Interviewers: Samir M. El Hefnawy & Mahmoud Mansi
“A key piece of advice that I share with all policy makers and senior executives is to ensure you keep your operational, strategic and investment decisions in the broader context. Specifically, ensure you take into account what is happening politically, economically and socially within the country you are operating in and within the region as a whole…”
David Young
1-HR Revolution Middle East: Could you tell us a bit about Oxford Analytica history and your recent partnership with Emerald Publishing?
David Young: Founded in 1975, Oxford Analytica is the pioneer and gold-standard for trusted and independent geopolitical and economic analysis. Clearly differentiated within the market by our 1500 strong global expert network, our academically robust and proven analytical methodologies, and our extensive and long-standing client relationships, Oxford Analytica continues to be one of the world’s most respected and top ranked geopolitical analysis companies, serving senior executives and policy-makers across public, private and multilateral organisations worldwide.
When my father, Dr. David R. Young, founded Oxford Analytica he had one purpose in mind – “To enable our clients to embrace the challenge of change and to further the frontiers of enterprise and progress, whether that be political, economic or social.” You can read more about the founding and the history of Oxford Analytica on our website here: https://www.oxan.com/about/values/history/
Our partnership with Emerald Publishing is tremendously exciting as we take our geopolitical daily analysis that is distributed to senior executives and policy-makers within public and private organisations and we distribute it to academic institutions. The hope is to ensure students and academic institutions have the highest quality macro / geopolitical analysis from which to help frame strategic, operational, investment and policy teachings and decisions. As we are all aware, the world is increasingly interconnected, fast-paced, and complexed. It will be increasingly important that teaching incorporates geopolitics so that decisions can be contextualized within the broader political, economic and social environment that will determine the winners from the losers.
2-HR Revolution Middle East: Oxford Analytica offers consulting services and courses, tell us more about them?
David Young: In addition to our geopolitical analysis, with The Oxford Analytica Daily Brief as our flagship subscription service, and our events business we do have an Advisory service. Our Advisory Practice consults clients on the impact of macro factors on their commercial and strategic goals and operations. Increasingly our Advisory Practice is sought after as a thought leadership partner, where we analyze key issues shaping tomorrow including; The Future of Work, Sustainable Trade, Digital Health, Global Trends to 2035, Infrastructure in Africa and Gamification of Education to name a few topics we have provided pivotal thought leadership on in 2019.
3-HR Revolution Middle East: How business consulting is changing nowadays?
David Young: Within the arena of geopolitical risk consulting, it is certainly becoming a more and more competitive industry. The reason is because to have long-term sustainable performance, organizations must take into account the broader political, economic and society factors. We are certainly focused on ensure we are a “client-ready” organization ensuring that we are responsive to work with clients to manage and mitigate risks, but also that we can proactively work with clients to identify new growth opportunities.
4-HR Revolution Middle East: What are the top three traits of successful consultant that the businesses should look for when they want to get some help?
David Young: There are so many traits that make a successful consultant. The three that jump to my mind immediately are:
- Subject-matter knowledge – to add value you have to know what you are talking about.
- Strong communication skills – this is key to building trusted relationships with clients and clearly explain solutions to complex problems.
- Curiosity and logical thinking – not only is it important to approach problem solving with a logical and strategic approach, but increasingly in today’s society we need consultants and the firms they work for to have a sense of curiosity and intrigued. New solutions to new problems will be key to advancing business, government and society.
5-HR Revolution Middle East: Could you tell us about “A day in the life of Strategy Adviser”?
David Young: Haha. It’s fun, engaging and challenging and I hope a day that provides reward as we help clients navigate some of the world’s greatest challenges. Our Associates have the opportunity to work with a variety of clients and a variety of engagements at the same time so it provides a great learning experience and a very engaged day.
6-HR Revolution Middle East: What are your advice for Contemporary Leaders, with a special focus on the one from MENA region?
David Young: A key piece of advice that I share with all policy makers and senior executives is to ensure you keep your operational, strategic and investment decisions in the broader context. Specifically, ensure you take into account what is happening politically, economically and socially within the country you are operating in and within the region as a whole. Moreover, ensure you create a proactive strategic approach so you not only survive, but can thrive by seizing new opportunities. And, place great value on the necessity to have an organization that is operationally agile. This will help to manage and mitigate the risks while providing the ability to seize new opportunities that will be critical for long-term sustainable growth.
7-HR Revolution Middle East: What’s the advice you would like to share with fresh graduates to make their way up the ladder?
