology, business leaders can become more successful by learning more about themselves and their management of human resources.  Because no organisation exists in isolation of its people, it is inevitable that EVERY organisation will at some point during its life-cycle, encounter a range of problems.  Such problems might concern absenteeism, resistance to change, conflict, bullying, or lack of motivation.

Although work-related problems are often referred to as being “organisational” most would agree that the origins of such problems must have stemmed from the actions and behaviours of the people within the organisation and NOT the organisation itself! That said, it is the behaviour of people within organisations that leaders should seek to understand.

Simply, being aware of the hidden factors, within the organisation that cause friction and those which causes it to flow and run smoothly is advantageous. For example, within the organisation, people play the role of engineers – their behaviours, perception, attitudes and motivation, influences the speed at which goods and services are produced.  Often, managers/leaders are unaware of these factors. Business psychology provides an extra lens, through which such hidden factors can be identified and better managed.

Six ways in which business psychology can be used to help :

Improve efficiency – ensure tasks are completed on time, clarify work roles…

Fine-tune hiring- Selecting the right people with the view to predict future performance

Developing leadership – identifying and facilitating the needs of key players within the business.

Managing change – being able to predict how people will respond to change is the first step towards managing it.

Building successful business teams – using psychological profiling to further our understanding of the roles played by team members, including their strengths and weaknesses.

Improve business performance- Market products and predicting consumer behaviour

Michelle Hunter is a Consultant Business Psychologist. Currently, she lectures on the MSc Business Psychology programme at Heriot-Watt University, Dubai Campus.  She can be contacted at: m.a.hunter@hw.ac.uk

The majority of new refineries and upgrade projects in the Middle East are designed to produce ultra-low sulphur diesel that meets European environmental standards, so they can export some of it to Europe or Asia.

The multi-billion dollar investments are also likely to transform fuel trade flows in the Gulf as the extra capacity will allow OPEC heavyweight Saudi Arabia to reduce its diesel imports and even become a net exporter in winter when its own fuel needs are lower.

State-run Saudi Aramco’s Jubail joint venture with France’s Total, the first of a trio of 400,000 barrels per day (bpd) refineries due to open over the next five years, will refine Saudi heavy crude into fuels ranging from gasoil, including diesel, to gasoline and petroleum coke for domestic consumption and export.

Jubail alone is expected to increase Saudi cleaner diesel production capacity by around 176,000 bpd once it is fully operational, while two more projects are expected to boost Saudi diesel capacity by a total of 461,000 bpd by 2017.

“Saudi Arabia has been a substantial net importer of gasoil for several years, but as Jubail is commissioned in 2013, this trend should reverse itself by the end of the year if not earlier,” Robert Smith, consultant at FGE Energy said.

Saudi Arabia has historically been short of gasoline and gasoil. Its petro-dollar fueled economy and growing population has rapidly driven up internal demand, especially when power generation surges in the hot summer months from May to August.

The world’s biggest crude oil exporter imported an average of 243,000 bpd of gasoil/diesel in the peak demand month of July this year, compared with a record high of 290,000 bpd in July 2011, according to official Saudi data.

The majority of its fuel imports are met by other Gulf producers, or by suppliers from India and Singapore.

The startup of the three refineries will nearly double Saudi diesel output, helping it become a net exporter in the cooler months. Its diesel imports will not stop completely, analysts say, due to rising demand and because the high-quality diesel the refineries will produce will not be used in power plants.

Nevertheless, refiners in Asia will have to find alternative buyers for fuel they have been selling to Saudi Arabia in increasing quantities over the last five years, traders say.

“The whole trading pattern is going to change dramatically in a few years, once all the new refining capacity comes online,” a Singapore-based trader said.

In fact, one could argue that we’ve all become so savvy that even a supermarket needs to consider strategies – even basic ones – on how it can differentiate itself from other shops. And that’s just a convenience store. We no longer get fooled by fluffy talk, bright colours and insincere marketing efforts.

