Gulf companies limiting strategic choices

Michael Porter is the man top global companies including Nokia, Ford, Unilever, Visa, 3Com, Oracle, Glaxosmithkline, BASF, British Airways and others have turned to when they needed to learn more about competitive strategy. He is top of the Accenture Institute for Strategic Change list of the top 50 business thinkers and writers alive today and the world's most influential business school academic.

Porter is to deliver his verdict on the Gulf during a one-day, high-level executive programme on Global Competitive Strategy in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

A Harvard Business School Professor, Porter has been looking at:
- What determines economic policy in the Gulf
- Clusters and competitive successes among Gulf companies
- Economic challenges facing Gulf states
- The need for improvement in the business environment at regional and state level
- How Gulf companies can 'internationalise'
- An economic agenda for the Gulf states

The event is unmissable for companies who want to avoid abandoning or neglecting competitive strategy on grounds of difficulty or inflexibility.

Those who have listened to Michael Porter have been consistently impressed by the clarity of his thinking and ability to translate theory into real life examples.

Kevin Coyne, director of global business consultants McKinsey & Co., is clear about the importance of Porter's visit: "Porter is the single most important strategist working today, and maybe of all time," he said.

As well as lecturing on strategy, Porter created and leads a workshop for newly-appointed chief executive officers of multi-billion dollar corporations. He is also the author of 16 books and more than 85 articles. He advises on competitive strategy to many international companies including Credit Suisse First Boston, DuPont, Navistar, Procter & Gamble and Royal Dutch Shell.

Porter is being brought to Dubai on May 7,2003, by the Middle East offices of the Institute for International Research (IIR) in association with event organisers Leading Minds.

Jessica Sutherland, general manager of IIR in Dubai, said: "Michael Porter will show delegates how having a strategy in times of rapid and continuous change improves a company's ability to deal with change. He will also show how companies can find the balance between the time consuming stage of defining a strategy and the need to remain reactive.

"Quite simply, he will crystallise for Gulf companies where they are at, and where they should be heading."