SME Awards 2010 Methodology

Award Highlights 22 categories of awards, recognizing: o Industry achievement - 14 awards o Business functions - 3 awards o Support partners - 5 awards Nominations received from SME’s from UAE Award recognizing the "women entrepreneur" and "best new business" Only one award from each category

Category - Industry Achievement Awards Trade Hospitality and tourism Manufacturing Construction and real estate Retail Green business of the year Media and marketing Admirable woman entrepreneur Professional services Emirati entrepreneur of the year Health and wellness Business star of the year Technology and onlineThe one to watch (best new business)

Category – Business Functions Effective financial implementation Incredibly innovative approach Best technology implementation

Category – SME Support Partners Consultants Transportation and logistics ICT support and services Banking and Finance Insurance

Nomination Criteria All SME's with valid trade license of UAE Employee strength not exceeding 500 * Annual revenue not exceeding AED 100 million * Self nominations Nominations for more than one category of award permitted * Excludes for SME support partner category awards

Criteria for Initial Screening Annual turnover Employee strength Year of establishment Completeness of the nomination application

Criteria for final Selection Management Strength - 20 points o Management philosophy and Visionary leadership o Ownership pattern * o Role model to other women (applicable for admirable women entrepreneur award) o Representation to women in employment o Shining example of perseverance Products and markets - 15 points o Number of countries to which exported o Categories of products targeting the market segment o Any intellectual property in company’s name * Applicable only for “Emirati entrepreneur” and “Admirable Women entrepreneur award”

Criteria for final selection Operations - 20 points o HR policies and training o Use of automation in operations o Quality systems and processes o IT system and processes o Adoption of green technology o Website/Social Media promotion Financial performance - 20 points o Net Profit Percentage o Revenue Growth Percentage o Net Working Capital (Current Assets - Current Liabilities) o Return on Equity (Net Profit / Capital Employed)

Criteria for final selection Contribution to the national/regional development points o Made in UAE o Employment to nationals o Number of branches in UAE and GCC countries o Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Initiatives Customer Focus - 15 points o Use of metrics o Customer related practices/ Customer relation officer

Ranking Methodology Panel of five Judges from different industry segments involved in selection process Uniform scoring mechanism used to reduce induced variability Cumulative highest scorer declared winner in each award category In case of tie, the maximum score in a particular criteria in the following order was considered o Contribution to national and regional development o Management strength o Customer focus o Financial performance o Operations o Products and markets

Role of Morison Menon Devised the scoring and weightage for each criteria Compiled the scores provided by the independent judges to arrive at the winners Short listing and evaluation of nominees based on review documents and questionnaire provided by the nominees