Looking at the e-commerce industry in the UAE, one could initially assume that it is has long ago reached its saturation point. But when talking to owners and CEOs of many of the thriving ones, they’ve all expressed an almost unanimous sentiment: it’s completely untapped.

“We believe there’s still a big potential and there are still a lot of e-commerce startups in the region,” says Tarek Idriss, the Chief Strategy Officer of Wamli.com, a new player to the online shopping scene. Their site went live on 12/12/2012. “The downside of it being  an untapped market means that there is still not enough trust among customers, but it’s coming,” he adds.

I’m assuming the date wasn’t a coincidence?

“No,” he laughs. “No it wasn’t.”

There are loads of e-commerce companies here, how is it still untapped?

“There are still a lot of people that haven’t gotten into the trend of actually buying online. We have a huge crowd here – both expats and nationals that haven’t started yet. They’re all potential customers for us and once you gain their trust and provide them with things that they can’t get at a store, then it’s a huge market for us.”

In time, will everyone be buying online? Or is it up to e-commerce sites to push the trend?

No, I don’t think they need to push customers. We’re trying to embrace the social element, not forcing anyone to get out of their habits. Shopping online is a natural trend, they’re really getting into it a lot more and the interest is building up. People are becoming more social. Besides, nowadays people are always in a hurry. Growing e-commerce will just satisfy the need for instant shopping.

Your CEO said that the Wamli model is disruptive to e-commerce. What does that mean?

Well, the typical model is that you buy something and it gets delivered. What we’re trying to do – aside from a loyalty program where users can collect redeemable points is to provide a social, gaming and ‘geek’ element. There’s a social platform on it, where we embraced Pinterest, Facebook and Twitter on our site where you can follow people, see feedback on products or read what others have thought about it.

Customer service is a tough area in Dubai. So far so good for you?

So far it’s been very very good. The environment here is a very happy and relaxed one. We actually call our office the ‘Happy House’ and we’re all just confident in our work. We don’t over promise anything and make sure our customer support is strong.

How do you plan to attract members?

Based on our philosophy, our main focus is online – more specifically social media. It’s important for us to keep members socially interacted.

Lot of online advertising?

We do a bit, just to spread the name around but nothing fancy. We’re still a startup so we like to keep it organic and natural.

Who do you look at as competition?

Honestly, I find it hard to put ourselves head-to-head with anyone else. Obviously, there are a lot of e-commerce sites around us but we sell completely unique products. There’s not the conventional things you’re likely to see in everyday stores. We’re tapping into a different group of people by creating this strong fun & geeky element so I don’t consider ourselves competing with anyone here.

What do you think online retailers in the country are doing wrong?

To be honest, I cannot really talk about other sites and what they should or shouldn’t do. Everyone has their own style, approach and organisation. We like to keep it simple and maintain that simplicity on our site and interaction with customers.

In a recent interview with Business Insider, Carolyn Everson, the company’s VP of global marketing solutions talked about the likelihood of ads coming soon to Instagram. “There are many brands that use Instagram right now to try to get a feel for how to engage with their followers. We will definitely be figuring out a monetisation strategy. When that will happen, I can’t comment, but it’s going to happen,” she said.

For those that are unaware, Facebook owns Instagram. The company was bought in April of this year for a rough amount of $1 billion dollars – via a combination of cash and stock. Since then, there has been a lot of speculation as to when and how the application will be monetised.

The when remains unanswered but if we can be certain of anything, it is that their move towards adopting an advertising model is rather assertive. Ayman Itani, founder of Think Media Labs tells me that while Twitter was busy adding a new photo filter in an effort to compete, Instagram has pulled the plug on their Twitter viewing integration. They’ve also started allowing non-members to view the profiles of existing ones – something that would not have been possible earlier. Why the change? To attract traffic to the site which Ayman says indicates that the adoption of an advertising model is imminent.

