Flip through the latest issue of Gulf Weekly.
Bahraini banker, Khalid Ebrahim A Karim knows a thing or two about human behaviour in corporate culture.
He has won an award for his MBA dissertation that focuses on the implications of social network's growth on knowledge transfer within banking communities in Bahrain.
He was awarded the prize for best overall performance on the MBA (Bahrain) programme. He also won a Chartered Management Institute (CMI) prize for best overall performance across all MBA deliveries.
"In layman's language my MBA research concentrates on how effectively banking personnel at different levels and of different age network with each other.
"Internet and virtual communities have had a profound affect on our society and has changed our lives. Our mode of communication and networking has evolved leading to a change in behaviour and social interaction and that is the focus of my research," said Khalid, 29, assistant manager at Bahrain Islamic Bank (BisB).
Khalid, a resident of Riffa, completed his degree in summer as a part-time student of the UK-based University of Glamorgan MBA programme that has been running successfully in the kingdom for over a decade. An integral part of the MBA study is the research element that enables students to relate their studies directly to their workplace.
Khalid based his study on individuals working in different banks in Bahrain and his conclusions were a result of responses from questionnaires and interviews. "In a nutshell my findings indicated that individuals 27 years and below use the electronic media - blackberry, Facebook - profusely for knowledge transfer and to network.
"They are dynamic in networking and are more willing to share information. Individuals in the 27 to 35 age group tend to network more on a personal level and use less of the social networking communities. Whereas the older generation are less willing to network as they have reached their comfort zone and are content to remain in it."
Khalid and his academic supervisor at Glamorgan, Paul Davies, are currently developing ideas for publishing elements of Khalid's dissertation as journal papers indicating the research value of the work. Wil Williams, director of MBA at the University of Glamorgan, believes that Khalid's success story emphasises the importance the university places on delivering a quality MBA programme in Bahrain.
This is not the first time that human behaviour and communication has interested the young professional. He completed a course in Neuro Linguistic Programme (NLP) while working for CrediMax in 2003 and hasn't looked back since. Khalid is now a certified NLP practitioner and believes that the complex art has changed his approach to life.
"NLP has given me a new perspective to life and I have developed a positive attitude and greater self-confidence in my career and personal life through techniques taught by this alternative therapy programme."
