Pearl Initiative

The Pearl Initiative is a non-profit organisation founded in 2010 in cooperation with the United Nations Office for Partnerships. The organisation was formed by prominent business leaders from across the Gulf Region to improve and promote higher standards in corporate governance, accountability and transparency as key drivers of competitiveness and sustainable economic growth across the region's private sector.[1] The Pearl Initiative facilitates the interaction between students and business leaders as part its remit. It collaborates with regional universities to supplement the academic education of students with practical knowledge and experience with respect to ethical conduct and the implementation of corporate governance.[2]

Pearl Initiative
Logo of the Pearl Initiative
AbbreviationPI
FormationSeptember 24, 2010 (2010-09-24)
PurposeNon-profit promoting corporate governance, accountability and transparency in the Private Sector
Region served
Gulf Region of the Middle East
Founders
Badr Jafar
Amir Dossal
Executive Director
Yasmine Omari
Websitewww.pearlinitiative.org

Activities

Programmes and research

The Pearl Initiative develops programmes that aim to provide business case insights, issues and trends in key corporate governance topic areas that are regionally relevant. The organisation also acts as a think tank, publishing a wide range of reports in the fields of corporate governance, sustainable business practices and private-sector competitiveness.[3]

Events

The Pearl Initiative holds regular forums and interactive round table events with global and regional business leaders, local government bodies, and members of the business community.[4] These focus on the role of corporate governance as an evolving business imperative for sustainable economic growth. As of June 2019, the Pearl Initiative held 105 events including workshops across all major cities in the Gulf Region.[5]

In 2015, the Pearl Initiative and United Nations Global Compact held their inaugural Regional Forum in Dubai under the theme Corporate Accountability Matters.[6] In 2016, the Pearl Initiative and the United Nations Global Compact held their Second Regional Forum, titled Sustainability in Action: Business and the Sustainable Development Goals on 27 October in Dubai.[7] In April 2018, the Pearl Initiative and the Saudi Arabian Oil Company (Saudi Aramco) co-hosted the flagship Governance in Focus forum.[8]

University collaborations
Pearl Initiative Student Case Study Competition KSA Award Ceremony, Riyadh, May 2013

The Pearl Initiative holds annual Case Study Competitions across the Gulf Region engaging over 30 universities to promote student participation. As part of the competition, students conduct research on organisations implementing good business practices with respect to corporate governance, accountability and transparency, and to document such policies and practices in case study form. The competition aims to increase knowledge and awareness on corporate accountability and engage and inspire students to understand real-life applications of ethical business, further supplementing their academic studies. The published case study reports document information and good practices, building a data bank of practices that can benefit the wider business community while also being used as teaching material for regional universities.[9]

The first report in the Corporate Good Practices series, Accountability and Transparency, was published in 2012. The report included eight case studies written by MBA students from the Cambridge Judge Business School in the UK and the American University of Sharjah.[10][11] In 2013, the Pearl Initiative, in collaboration with the King Khalid Foundation, launched a competition for Saudi university students and published a report including the top case studies on best practices applied in Saudi companies. In 2014, the Pearl Initiative ran the Case Study Competition for university students in the UAE, and in 2016, the Pearl Initiative delivered a Bahrain Case Study Competition.[12]

In late 2016, the first Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC)-wide student case study competition on Corporate Integrity Good Practices was launched by the Pearl Initiative. The award ceremony was held at Prince Sultan University, Riyadh in Saudi Arabia on 3 May 2017. The ceremony was attended by over 200 students, faculty members and executives from organisations across the GCC.[13]

Programme domains
Reem Al Hashimy, UAE Minister of State delivering a keynote speech at “Corporate Accountability Matters”, Dubai, 16 April 2015

The Pearl Initiative programmes provide business case insights, issues and trends in key corporate governance topic areas that are regionally relevant. These include:

  1. Corporate Governance
    1. Anti-Corruption Best Practice
    2. Diversity in Business Leadership
    3. Integrated Reporting
  2. Governance by Sectors
    1. Corporate Governance Micro, Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (MSMEs)
    2. Governance in Philanthropy
  3. Knowledge transfer
    1. The Business Pledge
    2. Executive Education