“There is a growing trend of users expressing themselves in the form of photos. There has been a lot of guesses as to how the app will be monetised,” says Itani. Rumour has it that with the ability to analyse each picture that a user snaps and shares, it will be quite attractive for advertisers. “They’ll also be able to know your location when you share a photo so that one is a no-brainer,” he adds. “They may also monitor the types of images you usually share and target you based on that.”

Targeted advertising can hardly get any more accurate.

At a private Google breakfast this morning, that notion was echoed again. Still, for interactive websites such as Facebook and YouTube to continue to exist and be free (that’s the key element), advertising is necessary. In fact, it’s a lot better than the alternative. Funnily enough, Mohamad Mourad, Regional Manager at Google tells us that the most watched videos in the region are in fact ads.

“Of course, the number of people that skip video ads on YouTube is high, sometimes as high as 80 percent but there are 4 billion daily views on YouTube all over the world so we don’t really need all of them to click,” he says. For the first time ever, they released a UAE-based study that reveals – among many other stats – that the average user in the Emirates is 33 years of age. There are 260 million daily views from the Middle East and North Africa and about two hours of uploaded content every minute. Sixty six percent are men while 34 percent are women.

“Globally speaking, Google sees the Arab region as the biggest bet for YouTube,” Mourad adds. When the topic of invasive and irrelevant advertising popped up, he said that the future is moving more towards ‘skippable’ advertising rather than the historic alternative. Still, what was gnawing at Kipp’s mind is that in spite of video ads being skippable and – in turn giving users more power, why is it that television still holds the biggest advertising share in the region.

“Obviously, it’s because it gives a quick and instant reach to a wide audience. TV is not going away anytime soon, the distinction between video content and TV will change but as a medium, it is here to stay. On the other hand, advertisers realise that a website like YouTube offers incremental reach whereas if you wanted to advertise to 50 different countries on TV it would be a complicated and expensive process.”

Turn the page Kipper

Despite the language barrier—Psy’s Gangnam style has developed a significant following in North America: he was signed by Justin Bieber’s manager Scooter Braun and has made appearances on Saturday Night Live, Ellen and performed with MC Hammer at the American Music Awards. In fact, Time magazine has even nominated Psy for its annual ‘Person of the Year’ award.

So what is all the fuss about? Social media commentators have tried to pin down the reasons for the virality of the video—is it the simplistic but easily replicated dance moves, the catchy beats or just the plain cheesiness of it all? The jury is still out on this one, Seong Jin Ki from Cheil Communications says brands have a lot to learn from the popularity of Gangnam style and K-pop.

‘K-pop agencies are really marketing agency and they cater to specifically the visual generation. The agencies do not just focus on the song but they are equally focused on the visuals-perfect figures, videos, dance moves. The videos have to be well made.

There are three dynamics for why K-pop has become so popular in the market and from which brands can learn from. The three D’s are doing, diversity and dear friend” says Jin Ki.

The Doing element refers to the transformation of fans from passive observers to active and passionate followers eager to participate in the brand—a transformation K-pop agencies have been acutely aware of, and it has played a pivotal role in shaping the K-pop idols personas and interaction with the fans.

The Diversity element refers to the distinctive characteristic of members of K-pop groups. Unlike Psy, usually K-pop groups consist of nine to 13 different band members each with their unique style and personality—something which opens up a world of marketing opportunities for brands.

The Dear Friend element refers to the way in which K-pop stars share their lives with their fans primarily through social media. Whether it is through Facebook, Twitter or a personal blog, K-pop starlets give out intimate details about the day-to-day like, and encourage their fans to do the same, making fan videos or posting pictures.

Yet at the end of the day, Jin Ki says the bottom line is hard work: “Before they become popular K-pop stars work for hours and hours for years training for their vocals, dance moves and physical training. And they continue to train just as hard after they become famous.”

