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bus519_case_study_1
Assignment 1: Assess Organizational Readiness
Review the assigned case study and complete this assignment.
Write a five to seven (5-7) page paper in which you:
1.
Analyze how the Critical Success Factors (CSFs) apply to the facts of the case study. Provide examples to support your analysis.
2.
Determine the project benefits, organizational readiness, and risk culture of the company in the case study. Provide justification for your response.
3.
Develop at least three (3) project risk recommendations based on the analysis from criteria number 1 and 2 of this assignment.
4.
Identify the initial categories of risk (RBS Level 1 and 2) that you see as being present in the case study using the Example Risk Checklist (Figure A-2, Hillson & Simon text).
5.
Use at least four (4) quality resources in this assignment.
Note: Wikipedia and similar Websites do not qualify as quality resources.
Your assignment must follow these formatting requirements:
·
Be typed, double spaced, using Times New Roman font (size 12), with one-inch margins on all sides.
· Include a cover page containing the title of the assignment, the student’s name, the professor’s name, the course title, and the date. The cover page and the reference page are not included in the required assignment page length.
The specific course learning outcomes associated with this assignment are:
· Analyze the critical success factors (CSFs), project benefits, and organizational readiness and risk culture of the company.
· Apply the results of this analysis to the development of project risk recommendations.
· Use technology and information resources to research issues in project risk management
· Write clearly and concisely about project risk management using proper writing mechanics.
TNSHAS
ILALI-Y SCHOOL
I or naxre*trxt & Tctttllot”oGY
ftre Busine#s $ch*s}
for the Woridu
Environntental QualitY
International in
Siwa
0412009-5607
T,1is case was written by professor Jonathar story, Emeritus Professor of International
Political Economy at INSEAD’ It
is intended to be used as a basis for class discussion rather than to illustrate either
effective or ineffective handling of
an administrative situation.
Copyright @ 2009 INSEAD-Rensselaer
To oRDEtCOPIS OF INSEAD CASES, Sff DFTAIIS ON THEBACK CO\Itr. COSES MAYNOT
BEMADEWTIHOTI| PENMISSION.
1
Strayer University-Virginia Beach, “BUS 519: Risk Management””’Fall 2012″
INSEAtr
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WhenMounirNeamatalla,PresidentofJheprivatenrynjia.nfirmEnvironmentalQuality
International (EeI), hrst set eyes on ihe !ilya’oasis
in iq9s, itt the Matrouh region of Egypt
inthesaharadesert,hewasenttrralr9{.Neamatalla,aconsultantwhohadstudied
environmentul -urrug”Lent at
columbiu urriu*rity, ru”.ritit-g the oasis on a project
for the
Canadian Development Agency. He was
ttt.,illitn” iact that’-with a few anachronisms’ the
community he was visiting could easily
have blen the one described by Herodotus
2’500
years earlier. Here *ur-urria”ut fit wittrEQI’,s mandate
to promote sustainable development
projects wherever th;;;;rt-ity.beckoned. where others
saw poverty and isolation’
Neamatalla saw riches: u “ott*”,
traaltion urrJ h”ritug” untouched by the
passage of time’
overtheyearsthatfollowed,EQldesignedandimplementedanumberofcommercial
venturesaimedatpromotingeconomico*.r.op-“”tin’Siwa_lnethatwouldbeinharmony
with Siwa’s
“nuiron-“n1t”””?
ift* would t”ultu’t” it’ unique cultural heritage’ EQI’s
approach
was to draw on trr” or,l^*lrJo,o, traditional
tiilit
“”o “t*ti”lty
of the local community’ and
complement tt”- *it -odern know-ho”.;;;;;”p Siwa
into a model of sustainable
development that could serve as a source “il”tplt*i”n
for other communities around the
world. Some of tt “r” “”rrt”r””
ur” .,r.r”n fr^ i”iig .”pr*ated by EQI in other parts
of the
region.
