Best Practices & Benchmarking Forum concludes with experts highlighting global standards in quality and excellence

Monday 07 March 2016

Dubai - MENA Herald: The Best Practices and Benchmarking Forum 2016, organised by the Department of Economic Development (DED) in association with the Dubai Quality Group (DQG) and Emirates Business Management (EBM) International under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Ahmed Bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Chairman, Dubai Airports; President, Dubai Civil Aviation Authority, and Chairman & CEO, Emirates Group, concluded successfully with international speakers and business representatives exchanging ideas on quality and excellence standards.

The Forum was organised to showcase the best practices of the winners of DED’s Business Excellence Awards – the Dubai Quality Award, Dubai Human Development Award and Dubai Service Excellence Scheme - as well as the International Business Excellence Awards, Gulf Customer Experience Awards and the EBM Benchmarking Programme. The objective of the Forum was to encourage participants to benchmark their practices against a set of performance indicators, related to customers, people, society and business.

The theme chosen for the Forum this year was ‘Innovation for Sustainability’ – a theme close to Dubai’s thriving business community - in order to cement the emirate’s position as a global business hub and a smart city. Speakers also emphasized the importance of best practices and benchmarking in helping organisations expedite their progress and become more enterprising. The winning practices were also compiled and distributed as an e-booklet at the event.

“The Best Practices and Benchmarking Forum is organised in line with the strategic vision of DED to raise the performance of local entities and encourage them to implement global quality and excellence standards. We collaborate with private sector bodies and follow the European Association of Quality Management (EFQM) model to ensure uniform standards in pursuing quality and excellence. The approach helps in achieving economic growth and in being recognized as leaders in excellence globally,” said Khalid Al Kassim, Assistant Director General for Economic Affairs in DED.

Al Kassim added that DED’s Business Excellence Awards are now regarded as a prestigious recognition of high quality performance among companies and individuals, and also help to add to growth in Dubai by encouraging best practices within the institutions.

Mohammed Bushanain, Executive Director of Business Excellence Department at DED, said “It’s our 14th Forum since launching the event in 2000, and we have had over 400 attendees in each, including more than 120 local and international speakers from various EFQM Award Winners. To date, 14 booklets have been published for the benefit of the wider business community”.

“This year we have seven international keynote speakers with us for the first time. The event has also grown in terms of best practices from local and international award winners and members of the Benchmarking Programme. Ultimately, such growth in numbers brings added value and knowledge to the participants,” added Bushanain.

The Forum was attended by local experts as well as international guest speakers who presented the best practices from international award-winning companies. Guest speakers included EFQM Winners Mariano Cilenti, Production Director, Bosch; Martyn Gorton, Director of Investment and Tracy Tallant, Service Director Human Resources of WDH; Kaushal Mehta, Founder & CEO, Motif, Inc.; Bharat Gera, Principal Consultant, Think Ahead, Anand Madanagopal, Founder and CEO of Cardiac Design Labs and Dr Sunita Chugh, HR Strategist and Founder Director, onlastmile.com.

A panel discussion by Business Excellence Award winners on ‘Balancing Innovation and Efficiency,’ moderated by Dr Sangeeth Ibrahim, Vice President & Head of Learning & Career Development, Sharjah Islamic Bank, was one of the highlights of the Forum.

Indu Singhal, Managing Director of EBM International explained about the ‘Benchmarking for the EBM Partners programme’ introduced as part of the Business Excellence Awards. “The programme is the first of its kind in the region. It’s a milestone that will help organisations improve performance and integrate best international practices.”

The Forum concluded with a Benchmarking Quiz and Award Ceremony. Awards International and Granteq were the support partners for the event. Dubai First, EROS Group, Jumeirah Emirates Towers, LLH Hospital, wasl Asset Management Group, and British Orchard Nursery extended their support as Silver Sponsors while Thumbay Group and Al Rostamani International Exchange also supported as Bronze Sponsors.

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