Prof. (Dr.) Taimur Sharif is the Dean of the School of Management at the University of Kurdistan Hewlˆer (UKH), Iraq, and a Distinguished Professor at Woxsen University, India. He’s a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, UK, and a recognised Chartered Manager in the UK and Canada. Prof. Sharif has over 25 years of teaching, research and leadership experiences in the Middle East, South Asia and the UK. He was the Head of Business School at Birmingham Newman University, UK, the Director of the Faculty of Business School at Muscat University, Oman, and the Dean of the Faculty of Business at Abu Dhabi Alhosn University, UAE. He publishes in recognized journals, presents papers in international conferences, and delivers talks and advisory services to global HE stakeholders on contemporary business, finance and pedagogic issues.
Recently, in an exclusive interview with Higher Education Digest, Dr Sharif shared his professional trajectory, insights on the key strategies required to integrate quality and excellence at all levels of education, his favorite non-academic book, future plans, words of wisdom, and much more. The following excerpts are taken from the interview.
Hi Dr. Sharif. What are some of the most significant changes or trends you’ve observed in higher education during your career, and how have you adapted your leadership approach to address these shifts?
One of the notable changes over the last two decades had been the significant rise in diversity among educators and learners, featured by a growing number of ethnic minorities and female population in teaching as well as non-conventional students aiming reskilling or upskilling, such as working professionals, parents, carers, redundant employees, and so on. As of THE’s 2023 World University Rankings, women lead almost a quarter of the world’s top 200 universities and the list includes top universities like Oxford, MIT, Cornell, LSE, and so on. While accessible, flexible and affordable features of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) had been gaining popularity worldwide in the pre-pandemic decades, a fast transition to embedding technologies such as online learning solutions, artificial intelligence (AI), virtual reality (VR), simulations, and so on, happened in the HE sector to address learning needs of the students. Also, support services had been streamlined to ensure staff and student well-beings in the wake of the COVID-19 and throughout the pandemic. Recent studies that highlight the rising shifts of student preferences to blended learning modes, hybrid lessons, and virtual courses in the post-pandemic period corroborate my observations. In terms of global student mobility, there had been a major decline in the flows to conventional destinations, such the USA, the UK, Australia and Canada, due to the rapidly changing socio-economic and geopolitical contexts, persistent financial perils, strict visa regulations, and rising competition from selective Asian countries which were typically the suppliers of international students. Other noticeable changes, particularly in the developed countries, include embracing sustainability and circular economy features, universal values, decolonizing and decarbonizing approaches, responsible citizenship, flexibility and diversity in learning options, and so on in curriculum designing, and teaching, learning and assessment activities.
I have followed agile and adaptive leadership styles in navigating uncertainty and remaining ahead of the game by making informed decisions in no time using a forward-thinking approach. In connection with curriculum designing and revisions, I have always focused on collaborating with the industry players and facilitating competency-based education (CBE) model, embedding the Principles for Responsible Management Education (PRME) and technology-enhanced learning (TEL) approaches to the development of contemporary employability skills of the graduates. For instance, being watchful of the changing entrepreneurial ecosystem, cultural diversity, and student demographics (e.g., rising participation of non-traditional students), I have made timely revisions in the curriculums with experiential learning and pastoral support provisions (including SEN) to produce “marketable” future workforce and entrepreneurs. These approaches have always produced excellent outcomes for the Schools I served. For instance, I led the Business and Management subject area of Birmingham Newman University (UK) to scoring higher than the UK national averages in all scales of the National Student Survey (NSS) in 2020 and 2021 – a first ever achievement for any subject area in the history of the university. Regarding the persistent fall in the number of international students, instead of heavily relying on such a vulnerable student base, I have emphasized on validating courses or opening study centers in overseas locations, such as Southeast Asia including China and India. This approach not only create alternative and sustainable streams of revenues for the parent organizations but also corroborate students of these countries’ parochial mindset of looking for options at home or in the neighboring countries.
What do you love the most about your current role?
The scope and opportunity to introduce creative but tested ways of staff management, program development, teaching and learning approaches, local and international academic collaborations, industry partnerships, transparency in governance, and so on, using the Bologna process in a real sense. To mention a few examples:
In the 2023-24 academic year, besides leading the introduction of the British QA system of validating and moderating programs, I’ve designed and launched Iraq’s first ever Doctor of Business Administration (DBA) program. The coursework modules are delivered in the weekends in blocks by internationally reputed flying-in faculty from the UK, using TEL approaches including VR. The thesis component is going to be supervised by a combination of local and international subject and research methodology experts.
For staff management and development, I’ve introduced a UK-style work allocation model (WAM) that requires an agreed yearly work commitment of a full-time academic staff member, with flexibility to have more focus on either research or teaching or both. Based on staff expertise and performance barometer (demonstrated records), I make adjustments in the WAM while allocating hours for the next academic year as part of the personal development and performance review (PDPR) system. This approach now provides research-active staff an option of buying-out teaching hours for research.
