MTI at UAE Government Strategy Conference

MTI Consulting, among the fastest growing international strategy consultancies, shared their insights at the second UAE Government Organizations Strategy Development Conference organized by Datamatrix.

Lead Consultant for Pakistan, Dhanushka Jayakody focused on strategy realization for government organisations thinking ahead to 2015, in line with the Dubai Strategic Plan. One can observe that the way in which government institutions operate and enable businesses and citizens has to continue changing as a consequence of the transforming global economy.

Moreover, the role of government organisations worldwide is transforming from that focus shifts from political independence to economic interdependence, from natural resources to management resources. In other words, the need today is a government-enabled business environment.

MTI Consulting suggested that government organizations approach this change in a way such that strategic planning stretches beyond budgets and from a ground zero perspective. The contemporary approach is to understand how government organizations can develop their competencies to meet the nation's needs. It is also important to continuously scan for blue oceans with high value opportunities. For instance, Thailand has positioned itself for medical tourism while Perth, Australia is a calling for Chinese to be educated in English.

In turn, this gives strong precedence to solid national economic vision. In the case of Singapore, the master plan prioritises developing Singapore as a magnet for business and to be a choice of home. One may ask how do we progress from GNP to Gross National Happiness as is the case in Bhutan, recognising the softer side in a competitive world.

"While IT systems have significantly developed, the human discipline in using systems have lagged far behind"

Jayakody went on to elaborate how government organizations need to link their structures and modify the standard operating procedures, beyond the government regulations and reinvent their operations. Building the competencies of government staff over a period of time was identified as a critical factor in this process of transformation. MTI Consulting has operations in Bahrain, Bangladesh, Dubai, India, Malaysia, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and UK, with strategic alliances in Africa, Americas, Australia and Europe. Having worked on more than 350 assignments across various industry sectors, including a landmark assignment with the Trade Development Authority of Pakistan its business strategy solutions for government institutions include Organization Development, Process Re-engineering, Competency Development and Performance Management.