Egvpt
The past few decades have seen Egypt move
from a pan-Arabic, largely socialist state
at war
with Israel, to an increasingly market-ori”rrt”J
ur”hoi of stability in a troubled region’ As
one
of two Arab countri”, ifrut”ftut” forged
p”u””-*ittt ittael’ Egypi has played an important
role
in promoting dialogu”e;;;;”” tsralt ana lrr at”u-“”igtruolurs’rne
North African country is
one of the largest recipients of American “ia.
irioog,It *u, slated to receive $1’3 billion in
military aid and u”oTft”. $415 million in economic’
assistance’ With a population of 80
million, it is home to one in four Arabs’
ThepopulationofE,gyptisconcentratedalongtheNileriverbanksandisurbanizingfastas
rural inhabiturrt, pooi’iiioihe -air, “iti”,
oftiito and Alexandria’ From 43 million in 1980
to
nearly g0 million – ioos, it is estimat”i ;; il ul'{
to reach 100 million by the 2020s’
population density i, “”t “g
it
”
world’s fgli”J The
urban p-oprrlation accounts for 42o/o
of
the total and is growing at a rare of l.g./i per annum. _F1Ttng.t”.pre.11nts
79%^”,^o!^GDP’
industry 22o/o, andr”*[“‘ 4goh.Per.upitu rin”o-e is $1,200
uttd th” literacy rate is 57o/o’
water scarcity is a prime concern- R””;;t^-96%
of Egypt’s land mass is made up of
desert. The only arable regions in EgIpJ i.”‘rrt”
g.””r, nJodplains that line the Nile basin’
urbanisation i, “utinfirrto-r*”
araile land and pitting the environment under
great stress’
Politically,Egyptisstillahighlycentralisedrepublicanstateinthemidstofaprocessof
political urrd
“”orroriric
iiueralilatiorr. rt rru, uri””iv L*tm””ed from a single
party to a multi-
party political systeml ;;til; a socialist lo a market oriented
economy’ Extensive powers
are vested in the president, who is “”-i””*J
ty a twothirds majority of the *::tl::
Assembly
“”d
rh””:;;;;&;*.qt r-.i*odrr- ftr a six-vear term’ Since
the assassrnatron
of president Muhammad Anwar “l-suaurirr-is8t,
,n” office has been held by Mohammad
Hosni Mubar”k, *h;;;; b””rr r”-“l””ted frve times. tlte Sadat,
Mubarak had a distinguished
former career in Egypr,s armed forces. Th;’;t;;id*rln_r:$t
the governrnent and enjoys the
support of the dominant National O”.o”ru,i.-p””V tNOpl,
which has secured a majority in
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I
2
Strayer University-Virginia Beach’ “BUS
519: Risk Management”‘ “Fall 2012”
04/2009-5607
the directly elected People’s Assembly. The govemment is reported to be facing demands for
political ,Lfor- from toth secular and liberal opposition parties and from the officially
Lanned fundamentalist Muslim Brotherhood. President Mubarak’s crackdown on opponents
has led to calls for restraint from the United States’
The Muslim Brotherhood, the strongest of the opposition groups’ has spent most of its
history
debarred from politics because of the country’s secular constitution Elections in 2005 were
marred by allegations of intimidation and ballot rigging. Israel’s Ariel Center for Policy
ResearchlonctuOed that Cairo had no choice but to engage in a degree ofreform in order to
keep resentment at bay. Most intemational analysts and research institutions agree that Cairo
would benefit from engaging in significant reform’
The threat from rnilitant Islamic groups re-emerged after a lull from the late 1990s until2004,
when a series of bombings in the southem Sinai peninsula highlighted the exclusion of
the
local population from the-mass tourism development of their region’ Despite sympathy
for the
plighi oi the Bedouins, the attacks were unpopular amongst Egyptians’ not least because of
the damage to Egypt’s valuable tourist industry.
The armed forces of Egypt are the largest on the African continent. The military and security-
related budger is ,rot iutti” informalion but most published sources put Egyptian military
expenditurJatlYs to iOy” of GNP. In addition to the armed forces, Egypt maintains a large
paiamilitary force around 350,000 strong, known as the Central Security Forces, under
the
ilAinirtry oi ttre Interior. The National Guard and border securiry forces come under the
control of the Ministry of Defence and are reporled to number 60,000 and 20,000
respectively.
