Hisham El Sherbini | Henley Business School (original) (raw)

Papers by Hisham El Sherbini

For most of my Adult life, I have believed in gradual change, that you cannot build a house out o... more For most of my Adult life, I have believed in gradual change, that you cannot build a house out of nothing in an instance, you have to lay your bricks one by one, you have to go up the ladder step by step.
But, for the last 5 years or so, I’ve been having doubts. They say, “Change needs time” and “Time changes things” and I often believed in that but do we have time? Is the planet going to wait for us to sort out our insane consumption and waste? Are Syrian mothers and children going to wait for us to sort out humanitarian and medical aid and, perhaps, peace? Are the homeless going to wait for us in freezing conditions to provide a solution for them? Did time help resolve the injustice inflicted on the Palestinians for 70 years now?!
In this paper, I want to inquire into an example of what can be considered “gradual change” and, some can argue, has parallels with the “Three Horizons” framework (Sharpe, 2015). The examples I am referring to is “Social Business” (Yunus, 2011)
Yet, even though, initially, I received the Three Horizons framework with open arms, I am also keen on examples of “shock change” (it doesn’t seem to be a thing but a close one could be “shock therapy”? (Murrell, 1993)).

Everyone talks about Justice! Whether Greek philosophers (such as Aristotle, over 2000 years ago)... more Everyone talks about Justice! Whether Greek philosophers (such as Aristotle, over 2000 years ago), Saints (such as Saint Augustine, 500 years later so), American statesmen (such as Alexander Hamilton, one of the Founding Fathers of the US in 1750s-1800s), Civil Rights & Political Activists (such as Eleanor Roosevelt in the 1930s-1960s, Martin Luther King, Jr. in 1960s and Jodie Evans), Novelists (such as James Baldwin), Playrights and Poets (such as Wole Soyinka) and British Prime Ministers (such as William Gladstone in 1860s-1890s and even Churchill in 1940s-1950s (probably his only quote about justice is the one above!)) (Brainyquote, 2017).
Justice comes up all the time, except in Unit 6 Workshop, captivatingly called “Power, Participation & “Justice””.
And, since we were encouraged to inquiry about what provokes us, I decided that that would be my inquiry cycle; actually, an iterative inquiry of two cycles!

I was so much provoked by this whole thing about “The Future of Work”. I am astonished at shallow... more I was so much provoked by this whole thing about “The
Future of Work”. I am astonished at shallow conversations that people are having which tend to be more about “The Future of Employment” or, as I like to call it, “Capitalist Slavery” (Hermes-Press, 2017).
It seems to me that it's all about controlling labour, restricting their freedom, herding them like cattle and ensuring they stay part of the system to feed the big cats.
It also frustrates me the articles and discussions involving “A human is being replaced by a robot”, I keep thinking there is something really wrong with the title. A human being wouldn’t be “replaced” by a robot if the human being wasn’t doing a robotic job in the first place, which
takes us back to my main concern: We keep looking at the symptoms and trying to find solutions for them and we keep ignoring, knowingly or not, the root cause. My main concern is not that a human being would be replaced by a robot but what’s the core reason behind that happening? Is it for the sake of improving quality of life, making time and
energy for us? For socializing together and deeply connecting back to nature? If yes, then great, sign me up! But I doubt that it is. The trend to automate has mainly been for the sake of reducing costs and increasing efficiency (Cox, 2017) or, in other words, making more money, growing, profiting and all this Capitalistic nonsense.
I am also inquiring about the Future of my work and my rebellious nature, in, not just my personal life but, the professional one. Guess what? I am not the only one! Rebel Talent and Constructive Non-compliance exist!

This study attempts to shed light on the contextual factors that could have influenced the attack... more This study attempts to shed light on the contextual factors that could have influenced the attacks on Islamic charities and the issues that took their toll on their collective reputation. It aims to explore the impact of commitment and trust
moderating the reputation of such charities with existing and potential donors.

It always puzzled when it is claimed that science and religion are opposites; that notion that a ... more It always puzzled when it is claimed that science and religion are opposites; that notion that a man of science cannot, possibly, believe in God or in a religion and vice versa. It also puzzled me the notion that “creation” could be the opposite opinion or view of “evolution”.
My experience of Islamic teachings encouraged my interest in science as a means of understanding the world around and inside us, and encouraged the exploration of the theory of “creation” in addition to “a” theory of “evolution”.
What provoked me even more and led me to write this paper is the claim, I thought I heard during Workshop 3 at Schumacher, that religion and Deep Thinking do not go together and that we need to “free” ourselves from religion in order to be able to think deeply, question deeply and experience deeply.
In this paper, I wanted to inquire whether I was misled to understand that Islam actually encourages Deep Thinking and, if I was not misled, then why could that be a “common” claim. I also wanted to inquire whether some Muslims do not get that same picture and, if so, what led them to that.

