I am very excited, extremely humbled and honored to write to you on my 7th year as dean of Kuwait Maastricht College of Management.

The journey so far is successful, enjoyable and self-rewarding yet challenging. Like any experience, we do not choose to deal with the best part of it and ignore its tough part. On the contrary, I contemplate the tough part as I consider it a chance to learn more about the dynamics and nature of the environment that MSM Kuwait is operating in. As you may expect, I am coming from an academic environment blended with different styles, methodologies, and philosophies from Egypt, Germany, the Netherlands and Canada. From each system I worked for or in, I learned something new which constructively and positively contributed to my ability to lead academically at this institution. This blend that I have acquired throughout my academic and leadership journey, made me incredibly passionate and persistently ambitious to pass on my views and vision to you through our offerings at MSM Kuwait.

The world around us is not just changing, but rather transforming. Science and hence technological advancements made the transformation unique, fast, and rather disruptive. If we do not follow through and along, we will lag behind and no one will care about us. It is rather up to us as to whether to run behind or lead the transformation. I chose the latter, you should too.

In this digital era where the term digital transformation is prevalent and prevailing, we have to be responsible human beings and to differentiate between ethical and unethical acts. We have to question ourselves before questioning anyone else as whether we are doing the right thing within the ethical and moral boundaries that are stemming from our culture and society.

We are a sincere and ethical group of academics, whether lecturers or supervisors along with a supporting team who have only one mission to execute, which is to transform you. By transformation, I mean, literally, transform your way of observing, the way of thinking, the way of reading and writing, the way of judging, the way of managing and leading. You come to us with your ambition to change, but we want you to come to us with your ambition to transform. We know how to do it because we did it before multiple times and it worked successfully. Nevertheless, transformation is the toughest shift from one level to another, because it is not an incremental shift like change does, it is a leap; a leap that you have to work for. We are not magicians; your sincere commitment, true seriousness and ethical passion are instrumental and integral parts of the transformation process. We want you to lead the process and we guide you through to achieve the promised goals.

Last but not least, we at MSM Kuwait implement the open door policy (in the digital era, email works too) where you can share with us your comments, feedback and suggestions at any time.

I wish you an enjoyable and fruitful academic journey and successful learning experience with us.

Best regards

Khaled Wahba, PhD

Dean | Kuwait Maastricht College of Management