Ivey Collaborates with Waqf Fund to Deliver a 17-Day Leadership Program for Bahraini Professionals

Western University Canada’s Ivey Business School collaborated with Waqf Fund to deliver an exclusive leadership program for Bahraini professionals in November. A group of 37 Bahraini professionals from the Islamic banking industry were chosen to travel to Hong Kong and Toronto to take part in the intensive 17-day program.

The program was created by the Waqf Fund but designed and delivered by Ivey. It was aimed at preparing the next generation of C-suite executives in the Islamic banking industry. According to an article in Trade Arabia, participants worked through real-life case studies focused around leadership, strategy and ethics. They also had an opportunity to learn more about the Chinese business and governance model and the stability exhibited by the Canadian banking model.

The Ivey School was selected as the partner for the program due to its rich case study base and its presence in Asia as well as North America. The school was also chosen based on the quality of its faculty and its commitment to deliver the program content.

“In our evaluation of the quality of human resources the Waqf Fund board determined that the top management in the Islamic finance industry generally needed improvement in three areas—leadership skills, strategic thinking and big picture understanding, and a deeper recognition and understanding of ethical considerations in business,” Waqf Fund Chairman Khalid Hamad said in a statement. “We decided that the middle management of Islamic banks should be groomed through this program in order to prepare them to successfully lead the industry in the future.”

According to the article, the feedback from participants in the program was overwhelmingly positive, and the Waqf Fund is already holding discussions to consider the next steps for participants.

The Waqf Fund has operated in Bahrain since 2006 and has 21 member institutions. It has been instrumental in enhancing standards of Islamic finance training, education and research.

regions: Toronto

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