DinarStandard Editors

Muslim Executives Can Raise the Bar of Global Business Leadership

The Annual ISNA (Islamic Society of North America) convention is a huge affair.  With an estimated 40,000 attendees this year in Chicago, the event was a professionally organized gathering with 100's of lectures and discussions on all sorts of contemporary and religious topics as well as a huge Bazaar of products and services that cater to the Muslim market (more on that later.)

DinarStandard was invited to speak at one of the sessions, titled 'Muslim Executives in the West - Their Next Steps...".  I am attaching the slides from that presentation which focussed on the opportunity that Muslim Executives have in not only becoming the best global business leaders of today but also in contributing and raising the bar of business leadership standards. 

The discussion was moderated by CAMP (Council for the Advancement of Muslim Professionals) President Ms. Urz Heer and the other speakers included Mr. Rushdi Siddiqui, Global Director of Dow Jones Islamic Index, Mr. Mohammed Gaber of PepsiCo, and Mr. S. Jafer Hasnain of Alliance Capital Management.

            

    

Dr. Rafik Beekun Launches Blog - "The Islamic Workplace"

Dr. Rafik Beekun, (an advisor to DinarStandard.com) and Professor of Management and Strategy at University of Nevada, has recently launched a very informative blog titled "The Islamic Workplace" at http://makkah.wordpress.com/.

We have always looked up to the impressive array of contributions Dr. Beekun has made to Islam's perspective on modern business strategy.  He has also recently launched a new book 'Strategic Planning & Implementation for Islamic Organizations.'  This follows his other two books relating to Islam and business, namely 'Islamic Business Ethics' and 'Leadership in Islam' (co-authored with Dr. Jamal Badawi.)

Dr. Beekun intends to discuss on the blog ethics, leadership, diversity, seerah and strategic planning related posts.  The blog already is full of rich information including exemplary anecdotes, positive quotes and relevant videos.

Best of all, its all in the context of professional worklife, eg. work ethics, how to behave at the workplace, managing stress etc.  My favorite categories include 'Positive Quotes' relating to workplace, and 'Exemplary stories' which includes stories of personalities such as philanthropist Abdul Sattar Edhi, Nobel Peace prize winner Dr. Yunus, and French Muslim soccer player Franck Ribery.

This is certainly one to be tracked.  So don't forget to add it to your RSS reader. 

Raging Turkish Capitalism & Muslim Values in Spotlight

Two major US media outlets (the New York Times & PBS) recently profiled a fast booming Turkish economic region with its unique blend of religious adherence, entrepreneurial spirit, hard work and regional/global success. 

Focusing on the Central Anatolian province of Kayseri with a population of 1 million, the profiles point to this region as 'Evidence that Islam and Capitalism Can Coexist.' 

The NYT piece had a great quote from Ahmet Herdem, the mayor of Hacilar, a town of 20,000 people in central Anatolia, who said, "In European countries, workers take a 15-minute smoking break; here we take a 15-minute prayer break."  This adherence to faith coupled with strong work ethics and an entrepreneurial spirit has led the region to produce some of the best-known Turkish companies (17 of the Top 500 Turkish companies of 2005 are from this region.)  These include global players such as Orta Anadolu (a large denim producer), Boydak Holding (a giant conglomerate with the largest Turkish cable factory), and Istikbal (one of the largest furniture manufacturers in Turkey with a global presence).

To put this environment in context, European sociologists have compared this to the 'Protestant Ethics' practices of Christian business communities of the past, and more recently labeled these entrepreneurs 'Islamic Calvinists.'

Ofcourse, such an environment should be of no suprise to Muslims.  Trading and business has  always been an integral part of the Muslim identity, with the Prophet (PBUH) and many of his companions themselves being successful traders.  The faith encouraged trade and profit, albeit in a just manner.  People from other Muslim communities can certainly learn from this successful manifestation today by the entrepreneurs of Kayseri who are competing globally while applying their faith as a means of strength in this day and age of modernity.

Btw, we had previously profiled MUSIAD, a Turkish business association, most of whose members are part of these Central Turkish business communities.