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• Case | HBS Case Collection | June 2019 (Revised July 2019)

  Building a Meritocracy at Alghanim Industries

  Paul M. Healy, Susanna Gallani and Esel Çekin

  Building on his father’s legacy, Omar Alghanim (MBA 2002) had been working on strengthening a performance-driven culture based on meritocracy in the family business, Alghanim Industries. The task had been particularly challenging because of traditional Middle East practice of relying on relationships and influence to conduct business. Omar’s vision attracted and empowered like-minded employees who were rewarded on merit and who delivered on the firm’s mission of providing excellent service to its customers. Together, they revamped the company’s performance and compensation system and established a well-structured control and compliance mechanism. The next challenge for Omar was to transform the workforce from a mono-culture, male-dominant expat community to a diverse mix of people, cultures, backgrounds, and viewpoints. In particular, he needed to find a way to attract talented women and local Kuwaitis to become part of his organization.

  Keywords: meritocracy; Social Norms; Family Business; Organizational Culture; Performance; Diversity; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Middle East; Kuwait;

  Citation:

  Healy, Paul M., Susanna Gallani, and Esel Çekin. "Building a Meritocracy at Alghanim Industries." Harvard Business School Case 119-019, June 2019. (Revised July 2019.)  View Details

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• Article | Harvard Business Review | July–August 2019

  How to Scandal-Proof Your Company

  Paul M. Healy and George Serafeim

  Despite efforts to crack down on illegal activity, crimes like fraud, bribery, embezzlement, and money laundering are rampant in corporations. What steps can leaders take to fix this growing problem?

  Keywords: Organizations; Crime and Corruption; Organizational Culture; Leadership; Ethics;

  Citation:

  Healy, Paul M., and George Serafeim. "How to Scandal-Proof Your Company." Harvard Business Review 97, no. 4 (July–August 2019): 42–50.  View Details

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• Case | HBS Case Collection | March 2019 (Revised May 2019)

  Fetchr: A New Way of Last Mile Delivery

  V.G. Narayanan and Eren Kuzucu

  By mid-2016, five years of aggressive growth had transformed Fetchr from a small logistics startup to a 1,000-employee, full-fledged last-mile delivery company operating across four countries in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). Already beneficiaries of the largest Series A round to the Middle East from an American firm, CEO Idriss Al Rifai and the Fetchr team had ambitions of raising another $40 million in Series B and deliberated continuing international expansion. But first, Al Rifai and his team needed to address the operational efficiency and profitability issues that led their investors to threaten the discontinuation of funding and put the company’s future at stake. The case provides background information on the logistics sphere in the Middle East and the challenges companies face in the region. The case then takes the reader through Al Rifai’s journey of founding and growing Fetchr, backed with innovations like their patented GPS-based delivery technology. Finally, the case zooms in on Fetchr’s management team as they race against time to perform evaluations of their operational efficiency, weigh cost-cutting options, and explore strategies to improve profitability.

  Keywords: Startup; decision; financial strategy; UAE; KSA; MENA; Cost Accounting; Business Model; Business Startups; Transformation; Cost Management; Strategy; Disruptive Innovation; Technological Innovation; Growth and Development Strategy; Growth Management; Logistics; Service Delivery; Supply Chain Management; Performance Evaluation; Mathematical Methods; Mobile Technology; Transportation Networks; Middle East; United Arab Emirates; Dubai; Bahrain; Egypt; Saudi Arabia; North Africa;

  Citation:

  Narayanan, V.G., and Eren Kuzucu. "Fetchr: A New Way of Last Mile Delivery." Harvard Business School Case 119-018, March 2019. (Revised May 2019.)  View Details

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