Corporate governance

Anti-Corruption Best Practice

The Pearl Initiative have partnered with the Siemens Integrity Initiative to run a program to implement Integrity Practices in GCC private and public businesses.[14][15] Following the launch of the programme, the Pearl Initiative published its report At a Glance: Anti-Corruption Good Practice in December 2015. The report offers a guide for regional companies to incorporate anti-corruption measures into their operations. In 2018, the Pearl Initiative published a second report titled Improving Integrity Practices in Gulf Firms: The Business Case For Implementing. The report identifies the benefits, progress to date, and potential challenges to improving integrity practices in Gulf firms.[16][17]

As of June 2019, the Pearl Initiative has held twelve events across seven cities, engaging over five hundred individuals. As part of its student engagement, the Pearl Initiative holds an annual case study competition engaging over four thousand students, forty universities, and one hundred and ninety companies.

Diversity in Business Leadership

The Pearl Initiative's Diversity in Business Leadership programme incorporates business cases for greater gender diversity at senior levels, as well as delivering insight on the ways that companies can incorporate more women in senior management and board positions. It has published the following reports:

YearReportTopic
2015Women's Careers in the GCC – The CEO AgendaExamines the position of women on the corporate ladder across the Gulf Region and seeks to determine what can be done to attract, retain, and promote female employees through to senior roles, in order to achieve better gender diversity at executive levels and on boards.[18]
2016Women’s Careers in the GCC – Four Good Practice Case StudiesDiscusses four key case studies from organisations that illustrate the tailor-made programmes and practices local and multinational companies have successfully implemented to advance more women to senior roles within the Gulf Region.[19]
2018Key Findings on Women in the Economy: UAE Outlook Understand the extent and nature of women's participation across four sectors in the UAE, which are Energy and Environment, Healthcare and Wellness, Finance and Investment, and ICT and STEM.[20]

Integrated Reporting

The Integrated Reporting domain aims to assist companies integrate financial, environmental, social & governance information into their reporting frameworks. In 2015, the Pearl Initiative signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Prince of Wales's Accounting for Sustainability Project (A4S) and Abu Dhabi Sustainability Group (ADSG) to promote Integrated Thinking and Reporting in the Private Sector across the Gulf Region of the Middle East.[21] This was followed by a Gulf Region Circle of Practice of finance leaders to drive further progress and levels of implementation. The focus attempts to educate, raise awareness and spread the business case for Integrated Thinking and Reporting.[22][23]

Governance by Sectors

The Pearl Initiative develops several programmes that aim to enhance corporate governance practices across organisations operating in the Gulf Region of the Middle East.

Corporate Governance in Family Firms

The purpose of the programme is to provide information on corporate governance and its practical applications that are tailored to family firms in the Gulf Region. Key reports published in this programme include:

YearReportPurpose
January 2013Family Matters: Governance in GCC Family FirmsBased on the results of interviews with 106 family firms in the Gulf Region in collaboration with PwC.[24]
June 2014Women’s Careers in the GCC – Four Good Practice Case StudiesTo study the governance frameworks of five of the Gulf Region's prominent family firms – WJ Towell Group, SABIS, Alissa Group, Al Zamil Group and Majid Al Futtaim Group, by providing in-depth analysis for similar firms to draw upon.[25]

Corporate Governance for MSME

The Pearl Initiative published a report titled Enhancing Gulf Business Competitiveness in March 2018 to explore the current state of governance within the Micro, Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (MSME) community in an effort to inspire change to assist businesses in overcoming challenges, thereby encouraging business competitiveness.[26]

Governance in Philanthropy

In partnership with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, this programme has been designed to improve the standards of corporate governance in non-profit and philanthropic organisations in the Gulf Region.[27] In April 2018, the Pearl Initiative published The State of Governance in Philanthropy report shedding light on the state of governance in the philanthropic sector in the Region as well as the expectations of institutional donors.[28]

Knowledge transfer

The Business Pledge

In 2016, the Pearl Initiative launched the Business Pledge at the Sustainability in Business forum to serve as a guide on the private sector towards responsible growth[7]. One hundred and sixty six leading businesses from across the Gulf Region pledged to prioritise sustainable development as a business imperative. Since the launch of the Business Pledge, the Pearl Initiative has held fifteen Business Pledge sessions and published nine case study reports.