Administratively, Bgypt is divided into 28 govemorates, each headed by a govet1lor who
is
appointed by the presi *unug” all pubiic utilities, provide ser’,,ices and designate indr’rstrial areas’ Local councils are elected bodies ihat rvork closely with local govemment administrative units various levels.
Economically, the country is in midst of shaking off a socialist past whose heritage owes as
much to the bureaucratii tradition of the Byzantine empire as to any regard for workers’
rights. Fiscal reforms introduced in 2005 have lowered unernployment and attracted record
fo”reign investment. Customs –once famously comrpt and inefficient-have been strearnlined’
Tariffs have been cut and simplified. The Egyptian pound has been floated’ in 2007′ the
country achieved growth of 7 .lu/o, mostly due to $ I 1 .1 billion in foreign direct investment’
Yet the Egyptian economy, while growing, is weak’ Although non-oil and gas exports
increased 45Yo in the 2006-2007 fiscal year and were expected to rise fiom $i4 billion in to similarly-sized countries. Turkish “*pottr, of Egypt’s growth has been constrained to energy-intensive industries -cement, and fertllizers-that take a $16 billion trade deflcit, importin! most Jf its meat, wood and grain, capital goods equipment.
INSE:{5) Copyright O 2009 INSEAD-Rensselaer
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Strayer University-Virginia Beach, “BUS 5l 04l2009-5607 INSEAtr That the World Bank ranked Egypt first in a list of countries introducing investor-friendly whimsical decision-making system, makes operating in the country difficult and ug” of the population is 24, compared to 39 in France, with only 43o/o of the employable Growth in manufacturing and industry tends to be capital rather than labour intensive. Labour ion””* over rising income inequalities -{espite improvements recorded by the IIN Human Tourism provides the country with a major income stream, representing 20Yo of foreign -arnings, Minister Zrtheir Garana announced plans to boost tourist eamings by 26% to $12 billion Siwa The oasis of Siwa was first inhabited nearly 12,000 years ago, but only since 1986 has a road
made it accessible to the rest of the world. Siwa is part of an archipelago of oases dotting the desert oasis served as an ancient stopover for caravans travelling from North Africa to the of the desert to consult the oracle. The oracle welcomed him in a spectacular procession and it Located in westem Egypt, not far from the border with Libya, the oasis is 80 kms long and In its centre, the crumbling Fortress of Shali dominates the village. Most of the local beams and cladding as they resettled on the plains around Siwa. The remains of the fortress
Copyright @ 2009 INSEAD-Rensselaer Strayer University-Virginia Beach, “BUS 519: Risk Management”, “Fall 2O12”
04/2009-5607 INSEAD
Copyright @ 2009 INSEAD-Rensseiaer
ffi Ren-xelaer|Lt-?*I’:’9il19S”1
continue nonetheless to serve as an example of Siwa’s traditional construction techniques’ blocks, ,upport”d by palm logs. Some of the medieval structures stood up to five storeys high.
After 1926 the town was rebuilt around the fortress, but further rains in 1985 marked the palm gave way to cement blocks.
The oasis is home to between 20,000 and 30,000 residents, up from 5,000 in the 1970s’ The
local population is divided into 11 tribes, whose sheikhs provide their people with a the inhabitants. “We are all family,” iays Abdallah Baghi, head of education in Siwa. Cairo is
happy to keep this arrangement. The sheiks receive a government salary, and the mayor-who
t u'[oue*-“nt appoinGe-heads the elected town council’ The mayor is nominated by the ttre tand oifiriully belongs to the siate, Cairo recognises the mosaic of historic ownership Berber dialects which spa., the Sahara through to Morocco’ The land surrounding the villages
is given over to agticulture, 300,000 date palms and 70,000 olive trees’
For rnuch of its history, Siwa’s location isolated it from mainstream history’-From,the fall of
the Roman Empire, its independence went largely unchallenged until the 19′” century’ Armies that might truoe triud” it through the desert were repelled by the central fortress or by
the paucity of rthes. The first European arrived in ll92 but the oasis was not brought into the
fold of modem states until 1840, when the Ottomans shelled its citadel and massacred its
chieftains. The first Egyptian ruler to visit Siwa was the Khedive Abbas Helmy iI in the early
y””.. the 20th The Khedive laid the foundations for the Great Mosque’ the first
public edifice built by the state. His grandson, Prince Abbas Helmy III, has retumed from the^Uf mosque.
