Homework answers / question archive / please solve these case studiescase incident 1 Reshaping the Dubai Model In early 2013, analysts were warning that Dubai was suffering from the global downturn

please solve these case studiescase incident 1 Reshaping the Dubai Model In early 2013, analysts were warning that Dubai was suffering from the global downturn

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please solve these case studiescase incident 1 Reshaping the Dubai Model

In early 2013, analysts were warning that Dubai was suffering

from the global downturn. Managers and employees

across all sectors were worrying about their jobs. Property

owners were seeing spectacular falls in the value of their

investments. Dubai had been renowned for its extravagant

projects and schemes. What had been seen as a glowing

example of growth and prosperity was now being cited as

an example of a country in crisis management. Dubai's

debt burden had reached US $100 billion.

Dubai has always been a magnet for investors. It went

tax-free at the beginning of the twentieth century, but by

the 1960s, oil revenue funded huge infrastructure projects.

Dubai does not have significant oil reserves, so the

focus has been on commerce, tourism, and aviation. To

some extent it has embraced western lifestyles and courted

multi-nationals. While the UAE as a whole, with its

rich reserves of oil, had the capacity to ride out the global

downturn, Dubai itself would need a radical rethink.

The rethink would come in the shape of new leadership.

Out went the ambition to be the regional hub for

2 billion people. Just nine years before, Dubai had been able

to confidently state that investors in Dubai would see greater

returns on their capital (then around 18 per cent) than leaving

their funds in the bank. Dubai could boast that no one

who had invested in the city had ever gone bankrupt.

Key decision makers like Sultan bin Sulayem, Chairman

of Dubai World; Mohammed al-Gergawi, Chairman

of Dubai Holdings; and Mohammed Alabbar, Chairman of

Emaar Properties, all lost influence. New, more conservative

decision-makers were on the rise, such as Mohammed

al-Shaibani, Ahmed al-Tayer, and Abdulrahman al-Saleh.

The new decision-makers already had a reputation for

careful mergers and acquisitions, cost-cutting exercises

and dealing with financial problems.

The "new" men are a combination of close advisers

to the ruler, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum,

members of old merchant families and, above all, more

conservative in their financial approach.

Questions

13-14. How would you prioritize and delegate the tasks of

the new key decisions-makers in Dubai?

13-15. Control of decision-making and financial expenditure

was the root cause of the debt situation in

Dubai. Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum

has delegated to people who can make decisions

on his behalf. Would a more "hands on"

approach be more effective, or would this hinder

progress?

13-16. Abu Dhabi provides much of the funding for the

UAE central bank. They have bankrolled Dubai at

cost in terms of political and economic freedom.

To what extent do you think Dubai is losing its

ability to make its own decisions?

 

 

 

case incident 2 Leadership Traits

Researchers have been interested in leadership traits for

over a century. Hundreds of studies have been conducted,

resulting in a basic consensus on leadership traits or characteristics

that separate leaders from non-leaders. Today,

among the key traits we often attribute to leaders, determination

is one that can be seen in many who are influential

and successful.

The 19th century German philosopher Frederick

Nietzsche's maxim "That which does not kill us, makes

us stronger" can be applied to leaders of organizations

today. British Prime Minister Winston Churchill offered

slightly different advice to the students in his commencement

speech at the Harrow School on October 29, 1941,

when he said, "Never give in, never, never, never, never—

in nothing, great or small, large or petty—never give in

except to convictions of honor and good sense. Never

yield to force; never yield to the apparently overwhelming

might of the enemy." Antonio Horta-Osorio, the

Portuguese banker who became CEO of Santander UK

in 2006 and assumed the helm of Lloyds Banking Group

in March, 2011, demonstrates the kind of attitude that

Churchill's speech describes. Horta-Osorio encountered

serious personal problems that led the board to

grant him a sabbatical from his leadership position at

the bank. An avid tennis player, a scuba diver who routinely

encountered sharks, and a 12-hour-a-day banker,

Horta-Osorio had been in his position at Lloyds for just

eight months when he was granted a medical leave of absence

to recover from insomnia and exhaustion, which

were symptoms of stress. Confidential sources speculated

that he was unable to meet the demands of the

position—turning around a bank in trouble—and his

inexperience in leading a large complex bank brought

about his medical problems. Some financial pundits

believed that he would never recover sufficiently to resume

his leadership at the bank. However, on January 9,

2012, some two months later, Horta-Osorio proved them

wrong. By his account, during his recovery process, he

reflected on the experience and learned that all people

are human with strengths and weaknesses. Furthermore,

since his return to the bank, he has managed to

strengthen the bank's position in the industry showing

as a top performer among major British banks.

Horta-Osorio's persistence, in combination with

other leadership traits, enabled him to succeed where

non-leaders may not have. After getting a "reality check"

on his personal and mental health, he persevered, developed

his strategy, remained focused and spirited, and

called on others for support, rather than succumb to the

negativism of naysayers.

Questions

12-16. What leadership traits does Antonio Hotra-Osorio

demonstrate as a result of his ability to resume his

role at Lloyds Bank after such a personal issue?

12-17. Are there other examples of leaders who have

been able to overcome such adversity? Who are

they? Did they approach the problem as Hotra-

Osorio did?

12-18. To what degree is it possible to develop leadership

traits? Are they innate? What are some ways one

can develop persistence?