Executive Education

The Pearl Initiative collaborates with leading global academic institutions to offer Executive Education on topics related to governance, accountability and transparency. With the support of the Cambridge Judge Business School (CJBS), the Corporate Governance and Effective Board Leadership Programme was designed and delivered by Simon Learmount, Lecturer in Corporate Governance at CJBS in May 2017..[29]

References
  1. "Mena focus for UN campaign". Retrieved 11 July 2018.
  2. "Majid Al Futtaim Holding becomes a Pearl Initiative Founding Partner". Dubai City Brief. Retrieved 11 July 2018.
  3. "CEO Corner: Badr Jafar". AccountAbility. AccountAbility. Retrieved 20 June 2019.
  4. "Middle East family firms focus on corporate governance". Gulf News Economy. Retrieved 11 July 2018.
  5. "Pearl Initiative Events". Pearl Initiative. Retrieved 20 June 2019.
  6. "United Nations Secretary General Praises UAE Leaders For Supporting Sustainable Business Practices". WAM. WAM. 19 April 2015. Retrieved 10 Mar 2016.
  7. "Business Pledge launched for growth". Gulf Today. Retrieved 8 April 2018.
  8. "Top business names to speak at high-level Riyadh forum". Retrieved 3 July 2018.
  9. "Pearl Initiative Student Case Study Competition highlights importance of responsible business practices in newly published report". Zawya. Zawya. 15 February 2015. Retrieved 10 Mar 2016.
  10. "Pearl Initiative introduces corporate good practices". The Saudi Gazette. 5 November 2012.
  11. "TDIC Recognised in Pearl Initiative's Series on Corporate Good Practices Report". UAE TOday. Retrieved 10 March 2016.
  12. "Top Bahraini University Students Recognised". Bahrain Week. Bahrain Week. Retrieved 20 June 2019.
  13. "The shining pearls". Saudi Gazette. Retrieved 8 April 2018.
  14. "Siemens Integrity Initiative supports the Pearl Initiative to drive good business practices in the GCC". Zawya. 29 Oct 2015. Retrieved 10 March 2016.
  15. "Pearl Initiative, Siemens Gather Industry Experts to Discuss Anti-Corruption Practices". Retrieved 30 June 2018.
  16. "Only 45% Gulf firms 'armed' to fight graft, study reveals". Qatar Tribune. Qatar Tribune. Retrieved 10 March 2016.
  17. "Amin Nasser, president and CEO, Saudi Aramco Saudi Aramco co-hosts 'Governance in Focus' forum". Trade Arabia. Retrieved 11 July 2018.
  18. "50% of GCC career women aspire to lead their organisations, says report". Khaleej Times. 17 April 2015.
  19. "Why empowering more women is vital to business and society". Khaleej Times. Retrieved 8 April 2018.
  20. "NAMA highlights 2017 achievements, honours partners in supporting Women's economic and social contribution". Sharjah24. Retrieved 3 July 2018.
  21. "The Prince of Wales's Accounting for Sustainability Project signs MoU with the Pearl Initiative". Zawya. 2 Nov 2015. Retrieved 10 March 2016.
  22. Sadaqat, Rohma. "The race towards sustainability programmes in GCC firms". Khaleej Times. Retrieved 11 July 2018.
  23. "Pearl Initiative Honours HRH The Prince of Wales with 'Champion of Sustainability' Award". Zawya. Retrieved 8 April 2018.
  24. "The Quest for Corporate Governance in GCC Family Firms". Arabian Gazette. Retrieved 20 June 2019.
  25. Usman, Mohammed Riaz (30 Dec 2017). "Governance drives sustainable growth". Khaleej Times. Retrieved 20 June 2019.
  26. Staples, Andrew. "Region's SMEs need funds — but getting them is challenging". Gulf News SME. Retrieved 30 June 2018.
  27. "Pearl Initiative launches new programme". Gulf News. Retrieved 30 June 2018.
  28. "Pearl Initiative rolls out second phase of governance in Philanthropy Programme". Zawya. 2 June 2019. Retrieved 20 June 2019.
  29. "Pearl Initiative to Offer Executive Education with Cambridge Judge Business School". Retrieved 30 June 2018.
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