Mr. Irfan Mustafa, Vice President and Managing Director for the Middle East, North Africa, Pakistan and Turkey region for Yum! Restaurants International visited the American University in Dubai and conducted a presentation on leadership and change management. The presentation highlighted the importance of change for humans and stressed the consequences of resisting change or failing to change.

Mr. Mustafa stimulated the students' thinking on why change is so important and then linked it to the business environment. Giving personal examples, he described the problems faced by his company during the Middle East crisis that started in 2000 and continued till the end of the Iraq war. He explained as to how his company went about adapting strategies and changing their plans in order to ensure that minimum loss was caused. The result of his innovative thinking is evident and the company is performing better than ever.

At the end of the presentation, the speaker appreciated and acknowledged the bold steps taken by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, Prime Minister of the UAE, and Ruler of Dubai, in a period of extreme turbulence to develop Dubai into one of the most important regions of the Middle East. Mr. Mustafa thanked the students for inviting him and giving him the opportunity to share his thoughts.