It is a stretch to classify Psy’s Gangnam Style under K-pop label—if anything the song lampoons the more materialistic aspirations pushed by the industry. Psy, referred to sometimes as the South Korean Ricky Gervais, looks quite the opposite of the perfectly ripped K-pop idols. While he may depart from the usual standards of K-pop, there can be no denying that his success is tied to the discipline and tradition of the K-pop wave. The impeccable production value, the dear friend/ easy-to-imitate factor are undeniably handed down from the K-pop tradition and is something brands can take away from when trying to emulate the success and virality of Gangnam Style.

Since this week’s plans for the ‘Mohammed bin Rashid City’ were unveiled, the development – along with the challenges and benefits it could bring – has been the talk of the town. A lot has been said about this development and not just by Kipp but other media outlets, investors, real estate specialists and economists as well. It is an enormous project meant to be handled both my Emaar Properties and Dubai Holding.

The general notion carried by forecasts has been arguably positive, stating that it is, if anything, an indication of growth, positive strategy and ambition. And for those that questioned it? Well we were simply told that this development is so far into the future that analysing its threats would be relatively moot. Building it in phases (with caution) would do the trick.

The second theme of concern revolved mainly around its funding, with raised eyebrows and nervous sighs – many wonder why tens and tens of unfinished projects that continue to collect dust remain ignored while new developments such as the recently announced theme park, the Taj Mahal replica and the MBR City are in the pipeline.

“Many of the new announcements do not represent new plans, but the re-launch of projects that were first launched in 2006 and 2007 and subsequently placed on hold following the impact of the GFC in 2008,” says Craig Plumb, head of research at JLL. “Another feature of more recent plans has been there development within a more mature strategic framework, with the recent approval of a new Urban master plan for Dubai.”

Kipp was told earlier by Richard Paul, Director of Residential Valuation at Cluttons, that despite significant improvement in the real estate project market over the last 12 months – it has been extremely selective with only certain areas in the emirate enjoying the benefit of increasing value and improvement. “All these areas work separately where we should be looking at Dubai as a multi-faceted market,” he said.

“Dubai is very much looking at itself as the ‘Orlando of the Middle East’, if you know what I mean,” says Paul, Director of Residential Valuation at Cluttons.

On the other hand, he worries that the obsessive-buyer culture that very much existed in the pre-recession market may be reignited by the anticipation of more ambitious developments. “Making sweeping comments about the real estate market is unrealistic; pretending that everything is ‘hunky dory’ when we are still far from that. It’s important that we learn from the past and from our mistakes.”

“I think it is the responsibility of banks and the authorities to make sure that buyers and investors don’t get too carried away this time, but there are still certain projects in Dubai that are attracting the manic of ‘I have to buy it right now’ attitude. On a wider scale, there is a lot more caution than there was before and I am sure that Dubai has not taken the risks of this development lightly.”

As he would put it, there are certainly various ways to look at Dubai’s recent development announcements. For one, it promotes a positive investor sentiment and paints a futuristic picture of ambition and sector boosts and as Sheikh Mohammed Al Maktoum, ruler of Dubai said: “The current facilities available in Dubai need to be scaled up in line with the future ambitions for the city.”

“For the past 12 months we’ve seen positive improvements and we’ve heard positive remarks but only in select areas, not all,” continues Paul. “We have to start looking at Dubai as a multi-faceted sector because certain developments are now doing really well while others are not. They’re all working completely separately.”

As Paul stresses – from the definition of a consultant – dealings between two parties (buyer and seller) should be handled knowledgeably, prudently and without obsession but that it is the ‘without obsession’ part that he worries about. “Ultimately, like most economic issues; it is a human problem of being easily swayed and making purchase decisions purely on sentiment. Although the majority of people are more cautious now – there are still many buyers interested in short term gain, or owning a paper for a building that isn’t even built yet.”

