HEC Paris, ranked #2 worldwide for Executive Education in 2020 and #1 for the International Executive MBA in 2019 by Financial Times, recently organised a webinar session for Qatar Foundation (QF) staff.

The session, supported by QF Learning and Development to promote employee learning, was led by Dr Serge Besanger, Professor of Strategy and Economics at HEC Paris and consulting expert at the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

The webinar was also marked by the presence of Dr Pablo Martin de Holan, Dean of HEC Paris in Qatar. Speaking on the partnership between HEC Paris and QF, Dr Martin de Holan said they are very honoured to deliver the online webinar for the QF staff. He said that HEC Paris share a similar objective with Qatar Foundation, and its commitment to the development of a knowledge-based economy in Qatar.

Over the last decade, according to the Dean, they have set the benchmark for executive education in Qatar by demonstrating impact and excellence which also signals their plan for the future.

For us, excellence means world-class programmes, and impact means sustaining and increasing our contributions to the State of Qatar and its institutions, guided by Qatar National Vision 2030.

COVID-19: Where Do We Stand?

The webinar session provided an overview to the coronavirus pandemic and its aftermath – ‘COVID-19: Where Do We Stand?’ and comprised three sessions, each included a Q&A round.

In the first session, ‘Building better resilience during and after a crisis’, Dr Besanger offered valuable recommendations on how to make relationships in companies more robust. He also identified relationships that needed strengthening, as well as offered advice on how to build organisational and financial resilience.

In the second session, ‘Promoting agility and innovation during times of crisis’, Dr Besanger addressed the topic of organisational agility and how this may represent, to some firms, a paradigm change in their way of conducting business. He stressed the importance of leaving one’s comfort zone and espousing a culture where error is seen as a positive.

And in the concluding session, ‘Creating an innovative customer focus’, Dr Besanger talked about a number of ideas ranging from encouraging the frontline teams to resolving customer issues, and improving customer experiences to adopting Big Data in a stakeholder-friendly manner.

HEC Paris successfully completed 10 years in Qatar this year. It joined Qatar Foundation in June 2010 and was its first European partner university. QF is a private, non-profit organisation that supports Qatar on its journey to become a sustainable and diversified economy.

It was established to serve the people of Qatar by providing specialised programmes across its innovation-focused eco-system of education, research and development, and community development. To learn more about QF and their programmes, visit qf.org.qa.

For more information about HEC Paris in Qatar, visit qatar.exed.hec.edu.