The University of Manchester Middle East Centre has hosted a series of Masterclasses in Dubai that were free and open to the public. Each Masterclass was delivered by a leading academic from the university and offered an MBA-style classroom experience. The series of three Masterclasses provided attendees with the opportunity to learn more about a diverse range of business subjects, from negotiation skills to service design, and disruptive technologies and business model innovation.
The Masterclasses
Negotiation Skills: Just how important are they?
Professor Malcolm Smith (SEE ABOVE)
Failures & Service Design - Professor Paul Taaffe
All great service companies have a clear compelling service strategy for bringing value to their customers. Yet, it's not unusual, for example, for airlines to misplace and lose luggage or to turn away paying customers because of overbooking. The newspapers are often full of headlines and stories from angry and disappointed customers. The Masterclass focused on operations and examined the missing links, the implications of poor service design, and the financial implications of failures when operations fail to meet their customers’ expectations.
Disruptive Technologies and Business Model Innovation - Oswaldo Lorenzo is a Visiting Professor at Alliance Manchester Business School
The study of business models is not new but new technologies now have the capacity to disrupt and may change broad consumer behaviour. There are winners and losers. This Masterclass looked at the phenomenon of disruption in action, and reflect on the exponential growth of IT and its potential impact on businesses models.
Randa Bessiso, Director - Middle East: “The University of Manchester Middle East Centre’s Masterclasses are presented by leading teaching faculty who are also practitioners in their areas. The Masterclasses provide insights, as well as a taste of the MBA learning experience, and are part of our commitment to sharing our knowledge for the benefit of the community.”