Sand to Silicon: Achieving Rapid Growth Lessons from Dubai

Over just three generations and within the past half century the tiny emirate of Dubai - which unlike many states in the region has not had the benefit of huge oil resources - has raised its profile globally through a range of bold developments and clever ideas. These include its free zones for business that have made it a regional centre for many firms, its biennial air show, the Dubai World Cup horse race, its development as a tourist centre that is home to some of the most stunning hotels in the world, the building of the Palm island and the planned construction of the world's tallest building.

In Sand to Silicon Sampler and Saeb Eigner outline a model for how this large-scale rapid growth has been achieved and they pinpoint the reasons for Dubai's success:

• Leadership that is visionary, inspirational and embraces risks, that is demanding but supportive, and that builds confidence.
• A leanness of organizational structure and bureaucracy, which helps to speed things up.
• Openness to outside influence and competition, and to the views of all stakeholders.
• Good communication channels and access to decisionmakers.
• A business culture founded on trust - but not without regulation where it is necessary to reinforce trust and confidence in the system.

As Sampler and Eigner say in their concluding chapter, these are all things that any organization will benefit from.

Jeffrey L. Sampler is Associate Professor of Strategy and Information Management at London Business School. His research interests are in new models of strategic planning and the impact of digital technologies on firms. His research has appeared in a number of journals, including Fortune, Journal of Management Studies, Journal of Management Information Systems, MIS Quarterly, Sloan Management Review, and Strategic Management Journal.

Dr Sampler is an adviser to many Fortune 500 companies and is on the board of several high-tech companies and investment groups. He is also a frequent speaker at conference and corporate management retreats, and has been featured in Newsweek, BBC Radio, and CNBC.

Saeb Eigner is a graduate of London Business School, where he serves as a Governor and Chairs its International Alumni Board and its Middle East Regional Advisory Board.

Austrian by birth, he spent his early childhood years travelling with his parents in the Middle East. Educated in England and fluent in Arabic, he has been travelling to the Gulf region for more than twenty years, initially for an international bank and subsequently for Lonworld, a private financial services firm he founded and runs. he has been a regular speaker on business and economic affairs on television and radio internationally and at conferences in the region. He lives with his family in London.