This year's Arabian Success 2020 Forum was held on the 28th of October 2019 at  the Waldorf Astoria Palm Jumeirah hotel. Moderated by BBC's Andrew Neil, this event included keynote speakers and panel discussions from experts across a wide range of Middle East companies and sectors. It gave attendees practical insight on how to be successful in 2020 and how to grow Middle Eastern brands into global brand ambassadors for local products and culture. 

The last question for Panel #1: Turning The Corner - The Key Steps To Successfully Restructuring Your Company looked at the top ways to ensure your company can reach for success in this current climate.

QUESTION: WHAT DOES SUCCESS IN 2020 LOOK LIKE?

Earlier this month the International Monetary Fund (IMF) reduced global growth forecasts by 0.2% to 3% for 2019 and by 0.1% to 3.4% for 2020. For our region, the forecast for growth is at 2.5% for 2020, which is lower than what was originally forecast. Why? 

  • The overall environment that companies operate in is much tougher.
  • Geopolitical tensions.
  • Drop in oil prices over the last few years.

This means that we have to reconsider what success in the future looks like and what it requires from us.

Here are 4 recommendations that the panelists made on the day. 

1. GETTING THE ESSENTIALS RIGHT

A key part of success is ensuring that you and your business get the essentials right. This means ensuring everything at the core of your business is implemented correctly. This includes, but is not limited to:

  • The quality of your products - are they of the highest quality? do they reflect your brand? 
  • The price of your products - does the value reflect the quality? do you have the correct markup? 
  • Consumer service - do you respond to consumers effectively? are you providing them a top-class service? can it be used as a competitive advantage?

2. INVESTING IN TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATIONS 

To ensure you can keep up with your competition and be ready for the future, it's crucial to invest in new technologies and innovations so you can always stay ahead of the curve and have a strong competitive edge. Companies have always used technology as a market differentiator—and the earlier that your business adapts to these changes in your industry, the better.

A fantastic example of this is our company—Biz Group—has recently implemented the Middle East's first multiplayer Virtual Reality Leadership Lab in partnership with Jenson8, to highlight the future of learning and provide a new solution for businesses looking to train their leaders in shorter time frames with Virtual Reality and structured facilitation. We have already received a lot of interest in our Virtual Reality Leadership Lab, with glowing feedback from those that have already participated.

Ingrid, Leadership Training Manager at Emirates said: ''The VR immersion was fantastic - group facilitation afterwards helped to uncover key behaviours which are easily seen in the workplace. It would be interesting to use this in a team assessment scenario. Thanks for the experience.''

You can read more about using Virtual Reality in leadership development here. 


3. DEVELOPING THE ABILITY TO ADAPT TO NEW WAYS OF WORKING 

The world is a different place to what is was back in the early 2000's, and over the years there has been a massive difference in consumer expectations. What does this mean? Well, newer generations (such as millenials) now want to relate on a more human level to brands and have a deeper connection with their products. 

It's important for any established company to be open to new ideas and changes to keep up with trends and ensure they are successful in the years to come. Who knows what will happen in another 10 years?

4. HARVESTING INTELLIGENCE AND KNOWLEDGE

In the era of digitization, information and data is now readily available. Everyone can access and share information at any time, from anywhere with the use of their smart phones. This represents a huge opportunity not only to share knowledge but also to harvest and leverage it to elevate people, communities and businesses making knowledge a shared resource and strength. 

We'd love to hear your feedback and whether you agree with the 4 points. Or alternatively, tell us what you think will constitute to success in the new decade ahead?

Keep learning,

Biz Group