“Your Career Advisor” is responding this week to:

• From Upper Egypt: how can I go for an MBA? (d)

• Tell me more about the Operations Control function? (g)

All reasonable questions related to careers, skill development or employment related issues – sent to advisor@skill-link.com - would be addressed in this section every week.

Q1: From Upper Egypt: how can I go for an MBA?

I am a 32 years old Engineer, I graduated from Assyut University's Faculty of Engineering. (Computer and Control Dept.) with the grade of "Very Good" in the early 90s. I was Upper Egypt Branch Manager of a computer company for about seven years. I then moved to a pay phone company, where I am currently manager of their South Upper Egypt branch. My current responsibilities cover pay phones management, installation and management. During that time I attended a number of short management courses, covering topics such as: leadership, performance appraisal for managers and management competencies.

I am very much interested to obtain a Masters in Business Administration (MBA) to improve my management skills and to have better career opportunities. The problem is that I am residing in Upper Egypt, so what MBA programs would you recommend suiting my current situation where I cannot attend classes in Cairo.

M. A. (Upper Egypt)

Replying:

Dear Mr. A.

First of all, you seem to have had a successful career so far with enviable growth….

As we repeatedly say, enrolling in and completing an MBA program is a major undertaking; it takes time, effort, and commitment and is usually expensive.

As you correctly pointed out, being in Upper Egypt, makes the task difficult, since most of the available MBA programs require class attendance in Cairo, with one or two exceptions for Alexandria. Therefore, if you are really keen on an MBA, you should opt for a distance degree. There are several ones available from international universities. One worth noting is the Edinburgh Business School's MBA (Heriot Watt University - United Kingdom). Since its introduction in 1990, the Heriot-Watt University MBA Program has now more than 8,500 active students enrolled on the Program across the world, the average student age is 35. Distance learning for this MBA could be paper based or through the Internet. For those who want to attend classes (optional), the American University in Cairo (AUC) offers classroom session. This is through a cooperation agreement between the AUC and Heriot-Watt University, whereby "The Institute of Management Development" (at The American University in Cairo) has been approved as the support center in Egypt to offer in-class teaching of Heriot-Watt University distance learning MBA. Therefore, through distance learning, you only have to sit for exams.

Heriot-Watt University was ranked top in Scotland and second in UK for industrial and commercial research funding, as well as for percentage of international students.

You can get more information from:
Web site: www.ebsmba.com 
Edinburgh Business School Student Service
Pearson Education
Edinburgh Gate 4Y
Harlow; Essex
CM20 2JE
United Kingdom

Tel +44 (0)1279 623 112
Fax +44 (0)1279 623 223

Email: ebsmba@pearsoned-ema.com 

To contact the AUC Institute of Management Development:
The American University in Cairo
113 Kasr El Aini Street; Cairo, Egypt

Telephone: Cairo (20-2) 794-2964
Fax: Cairo (20-2) 795-7565

Office of Enrollment Services:
Tele.: Cairo (20-2) 797-5012
Fax: Cairo (20-2) 794-4728

We hope the above was of some use to you.
Good Luck

Q2: Tell me more about the Operations Control function?

I am a 32 years old Faculty of Commerce graduate (Cairo University). I also obtained a Secretarial Certificate from the American University in Cairo. Since graduation I worked as an executive secretary and as an assistant in the Finance Department of a multinational company. I will be soon working as an Assistant to the Control Manager (Operations Manager) in an industrial company. This management position is responsible for evaluating and planning the efficiency of all the company's departments, such as: pricing policy, logistics, cash management, treasury, FX risk, inventory & capacity, power consumption, customers' contracts, time/cost, taxation, accounting, IT, HR, Administration, Budget, Risk management, Dividends policy, difficulties due to poor financial information, safety, etc…

As per the above, I would therefore like to know the following:

1- How to find information about efficiency planning & efficiency control?
2- How to be certified in that field especially that I think it is a new field in Egypt?
3- What about the exact role of this function, what should it be?

Your assistance will be highly appreciated.

N. W. (Cairo)

Replying:

Dear Ms. W.

