Over 900 students and young professional participant in the third edition of the UAE Global Management Challenge

Under the Patronage of H.H Sheikh Mansoor bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum

• Unprecedented interest from UAE nationals comprising 40% of the total participants
• Winning team to represent UAE at Macau international final in April 2016

Dubai, United Arab Emirates, February 4, 2016. Global Management Challenge, the world’s largest strategy and management competition for students and professionals, has announced that its 2016 UAE edition will be contested by over 900 participants setting a new record for the event which this year is held under the Patronage of H.H Sheikh Mansoor bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum.

This is a strategic educational initiative sponsored exclusively by Al-Futtaim Automtotive, the region’s leading representative of auto brands currently operating in 14 countries across the Middle East, Africa and Asia. Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Foundation (MBRF) is the primary knowledge partner.

The launch event held recently at the Intercontinental Hotel, Dubai Festival City, was attended by over 350 participants, senior government dignitaries, academic, strategic partners, senior Al-Futtaim Automotive directors all with a shared vision of ‘shaping tomorrows leaders’.

The registration period of this year’s edition witnessed unprecedented interest from UAE nationals in particular with over 365 Emiratis taking part, which is an increase of over 1,300% compared to last year’s event.

His Excellency Jamal bin Huwaireb, Managing Director of MBRF, expressed delight in the Foundation’s partnership with Al-Futtaim Automotive to sponsor the Global Management Challenge 2016 Competition. “The cooperation is in line with the directives of our wise leadership to encourage innovation in all areas to achieve sustainable development. The Global Management Challenge Competition is aligned with the strategic objectives of the Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Foundation to build a promising generation of future leaders capable of taking forward our communities on the development path at levels,” HE Bin Huwaireb said.

Over 30,000 people from more than 30 countries participate every year in the Global Management Challenge which is based on a business environment simulation that mirrors a typical manufacturing and trading company. This is open to university students and young professionals organised in teams of three to five members managing a virtual company as its senior management.

Len Hunt, President Al-Futtaim Automotive, said: “Through this experiential learning initiative, we are supporting the UAE’s national agenda by offering a platform which bridges the gap between university theory and professional practice helping graduates compete in a highly realistic simulated market environment.

Supporting homegrown talent is as important as developing state-of-the-art infrastructure. And for homegrown companies such as Al-Futtaim, the development of talent that is deeply-rooted in the country is an aspect of massive importance to the long-term success and sustainability of the business.”

The UAE competition has a strong focus on experiential learning as participants ‘learn by doing’, developing skills such as leadership, teamwork, communication, time management, forecasting and much more. Teams have to react to various challenges by inputting data into a software programme with the aim of maximizing investment performance.

Abdulrahman Saqr, Director Human Resources Al-Futtaim Automotive, said: “As a company which is integrally linked with the nation’s DNA, our mission is very clear; we always seek to attract, engage, develop and retain national and expat talent and promote the UAE government’s Emiratisation strategy. In fact we remain strong advocates of nationalization in every GCC country we operate in. So the Global Management Challenge provides Al-Futtaim Automotive with a solid innovative platform for talent engagement here at home today and also elsewhere in the region in the future.”

The first round of the competition started on the day of the launch event and will last five weeks. Registered teams are placed in groups comprising up to eight teams per group with the winning team or teams in each group proceeding to the 2nd Round which lasts for three weeks. The winning team in each group of the 2nd Round proceeds to the UAE final to be held on March 12th 2016 which determines the UAE champion that will go on to represent the nation at the international final in Macau.

To reinforce the core value of ‘learning by doing’ which is an integral pillar of the Global Management Challenge, Al-Futtaim Automotive will provide specialist Masterclasses and will leverage some of their existing partners to provide a global ‘best practice’ trip that demonstrate high levels of excellence. This learning experience entails a visit to a prestigious university and a globally recognized automotive brand for targeted and immersive sessions designed to improve understanding of business processes, challenges and opportunities within real life environments leading to globally recognized industry benchmarks.