Even then, contact with the rest of the world was limited mostly to the taxes it paid and,
briefly, to the passing armies of the World Wars. It wasn’t unlll 1977, when President Sadat
took an interest in the oasis, that modernity began to intrude’ As part of the Camp David
accords with Israel, the Egyptian arny evacuated the Sinai-which was later opened up to
modern mass tourism-ur-d *u, re-deployed to the westem Egyptian desert, guarding the with access to a helicopter for medical needs. Soon afterwards’ the Egyptian state built asphalt road that ,”ached 300 kms through the desert to link the oasis with the provincial
capital on the coast.
With that connection came increased attention from the state: schools, health services and smattering of investment-enough to begin to wear away centuries of traditional culture’ horizons to the rest of the world. Along with a glowth in westem tourist traffic, a strong
reform current of Islamic practices undermined the softer traditions of Siwan practice’ The
proliferation of wells loweied the water table; ironically the pumpld water flooded the pulling the salt towards the surface, endangering cultivation. and killing swathes of palm
gro,r”J. Traditional craftsmen found that fewer students were interested in learning their art’
StrayerUniversity-VirginiaBeach,”BUS5lg:RiskManagement””‘Fa\\2012″
04/2009-5607 {NSHAP The older generation feared that ancient Siwi values were eroding as the young generation Environmental Quality International
Among the new arrivals since the road was built was EQI, which first came to Siwa with a Practices would be sustainable with the aim of preserving the local culture, heritage and EQI’s component projects, described below, attracted the attention of the Intemational Adrdre Arnellal Oasis
EQI’s Siwa centrepiece (and the only investment that did not benefit from the IFC loan) is the If EQI wanted to build in the Siwan style-and it did-the company would have to rescue a Copyright @ 2009 INSEAD-Rensselaer Strayer University-Virginia Beach, “BUS 519: Risk Management”, “Fall 2012”
04/2009-5607 the sun for several days, the mites would be gone. The method worked, had to be tom off the first 20 rooms so that construction could begin afresh’
The construction was ultimately successful. Not only did it provide the lodge with the nori hu, 150 enterprises irained in traditional building techniques. Their revival reawakened pride in the oasis’ cultural heritage. Increasingly Siwan builders choose to use palm logs and
rock salt blocks instead of more modern mateiials, and the state govetnor has decreed that new constructions are to be built in the traditional style. This has encouraged outsiders to
build tourist facilities along traditional lines.
The hotel, which took eight years to build, began small with eight units, but quickly through word-of-mouth publicrty to 24 rooms, with a maximum occupancy of 70 guests’ interesting nav-ellers from all ou”ith” world and from all walks of life including scholars, Beeswax candles are used for lighting. Coal braziers provide heating when needed’ The
ceilings are made from palm and the fixtures are made from olive wood’ The swimming is fedly natural sp.ings. Dinner consists of organic food, mainly grov/n locally ‘
The lodge’s staff is also predominantly local, providing employment and advancement members of the siwan community. Iieeping salaries at local levels are key to the lodge’s
financial success. Partly becaut* it t “pt primarily in a consultini capacity for the kitchen-the hotel was profitable after just five
years.
In 2005, the eco-lodge was ranked second by Conde Nast Traveler on the magazine’s “Green Resorts”. ln 2A07, Trave! & Leisure listed it among its top 20 “Favorite Green Siwa’s
past and culture like roughened gJmstones that, properly cttt and set, provide an experience
that can be found nowhere else.