Lastly, it brings us to the mystery of the funding. While the completion date of this development may still stretch miles down the road, the unannounced plans of financing this project remain obscure.

“The banks do not currently have an appetite for major lending to real estate projects and investors are also more cautious now concerning both debt and their exposure to ‘off plan’ real estate projects than they were in 2007/8,” says Craig Plumb from Jones Lang LaSalle.

According a poll conducted in August, 29.2 percent of employers find that sourcing relevant candidates is one of the biggest challenges faced when hiring for senior executives and management positions.

-How has the landscape of recruitment changed over the past 12 months?

A recent study we conducted in August suggests the job market has picked up since the beginning of the year, with 53 percent of employers in the UAE looking to hire in the next three months, and 66 percent within a year.  More than half of the region’s employers (53 percent) claim they are either ‘definitely’ or ‘probably’ hiring in the next three months.

Online recruitment continues to be favoured by top employers across the careers spectrum and the introduction of such platforms as Bayt.coms’ Pubic Profiles platform which enables employers to source and research candidates directly online has made it more important than ever for candidates at all career levels to have a very competitive and current online presence.

-Which sectors faced the best/worst growth in 2012? And will this trend continue in 2013? 

Based on our research studies, in the UAE in specific, employers are seeking professionals with managerial experience (35 percent) as well as engineering experience and mid-level experience (jointly at 27 percent). High in demand are computer skills (26 percent) and sales and marketing experience (25 percent).

The following industries are perceived to be attracting/retaining the most top talent in the UAE are Banking and Finance (34 percent); Oil, Gas and Petrochemicals (32 percent) and Telecommunications (27 percent).

-At the start of the year there were many predictions concerning salary increments and better job opportunities. Now that you have had a chance to crunch the numbers, was this the reality?

Indeed. Our research has shown that the UAE’s hiring expectancy in the coming months is slightly higher than it was in quarter four of 2011.

-How did the UAE compare to the GCC/ MENA markets in 2012?

As per Bayt.com’s latest Job Index (August 2012) survey, the UAE (43 percent) is perceived to be the most attractive country in the MENA region to live and work, followed by KSA (40 percent) and Qatar (40 percent).This clearly suggests that the UAE has in fact recovered from the financial slump with even more positive prospects for the year to come.

-2013 is heralded to be the big comeback for the UAE-do you see that likely?

With Dubai and Abu Dhabi topping the list of the best cities in the MENA region, little seems to threaten the UAE’s recovery and standing as a favoured place to live and work.

Here in the UAE, many will have the expat package including education but what happens when your child moves on to further education and where are they likely to go?

All things to consider, especially when CNN Money recently stated that those without a college degree were more than twice as likely to end up without jobs and that over a lifetime, the earnings gap between a high school diploma and a degree graduate is in excess of $800,000.

There is no doubt the freedom that an education can provide but paying for it can be expensive, especially where there is little or no financial assistance.  It is estimated in the UK alone (Push Student Guide 2012) that by the end of 2013, the average student debt will be a shocking £60,000 or $96,000 per pupil – something which will take many a lifetime to pay off.  When looking at universities overseas, it is also worth considering that student loans and government assistance may not be available if for example you do not pass residency requirements, so it is important to have funding in place prior or ensure you qualify for eligibility if seeking financial assistance.

With university fee’s having increased well above inflation in recent years, it is essential that if you want to provide financial assistance, you need to consider the facts and act as soon as possible.

Taking two popular university destinations the USA and the UK for example, the current average university cost including courses and accommodation is £18,000 / $28,800 per child per year.  In the US, this figure is higher at £21,875 or $35,000 per year but top Ivy League Universities can charge that alone just for tuition fees.  On a four year course in today’s money you would be looking at between $115,200 – $140,000 per child which represents a significant outlay to consider.

