Friday, January 31, 2014

Certified Purchase Professionals, January 2014 batch

Certified Purchase Professionals : Trained by Blue Ocean and certified by the American Purchasing Society (APS). Welcome to an elite club of certified professionals worldwide. CPP is a credential that will hold good for you as you achieve one professional milestone after another.

Thursday, January 30, 2014

The Role of Supply Chain & Inventory in today's Emerging Business World


Blue Ocean, the region's leading management training and consultancy firm delivers training for corporates and individuals alike.

Thursday, January 23, 2014

Blue Ocean Media Monitoring : December 2013

Gulf News Article : Developing Human Capital

What will be the business trends and manpower skills that will take precedence as the crescendo builds up in Dubai for Expo 2020. Three main lines have emerged so far: brand building through digital marketing, virtual collaboration and cros...s-cultural competence. There is an increasing consensus about the skills to look out for and cultivate for the future : learning ability, thinking and specialization, writes Dr. Sathya Menon, Academic Director, Blue Ocean Academy, Dubai in the column "Expert Advice", Gulf News dated January 21, 2014.
 

250 Students Conferred International Certificates at Blue Ocean Winter Convocation Ceremony







Gulf News : Evolution in Global Sourcing: Challenges Ahead


Evolution in Global Sourcing: Challenges Ahead

 
By Dr. Sathya Menon

Procurement professionals have come out of obscurity and into mainstream business. As a function, global sourcing has evolved through a series of challenges, growing from a minor function within finance or operations, to become one of the most important components of modern corporate management.

Procurement competence has taken a more strategic approach because the way we do business has changed. There has been a natural strategic business evolution from purchasing to sourcing to strategic procurement to supply management in the last 10 - 15 years.

 Two enormous changes have revolutionized the face of procurement. First procurement has become deeply intertwined with business strategy. Rather than simply functioning as a standalone business unit, procurement managers and directors are now coordinating their purchases with senior executives to ensure that the company strategy is implemented across the board.
 
The second change in procurement that has entirely changed its character is the rise of e-Procurement. Whereas before procurement professionals worked over the telephone, compiling information as they went, they are now able to document information online, gaining access to far more information that allows them to make more effective decisions both at the level of cost and at the level of strategy.

Many companies have moved beyond the most basic stages of procurement maturity, often adopting strategic sourcing, category management, Supplier Relation Management tools to add value to the chain.

There are four generic strategies for managing global sourcing risk: network re-engineering, collaboration, agility and a risk management culture. All procurement professionals need to understand and guard against these risks by putting together an effective plan in place.

Studies show that while most procurement managers are aware of the risks their companies are exposed to, they are unable to implement risk management strategies, in most cases these strategies are either not implemented at all or in an ad-hoc basis.

 

Handy Hints

  • Procurement competence has taken on a strategic approach
  • Procurement itself has undergone a business evolution
  • Rise of e-procurement has completely revolutionized the face of procurement professionals.

Press Release : Dubai to Emerge as the Hub of Human Capital by 2020:Experts


BLUE OCEAN ORGANIZES WORKSHOP ON DEVELOPING HUMAN CAPITAL:GLOBAL PERSPECTIVES FOR 2020.



Dubai : Blue Ocean, the region’s leading executive training and corporate consultancy organization, offering end-to-end training solutions for individual professionals and corporates held its mega event for the year 2013 recently – a prestigious workshop on “Developing Human Capital : Global Perspectives for 2020” –initiated by the Blue Ocean HR Forum to raise the bar of certified professionals in the Middle East.

The workshop was attended by eminent speakers, corporate leaders and certified HR professionals who debated on the merits of transforming HR practices to develop talent in time for Dubai Expo 2020. Experts agreed that Dubai will emerge as the hub of human capital by 2020, exporting knowledge and manpower from Dubai to GCC and S. African countries.

Dr. Premchand Kurup, a prolific and erudite speaker and co-founder of several companies in the Middle East turned the spotlight on the future of workplace skills identifying three main lines : brand building through digital marketing, virtual collaboration and cross-cultural competence as key differentiators. “Learnability, thinking and specialization will be the skills of the future,” he added.

Dr. Kurup who is not only a corporate leader but also a speaker at business schools worldwide, said that in 2020, the private workforce in the UAE will be divided among those who work for large conglomerates, small and medium enterprises and those who are self employed. In the coming years there will be a distinctive increase in the no. of people working for small and medium enterprises.

“Employee perspectives will change and along with changes in the employment scenario,” Dr. Kurup highlighted.  “Obedience, diligence and expertise will be valued by employers and the onus will be on employees who can take initiative, are creative and passionate about their work.”          

Dr. Farrukh Kidwai  an Operational Excellence expert, a Six Sigma Champion a veteran leader of the industry and  Blue Ocean faculty talked about how worldwide the best HR practices are those that develop talent, globalisation, growth and innovation.  “Increasingly, the spotlight is on executing talent and HR strategies for organisational acceleration Cutting-edge talent development must bring together on-the job learning, project assignments, talent networks and formal education and training with individual experiences. It’s time to re-imagine corporate learning:  Move away from traditional notions of training and strive to create behavioural change and to foster talent.”

“It is also time to re-think the relationship between learning and work: especially where and how learning is delivered. Develop and expect more from leaders at all levels: leadership development is to be aimed at more and younger people. Embrace the concept of continuous development, just like continuous improvement. Integrate work, social and community opportunities,” he added.

Other speakers at the conference included Zainab Saad Shawki and Tamela Scotcher. Zainab Shawki is an is an experienced human resources professional with 13 years’ local and international experience in human resources across a multitude of industries, while Tamela Scotcher is an internationally-qualified  development and chief project leader. 

 Headquartered in the UAE with a strong presence in the UK, KSA, Qatar, Oman, Sri Lanka and India, Blue Ocean stands on an enviable reputation built on 16 years of training, an impressive roster of blue-chip clients, a global network of certified trainers and international affiliations.

Blue Ocean specializes in designing courses that bridge the gap between infrastructure and knowledge, imparting futuristic skills to a new genre of industry leaders, shaping them into dynamic professionals in an increasingly competitive world. 

(ENDS)