Shali Lodge and .Elbabenshal
The company’s second project, which was built concurrently, was another hotel, Shali set in a palm grove ,r”- th” village of Siwa. Built once again in the traditional mud and salt to travellers who may not have the iuclget for the luxury lodgc in the desert’ Thehotel employment to 2ti Siwans. The IFC loan allowed EQI to add a plan for its extension would double that number.
Shali Lodge is a five-minute walk from the oasis’ prime archaeological attraction, of Shali, and the surrounding, largely crumbling traditional village’ Albabenshal’ another from the resttrecl ruins of derelict houses abandoned during the rains of the 1920s’
lNSEAD
Copyright @ 2009 INSEAD-Rensselaer ft gselaerlL*’l-&X-f’f i’-f-?-‘f
Strayer Universlty-Virginia Beach, “BUS 519: Risk Management”‘ 04/2009-E607 INSEAtr ffi ftrrrss*lffi I *t,!ffi ,#ftg*&
In addition to offering the company’s services to a different category of traveller, both lodges
provide the company with a presence in central Siwan life, and serve as reminders that EQI is
not an aloofproprietor ofan hotel set apart from the rest ofthe oasis. The company also hopes Siwa Greations
In 200i, soon after EQI had built its first two lodges, the company realised that all its tradition of embroidering. Again, EQI was faced with reviving and adapting a craft that was Laila Neamatalla began an initiative whereby grandmothers were asked to train young women
artisans in the ancient tradition, and the eco-lodge began offering local products embroidered
in the traditional sfyle to its discerning clientele. As the work flourished, she realised that The project took off quickly. Beginning with 50 trainees funded through a grant from the workshop learning the basics of quality control until they get married, after which they precious stones. Embroidered leather is set in silver to make rings and bracelets. The products
are sold not only in the lodge but in high-end outlets in Egypt, Italy, France and England. In
2004, the Florentine haute-couture fashion house Ermanno Scervino began incorporating
Siwan embroidery into its collection. Material is sent from Florence to Cairo, shipped to Siwa,
where it is stitched and sent back to be assembled in Italy’
In addition to reviving a fading art, the project has been an economic success for the Siwan Siwa Organic
The success with the women led to demand for something similar for the men, more lhan’7}o/o
of whom worked in agriculture. EQI responded with an effort to boost local attempts at Copyright @ 2009 INSEAD-Rensselaer Slrayer University-Virginia Beach, “BUS 519: Risk Management”, “Fall 2O12”
04/2009-5607 to sell their land to pay their debts. To hedge against these use chemical fertilizers to maximise their yields’
Recognising this as a problem, and using funds provided by the IFC’ EQI prr-b;y the” crops for 40o/o to 50% moie than the market price, provided the harvest lro-n’orgunicaliy. The company also started acattle alternative fertllizer, as well as milk: it rvould buy cows for farmers to raise, after lwo parties would split the profits. The schemes were expected to benefit and presewe the region’s production of organic produce’
Thecompanyalsobeganprocessingandmarketingtheregion’sproductswitha’line.that jam’ and hibiscus
syrup. This heiped to add value to traditional practices and.also.served Si\vun, traditionally harvested their olives by stripping them directly from the fruit scratched, bruised and unsuitable for sale in Europe. So EQI asked begin hand-picking the olives. A local recipe for brining the olives involved thin is customarily used elsewhere, the.”*ult of the mineral’s abundance to preserve supplies for lean years. EQI’s recipes use a lnore conventional amount designed to last one season and please the intemational palate’
The project reflects the premium the company puts on its image. Its benefits aren’t economic and don’t only’uc”.u” to the farmir – they are critical to bumishing and preserwing Challenges Going fonrnard
The biggest challenge EQI faces is helping the community in which it is located traditioir”against modemiir. rn” “o-puny operates as to the enterprises it has launched. With its business model designed guests to the ancient culture and heritage, it can’t afford to 1et the elements that make unique slip away.
