Published on March 20, 2018
TBExG, with help from Tata Sons MENA, conducted a Learning Mission to world class companies and government organisations in the UAE from March 12 to 15, 2018. The organisations that shared some of their practices included Dubai Future Foundation, Dubai Expo 2020, Dubai Multi Commodities Centre (DMCC), LuLu Group, Emirates Airlines and DP World. 28 senior delegates from 16 Tata companies were part of this Learning Mission.
The Learning Mission started with the quarterly review meeting of TNF - MENA (Middle East and North Africa). Sunil Sinha, Resident Director, MENA, Tata Sons and Chairman, TNF - MENA, welcomed the participants and set the tone for the meeting. S Padmanabhan, Group CHRO, Tata Sons, shared with the participants on how the TNFs are playing an important role in learning and sharing across the group and also briefed them on the interventions under the Tata Best Practices Programme with an emphasis on Learning Missions. Later, Richard Rekhy, Former CEO, KPMG India; Vikas Papriwal and Farhan Syed of KPMG Lower Gulf, discussed GCC landscape, key innovations and technological priorities for UAE. Subsequently, Sorana Parvulescu, Partner, Control Risks, elaborated on her thoughts about the geo-political outlook for the Gulf region. The meeting concluded with Rahul Srivastava, Consul from Consulate General of India in Dubai, sharing his impressions about the business scenario under the renewed India - UAE relationship.
In the afternoon, delegates were taken on a tour of Dubai Future Accelerators. It is an intensive 9-week programme pairing the world’s most exciting technology companies with leading government organisations to create transformational solutions.
Day 2 was an exciting session at Emirates Airlines. A learning tour to Emirates Airlines was undertaken where representatives from Emirates Airlines shared with the delegates best practices related to cost management and human resource management. Later, the delegates visited the Innovation Lab and understood how Emirates is encouraging open innovations with participation from a cross section of employees.
Post-lunch, Jayant Balan, COO, Voltas IOBG, took the delegates to visit Dubai Expo 2020 where they met H.E. Reem Al Hashimi, Cabinet Minister and Minister of State for International Cooperation and CEO of Dubai EXPO 2020 and other officials who briefed them about the objectives and thought process behind the Expo. Through various interactions with the Expo 2020 officials, the delegates got an opportunity to understand the complex project management approaches as well the large-scale supply chain management processes.
Day 3 began with a visit to DP World. The delegates undertook a tour of port terminal 3. This was followed by a series of presentations at Wheelhouse Terminal 1 by Dubai Trade Association, JAFZA, Parks, Logistics & Economic and DP World. In the second half, the group moved to DMCC for a series of meetings, discussions and presentations.
The last day was dedicated to a series of interaction with officials of the Lulu group to understand more about their retail operations. The delegates also got a chance to visit one of the LuLu Hypermarkets to watch the practices in action.
The Learning Mission concluded with H.E. Navdeep Singh Suri, Ambassador of India to the UAE, after which the delegates paid a visit to the Abu Dhabi Grand Mosque.
The Learning Mission not only gave the delegates an insight into the way organisations internationally operate, but also enlightened them about the way forward towards achieving business excellence. The participants took away with them a sense of how global business would be shaping up in the days to come. It was a fabulous and exciting experience for them!
To learn more about the initiative, visit: https://www.tatabex.com/best-practices/learning-missions or contact Devraj Chattaraj at dchattaraj@tata.com