Thank you for your elaborate description. Interestingly the function or role you mentioned is not a traditional one in organizations, unlike Production Management, Quality Control, Maintenance, etc…. where they are common and well defined roles, with little variations from one company to the other. The way Operations or Control Management is structured in your entity reflects a rather sophisticated set up or one that adopts advanced management practices, there are not that many around, outside very large multinationals.

In some instances, there is a similar role but with a narrower focus, for example in multinational fast food chains (McDonalds, Pizza Hut etc…) the "Operations / Control" would focus on the waiting time of customers at the counter, the quality / freshness of food being served, how crispy the French fries are when delivered, the optimum amount for a home delivery etc… Another example could be found in the express courier industry (eg. DHL, Aramex etc…) where the focus is on control, quality and efficiency of delivery time, % of delays, effectiveness of parcel tracking etc…

Therefore, as per your description, it is an "all encompassing" role with the mission of identifying: are we doing the right thing? Are we doing things right? How could we do better to improve our bottom line results?

This is not to say, that most companies do not attempt to answer the above questions or perform this role, the uniqueness lies in dedicating a management position to that purpose. Actually a company general manager (or managing director) worries about the various aspects you described, it is part of his / her job. In a few instances, and we repeat, a few instances, smart Internal Auditors would also look at such things (efficiency of capacity utilization, inventory levels, risks etc…) and not limit themselves to straight forward breaches of controls and compliance to corporate regulations. In other instances, management consultants are brought in to perform such a role, not permanently but on an occasional basis. These consultants, as outsiders, are supposed to have good experience in spotting weaknesses and areas of operational improvement. They leverage their exposure to numerous companies and awareness of best practices.

Having said all of the above, it becomes clear that the "Operations / Control" role as described is not a single competency type of job (i.e. not restricted to manufacturing productivity, or financial management etc…)… it requires a number of characteristics in the person performing it:

• Strong observation and superior analytical capabilities
• Natural curiosity and an investigative nature
• An intellectual mind, constantly seeking to know of best practices in various functions in one or more industries
• The ability to grasp details, break down issues and formulate practical recommendations.
• The ability to relate to others and get along well with them
• A good communicator who can build a case and properly present it.
• A multi track minded person / multi tasker (as opposed to someone who feels disturbed to be involved in different functions / areas at the same time)

The above are more or less the traits of a good management or business consultant. In your case he is not an outsider but a permanent employee.

As per the above, the knowledge and skill base cannot be limited to one discipline, the person needs to read a lot in various fields and be aware of sound management practices. It is also useful to have a thorough understanding of the particular industry he/she is working in (eg. paints, beverages, cement etc…). Also having a grasp of basic finance and accounting is useful, since most recommendations would have a financial impact on the results of the business (how much would this save, what are the costs associated with doing such and such etc….).

However, with regards to training and certification, if the focus is narrower to operational efficiency; the following could be of interest to you:

• LOGIC Consulting, has a number of short courses in the fields of change management, financial analysis etc… their schedule is available online on skill-link.com Interest Zone's Skill Development Section. The "7 Habits of Highly Effective People is a very interesting course".
• The American Chamber of Commerce in Egypt also "activity based management" and "cost reduction techniques" etc… their schedule is also available online on skill-link.com Interest Zone's Skill Development Section.
• The German Arab Chamber of Commerce & Industry has an affiliated training unit: Forum for Management and Training (FORMAT). You should obtain their course announcements, since some of them would be of relevance to your needs. Their contacts in Cairo are 3924089/ 393 2203 (Sherif Street, El Lewa Bldg., 5th floor, Apt. 58, Downtown, Cairo, Egypt)

If we were to suggest ONE book you should read in your area of interest, it would be Rober Kaplan's "The Balanced Score Card: translating strategy into actions".

There are some interesting organizations and associations that provide useful resources in your area of interest, some are presented below:

• Better Management (www.bettermanagement.com)
• Performance Measurement Association (www.wcps.info)
• The American Management Association (www.amanet.org) they have a number of online courses in manufacturing operations, inventory management, supply management etc… worth exploring.

We hope the above was of some use to you.
Good Luck

Note from the editor: 
Employer names and inquiry sender names were withheld for confidentiality

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