Planning effectively can make a real difference and the sooner it is planned, the less you need to spend.  Without even taking the effects of inflation, for example, to achieve a $140,000 lump sum of money you could invest $400 per month for 18 years from the birth of your child in an Education Savings Plan vehicle (assuming a realistic 5% growth rate).  However, to achieve the same $140,000 in just 5 years, you would need to put away $2060 per month representing 30% more in contributions or $37,200 – over a quarter of the total amount required.

Alongside this planning, it is important to consider additional costs which could be quite significant but are often overlooked such as travel for both your child and visiting parents (as regularly the parent will be based in a different country).

It is also vital that the currency of the plan is taken into consideration when considering where your child may end up.  Currency fluctuation can impact the value of money significantly and must be taken into account to maximise your money and returns.

Overall, the message is clear – make a plan and seek professional financial assistance to ensure that all the bases are covered and that there are no hidden surprises.

John Bailey, Financial Consultant – Acuma Independent Financial Advice

Gold reserves were enough to last 15 years, Mahmoud Bahmani said.

He added that inflation was running at 20 percent but that there was no need to raise interest rates.

Western nations have imposed their toughest sanctions to date against Iran in an attempt to halt its disputed nuclear programme, causing the rial to plummet, inflation to jump and hundreds of thousands of Iranians to lose jobs.

“We can’t say that sanctions did not damage us. They did, but we thrashed out plans to control the damage and were able to avoid a serious dent to our economy,” the central bank chief said in a rare interview.

He was speaking on the sidelines of a summit of developing nations in Islamabad.

Despite the economic impact from the sanctions, Iran has not backed down from its nuclear programme and there were signs Tehran could be building up its capacity even further. That has sparked growing concerns in Israel, which has threatened to bomb Iranian installations.

Officials from six world powers — Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United States – were meeting in Brussels on Wednesday to plan for a possible new round of talks with Iran, the latest effort to resolve a decade-long standoff.

Iran denies international accusations it is seeking nuclear weapons and has so far refused to meet demands to scale back its atomic activity, insisting on immediate relief from sanctions.

GOOD AS GOLD

To help protect its economy, Iran has built up its gold reserves over the last few years with its current holdings 12 times larger than five years ago, Bahmani said. He declined to give a specific amount since the government does not disclose such information.

“We believe that these reserves are enough for us for the next 15 years, even if we don’t import foreign gold,” he said through a translator.

The country’s official reserves, which include foreign currencies and gold, totalled $106 billion at the end of last year, according to the International Monetary Fund.

Some analysts believe the official reserves may have shrunk by several tens of billions of dollars this year because of sanctions.

In October, Iran prohibited gold exports without central bank approval, in an effort by the government to restrict outflows of wealth. The government also banned the export of about 50 basic goods, including wheat, flour, sugar and red meats, as well as aluminium and steel ingots.

Bahmani refused to speak about Iran’s foreign exchange reserves.

He added that Iran does not use its gold reserves as a bartering tool in exchange for foreign goods, despite sanctions that bar Tehran from using U.S. dollars and euros in financial transactions.

The sanctions have slashed Iran’s oil export earnings and triggered a rush by Iranians to change their savings into foreign currency, dragging the rial down by two-thirds in 15 months and boosting inflation.

Inflation in Iran was running at around 20 percent, Bahmani said.

“It’s a temporary high rate of inflation in Iran and we are trying our best to control the level and bring it down to its real value in the near future,” he said, adding he did not see a reason to raise interest rates.

High oil prices have helped limit the drop in revenue from lower crude exports. Bahmani said Iran did not want to see oil prices to rise further because of its potential impact on the global economy.

Gone are the days when customer care was a business’s sole priority and all that one perceived to be necessary to drive sales. Nowadays, some employees are consistently showing how willing and able they are to add-value to their organizations. Despite this, their efforts go unnoticed – employers are still finding it difficult to recognize that employees are their biggest asset, particularly those who are loyal.

