Executive Newswire - Regional Newsletter for Middle East

By Wassin Karkabi
S T A N T O N C H A S E I N T E R N A T I O N A L
Stanton Chase’s largest practice group members conducted their annual
meeting as part of the Global Partners’ Meeting, in Dubai for the
first time ever. It was a special meeting as partners, consultants and researchers gathered
from Stanton Chase offices around the world, under the heavy fire of the global crisis and the
warm sun of Dubai, to discuss the changing trends in the executive search market, and in the industrial
practice, with a special emphasis on Key Account Management. The results were astounding
as veterans in the executive search industry put their minds together to think outside
of the box on how to best to tackle the challenges and the opportunities that are emerging for
the years to come. Over 25 executive search professionals left Dubai with a renewed sense of purpose and direction, after a full day session especially
focused on Key Account Management and specific discussions on driving a matrix type approach to the market which runs across two dimensional expertise
of functional and industrial subsector specialization, all enveloped in a cross border objective to develop global key accounts rather than focus
on local relationships. On the whole the Stanton Chase International Industrial practice treads surely on solid grounds with a clear way forward, and
with all offices registering continued growth in their own markets across the globe and more so in the EMEA region.
Wassim Karkabi is a Partner and Regional Practice Leader, Industrial Services sector
During the StantonChase International Partners
meeting held in Dubai at the end of
April, we had a unique opportunity to collect
over 25 consultants from around the world in
a day-long focus group, holding some in-depth
discussions regarding Consumer Goods and Services
in each region. This session allowed Stanton
Chase to take advantage of our Executive Search
breadth and depth in strategizing on how best to
assist our clients in identifying who and from
where are the key executives that can help them
survive this “new economic order”. One thing we
found from a retail standpoint was that the
Emerging Markets of the Middle East, India, and
China continue to provide areas ofgrowth.
In the Middle East, overall the spending on discretionary
luxury goods is expected to fall in 2009,
while non-discretionary spending, like food retail,
should remain relatively strong and forecasts suggests
the GCC retail market will still continue to
grow at a nominal 7 % during 2009-2011. However,
Middle East markets are a “mixed bag” reaction
in each country.
In Kuwait for example, the luxury car market has
not been affected, since their customers are
higher income locals, and retailers report continued
strong sales. The economy is not as dependent
on foreign workers driving the local consumer
economy.
Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Abu Dhabi markets are
holding strong, as they continue to spend on infrastructure
projects financed by the last several
years of high oil prices. They are still employing
the management required to build, and thus
have not seen the mass exodus of expatriates observed
in the Dubai economic model. Oman reports
also being relatively unscathed, as they had
not gone as far out on a limb.
ISSUE 2
Industrial Service Workshop
Consumer and Retail Services Workshop
Jack Montgomery is Senior Consultant, Stanton Chase – Middle East
Picking up the Pieces
“This too shall pass”
King Solomon
By Jack Montgomery
Worldwide, we found a shift in the North American
consumer purchases from wants to need,
and from style to values, which left many retailers
flatfooted in response to the downturn. This resulted
in a slew of bankruptcies at the end of
2008 / first quarter 2009, which has now abated,
the dust is settling, and the rebuilding has begun,
creating new niche opportunities for experienced
or entrepreneurial minded managers.
From Latin America, our consultants have pointed
out that informal, smaller consumer channels
have shown resurgence in driving the national
economies. During the last 5 years, as the masses
moved up into the middle classes and higher,
they drove more modern retail trade and services,
thus supporting higher caliber executives to manage
more complex organizations. With the
downturn, more people are reverting to traditional
consumer trading, creating a whirlpool effect,
dragging larger businesses down and
reducing managerial opportunities.
The China market has seen many organizations
tighten considerably, as their consumers have
been thrown out of work, cascading down from
the lower demand of their goods exported to Europe
and the USA. Other Far East partners have
reported active searches for marketing, sales, and
country managers, in particular for luxury brands
seeking competence in retaining their high end
images while capturing sales.
All in all, well into the second quarter of 2009, we
are starting to see pockets of recovery for senior
management, and most markets are optimistic
for a upturn for the second half. Along with select
sectors such as food and non-discretionary consumer
products, other niche opportunities are appearing
in organizations seeking executives who
can salvage and rebuild.
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