Dubai International Academic City (DIAC), a member of Tecom Investments, plans to launch a study with academic partner UK-based Manchester Business School (MBS) to evaluate the GCC market for executive education.

Fieldwork for the online/face-to-face study will be conducted from October 12 and the results announced by the end of the year. The study will cover a range of industry sectors in the region and job holders including training managers, HR managers, and senior executive/line managers.

The study will evaluate the effect of the global economic crisis on the training budget of the corporate sector. It will also analyse the expected ROI (return on investment) for executive education, how its value is assessed and the expectations of organisations from an executive education provider.

DIAC is part of the implementation of the project through its partner development management (PDM) division. PDM supports the exposure, visibility and growth of existing academic partners within DIAC and provides a platform that supports the growth of the higher education sector in Dubai.

“Dubai Knowledge Village and Dubai International Academic City would like to develop an understanding of the demand for executive education and university programmes,” said Dr Ayoub Kazim, managing director, education cluster – Tecom Investments.

“This will enable the prioritisation of communication activities and the development of an action plan for addressing market needs.”

“We are confident the study will create unique insights into the regional market for the education cluster and Manchester Business School. The collaboration reflects the close working partnership between Manchester Business School and the Tecom education cluster,” he added.

The research will aim to identify perceived skill gaps among the workforce in the region from the entry level to top management, recruitment practices across identified industries, and the prevalent corporate training process and practices.

It will also seek to define the status of Dubai International Academic City and Dubai Knowledge Village, and Manchester Business School as brand names among stakeholders.

Craig Walsh, portfolio director, Manchester Business School, said: “We believe this is the first dedicated study into executive education in the Middle East. The findings will strongly influence the design of the courses that we launch in the region in January 2011.”

“The importance of our Middle East centre is clearly reflected in the fact that we have chosen Dubai and the region as the global launch market for our new executive education courses," he added.

The study will be undertaken by Transforming Management Consulting (TM Consulting), Manchester Business School’s in-house consultancy service.

Manchester Business School will undertake the global launch of a new portfolio of executive education courses in January 2011. The courses will be launched first in the Middle East through the MBS International executive centre in Dubai Knowledge Village at the Tecom Education Cluster in Dubai.

The courses will be designed for the Middle East, using the research findings as a guide, a statement said. – TradeArabia News Service