According to research* “Loyal employees are committed to the success of the organization and they believe that working in their current role is the best option”.  In view of this,they will “go-the-extra-mile” to ensure customers are happy and will make more of an effort to foster healthy and productive relationships with their colleagues.

So, how can you nurture quality employees who care enough about your business to aid its survival? Best practice HR giants such as CIPD and ACAS recommend that managers and leaders alike should develop their “soft skills” so as to respond appropriately to needs of their employees.  The premises behind this being that when employees feel cared for they will reciprocate care towards their employer.

It is simple – care for your staff and they will care for your business.

It is a basic fact that so many business owners today have forgotten. Organizations who are successful at embedding this philosophy into their management practice do well because unlike most they recognize the importance of caring for both the financial and human elementsof their business.

Think of it like this, employees have a huge influence over the customer experience. In fact, employees also leave your customers with an impression about your business, this will influence their decision to return or not.

Obviously, customers will return if your product(s) is what they want and/or need…but stop for a moment and think – how many other businesses stock the same products/services as you do? Remember, customers have choice; you need to ensure that your business is the chosen one. Loyal employees can assist you in your efforts to achieve this.

Top four tips on how to nurture employee care and loyalty:

LISTEN: Listen to your staff and show awareness of their needs – provide the opportunity for them to work according to their strengths – getting the right people, with the right skills, in the right place at the right time is a proven recipe for success

PROVIDE: Ensure they have the adequate tools to perform well in their role

DEVELOP: Focus on developing your key asset and they will do their job well – provide training opportunities so they can strengthen their skills and abilities.

INSPIRE: Motivate and reward staff for their efforts – rewards incentives are major contributors of employee satisfaction and happiness.

Michelle Hunter is a Business Psychologist and Lecturer on the MSc Business Psychology programme at Heriot-Watt University, Dubai Campus.

* Reichheld (2006)

A rainbow-coloured mural on the wall of a café in Egypt’s busy capital teems with optimism. Yet the aptly-titled “dream revolution” fresco draws a mock smile from customers. The country doesn’t have a functioning police force, suffers from daily strikes, and religious tension is on the rise. Nearly two years after Hosni Mubarak was ousted, high expectations from the popular uprising are yet to be fulfilled. The new government doesn’t seem to know where it’s going, and the economy is sinking slowly.

“We’ve hit a bottleneck”, grumbles the chief executive of a large business as he sips coffee on a hotel terrace.Egypt elected a moderate Islamist president, Mohamed Mursi, and the government of his Muslim Brotherhood movement has been in power almost five months. But the country still doesn’t have constitution, nor a parliament. The divide between conservatives and liberals is growing. Government advisors privately talk about the difficulty of working with the existing bureaucracy and acknowledge that the new regime has been reluctant to make tough decisions.

“We knew it would take time”, says a senior professional woman holding her hands to her head in frustration, “and we were willing to give the Islamists a chance but we’re not even on the right track”. The complaint is symptomatic of how support for The Freedom and Justice Party, the political arm of the Brotherhood, is waning.

The Brotherhood’s success in wrestling power from the military after Mubarak’s ouster has been undermined by its failure to tackle basic problems such as energy shortages, garbage collection, and security. As pointed out by one fund manager, political mistakes – the failure to form a competent government, or the appointment of an Islamist-dominated constitutional assembly – will have economic consequences as well.

The country seems as paralysed as the traffic in central Cairo’s gridlocked streets, which is made worse as crowds of all sizes now routinely hold protests against a whole range of issues. But the basic complaint is the same in boardrooms as it is in the streets. Egypt needs a sense of movement and “direction”, as one investment banker summed up.

Hopes for a rapid rebound have vanished as the government dithers. The economy will grow 2 percent this year, according to the International Monetary Fund, one third of the average during the last five years of Mubarak’s rule – and Egypt needs at least that 6 percent growth to contain its double-digit unemployment.

