Service Areas
Strategy and Planning
Program Development and Implementation
Organizational Effectiveness
Performance Management and Evaluation
Partnership Services
Business Process Outsourcing
Specializations
Education and National Skills Systems
Entrepreneurship
Cultural Development
Corporate Responsibility
How Skills Surveys Can More Effectively Identify Workforce Skills Gaps
Through a multicountry review of skills surveys, we propose an alternative approach to establishment skills surveys that can play a more effective role in determining how workforce skills influence achievement of firm business objectives in the Arab World.
Using Social Networking for Change
We see IT as an important enabler for regional development, and we have worked with global technology leaders such as Intel and Microsoft to deepen the impact of regional development programs leveraging technology.
A Regional Institution for Improving the Quality of Education
There are many opportunities for synergies through cooperation between regional education quality programs as well as clear areas of overlap which can benefit from consolidation.
Using Awards Effectively for Social Change
Many award programs in the region focus on large monetary sums to award best practices. We argue that money is not enough, and award programs should reinforce social change through knowledge diffusion, network building initiatives, and follow on training to maximize social impact.
Increasing Female Labor Market Participation With Scholarships
In several countries in the Arab World, women face significant obstacles to obtaining higher education and entering the workforce. We propose an e-Scholarships for Women Initiative to mitigate access, equality, and labor participation challenges.
Strategy and Planning
Program Development and Implementation
Organizational Effectiveness
Performance Management and Evaluation
Partnership Services
Business Process Outsourcing
Specializations
Education and National Skills Systems
Entrepreneurship
Cultural Development
Corporate Responsibility
Our Thinking
How Skills Surveys Can More Effectively Identify Workforce Skills GapsThrough a multicountry review of skills surveys, we propose an alternative approach to establishment skills surveys that can play a more effective role in determining how workforce skills influence achievement of firm business objectives in the Arab World.
Using Social Networking for ChangeWe see IT as an important enabler for regional development, and we have worked with global technology leaders such as Intel and Microsoft to deepen the impact of regional development programs leveraging technology.
A Regional Institution for Improving the Quality of EducationThere are many opportunities for synergies through cooperation between regional education quality programs as well as clear areas of overlap which can benefit from consolidation.
Using Awards Effectively for Social ChangeMany award programs in the region focus on large monetary sums to award best practices. We argue that money is not enough, and award programs should reinforce social change through knowledge diffusion, network building initiatives, and follow on training to maximize social impact.
Increasing Female Labor Market Participation With ScholarshipsIn several countries in the Arab World, women face significant obstacles to obtaining higher education and entering the workforce. We propose an e-Scholarships for Women Initiative to mitigate access, equality, and labor participation challenges.
Education and
National Skills
Systems
- We perceive skills formation as a political and economic goal in which government intervention is warranted to align skills development with broader economic development, business, and social measures. We take a multidisciplinary perspective that views the formal education and training system as critically important, but that also acknowledges the relationships between governments, educational systems, labor markets, and firms to generate demand for skills.
Our Capabilities
Strategic Planning to Enhance Skills for Knowledge-based Development• Developing performance-oriented, rather than expansion focused national education strategies to improve quality, increase performance, and assure student marketability
• Conducting national skills assessments to align education and training systems with economic development plans
• Forming partnerships between the private sector and higher education institutions to provide experiential skills building: Internship programs, Joint advisory boards composed of higher education institutions and industry leaders, Executive in Residence programs, Project-based research sponsored by companies, R&D centers built with active involvement of the business community
• Building and strengthening linkages between components of the R&D continuum including educational systems, research institutions, funding institutions, and professional societies
• Developing governance mechanisms for policy guidelines, monitoring the workforce supply and requirements, channeling funds, and ensuring coordinationProgram Development to Enhance Skills for Knowledge-based Development• Determining and prioritizing needs for the different types of TVET
• Building the capacity of university based career centers including leveraging technology to improve service delivery
• Developing scholarship programs aimed at increasing enrollment in courses suitable for employment in knowledge-based industries
• Encouraging joint approaches to workforce development that share the responsibility between government and business such as training subsidies or grants
• Fostering cooperation of education and training institutions, the business community, and governments to provide individuals with gainful, rewarding employment as well as firms obtaining the skills in the quantity and quality required
• Creating University-Industry Linkages that increase the marketability of outgoing graduatesEducation and National Skills Systems Performance Management and Evaluation• Developing and deploying national workforce skills surveys that diagnose current skill levels and key gaps against economic development strategies
• Conducting studies on workforce needs and assessing the gap between education output and requirements
• Instituting performance management frameworks for monitoring system performance that aligns ministry and sector strategies with the development goals
• Developing policy-based key performance indicators to measure system performance and the effectiveness of education and training system interventions in terms of achieving academic, social, and economic outcomes
Monitoring and Evaluating National Employment and Career Management Centers at Arab Universities In this webinar, we discuss how to monitor and evaluate national career centers and career centers at Arab universities to appraise their performance in helping Arab youth access employment. National employment agencies and career management centers exist in part to help youth circumvent the many barriers they face in obtaining employment in the Arab World.
