Balanced Scorecard co-creator commends DEWA as a role model in strategic planning and execution, hopes to present its excellent best practices to other organisations in the region

Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) has conducted a workshop to update its strategy for the post-COVID-19 phase. HE Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, MD & CEO of DEWA and the top management team were present. This supports DEWA’s commitment to continuously update its strategic plan to keep pace with all developments. The workshop included a video message by Robert Kaplan, Professor of Leadership Development at Harvard Business School and co-creator of the Balanced Scorecard.

Al Tayer said that smart transformation is a key pillar for DEWA’s journey in the next phase.

“We are updating DEWA’s strategy for this future phase. This aligns with the vision and directives of our wise leadership to prepare the UAE strategy for the post-COVID-19 phase and establish short- and long-term policies to revitalise the nation’s economy. His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, said, "Work in the UAE Government will continue from the field and remotely. We embrace the evolution of work practices to maintain leadership and we will adopt innovative systems and tools.” Our efforts align with the vision of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, who wants the government to be faster in decision-making, and flexible enough to adapt to any changes. His Highness recently launched the ‘Designing the Next 50’ project to shape the future of the UAE, and establish the pillars and components of the UAE Centennial Plan 2071,” said Al Tayer.

“The UAE has already set a global benchmark for its management of the COVID-19 pandemic. The current situation has demonstrated the resilience of the UAE’s economy and its ability to cope effectively and efficiently with all changes, emergencies, and crises. In Dubai, we have over one million customers. Ensuring the sustainability of electricity and water services for Dubai’s residents in all circumstances is essential and vital. Because COVID-19 pandemic has a global impact, we have a clear direction for the energy sector by increasing our share of clean energy in line with the Dubai Clean Energy Strategy 2050, to provide 75% of Dubai’s total power capacity from clean energy sources by 2050. We will do this by expanding digitisation, smart grids, and using the tools of the Fourth Industrial Revolution for energy and water. This will ensure the continuation of the 100% availability of DEWA’s services because of its infrastructure, technological readiness, and advanced digital systems, which all meet the highest international standards,” added Al Tayer.

“DEWA has also proven its resilience and agility in handling different circumstances and developments, and has succeeded in turning challenges into opportunities, thanks to robust strategic planning, which is a key component of our Integrated Management System. Today, we are here to review DEWA’s strategy to ensure its readiness for this next phase. This will help achieve DEWA’s vision to become a globally leading sustainable innovative corporation, and contribute to enhancing its competitiveness and excellence for a brighter and happier future, for generations to come,” concluded Al Tayer.

Professor Kaplan commended DEWA’s performance in strategic planning and execution as well as its commitment to the triple bottom line of sustainable and strong financial performance. He added that DEWA has been one of the early adopters of strategic planning and execution for the last 20 years. He added his hope that Palladium Group, the international authority for the Balanced Scorecard framework, will present DEWA’s excellent best practices as a benchmark to other organisations in the region.

Khawla Al Mehairi, Executive Vice President of Strategy and Government Communications at DEWA, said that DEWA’s senior management is committed to keeping pace with all developments to achieve all government directives. She added that DEWA uses the latest strategic planning tools, including third-generation Balanced Scorecards to outline performance indicators and smart objectives to measure efficiency and reliability. This is intended to achieve effective execution and continuous improvement of strategy. In this way, DEWA continues to improve work mechanisms to the highest international standards.

DEWA achieved outstanding results in a Strategic Planning & Execution Practice Positioning Study conducted by Palladium. The study evaluated the positive effects of implementing the Execution Premium Assessment (XPA) strategy and compared DEWA’s practices with 200 global organisations that are best-in-class in the ‘Hall of Fame’ for strategic planning and execution. DEWA scored 4.3 while the Hall of Fame Average Score is 3.8.