The current role provides me freedom to pioneer such approaches and services for staff and student developments and wellbeing as well as for image building of my School.
What are the most popular academic programs offered by the School of Management and Economics, University of Kurdistan Hewlêr, and what sets them apart from other institutions?
The EMBA and lately DBA have been the most popular programs, given that these are professional courses offered only by us in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI), providing widening participation opportunity to bachelor graduates in non-business subject areas. However, since we rank #1 in the KRI and have 100% graduate employability records in the recent years, all our programs have equal popularities and been preferred over similar programs offered by the local competitors. One of the recently introduced features that is gaining popularity is the set of common first year modules across programs that offers flexibility on switching to other programs. For example, if a student has a change in mind and likes to switch to a different program without losing a year, they can do it prior to the start of year 2. This approach has already helped mitigating some potential drop-out cases in 2023-24. Also, our most recent experience suggests that the undergraduate applicants having confusions regarding their academic area of interest or future career have found it useful to be able to join any program in our school without any worry, knowing that they will have a unique opportunity of changing their original selection of program based on their learning experiences with different functional areas of business. Earlier, I brainstormed and successfully trialed this approach in the UK, at Birmingham Newman University, and contributed to resolving a much-discussed issue of retention, that reached its highest across the UK universities during 2019-23.
What research initiatives is the School of Management and Economics, University of Kurdistan Hewlêr currently undertaking, and how do they address regional economic challenges?
I’d like to answer both questions together. The School of Management and Economics at the University of Kurdistan Hewlêr is currently engaged in several research initiatives aimed at addressing global and regional business, economic and financial challenges. These initiatives often focus on topics such as sustainable finance, digital business, circular economy, organizational behavior, and the impact of policies on local economy and communities. Currently, we’re focusing on the following areas of research:
- Sustainability research: Examining sustainable economic, financial and business practices, environmental impact, and strategies for sustainable development in the region in light of the global experiences, particularly the experiences related to the COVID-19 and the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict.
- Digital finance: Analyzing how access to real-time data affects financial forecasting, budgeting, and resource allocation; Exploring the impact of financial technologies on traditional banking and investment strategies, including digital payments, blockchain, and crowdfunding; Assessing how digitization changes the landscape of financial risk management and compliance.
- Digital marketing: Investigating effective use of social media, SEO, content marketing, and targeted advertising to reach consumers; Understanding how digital tools can improve customer engagement, personalization, and loyalty through data analysis; Developing metrics and analytics to measure the effectiveness of digital marketing campaigns.
- Organizational behavior and theory: Investigating employee attitudes and behaviors, organizational culture, employee responses to change and reform; addressing issues of organizational innovation, learning, and adaptation in complex environments; examining how high-hazard organizations learn from experience, and so on.
The outcomes of our research enable analyzing policy implications and providing recommendations to enhance organizational governance, business and financial performances across sectors, foster economic resilience, promote innovation, and support overall regional development, in alignment with the KRI Vision 2030 targets.
What are your views on leadership? How should university administrators ensure that their faculty members and students transform into world-class leaders?
Leadership as a model has evolved in various forms, not as “one size fits all”. Effective leaders inspire and align individual goals with broader organizational objectives, recognizing the complexity and diversity of their teams. They are the change agents who foster innovation and adaptability, while also underscoring the necessity of ethical leadership to maintain trust and integrity within their teams. Also, they would advocate for leadership development in curricula, highlighting the need for future managers to cultivate strong leadership skills to navigate modern challenges. However, I’m worried observing the inclinations of many universities in the developing world to introduce various staff monitoring approaches, for instance, clock in and out, which are not corroborative to the creative and self-responsible nature of academic jobs. I’m also worried seeing the way quantity is taking over quality due to the hardcore target setting culture, sidelining the need to provide meaningful support for research-informed teaching and scholarly activities of academics. According to a TBS Education report, given that the conventional rankings and accreditations heavily rely on non-research components, such as quality of teaching, innovation, engagement, institutional involvement, managerial responsibilities, etc., business schools aren’t obliged to prioritize investing on staff research. Moreover, although there are great examples of leadership, many university leaders seem to be less concerned about making a balance between “doing things right” and “doing right things” approaches. Without this, team members often struggle to locate the right direction of progression in career while at the same time fulfilling the requirement of operating within clearly defined ethical and legal norms and guidelines.
As a practitioner of the servant leadership principles, I believe leadership is fundamentally about serving others. Here are my views on how university administrators can foster world-class leaders among faculty and students:
- Collaborative culture: Fostering teamwork and collaboration across departments; understanding the needs and concerns of faculty and students; creating an environment where everyone feels heard and valued; leading by example with honesty and accountability, and setting a standard for ethical behavior.
- Professional development: Offering workshops and training sessions with a focus on leadership skills, emotional intelligence, and conflict resolution for both faculty and students; creating a supportive network for growth by establishing formal mentorship programs (e.g., peer mentoring) where experienced faculty and administrators guide emerging leaders.
