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MAOS Degree Organizational Sciences (HR)

I am a woman of Arabic heritage, born in the United States and raised in Saudi Arabia. I now live in Washington D.C. I hold a Bachelor’s degree in English awarded by the King Saud University in 2001. I was an ‘A grade’ student with a GPA equivalent of 3.5. I speak, read and write English and Arabic fluently.

 Having graduated, I worked in the office of one of my family’s businesses acquiring basic office and business skills. I also undertook a 2 year diploma course in Microsoft Works which I completed very successfully in 2003.

 My family has a number of business interests ranging from franchises to real estate. This presented me with opportunities to work in, and closely study, the successful running of businesses of various types. I took full advantage of this opportunity and was mentored by experienced and knowledgeable managers in business basics.  This was an excellent ‘apprenticeship’ in business realities and, looking back, one that I could not have designed to be more appropriate and comprehensive.

 Up to that point I had not seriously contemplated a career in business but I became increasingly fascinated by the contrasts and similarities between different business types. I began to read widely on business matters and especially how successful businesses are organized and operate.  I slowly acquired a good general appreciation of the world of business but concluded that, if I were to be really useful to a business, I needed to undertake a specialist course of study and sought a suitable business specialism.

 I became aware that excellent human resources policies and dealing properly with change were  two basic of the most significant essentials to business success. I also began to appreciate the link between human resources, change and success. Internal change in anticipation of, or in reaction to, outside change can only succeed if those affected can be persuaded to fully ‘buy in’ to changes. The anticipation of change, a readiness to face it and to identify both the threats and opportunities change presents is basic to the success of any business of any size. A lack of readiness to change the ways in which a business is internally organized and managed is not unusual but is often the start of business failure. I know that complacency is fatal to business and that resistance to change, though natural to some degree, has to be overcome and ways found and applied to gain co-operation and even enthusiasm to change, for lasting business success.  The fascinating and radical changes following the failure of Communism and the consequent opening of the ‘global market’ is still far from complete and is another area that interests me, especially as it impacts upon the Saudi economy.

 At some point in my reading I became aware of Organizational Science as a distinct and formal field of study and realized that this was the specialization that studied the areas of business in which I was most closely interested. I began to investigate study programs in this field but these were very limited in Saudi Arabia.

 Before I took action on this matter, I married and became a mother of two children.  I continued to read business periodicals and texts and to take an active interest in the running of the family’s businesses during this time. After four years of marriage our family moved from Saudi Arabia to the United States where my husband is preparing to undertake studies for a Ph.D.  The move has presented me with a golden opportunity to study my chosen specialist subject amongst the world’s experts and is one that I am very eager to take.

 I am particularly interested in the ways that human resources policies can assist a business deal successfully with change. I am also interested in the effects of cultural differences in the ways businesses are organized and the comparative outcomes. I would hope to be able to undertake research in these areas.

 It is our intention to return to Saudi Arabia and I intend to bring the fruits of my studies to effect in the Saudi economy by being a senior manager in a Saudi company or a consultant to local businesses. The changes involved in dealing with the new realities of a global economy is one that I want the businesses of my country to face successfully and I believe that the program will enable me to help them in doing so. Women are only just beginning to obtain posts at senior executive level in businesses in my country. Completing the MAOS program would enable me to take a leading place in business in my country and would be a truly ‘ground breaking’ step both for me and my society.

 I am considered to be a hard working and intelligent person who will bring passion for my subject. I am aware that most students with direct business experience will have been involved in the management of medium to large businesses. I can bring a different perspective having been involved in the running of several small businesses of various types and operated within a different culture.

 I am personally familiar with two very distinct cultures and have interacted successfully with people of various cultural backgrounds, whilst studying, socially and in my work to date. I look forward to exchanges from different cultural viewpoints in the program and sharing my own distinct cultural ‘angle’ on business.

 I am aware that the program is a prestigious one, offered by a world class educational institution and that there will be stiff competition to participate. However I believe that I can offer some interesting and unusual insights and experiences to my class. 

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