A preliminary deal with the IMF worth $4.8 billion has been agreed and will be finalised in December. That will allow banks that have made handsome profits financing the government by buying its T-bills at sky-high rates to resume lending to the private sector. It might also help shore up the pound, which is trading at its weakest level in almost eight years.

In an open letter, the alliance of institutional investors, responsible for managing $22.5 trillion in assets, said rapidly growing greenhouse gas emissions and more extreme weather were increasing investment risks globally.

The group called for dialogue between investors and governments to overhaul climate and energy policies.

The call comes less than a week before major U.N. climate talks in Doha, Qatar. Almost 200 nations will meet inDoha from Nov. 26 to Dec. 7 to try to extend the Kyoto Protocol, the existing plan for curbing greenhouse gas emissions by developed nations that runs to the end of 2012.

On Sunday, the World Bank said current climate policies meant the world was heading for a warming of up to 4 degrees Celsius by 2100. That will trigger deadly heat waves and droughts, cut food stocks and drive up sea levels.

“Current policies are insufficient to avert serious and dangerous impacts from climate change,” said the group of investors from the United States, Europe, Asia and Australia.

The investments and retirement savings of millions of people were being jeopardised because governments were delaying tougher emissions cuts or more generous support for greener energy.

The group said the right policies would prompt institutional investors to significantly increase investments in cleaner energy and energy efficiency, citing existing policies that have unleashed billions of dollars of renewable energy investment in China, the United States and Europe.

But many economies were still going to be heavily reliant on polluting fossil fuels such as coal, and policies needed to be implemented to speed up the shift to cleaner energy, the investors said.

They issued seven action points, including slashing fossil fuel subsidies and boosting carbon markets, for governments to focus on and said the re-election of Barack Obama in the United States and the leadership change in China were an opportunity to push for tougher climate talks.

“Strong carbon-reducing government policies are an urgent imperative,” said Chris Davis, director of investor programs at Ceres, a U.S.-based coalition of investors and green groups.

“Hurricane Sandy, which caused more than $50 billion in economic losses, is typical of what we can expect if no action is taken and warming trends continue,” said Davis, who also works for the Investor Network on Climate Risk, which groups 100 institutional investors with assets of more than $11 trillion.

“Teller service customers are now guaranteed to be served within an eight minute timeframe across six of its branches across the UAE,” notes SC in their media statement.

Are they fixating their efforts in the correct areas? That, my friends, is an entirely separate conversation.

As Emirates247 would argue – while this initiative may not necessarily be ‘bad’ – wouldn’t charging lower interest rates on loans or higher rates on deposits highlight commitment to customer well-being in a more tangible way? Still, Kipp knows how important customer service is in the UAE and – on occasion – is the key to winning a customer’s heart and wallet.

As the bank plans to roll-out this guarantee to all UAE branches by 2013 – while implementing a new queuing system to monitor and track the service pledge – Kipp is more curious than anything to see if they can actually pull it off. Of course, failing that, the bank promises to donate AED 10 to ‘Seeing is Believing’; a global initiative aimed at eliminating avoidable blindness by 2020.

It’s a clever marketing move indeed, we reckon. If the pledge is fulfilled, the customer gets through their day a lot easier. If the bank fails to meet its promise, they’ll donate money towards a noble initiative. Do you really want to be angry at a bank that does that?

If nothing else, one would hope that the mere sound of the initiative would prompt other banks to take a miniscule step in the direction of preserving a better customer relationship.

“Standard Chartered reviews our customer satisfaction constantly and always looks at ways to enhance their experience,” says Al Mazemi, GM of Distribution at the Middle East office. “The ’8-minute teller service guarantee’ is a result of our continuous investment in improving our infrastructure and capabilities in the UAE.”

Continuous investment in improving capabilities in the UAE, they say. Well the bank has been operating in the country since 1958 so an improvement is overdue.