Innovative management practices that mirror regional needs taking centre stage say industry experts

When Business Week conducted an analysis of the top 50 companies in the world to find what made them successful, it was encapsulated in a single key success factor - innovation.

The forum will focus on proven innovative strategies, theories and case studies currently being used across the globe. The three day Management Innovation Forum includes a full day workshop with Tom Peters on 'Revolution Now - Innovation: Not an option but a prerequisite.'

According to Ali Ibrahim, Deputy Manager at the Dubai Economic Development Department, innovation is becoming a necessity in the changing regional business environment. "The earlier replications of Western management models do not work alone any longer. As markets get increasingly competitive, companies are rethinking strategies using innovation as a platform to suit customer needs. The Dubai Economic Development Department has found a noticeable change especially among the recent entrants into the market. They are looking to integrate new methods of practice and management, be it outsourcing or new technology, to create business models that fit within the regional perspective." he said.

"Innovation is in full throttle within the real estate sector," says Abdul Aziz Linjawi, chairman of Manchester Real Estate. "Companies are adopting unique promotional strategies rarely evident in other parts of the world. These are being tailored in keeping
with the cultural ethos and business needs of the region. The region has large number family-owned businesses, who have successfully adapted innovative management practices international innovative management practices from around the world and added to them. We cannot blindly copy other markets as this region has diverse needs and innovation within these parameters is the only viable solution."

"Choosing the best approach for innovation - incremental or disruptive, open or
closed, driven by corporate or driven by the business unit - can be very difficult and threaten the corporate culture. The Management Innovation Forum is about reinventing business processes and entirely new markets. It all about providing workable insights and solutions to corporate organizations built on processes and procedures and motivating them to embrace creativity and diversity," said Alan Kelly, Event Director.

Dr Nancy T Snyder, is a key speaker at the forum. She is Corporate President, Strategic Competency Creation Whirlpool. Other speakers at the forum include Tom Kelley, Managing Director of IDEO, and developer of hundreds of innovative products including the Palm hand-held. Kip Knight, who is Vice President Marketing, eBay, North America and Renée Mauborgne, author of 'Blue Ocean Strategy.' Renée is one the world's pre-eminent experts on business strategy, innovation and wealth creation in the knowledge economy.

The Management Innovation Forum is the first time event for the organisers of Leaders In Dubai Business Forum, the largest annual meeting and networking occasion of successful like-minded individuals in the region. It will encourage regional directors and managers across all areas of business to innovate on a global scale, allowing companies to think differently, and bring their innovations and ideas to the world.

Delegates will focus on how innovation must become the core of business in areas including strategy, profit growth and marketing. Key topics at the forum include 'How disruptive change has become the new paradigm for business,' and 'Why companies often look for growth in the wrong areas.'