In Anna Karenina, Leo Tolstoy cautions that “happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way”. The “Anna Karenina Principle” suggests that reasons for failure are manifold and complex and cannot be generalised, unlike success which can be attributed to a set of factors. We can apply this idea to success and failure in business.
The Community Innovation Survey, the largest single international survey of its kind, has pointed to cost, lack of qualified personnel and government regulations as top barriers to innovation. While the absence of such impediments can be used to explain the success of business people in certain instances, they cannot be used to explain failure even in their absence. Borrowing from Tolstoy, each unhappy innovator is unhappy in their own way.
For example, when a young GCC entrepreneur I am familiar with created an innovative device designed to prevent closed spaces such as warehouses catching fire, he found out, tens of thousands of dollars later, that it could not be deployed due to a lack of regulation around its use. I have heard other similar stories from the region, including a foreign company that wanted to set up a research and development lab, only to discover that the law did not recognise it as a formal economic activity, and, therefore, could not be registered. In another case, an innovator-entrepreneur once had to wait six months for a utility company to assign a business account for a new multipurpose building.
Businesses and governments are beginning to recognise the importance of understanding innovators' journeys
Possible roadblocks abound. Common ones include troubles with imports and exports. Should someone need to bring in equipment across international borders, customs inspections and import licence regulations are often both cumbersome and out of date. Commonplace technologies such as drones and cameras can be viewed as military tools, making special permits necessary. The entire innovation process will have to be put on hold until such matters are resolved. And should the innovator be importing a perishable product, holding up merchandise at the port, even for a short time, will risk it spoiling.
Hidden barriers are not unique to one region. In Germany, Holger Frommann of the German Venture Capital Association, once said: “If Bill Gates had tried to start Microsoft from his father’s garage in Germany, it never would have worked … Among other things, the government would have said that the garage didn’t have enough windows to be a proper working environment, nor enough emergency exits.”
Fortunately, governments are increasingly aware of such hidden barriers to innovation and some improvements have taken place. But other hurdles are deliberate, such as export controls on certain technologies and equipment. These are arguably meant to hold back innovation in other countries, and not everyone agrees with them. The US Semiconductor Industry Association states on its website that: “Excessive and unilateral export restrictions stifle the ability of American companies to compete with foreign competitors that do not bear the same export-related administrative and bureaucratic burdens.”
Hidden barriers for innovation remain largely invisible, detected only through analysing bumps in a product’s journey towards fruition. We do this already with consumers and users. Over the past decade, design-thinkers and consumer behaviour experts have risen in popularity as businesses and governments are beginning to recognise the importance of understanding innovators' journeys. A key objective was and remains to uncover their hidden needs. An entire craft has emerged, deploying many processes and techniques.
Yet when it comes to the creators of innovations, governments continue to rely on large-scale surveys that overlook outliers. These surveys tell us what are the main barriers to and main drivers of innovation according to a significant number of respondents. Innovation, however, is fundamentally about the success of outliers. It is about engineers who succeed where others fail; scientists who achieve breakthroughs under the same roof where others are lamenting a lack of resources; entrepreneurs who succeed where others shut their companies down.
Policymakers need to recognise that the routes towards successful innovation are varied. People working at start-ups experience the process in a different way to those operating within a multinational company. The size, type and sector in which an innovator operates influences their creative process.
This also applies to civil servants. Around the world, public administrations are deploying digitalisation, cloud technologies and artificial intelligence to transform the way they are organised, their services and the channels through which they are delivered. The experiences of these civil servants needs to be captured, mapped and analysed so that government innovation becomes more efficient and effective. Without a better understanding of innovation journeys in government, governments risk wasting lots of resources and potential.
Innovators' journeys remain poorly understood by both governments and corporations. The creative process is artificially streamlined and conceptualised. Policymaking, therefore, will benefit from a greater use of design-thinking and analysis of behavioural science. This needs to be better understood both by government and the private sector if we are to see the technological revolutions mankind is capable of realising.
Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
MEDIEVIL%20(1998)
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDeveloper%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20SCE%20Studio%20Cambridge%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPublisher%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Sony%20Computer%20Entertainment%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EConsole%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20PlayStation%2C%20PlayStation%204%20and%205%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%203.5%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
All%20We%20Imagine%20as%20Light
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EPayal%20Kapadia%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarring%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Kani%20Kusruti%2C%20Divya%20Prabha%2C%20Chhaya%20Kadam%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%204%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Opening weekend Premier League fixtures
Weekend of August 10-13
Arsenal v Manchester City
Bournemouth v Cardiff City
Fulham v Crystal Palace
Huddersfield Town v Chelsea
Liverpool v West Ham United
Manchester United v Leicester City
Newcastle United v Tottenham Hotspur
Southampton v Burnley
Watford v Brighton & Hove Albion
Wolverhampton Wanderers v Everton
Zombieland: Double Tap
Director: Ruben Fleischer
Stars: Woody Harrelson, Jesse Eisenberg, Emma Stone
Four out of five stars
What vitamins do we know are beneficial for living in the UAE
Vitamin D: Highly relevant in the UAE due to limited sun exposure; supports bone health, immunity and mood.
Vitamin B12: Important for nerve health and energy production, especially for vegetarians, vegans and individuals with absorption issues.
Iron: Useful only when deficiency or anaemia is confirmed; helps reduce fatigue and support immunity.
Omega-3 (EPA/DHA): Supports heart health and reduces inflammation, especially for those who consume little fish.
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
More from Rashmee Roshan Lall
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
MOUNTAINHEAD REVIEW
Starring: Ramy Youssef, Steve Carell, Jason Schwartzman
Director: Jesse Armstrong
Rating: 3.5/5
'I Want You Back'
Director:Jason Orley
Stars:Jenny Slate, Charlie Day
Rating:4/5
england euro squad
Goalkeepers: Dean Henderson (Man Utd), Sam Johnstone (West Brom), Jordan Pickford (Everton)
Defenders: John Stones (Man City), Luke Shaw (Man Utd), Harry Maguire (Man Utd), Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool), Kyle Walker (Man City), Tyrone Mings (Aston Villa), Reece James (Chelsea), Conor Coady (Wolves), Ben Chilwell (Chelsea), Kieran Trippier (Atletico Madrid)
Midfielders: Mason Mount (Chelsea), Declan Rice (West Ham), Jordan Henderson (Liverpool), Jude Bellingham (Borussia Dortmund), Kalvin Phillips (Leeds)
Forwards: Harry Kane (Tottenham), Marcus Rashford (Man Utd), Raheem Sterling (Man City), Dominic Calvert-Lewin (Everton), Phil Foden (Man City), Jack Grealish (Aston Villa), Jadon Sancho (Borussia Dortmund), Bukayo Saka (Arsenal)
Hotel Data Cloud profile
Date started: June 2016
Founders: Gregor Amon and Kevin Czok
Based: Dubai
Sector: Travel Tech
Size: 10 employees
Funding: $350,000 (Dh1.3 million)
Investors: five angel investors (undisclosed except for Amar Shubar)
Gulf Under 19s final
Dubai College A 50-12 Dubai College B
Skoda Superb Specs
Engine: 2-litre TSI petrol
Power: 190hp
Torque: 320Nm
Price: From Dh147,000
Available: Now
States of Passion by Nihad Sirees,
Pushkin Press
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
Living in...
This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.
Labour dispute
The insured employee may still file an ILOE claim even if a labour dispute is ongoing post termination, but the insurer may suspend or reject payment, until the courts resolve the dispute, especially if the reason for termination is contested. The outcome of the labour court proceedings can directly affect eligibility.
- Abdullah Ishnaneh, Partner, BSA Law
Credit Score explained
What is a credit score?
In the UAE your credit score is a number generated by the Al Etihad Credit Bureau (AECB), which represents your credit worthiness – in other words, your risk of defaulting on any debt repayments. In this country, the number is between 300 and 900. A low score indicates a higher risk of default, while a high score indicates you are a lower risk.
Why is it important?
Financial institutions will use it to decide whether or not you are a credit risk. Those with better scores may also receive preferential interest rates or terms on products such as loans, credit cards and mortgages.
How is it calculated?
The AECB collects information on your payment behaviour from banks as well as utilitiy and telecoms providers.
How can I improve my score?
By paying your bills on time and not missing any repayments, particularly your loan, credit card and mortgage payments. It is also wise to limit the number of credit card and loan applications you make and to reduce your outstanding balances.
How do I know if my score is low or high?
By checking it. Visit one of AECB’s Customer Happiness Centres with an original and valid Emirates ID, passport copy and valid email address. Liv. customers can also access the score directly from the banking app.
How much does it cost?
A credit report costs Dh100 while a report with the score included costs Dh150. Those only wanting the credit score pay Dh60. VAT is payable on top.
