Bank Muscat Board attends workshop on best practices to enhance performance

MUSCAT: Bank Muscat, the flagship financial services provider in the Sultanate, in partnership with the Cambridge Judge Business School Executive Education, organised a workshop attended by members of the Board of Directors led by Shaikh Khalid bin Mustahail al Mashani, Chairman.

The bespoke programme provided the bank’s directors with an overview of the latest developments and best practices to enhance board effectiveness. The workshop focused on the board’s oversight role on a wide range of areas such as digital trends in the banking sector. The session was held as part of the annual Board of Directors’ development programme.

Shaikh Khalid bin Mustahail al Mashani said: “The workshop attended by the Board of Directors provided fresh insights on strategic growth and long-term value creation for the bank. The programme focused on strategies to enhance the board’s ability to lead, challenge and guide the bank to a sustainable future. The programme was perfectly aligned with the strategic goals of Bank Muscat and had a direct and tangible impact on its business alongside the country’s economic prosperity.” The Board of Directors’ development programme is part of a regular ongoing effort to familiarise the Board members with new insights of innovation, motivation and value creation through transformational learning experiences that support them in creating real impact for the bank’s growth and development. The initiative helps the Board leadership to make strategic decisions complementing the economic development in the country.

The Board discussed how to improve efficiency and profitability. The role of the board in preventing fraud and reputational damage was another topic in which the participants worked on a set of financial scandals in recent years. Each group prepared a summary and presented their conclusions highlighting the role of the board and compliance failures involved.

Raising capital using non-traditional securities was another topic of discussion. Digital innovation and how to approach developing new services and products was also discussed. The dark side of dealing with technology with case studies on managing information from customers, employees and markets was another topic discussed at the workshop.