With its nafural heritage, its geographic remoteness and historical uniqueness, attracted low impact toiJsm un,t u “”ttuitt the latter being EQI’s target market. They tend to form an emotional connection Saharan charm and make repeated trips to the oasis’
But while the company’s founders would very much like to see.the oasis been for millennia (tl offer clients “an opportunity to travel tack in time”), they also Motorcycles have
begun to muscle out donkeys on the village roatls. For villagers looking homes, modern construction is and iaster to put up; only foreigners building vacation
homes can be relied upon to use exciusively local maierials and traditions, expertise and materials is beyond the reach of the local population’
EQI has been very careful not to engage in practices that are unsustainable-it introducing an espresso machine after ii discoveied that it would consume as the rest of the lodge. But its influence is limited, not least because lNSEAI) Copyright O 2009 INSEAD-Rensselaer 8 # R*nssefaer I |’*.1l*’EliP–?-*
Strayer University-Virginia Beach, “BUS 5l 04/2009-5607 INSEAD ffi *enmclaer I *?ffi ,3,9:igg*
many outsiders operating in the oasis. Just as tourism has raised living standards, television
has raised awareness ofthe rest of the world, and along with it people’s expectations. The the lifespring of the oasis. Protecting the way of life may mean preserving the absence of
electricity arid street lighting in Siwa as an asset-a chance to see the stars and connect with
the universe but there is little indication that residents agree’
Nor is it clear that Siwa’s traditional lifestyle can be scaled up to handle the area’s booming puirn t ee, that can be cut for roofing importing them from outside is forbidden for fear of Even befoie the introduction of bathrooms’ the water table was dropping; the growing number
of farmers had simply dug too many wells. Four plants have been built to bottle the oasis’
mineral water (some operated by the Egyptian armed forces) and sell it nationwide’
.,Siwa is now literally at a crossroads,” says Neamatalla. “It can evolve to become just another
village, where the measures of progress are strictly financial, very much related to whether
yor, f,urr” paved streets, sidewalks and the like. Or Siwa can literally be nourished by its past,
nourished by its unique nature'”
EeI helped to put the oasis on the tourism map and others are beginning to connect the dots.
Thire has been a proliferation ofhotels and restaurants in the last year. Children have started
running after tourists, begging for pens, candy or money. The oasis has a small landing strip,
allowiig those who hir” i plane to land, and there is talk of expanding it into a full-scale 400-room hotels catering to the mass market.
With only 600 families, in a community of 23,000, working with or for the company, EQI
doesn,t have the leverage to decide the path the oasis will take. EQI may be able to restructure
a hotel or two in the old town, but oniy the state can choose whether to set up a system of focused less on sustaina^bility than on volume. In the battle between tradition and modernity
on which the future of the company’s business model depends, EQI’s needs allies. Organising
them to help shape Siwa’s future is a further challenge’
Questions:
1. What are the key components of EQI’s business model as applied to Siwa?
2. Evaluate the impact of EQI’s activities on Siwa’
3. What are the local, national and global forces driving change in Siwa?
4. Going forward, what advice would you give Mounir Neamatalla?
Copyright O 2009 INSEAD-Rensselaer Strayer University-Virginia Beach, “BUS 51 9: Risk Management”, “Fa\|2012”
04./2009-5607
popular
at
2007 to $18 billion in 2008, total exports, at$,2J billion, remain sma1l when compared
for instance, run at over $120 billion a year’ Most
chelnicals
as well as much needed
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g: Risk Management””‘Fall 2012”
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reforms in 2007 , reflected both the progress achieved and the distance left to travel. Red tape,
a proliferation of regulations and regulatory agencies, bogged-down courts, and a sometimes
unpredictable. The World Bank placed Egypt 126 out of 178 countries in terms of ease of
doing business. Despite the recent growth, unemployment remains high at 9o/o. The median
labour force aged 16 Io 64 in work, against 62Yo in France.