- Student leadership: Creating platforms (e.g., student union, clubs, or community projects) for students to lead projects that allow diverse perspectives to shape innovative solutions; providing them with the tools, resources, and autonomy to succeed, and guidance to taking ownership; encouraging partnerships with local organizations and businesses to provide live project experiences and helping students and staff apply leadership skills in practical settings.
- Celebrate achievements: Building a culture of recognizing and celebrating the accomplishments of faculty and students in leadership roles; facilitating level playing platforms for faculty and students to offer regular feedback and use this to continuously improve programs and support structures.
By embodying these principles and implementing supportive strategies, university administrators can cultivate a collegial environment for nurturing world-class leaders.
As a seasoned academician and administrator, what are your suggestions, to integrate quality and excellence at all levels of education?
Integrating quality and excellence in education requires a multifaceted approach. I can think of the following strategies as key:
- Curriculum development and standardization: Regular updating of the curriculum to reflect current knowledge and industry standards, involving faculty, students, and industry experts in the development process; aligning programs with accreditation standards and best practices to ensure accountability and continuous improvement.
- Assessment and feedback mechanisms: Implementing robust assessment methods that measure student learning outcomes and program effectiveness; using data to drive improvements and inform decision-making; establishing channels for feedback from students, faculty, and alumni to continuously assess and improve programs and services.
- Student engagements and support system: Fostering an engaging learning environment through active learning techniques, collaborative projects, and real-world applications of knowledge. Providing students with the comprehensive support services, including academic advising, mental health resources, and career counselling, to help students succeed.
- Inclusive practices and support provisions: Promoting diversity and inclusion in all educational practices to create a supportive and equitable environment for all students.
- Faculty development: Investing in professional development for educators to enhance teaching methods and stay updated on pedagogical advancements; encouraging research initiatives and innovative practices among faculty and students to foster research capabilities; creating opportunities for collaboration across disciplines.
What is your favorite non-academic book and why?
“Muhammad: 11 Leadership Qualities That Changed the World”, written by late Nabeel Al-Azami. The unique feature that attracted me to this book is the reflections of author’s unique blend of academic research, practitioner experience and entrepreneurial insights that have deepened my understanding of the principles of servant leadership in practice. The author brought cutting edge research in leadership studies and valuable leadership insights from the life of prophet Muhammad (pbuh) in constructing a paradigm for servant leadership that I’ve been fascinated to. Based on his 20 years of leadership experience in the MNCs and award-winning global NGOs as well as industry consultancies, he also shows the practical implications of this model in the modern era.
How do you wind down or rejuvenate after a long week or day?
Spending quality time in a family or social environment, readings related to the current topic of my research, taking a long bath, following world political and financial news, practicing mindfulness or meditation, going for a nature walk, or enjoying a movie.
Where do you see yourself in the next 5 years?
In next 5 years, I envision myself continuing to contribute to the field of education, possibly in a senior strategic leadership role, such as a HE Consultant, a Pro-Vice Chancellor or a Vice President. In this role, I would aim to focus on strategic initiatives that enhance student success, foster innovation in teaching and learning, strengthen partnerships with industry and working with community partners, government agencies, and alumni to promote the university’s interests and secure funding and resources. Additionally, I hope to engage more in thought leadership, sharing insights through publications and conferences, lectures on developmental issues in the HE landscape, and mentoring emerging academic leaders. Ultimately, my goal is to drive positive change in business education and contribute to the broader academic community and society.
Do you have any advice for aspiring professionals working in the higher education landscape?
I’ve the following key pieces of advice for aspiring professionals in the HE landscape:
- Embrace lifelong learning: In the constantly evolving and challenging HE landscape, stay updated on industry trends, educational technologies, and pedagogical advancements; be flexible and open to new ideas, be it integrating technology or exploring alternative educational models; cultivate resilience to navigate obstacles and maintain a positive outlook, while building your continuous professional development (CPD) profile.
- Ensure research-teaching balance: Contribute to your field through research and publication to enhance your credibility and advance knowledge within your discipline; however, strive for a balance between your research pursuits and teaching responsibilities, as both are crucial for your personal development and the institution’s mission. In addition, develop strong communication skills for effective teaching, administration, and stakeholder engagement.
- Focus on student success: Students’ success is your success. So, always prioritize the needs and experiences of students; use their success stories in guiding curriculum development and teaching methodologies; promote diversity and inclusive practices to enrich student learning and prepare them for a global workforce.
- Build robust networks: Network and cultivate relationships with colleagues, industry leaders, and alumni to open doors for collaboration, mentorship, and career opportunities; in complement, also network internally with other faculties and departments to create interdisciplinary programs and initiatives that enhance the educational experience.
By focusing on the aforementioned areas, you can make a meaningful impact in the HE landscape and contribute to the development of future leaders.