David Young: Work hard. Don’t take anything for granted. Ensure you respect who you work for and that you are in a role where you learn practical skills. Have a deep sense of curiosity to challenge and to learn. Spend less time on your phone and social media and instead read and live through new sharing new experiences. And, be patient. Success doesn’t happen overnight. You have to work hard, learn and to earn it. One final point, build your own global network of people you respect, enjoy working with and who can help mentor you in your own career.
8-HR Revolution Middle East: Could you tell us one of the challenges you faced at work and how you managed it?
David Young: The greatest challenge we have each and every day is ensuring our 200+ clients understand not just what is happening in the world, but importantly given what’s happening in the world what it means to them and to their strategies, investments, operations and policies. To ensure we best help our clients build long-term sustainable initiatives and solutions, a key to this is truly understanding our clients. And so, I spend a lot of time speaking with our clients around the world to make sure we understand what they care about and why. This then all helps enhance our Daily Brief analysis.
9-HR Revolution Middle East: Could you tell us more about Hawque & CED – what have you been doing with them?
David Young: I do have the privilege to advice Hawque and CED. As a start-up, I work with the CEO of Hawque to identify new business development opportunities and to strategize on how the firm can grow. Regarding The Committee for Economic Development (CED), I sit on two Committees, Women in Leadership and Education. On both of these Committees, we look to discuss what key policy research initiatives need to be conducted in order to advance both of these critically important topics.
10-HR Revolution Middle East: What were the top management issues most critical to long-term competitiveness for businesses, which you have seen and managed at Monitor Deloitte?
David Young: One of the key issues will be the speed of innovation. Technological developments are facilitating a pace of change that is quicker and more complex than ever before. For businesses to have long-term success, they must embrace change and push the boundaries of innovation. Today, you can’t take anything for granted.
11-HR Revolution Middle East: What’s your take on Blockchain and Crypto Currencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum, especially after European Central Bank announcement of considering a crypto-euro?
David Young: Put it this way. These are not going to just disappear. They will continue to play a significant role in adjusting our financial services sector. The extent to which they will adjust business processes is yet to be seen, but both will continue to be transformative, especially Blockchain.
12-HR Revolution Middle East: Could you tell us how you assess the role of innovation in business and management – looking at AI, AR & Robotics and their effect on the humans?
David Young: Innovation overall is absolutely critically important. Not only does a sense of creativity and innovation need to be embedded in to the operating model of a business, but it also should be instilled into the mindset of everyone within that business. When we look specifically at AI, AR and Robotics, one of the important debates moving forward will be that of trust and how do we as a global society ensure we advance society in a moral and ethical way that is right.
13-HR Revolution Middle East: How will e-learning help leaders especially with resources like Expert Briefings from Oxford Analytica?
David Young: Expert Briefings from Oxford Analytica will importantly offer contextual learning. Business decisions and teachings don’t operate in isolation. Business decisions operate in a complex global environment. Realizing this, Expert Briefings from Oxford Analytica will help ensure students and professors can put business strategy and operations in the wider context of what is happening politically, economically and socially. These Briefings will enhance the learning / teaching experience and create a more knowledgeable and thoughtful workforce moving forward.
14-HR Revolution Middle East: What should we look for in 2020?
David Young: There are so many intriguing developments and issues in 2020. The future of US-China relationships will obviously be a key issue area. In addition to this we will see how Brexit evolves under the leadership of Prime Minister Boris Johnson. We will have an intensely awaited US election in November. Excitingly, we have the Dubai 2020 Expo, which should be incredible, and we will see how Saudi Arabia advances its strong efforts economic diversification. What is for certain as we look to the year ahead… it will not be boring.
15-HR Revolution Middle East: A book you recommend, a proverb you believe in, a movie you enjoy and a place you want to visit – tell us, please.
David Young: It’s not exactly a proverb, but it’s a saying I learned while at business school at Georgetown University. It’s a saying that has really stuck with me over the past years and emphasized the importance of building respectful relationships: “Say what you mean. Mean what you say. And, don’t say it mean”.
As for a book, I’ll go with Blink by Malcolm Gladwell. Blink – The Power of Thinking Without Thinking is Malcolm Gladwell’s second book. It presents in popular science format research from psychology and behavioral economics on the adaptive unconscious: mental processes that work rapidly and automatically from relatively little information.
And… a place to visit. Given the increasing importance of the Middle East and the amazing cultural diversity of the region, I’d love to spend more time throughout the entire region.
16-HR Revolution Middle East: What you wish to say to your readers in MENA region?
David Young: While the region as a whole will continue to face a wide variety of economic, political, social, and security challenges, it is a region that holds great promise. Economic diversification and education in building an advanced workforce will be two really important factors to moving countries in the right direction. But the potential is there and it will be exciting to see how countries and the region as a whole move forward throughout 2020 and the decade ahead.