productivity in agriculture and services is low. Inflation is around 8o/o and there is widespread
Development Index over the past 30 years. According to the World Bank, one in five
Egyptians can not meet their basic daily needs. Absolute poverty rose from 16.1% in 2000 to
19.6% in 2005.
currency
despite the bombings in southern Sinai on the Red Sea. In 2007, Tourism
dollars by 2011. Egypt aims to welcome some l4 million tourists in20Il, requiring a capacily
of 240,000 hotel rooms, compared with 11 million in 2007. Besides catering to the mass
market coming to visit the country’s famed pyramids and beaches, the minister said Egypt
aimed to attract private investors to develop eco-tourism and medical tourism. Niche, luxury
and eco-projects such as EQI’s Siwa development remain rare.
Sahara. From its origins as a Berber village, the green grass and natural spring water of the
Arabian peninsula. Herodotus described it as a salt mine whose inhabitants built their homes
from briCks of salt, and home to the powerful oracle of Ammon. When Alexander the Great
entered Egypt in 331 8.C., he was received like a pharaoh. He rode through the blistering heat
is said that he blessed his mission to spread his ideas worldwide.
roughly 20 kms wide, a swathe of palm and olive trees, natural springs and salt lakes
surrounded by the sands of the Sahara. The abundant water is due to the presence of a large
geological depression; most of the area lies around 20 metres below sea level.
population used to live within its walls :untll 1926, when three days of continuous rainstorms
washed the walls away, forcing the inhabitants to abandon their homes. Until recently, the
fortress had not been restored. Rather, it has been ravaged by the dismantling of its buildings
as residents abandoned them, taking with them doors, windows, and even supporting wooden
4
The buildings were made of a mixture of salt and mud called kershef bricks, and rock salt
general abandoning of traditional building techniques’ For the reconstruction effort, mud and
traditional approach to resolving disputes. The tribal judicial system is deeply respected by
provincial gou”*oi, to whom he reports. Mayors tend to be retired military officers’ While
pattems administlred Uyltre tribes. Residents retain their own language, Siwi, related to the
Arabian conquerors of Egypt regarded its oases as rough, impoverished desert settlements’
“f
“””ti-.y.
to build himself a house in Siwa. He makes a point of praying in his grandfather’s
frontier with Libya. In 1983, a militaryiantonment was set up in Siwa, providing the villages
the
a
MotorbikEs, cars, television, intemet and mobile phones began rapidly widening the Siwis’
lakes’
ffi ffiEerffidatrth*ffi,f#ffS$*
tunred its gaze to the world beyond the oasis.
consulting capacity in the 1980s and began investing in the region in 1996. EQI’s plan was to
create a suite ofprojects that capitalised on the oasis’ resources. By nurturing and polishing
those aspects of Siwa that it identihed as marketable, the company would target the high-end
of the value chain in global tourism. Because it would rely on the undisturbed nature of the
oasis it would have to minimize its impact on the community. Materials and labour, wherever
possible, would be local.
landscape. By valuing what was local, development would not come at the expense of
traditional life. The oasis would present the world with an example of how poverty could be
reduced by capitalising on local culture and safeguarding the environment. If all worked well,
the road to the oasis’s future would run through the riches of its past. Siwa would once again
become an oracle, this time for sustainable development.
Finance Corporation, which provided $880,000 in loans and $486,000 in technical support.
They comprise three hotels, a line of embroidered products and traditional jewellery, and the
export of organic agriculture. The company provides direct and indirect employment to more
than 600 Siwans as suppliers, staff, craftsmen and women and builders. The projects at Siwa
were the consulting company’s first real investment: “a fotay” in the words of Neamatalla,
“away from the world of advice and into the world of execution.”
Adrdre Amellal Oasis, a desert lodge built at the foot of a mountainous outcrop overlooking
Siwa’s largest lake, some distance from the main settlement. The company wanted to build a
luxury lodge in the traditional style, using palm logs and blocks made from rock salt and mud.
But when it began to enquire, it found that the knowledge of traditional building techniques
was conhned to a small group of old men. The ancient style was seen as archaic and
expensive. New construction employed modem materials like concrete and cement, cooled
(for those who could afford it) by air conditioning.
skill that was slipping away. They began with a team of three builders, with mixed results.