Female Access to Technical Vocational Education and Training and Labor market Outcomes in Qatar While Qatar has extensively reformed other educational levels over the past several decades, TVET has not been a significant focus. Though the need for expanded TVET pathways was recognized as early as the 1940s when Qatar began exporting oil, dedicated TVET institutions began to emerge only in the 1990s. Female enrollment in tertiary TVET programs is lower than all other Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries except Saudi Arabia.
A Conceptual Model of National Skills Formation for Knowledge-based Economic Development in the Arab World There is currently no accepted general framework to analyze national skills development systems, and this has resulted in countries adopting reactive approaches to skills development problems. The conceptual framework advanced in this paper is an integrated, systemic view of national skills formation systems guided by government intervention in light of rampant failures of skills formation approaches that rely exclusively upon market mechanisms.
Arab World Higher Education Situation Analysis and Options Multiple global external trends are shaping the future and will have major implications on higher education in the Arab World. These are our views on the most important issues and what needs to be done.
Arab World Research and R&D Situation Analysis and Options Research in the Arab World is facing several challenges starting from its underlying environment through to demand and consumption. Here are our thoughts on the core issues and potential solutions.
How Skills Gaps Impact Firm Performance in the Arab World In the Arab World, there is a poor match between regional human capital and the skills demanded by employers. This analysis applies international research to the case of the Arab World to determine the operational impacts of skills gaps on Arab companies.
Knowledge-Based Economic Development in a Post-Awakening Arab World In pursuing knowledge-based economic development, many countries in the region have made large state-driven human capital investments with the goals of job creation, economic integration, economic diversification, environmental sustainability, and social development. An assessment of the effectiveness of Arab investments in human capital shows marginal progress over the last decade.
How Skills Surveys Can More Effectively Identify Workforce Skills Gaps Through a multicountry review of skills surveys, we propose an alternative approach to establishment skills surveys that can play a more effective role in determining how workforce skills influence achievement of firm business objectives in the Arab World.- Below are a few examples of our recent work:
• Developed strategies in higher education and R&D which formed the basis for a large regional foundation’s work • Conducted an extensive assessment of a $10 million regional scholarship program to determine value and impacts and suggest ways to increase effectiveness • For a key regional donor, developed a strategic implementation plan to consolidate emerging and established educational quality initiatives into an integrated regional quality institute • Developed and implemented a partnership strategy for the establishment of the e-Scholarships for Women Initiative, a program that will provide support for Arab women to enroll in the region's first accredited online bachelors of business degree
• Developed a comprehensive directory of 800+ Arab universities in 22 countries• Developed a youth reading incentive program to encourage lifelong reading, reinforce reading in Arabic, and embed reading as a core family value for an Arab government organization • Designed a talent Program to recognize academically gifted students and provide them with programming to support their development with educational and development opportunities • Designed and deployed an extensive scholarship tracer study for a regional scholarship program to determine the performance of their graduates and how the program had impacted recipients, institutions, and regional economies. The analysis culminated with conclusions and recommendations for enhancing program effectiveness • Developed a performance management framework for the K-12 education system that aligns ministry and sector strategies with the development goals established by the Qatar National Development Strategy 2011-2016 and the Qatar National Vision 2030 • Designed a turn-key, online career services management solution for career services staff, vocational/technical training providers, students, and employers to support university-based career services. The platform offers a one-stop integrated solution for management of: job postings, employers, students, interview scheduling, placements, room management, web resume books, career fairs, alumni networking, calendaring, and communications • Formed a partnership with Hewitt Associates to conduct the first-ever Best Employer in the Middle East survey, the largest employee research project ever conducted in the Arab region which drew participation from 200 senior business leaders in 8 countries
