The Fuqua School of Business is strengthening its ties in the Middle East.
Fuqua announced last month that it is launching the Dubai Duke Leadership Workshop in the United Arab Emirates this December. The workshop is a non-degree executive education program modeled after Fuqua’s Duke Leadership Program currently offered in Durham. The program, which will take place Dec. 13 through 15, is building off of Fuqua’s already established presence in the region, Sim Sitkin, Fuqua professor of management and director of the workshop in Durham, wrote in an email Tuesday.
“The school has determined that the time is right to leverage our experience base and networks in the region,” Sitkin said.
The school has been considering offering executive leadership education in the region since Fuqua established its global strategy in 2008, Sitkin noted, who is also the founding faculty director of Fuqua’s Center on Leadership and Ethics and will also run the workshop in Dubai.
The new workshop will deviate slightly from the Durham program, he added. For example, the UAE workshop will cater to executives from Dubai and the surrounding area, and it will only last three days instead of six. The curriculum will be very similar to the one in Durham, which is based on the “Six Domains” leadership model developed by Sitkin and Allan Lind, James L. Vincent professor of leadership at Fuqua.
“[The workshop] is ideal for anyone with current or anticipated leadership responsibilities,” Patricia McCall, Fuqua regional director for the Middle East, wrote in an email Tuesday. “[Participants range] from high-level executives and managers... to those who are not in management positions but are expected to lead and influence others in the course of their work.”
Last month, Fuqua Dean Bill Boulding proposed a Master’s of Management Studies in Finance also to be offered in Dubai. Faculty is expected to vote on the proposal at next week’s Academic Council meeting.
McCall said Fuqua is “deeply committed” to the Middle East and North Africa because the area is important economically, adding that Fuqua’s global strategy is to create bonds with these areas.
“This approach allows us to understand this region from a local perspective, while also providing a context for how the Middle East fits into the larger global business landscape,” McCall said.
Boulding could not be reached for comment.
Currently, Fuqua students in the Cross-Continent MBA program and the Global Executive MBA program have the opportunity to study in Dubai.
Additionally, Fuqua has several formal partnerships in the UAE—with groups such as the Dubai International Finance Centre, Young Arab Leaders and the Mohammed Bin Rashid Programme for Leadership Development. The new leadership workshop is Fuqua’s first international executive education program, and it might lead to an even greater Fuqua presence in the region, said Valerie Hausman, assistant dean of global business development and executive education.
“We are treating this as a pilot,” Hausman said. “If it’s successful, we will evaluate wether we will expand our programs in Dubai.”
The program framework, based on Sitkin and Lind’s leadership model, is a broad approach to leadership, drawing on many different fields to improve leaders’ skills and establish enduring behaviors in a supportive environment, Sitkin said.
“[The program] crosses industries and functions to provide a framework for talking about and teaching leadership.” Sitkin said. “Our workshop will draw examples that are tailored to applying the ideas to participants’ specific environment.”
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.