In my first paper, I was keen on exploring different views on whether Capitalism is a sustainable... more In my first paper, I was keen on exploring different views on whether Capitalism is a sustainable system. My conclusion was that, in a best-case scenario, it cannot continue in its current form – in terms of relentlessly pursuing growth, accumulating capital and exploiting human and natural resources. The other scenario, which I am more inclined towards, is that “Alternative Systems” need to be explored and developed in order to gradually weaken and eventually replace Capitalism altogether.

In this paper, I want to inquire whether Capitalism is a sustainable model and, if not, what the ... more In this paper, I want to inquire whether Capitalism is a sustainable model and, if not, what the alternatives could be. I want to discuss and compare the Egyptian and the Indonesian cases, looking for parallels.

The Scottish Police and Fire Reform Act (2012) was set to bring together Scotland’s eight FRSs (f... more The Scottish Police and Fire Reform Act (2012) was set to bring together Scotland’s eight FRSs (fire and rescue services) into one, the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS). It became the largest Fire Service in the UK and fourth-largest in the world (LFB, 2014; SFRS, 2015a). This report discusses Change & Leadership in light of that merger.

This report will attempt to analyse the Financial Performance of easyJet over the last 5 years (2... more This report will attempt to analyse the Financial Performance of easyJet over the last 5 years (2008-2012). The report starts by introducing the sub-industry of the LCCs (Low Cost Carriers) as well as the chosen company, easyJet. From there, we immediately dig into the financial analysis of the company. We are approaching this analysis from, predominantly, an Investor’s angle. Even though Company Valuation and, possibly, other areas are out of the scope of this report and they would have been useful in completing the picture, we will try and shed some light on the financial health of easyJet and whether it can be seen as a potentially good investment.
easyJet’s accounts are published on the 30th of September of the respective year. We will generally be using easyJet’s Annual Reports as a source of data unless otherwise noted. In that case, the Osiris database (BvD, 2013), OneSource (OneSource, 2013) or other sources will be used. This data will act as the catalyst to different financial ratios used.

This report will attempt to analyse one of the critical issues that the Consultancy Services (CS)... more This report will attempt to analyse one of the critical issues that the Consultancy Services (CS) Business Unit (BU) at CompanyX is struggling with. CS is made of some of the most experienced, skilled and knowledgeable individuals in the IT industry. This claim is validated by both vendors that have relationships with CompanyX as well as rival IT companies. However, the issue of “low performance of the Consultants team” is becoming more and more critical as will be explored in section 3.5. The report will seek to illustrate the impact of HR practices on that issue.
Data was collected through Informal interviews with Mark, the Head of CS, as well as several Consultants in CS, financial records provided by the Finance Director reflecting the position of the organisation as a whole over the last 3 years as well as mostly qualitative but also quantitative HR data especially regarding Employee Retention.
During the analysis, the impact of the external and internal contexts will be explored. Following that, recommendations will be presented along with their benefits and risks as well as means of measuring them.

This report will attempt to analyse an operational issue involving the Resourcing function at Com... more This report will attempt to analyse an operational issue involving the Resourcing function at CompanyX. The process at the heart of the issue is the RAP (Resource Allocation Process).
The issue is perceived to be complex with multiple factors contributing to and resulting from it. The report will illustrate the inefficiencies in the process itself, that the technology in use is not fit for purpose as well as the lack of visibility and the right information at the right time to make decisions involving efficient utilisation of Consultants. All of that has led to, on one hand, Customer dissatisfaction and delay in realizing financial project benefits if not losing the customer altogether. This is because Customers have expressed their concern at the Consultants not being available when needed and that, when they are, their performance is not meeting their expectations. On the other hand, it yielded a negative impact on the motivation, engagement and, whether directly or indirectly, the utilisation of the Consultants. This can be reflected as well in the increase of rate of attrition of the Consultants.
The report will recommend improvements to the process, the quality of information being collected, optimising the use of technology, as well as increasing motivation and engagements of the Consultants. Justification for the recommendations will be presented as well as an implementation plan including means of measuring the benefits.
Data was collected through informal interviews with Mark, the Head of CS (Consultancy Services), several Consultants in CS, the Resourcing team as well as several SAMs (Sales Account Managers). In addition, some Customers were casually asked for feedback regarding their experience and level of satisfaction with the CompanyX’s Service Delivery operation.