JEDDAH, 30 March 2005 — The Third Management Forum began yesterday at the Jeddah Hilton with the focus on change. The two-day forum, “Change Management & Development Requirements in Management — Toward an Effective Changeable Management,” aims at introducing the scientific advancements that have occurred in the management field, a matter which has been moving the management world and changing its philosophies and bases.
Organized by the Saudi Management Association (SMA) under the auspices of Prince Abdul Majeed, governor of Makkah region, and with the sponsorship of the Human Resources Development Fund, the forum addresses all subjects pertaining to change management, adequate environment and the way of adopting the change and adapting to it. In addition to the participation of local and international experienced professionals and academicians in the lectures and workshops, there is also an exhibition where a number of intellectual and scientific production foundations, management development concerned bodies and the private sector’s firms are taking part.
The forum covers five basic issues dealing with changes in work and life that influence management such as changes in technology and in the investment environment as well as changes in the role of the private sector and the government and changes in management theories and approaches. “Change is needed in order to be in step with modern requirements and we are focusing on managing change because of local and international economic changes taking place,”said Nayla Attar, in charge of organizing the exhibition and a member of the SMA, to Arab News. Women’s presence was evident as around 200 attended the first day. On the men’s side, attendance was also considerable, perhaps 400.
Most of those attending were professors and graduate students and some businessmen and women from everywhere in the Kingdom. Asked about women’s roles in the changes in management, Dr. Asma Bahurmuz, chairperson of the women’s organizing committee, told Arab News that it is not about men or women; the issue is how to manage change from a management point of view as a person introducing change or being affected by change. “Women have participated in management and influencing managerial decisions but now, maybe women to a certain extent are becoming more involved and more visible,” she said.
Among the topics discussed on the first day was the restructuring of organizations from a pyramid-shaped organizational structure to a decentralized structure where there is more networking between the departments and changes in technology made networking possible and easier. Another change discussed was a move toward privatization and how that is changing management in the private sector and the public sector. Obstacles remain on the road to privatization, according to the speaker Dr. Abdul Rahman Al-Homaidi. Among them are the need to liberalize pricing, increase competition, to set up specialized commercial courts and to liberalize the financial and monetary system. Other presentations addressed the importance of investing in human resources and encouraging their participation in the decision making process. Changes in administrative thinking, social culture, leadership style, marketing strategy and education were also addressed.