After the first 20 rooms were built, the company discovered that the untreated palm logs they
had used were infested with mites; the insects were dropping from the ceiling onto the beds,
hardly acceptable in what was to be a high-end resort. Fumigation, besides being a departure
from their vision, proved ineffective, so the company consulted the village elders, who
provided the solution: if the logs were soaked in the salt lake for several days then baked in
6
but the initial roofing
elegance and authenticity of tradition, it also revived a cJ:aft’ at risk of being lost’ The oasis
a
all
expanded
pricei at a range of US$ 350-45b per night, it has achieved a level of appreciation, attracting
politiciani, artists, fashion designers and even young students. In addition, the lodge is
environmentally efficient. Kept cool during the day by the thick walls, it uses no elecfficity’
pool
to 60
expensive international staff to a minimum-
list of
Hotels'”. It has also received the magazine’s 2006 “Global Vision” award. Most importantly
perhaps, the lodge serves as the flagship for EQI’,s business model, proudly displaying
Lodge,
brick faihion, th” hot”l offers eigit rooms furnished in the company’s simple’ plush style
provides
that
the Fortress
more recently built 1l-room hlritag-e hotel, is located at the foot of the Shali Fortress, raised
“Fall2O12”
-“””1rifu
that its restoiation efforts will serve as an example for Siwans looking to rebuild their old
town.
employees and partners were men. Siwan culture is very conservative and there is a strict
,”p-uiion of men and women; women refused to work in the hotels or anywhere adult males
*”r” pr”r”nt. Seeking to expand the company’s impact, Mounir Neamatalla tumed to his
sister, Laila, a jewellery designer, who after some research, decided she would tap into Siwa’s
fading from local memory. Siwan’s fine stitching was unique, but few members of the
younger generation knew how to do it.
quality conkol would be easier if she moved her workers from their homes into a workshop.
Briti;h Embassy, within a year Neamatalla had 300 women stitching for her. Girls work in the
continue to work from home. Traditional motifs are embroidered onto blouses, gowns,
shawls, sarongs, towels, sheets and tablecloths. Necklaces are made from buttons and semi-
artisans. Fearing that if she paid her workers too much she would upset the male-dominated
economic order and trigger resentment-Laila set her initial piece rate at a level slightly less
than what a man could earn in a day. Nonetheless, payment is based on production and a
productive embroiderer can easily out-earn the men in her household-
organic production. The biggest obstacle facing the farmers, the company found, was a lack of
tiquiOiry-. Farmers would finance their agricultural inputs by selling their crops before they
were planted, sometimes with disastrous results: if the harvest fell short they might be forced
8
risks, Siwan fanners had begun to
began offering to
was
financing project to supply a source of
which the
200 to 300 farmers
included olives, dates ind iocal p.odl.rce such as olive tapenade, sycamore
the global market’
the branch’ leaving
the farmers to
much more salt
as well as a means
of salt,
only
siwa,s image as a place of tradition, purity and environmental awareness.
to balance
has tied its brand as much to the locale in which it
to introduce
Siwa
Siwa has
profile of visitor, from backpackers to jetsetters’
with its
preserved as it has
recognise the irnpact of thc modem world ott to”at customs and mores’
to expand their
“heupe.
as the price of local
rejected
as much electricity
it is but one amongst
-‘.–*.Y.@
I
g: Risk Management””‘Fa1\2012”
-“”Yllll:*
introduction of indoor bathrooms in many homes has put a stress on the water supply’ literally
population. An oasis is like an island; its natural resources are limited. There are only so many
introducing new pests. A debate is raging about the sustainability of Siwa’s water resources.
“un
airport t”o facilitate the introduition of package tours. Egyptian businessmen talk of building
incentives to ensure the rest of Siwa develops along those lines’ Govemment policy is set
largely in the Matrouh provincial capital, 300 kms away, where the tourism perspective is
10
