ME PoV Fall 2015 issue

About this issue

The essential idea of “home” is a nuance that wafts through this issue of Middle East Point of View, in both senses of identity and space, in the macro and microeconomic sense and in the literal and figurative sense.

In some of the articles included, it is the notion of bringing the outside in, of importing ideas and growing them locally that is considered, while in others, it is about improving one’s environment and making it an even better place.

In Going local and Mixin’ it up asset management products and the commercialization of sports venues, respectively, are notions that are imported and then homegrown. A similar idea runs through the article on accrual accounting in which they offer a perspective on the subject for Arab countries.

Big Data, mining a national resource is also about using a local resource, data, to support governments in their national vision. In Living in perfect harmony, it is, in contrast, a notion exported from the Arab world, that of Islamic banking, that is under scrutiny. say that despite the substantial growth of the sector in recent years, it would benefit from a more consistent and harmonized approach in order to penetrate global markets.

In Journey to Excellence the concept of improving one’s space is examined through their article on excellence standards and e-initiatives that “have improved service quality [and] customer experience.” Similarly, in Electric vehicles: is Saudi Arabia plugged in the authors suggest that the Kingdom would not only benefit the environment by extending their energy consumption strategy to the transport sector, but that it would also help in creating jobs.

As social media becomes the new standard, companies need to learn how to attract and use that power for their own benefit, in her article Like it or not, here I am. In trying to harness the people power of “Social,” company leaders to ask not “how social are my employees” but how “social is my company?” Talking of which, make sure not to miss us on all the social networks to stay updated on the hot issues making the business rounds in the region.

Click the link on the left to access the Summer 2015 issue. Alternatively, you can read each article separately by clicking below.

Going local

International as well as local asset managers have recognized the importance of the region in terms of potential asset collection and have started to increase their local activities over the past decade.

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Living in perfect harmony

Despite its substantial growth in recent years, Islamic banking is facing challenges when it comes to deeper global market penetration.

The solution, say these authors, is more consistency and harmonization.

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Mixin’ it up

Sports venue operators have become increasingly creative in their efforts to identify additional revenue streams by capitalizing on the needs of the local community and market. In this article we explore which opportunities are available in the Middle East region and steps to introduce these complementary activities as part of the sports venue’s value proposition.

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Big Data

Improving the government’s ability to extract insights from a large volume of information and complex data sets is also increasingly topping the national agendas of governments in the Middle East

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Like it or not, here I am

We know that social media has changed the way that people think and operate, but what do they seek out of this daily engagement and how can companies harness that drive to their own advantage?

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Journey to Excellence

The public sector has come to be known for its bureaucracy and rigidity. However some government entities have proven their agility and ability to effectively manage change.

In fact, they respond in an effective and efficient manner to opportunities and threats and are able to adapt to increasingly demanding citizens.

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Accrual accounting is for the public sector too

A perspective for Arab central governments

Over the past decade central governments in various countries around the world have adopted or are implementing accrual accounting, moving from their legacy cash or modified cash basis of accounting. 

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