Jordan Media Institute – Amman
According to Ghassan Nuqul, chairman of the Nuqul Group’s board of directors, transparent and participatory communication and accountability are essential elements in business governance in both the public and private sectors. They increase product quality and consumer trust, which are the central aims of social responsibility.
In a discussion with students at the Jordan Media Institute (JMI), Nuqul spoke about the principles that render the private sector’s community service effective, such as: making support sustainable, achieving concrete gains for society, producing positive change, and equitably empowering communities; this realizes what is known as social entrepreneurship, a kind of “giving back to the nation” which he described as an obligation towards our people and communities whose Arab and Islamic culture calls for cooperation, participation, charity, and alms.
In response to questions from students, Nuqul explained that an essential component of how companies are managed, and something for which they are evaluated globally, is how much they contribute to the growth of communities. He noted that collaboration between the public and private sectors, the combination of their perspectives, and advancing solutions toward all problems helps facilitate investment, given that bureaucracy constitutes the largest obstacle to local economic growth.
In the same vein, Nuqul pointed out that the financial and business sectors are undergoing a very substantial process of acceleration and change. Sustainable development is hence one of the biggest challenges facing the world’s largest firms, especially amid the fallout from the coronavirus pandemic. However, it is the pursuit of success–not profit, wealth, or status–that he said promotes an understanding of the market, as well as surviving and expanding in it.
Regarding the Nuqul Group’s efforts in local development, Nuqul gave JMI students an overview of lessons learned from more than 13 years of community service. These lessons underlined how an initial assessment of needs helps direct the appropriate support toward those in need and impact a diversity of communities. To that end, the Nuqul Group had invited 15 local companies to undertake two "Khayr Al-Urdon" programs, in the north and south of the Kingdom, expanding upon the original al-Koura development project in Irbid. This project addressed several key themes like nutritional, economic, educational, and social empowerment, achieving an impact on people through continuous follow-up and evaluation. This played a role in guaranteeing the delivery of support to those in need.
Nuqul mentioned one of Fine’s success stories during the coronavirus. when it was able to design and manufacture within just eight days a mask that kills viruses upon contact using a rare Swiss technology. This innovative Jordanian product made its way to various countries around the world in the form of more than 1.3 million advanced masks.
The Dean of JMI, Professor Abdel Hakim Alhusbani, in turn, emphasized that discussions of social responsibility in the private sector help change the prevailing stereotype of the private sector as solely pursuing financial profit, disconnected from the wellbeing of society as a whole.
JMI regularly holds meetings between its students, specialist guests, and both local and foreign experts, so as to enhance the sources of information to which students are exposed, diversify their perspectives, and diversify the angles of analysis.