dubai chamber launches the third round of mohammed bin rashid al maktoum business award
Dubai Chamber of Commerce & Industry yesterday announced the launch of the third round of Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum (MRM) Business Award during a press conference organized by the Chamber at its premises. It was attended by HE Engineer Hamad Mubarak Buamim, Director General of Dubai Chamber and Chairman of MRM Steering Committee, and representatives of a number of local economic corporations, trade centers, free zone companies and business groups, in addition to representatives of the local media.
The launch of the third round of the MRM Business Award is highly considered this year upon the great response and success the Award has achieved in its first two rounds. The Award helps ensuring the significant benefits gained by the Award winning establishments and those who applied. Launching the Award this year reflects the sustainability of Dubai Chamber’s policy and mission in supporting the business community and enhancing its competitiveness, and in providing the opportunity to enable the establishments to improve their business performance and enhance their contributions to the economic development of the country.
Buamim said that launching the MRM Business Award this year is more significant as it expanded its scope to include more economic sectors that have largely contributed to UAE’s economy. This year’s Award would help more establishments to develop their performance and capability to deal with the new regional and global changes and challenges taking place in the rapidly-growing world of business.
“The Award this year is more comprehensive with the addition of new categories aiming to enable more companies operating in Dubai and other emirates to apply and test the efficiency of their performance, to benefit from the recommended criteria of the outstanding business performance, as well as to adopt the best business practices,” said Buamim.
He pointed out that a new fifth category of “Real Estate Development” was added to the MRM Business Award’s four main categories which include Manufacturing, Finance, Re-Export, and Construction. The Real Estate Development category has been added due to its importance as one of the fastest growing economic sectors in the UAE, as well as its great contribution to economy. Moreover, the companies operating under the Dubai International Financial Center (DIFC) will also be entitled to apply for the MRM Business Award for Free Zones under the new category of “Finance”. The Finance category did not cover the free zone companies during the Award’s second round in 2006.
The director general of Dubai Chamber stressed that the main objective of the Award is to appreciate the efforts of corporations which have effectively contributed to the development of business sectors in the UAE throughout their outstanding performance. He said the Award tries every year to highlight the role of the private sector as an active player in the development of national economy. He added that the uniqueness of the Award lies in the fact that all applicants benefit from learning about others’ experiences and the best business practices in each sector.
“The Award provides the participating companies with the opportunity to acquire corporate-related expertise based on self-analysis of their performance and comparing the type of their management with the best practices of other establishments working in the same sector. The Award provides objective evaluation to identify the gaps in their operations and take remedial actions, and at the same time, to reinforce their noticeable strengths and give a chance to the establishments to exhibit their achievements and celebrate their success,” he added.
Buamim noted that the new changes applied on the Award go in line with Dubai Chamber’s vision and policy which copes with the spirit of Dubai Strategic Plan. The Chamber is keen to adopt all initiatives that help improve businesses, he said, adding that the MRM Business Award 2007 is expected to be a success through attracting a large number of companies working in Dubai and other emirates. The number of companies applied for the Award in 2006 increased by 49% compared to their numbers in 2005 when the Award was first launched.
During its first round in 2005, the MRM Business Award was granted to 10 establishments under four main categories: Manufacturing, Export, Re-export and Finance. In 2006, 13 establishments from all over the UAE were declared winners of the Award after the Dubai Chamber decided to expand the scope of the Award by giving a chance for the companies operating in the UAE free zones to participate and be able to estimate their performance and competitiveness.
The MRM Award 2006 underwent other changes including extending the Finance category to cover the insurance companies, merging the Export category into the Manufacturing category, and introducing a new category for Construction due to the importance and huge contributions of this sector to the national economy.
He said the criteria of the Award have been developed based on the Business High Performance Model which is a robust model that covers all aspects of management of firms, as well as their business performances. This model was admired by the Judging Panel of the Award because it was developed and re-configured within the UAE to cope with the local requirements and other international standards of criteria.
According to the Business High Performance Model, the assessment criteria of the Award include Management Criteria and Performance Criteria, which takes 70% of the total evaluation weight. The management criteria include 5 elements which are the leadership perspectives, the strategic initiatives, quality imperatives, corporate culture and corporate social responsibility.
During the past two years, Dubai Chamber of Commerce & Industry signed 2 Memorandum of Understanding with the UK National Awards and The Australian Business Excellence Award with a view to exchange expertise and know-how to further enhance the evaluation process adopted by Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Business Award.
The performance criteria of the Award include the output which is the actual quantity of products and services produced by the firm, the outcome which is the achievements implemented by the establishment, and the impact of the firm through its contribution towards the nation and society.
