Pearl Initiative Progress Update Report - March 2013

For a Progress Update Report on the work of the Pearl Initiative, as of March 2013, please:

Click here for English version

Click here for Arabic version

Programmes

Governance Practices in GCC Family Firms

The Pearl Initiative has launched a new piece of regional research focused on family firm governance. The Report “Family Matters, Governance Practices in GCC Family Firms” is based on research carried out jointly by the Pearl Initiative and PwC.

The research is based on interviews with over a hundred family firms across the GCC. The aims of the research programme are to:

• Raise awareness and understanding on governance issues, trends, and existing practices amongst GCC family firms

• Enable family firms to benchmark their own business against others in the region and gain insight on how similar businesses address these issues.

Please find the links below to download the Report “Family Matters, Governance Practices in GCC Family Firms”:

Click here for English version

Click here for Arabic version

GCC Corporate Good Practices in Accountability and Transparency

The Pearl Initiative has launched the first Report in its Series on GCC Corporate Good Practices in Accountability and Transparency. This first Report covers two topics:

1. Implementation of Integrity-Related Policies

2. Towards Integrated Reporting

This Report demonstrates that there are good practices within companies in the GCC. These good practices set excellent examples within their respective industries and are well worth sharing with the wider business community.

 The Pearl Initiative will work further to build up a regional knowledge base of content on good practices in transparency and accountability in the GCC. In this way, we can continue to study good practice experiences, share lessons learned and disseminate key success factors. The overall aim is to positively influence the wider regional business community to make progress along the path towards implementing better business practices and, in turn, realising value creation.

Please find the latest link to our GCC Good Practice Case Studies Research Report below:

Click here for the English version

Click here for the Arabic version

Pearl Initiative Anti-Corruption Program, in collaboration with World Economic Forum

Pearl Initiative efforts are underway to encourage business leaders to commit to countering bribery and to provide a regional network through which organisations can gain knowledge, benefit from mutual support and share experiences. The aim is to drive action within companies to develop, embed and monitor anti-bribery practices. We will also support the development of an External Verification Tool by which independent assessment of anti-corruption programs can be carried out and used as an indicator of performance.

Pearl Initiative Integrated Reporting Program

The Pearl Initiative is driving the Middle East initiative of HRH The Prince of Wales’ Accounting for Sustainability (A4S) Project. We are holding awareness raising sessions around the region in order to introduce the concepts and benefits of integrated reporting. We are also providing a regional network through which interested organisations can gain knowledge, benefit from mutual support and share experiences

Pearl Initiative Good Corporate Governance Program

The Pearl Initiative is leading a series of small tailored leadership roundtable sessions focused on peer-to-peer exchange of knowledge, issues faced and experiences. We are also holding practitioner-level workshops to help participants gain access to practical executionable tools for implementation of good practices. We are a forum through which the private sector can engage in a dialogue with governments and civil society on cross-cutting issues of transparency, accountability and governance

Integrity and Leadership for Tomorrow

The Pearl Initiative is collaborating with the American University of Sharjah and other leading Universities across the region to forge greater links with the private sector in teaching and research in areas of ethics, corporate governance and sustainability.