Region's political stability is affecting corporate Arabia

The survey, issued by the international leadership summit Leaders in Dubai, and carried online through the Leaders in Dubai website, www.leadersindubai.com, as well as www.alarabiya.net, the news portal for the Arabic news channel Al Arabiya, and on AME Info.

In the survey, which targeted the English and Arabic business community, 63 per cent of respondents pointed to political instability and international perception of the region as the principal external factors affecting leaders in Arabia today.

Turning to internal factors affecting leaders: nearly 35 per cent of respondents stated that the single biggest factor was recruitment and succession planning, with more than 20 per cent nominating corporate transparency.

Tina Schneidermann, CEO of Leading Minds, the organisers of Leaders in Dubai, acknowledged that some of the questions raised by the survey had not been asked in a public forum in Arabia.

'We were delighted that respondents were so honest in their responses, and the answers were surprisingly consistent over the countries of the GCC and from both Arab and expatriate executives.

'The issues of international perception of the Middle East will inevitably be a topic for discussion at Leaders in Dubai, as will the need for more traditional businesses in Arabia to realign their corporate structures in response to the need for more openness in business. This is particularly true as we see a record number of regional companies choose the IPO listing route for the future.'

Respondents were asked to answer where the best business leaders can be found, with the vast majority naming the private sector, ahead of public sector or NGOs.

Almost 50 per cent said the best leaders were executives who had made their way up from the grass routes of a company; 90 per cent of respondents said that men make the best leaders.

Emirates Airline was the most admired company in the Middle East, followed by Emaar, Saudi Aramco and Dubai Holding.

His Highness General Sheikh Mohammed, Crown Prince of Dubai and UAE Minister of Defence, has been voted the most admired leader in Arabia, with almost 40 per cent of the votes cast.

Three late regional leaders appeared prominently in the votes cast: the UAE President, HH Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan; King Fahd of Saudi Arabia; and the former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri.

Other leaders to be named were King Abdullah of Jordan; Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, owner of Kingdom Holdings; and Mohamed Al Alabbar, chairman of Emaar Properties.

Participants were also invited to grade their company in terms of transparency, employee empowerment, ethics, best practice processes and non-discrimination.

In addition, they are asked to comment on the responsibilities of leaders, the role of government in Corporate Arabia and statements such as 'you cannot be a good corporate citizen and still maximise profits' - 69 per cent disagreed with this statement.

The most important factors defining corporate social responsibility in Arabia were: the best interests of the community (36 per cent), ethics in business (27 per cent), and accountability (21 per cent).

Almost 30 per cent said that the internet and better communications were the biggest factor driving globalisation, followed by technical advances (19 per cent), the media at 18 per cent, free trade agreements (14 per cent), and 'American imperialism' at 11 per cent.

A narrow majority agreed with the statement that cultural diversity was dying out because of globalisation (47 per cent against 44 per cent that disagreed). More than half (55 per cent) disagreed with 'globalisation can only be considered a positive thing (30 per cent agreed with the statement).

The greatest responsibility of a leader is to build a knowledge economy (29 per cent), with vision named a close second (27 per cent).

When asked what attributes were a leader's greatest flaw, the top attribute was a dictatorial style of leadership, followed by the pursuit of power and the inability to listen.

A leader's greatest attribute, in contrast, was vision (33 per cent of votes), followed by the ability to make things happen.

The results will form the basis of debate at Leaders in Dubai, to be held on November 28 - 29.

Nine business and political headline names, including Mikhail Gorbachev, former leader of the Soviet Union, and former American President Bill Clinton (via video cast) will take part in the debate on leadership best practices.

Speaking at the event are:


• Mikhail Gorbachev, the last leader of the former Soviet Union and winner of the 1990 Nobel Peace Prize

• Bill Clinton (via videocast), former President of the USA from 1993 - 2001

• Madeleine Albright, the first female Secretary of State in the USA and a director of the New York Stock Exchange

• Dr Mahathir bin Mohamad, former Prime Minister of Malaysia from 1981 - 2003

• Daniel Pink, the author of Free Agent Nation, the Washington Post bestseller, who will suggest six aptitudes crucial to the survival of white-collar workers

• Kenichi Ohmae, the former director of McKinsey Japan, who has earned global acclaim as 'Mr Strategy'

• Arie de Geus, who was at the helm of Royal Dutch Shell for 40 years and has been described as 'the global statesman' of business change

• Spencer Johnson, the author of the bestsellers Who Moved My Cheese and The One-Minute Manager

• Scott Bedbury, one of the world's leading brand architects, responsible for Nike's Just Do It campaign and the emergence of the Starbucks brand

Regional business leaders - the Leaders in Dubai corporate alumni - have confirmed their support for the event. They include: HE Sheikh Faisal Al Qassemi, founder of the Al Qasimi Group; Nabila Al Anjari, Assistant Under-Secretary for Tourism Affairs in Kuwait; Aramex's President and CEO Fadi Ghandour; former Lebanese minister of national economy Saeb Jaroudi; Bharat Jashanmal, of the GCC retail corporation Jashanmal & Sons; Khamis Al Muqla, founder and chairman of Gulf Hill & Knowlton and Gulf Saatchi & Saatchi; Lebanese industrialist Jacques Sarraf; veteran hotelier Sami Zoghbi, regional head of Le Meridien Hotels & Resorts; and Saudi industrialist Abdulla al Zamil.

Leaders in Dubai is expected to attract more than 2,000 business leaders from across Arabia and will be held at Madinat Jumeirah, Dubai, from November 28 to 29, 2005.

Delegate prices for the full two-day summit are US $2,995 per person; corporate booking and prices are available through www.leadersindubai.com or email info@leadersindubai.com

Headline sponsors are the international names Citigroup, EMAAR, Mastercard, Nokia and Saudi Oger Ltd.

CNN is confirmed as the international media partner, with Al Arabiya News Channel as headline media partner. Media sponsors are Al Hayat, AME Info, Gulf Business, Gulf News and Oman Economic Review.

LEADING MINDS, part of the international conference organisers IIR, is a company specialising in presenting the latest thoughts and groundbreaking ideas from pre-eminent international business authorities.