Established 25 years ago in the UAE, The Blue Ocean Corporation today is among the leading knowledge enterprises in the Middle East, enjoying a presence in 16+ countries. The company has offices in Abu Dhabi and its headquarters in Dubai. It also has branches outside the UAE, in Delhi, Kochi and Pune in India, and Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Under the leadership of Dr Sathya Menon, the Group CEO and a highly qualified professional, the Blue Ocean Corporation has expanded its operations across four verticals – Training, Consulting, Conferences, and Recruitment. The organisation provides professional training with certifications recognised internationally for those who are ambitious to enhance their knowledge and advance in their careers. Dr Menon says, “Over 130,000 students have benefited from these programmes in the last 2 decades. More than 1,200 corporates have also benefited from our services.”
Attributing the organisation’s success to its excellent quality of training and customer service which helped in branding, Dr Menon says, “Blue Ocean believes in creating a market space for itself, and the strong brand value and pedigree established by our sustained excellence have created a niche position for Blue Ocean at both ends of the spectrum.”
Training programmes
The workforce today places huge importance on career training as they understand how crucial it is to constantly upgrade one’s skill set, which leads to a wider array of opportunities for career advancement. Corporates have recognized the importance of training the workforce to increase the efficiency in the operations. They provide training for a range of International Certification programmes from world renowned certification bodies from the US, UK and Canada in the following domains:
● Procurement & Supply Chain
● Logistics & Warehousing (CILT, CIWIM)
● Logistics & Warehousing
● Quality Management
● Project Management
● Human Resources and Administration
● Financial Management and AML
● IATA
Blue Ocean also specialises in customised corporate trainings, right from conducting the Training Need Analysis, identifying the GAPS, customising the training solutions, and imparting a world-class training and post-assessment survey. With this proven methodology, Blue Ocean has helped many organisations across the region to become more profitable by improving efficiency and boosting productivity.
Shift towards AI
Seeing how the world is becoming more dependent on AI, Dr Menon, who himself is an alumnus of MIT Sloan School of Management in Artificial Intellelligence, says, “At Blue Ocean, we are committed to creating versatile learning experiences for our students to help them build and nurture their innovative and leadership mindset. We have conducted numerous training programs on the effects of AI on the business landscape. Our courses are curated to offer a seamless combination of the industry fundamentals and digital that will leverage individual capabilities as per modern-day requirements and futuristic trends.”
The Blue Ocean Corporation is driven by its motto to upskill and upgrade. Hence, as AI continues to rise, new courses will be provided to keep up with the aspects of industries that require one to be proficient in using AI.
With Dubai as a central hub for trade, logistics and supply chain are key sectors, Blue Ocean has trained the largest chain of logistics and supply chain professionals in the region. Dr Menon adds, “We have partnered with some of the world’s biggest procurement, logistics and supply chain training institutions like like CIPS and CILT from the UK, and APICS and IPSCMI from the US to offer a range of level-specific advanced training programmes to the workforce.”
The organisation is known for conducting the region’s biggest procurement and supply chain leadership event – the International Procurement and Supply Chain Conference (IPSC), and their sixth edition drew special appreciation from Shaikh Nahayan bin Mabarak Al Nahayan, UAE Minister of Tolerance and Coexistence. One of the Blue Ocean conferences recently held, was based on the convergence of Metaverse and AI and its impact on the business and workforce.
Awards and recognition
Blue Ocean Corporation has received numerous international awards over the years. More recently, at the 29th Business Excellence Awards, Blue Ocean won the prestigious Dubai Quality Appreciation Award 2023 (DQAA) in the education sector, which is recognised by the Dubai Department of Economy and Tourism’s (DET). Blue Ocean is the only organisation from the training domain in the Middle East to get the Super Brand status. It was also notably recognised continuously over the years as a Great Place to Work, ranked 13 in the Middle East and 35 in Asia. Other awards include Logistics Consulting of the Year category – Best Employee Engagement Initiative Runner Up by CHSA Awards 2022, Regional Top Performing Accredited Training Centre by IATA 2020, Canada, Excellence in Training and Development -2019 by Middle East Training, and Development Leadership Awards.
Last year Blue Ocean was ranked as world number 3 in Procurement and Supply Chain training from a survey done of all certification bodies.
Dr Menon himself is a recipient of many awards including Business Excellence Award at GMBF MahaBiz, Dubai, 2022, ‘Top 100 Leaders in Education’ Award by Global Forum for Education and Learning (GFEL), Dubai, 2019, CEO of the Year Award by the prestigious Middle East Training and Development Leadership Conference, Dubai, 2019, Outstanding Contribution to Global Learning, Dubai at the World HRD Congress, Dubai, 2018 , Best Training Initiative in Logistics and Supply Chain Management in Asia, Malaysia, 2018, Global Training and Development Leadership Award, Mumbai, 2017.
Expansion and development
As their brand value grows internationally, Blue Ocean is focused on expanding in MENA and the Indian sub-continent as well, with five new branch offices opening last year alone. The company is also working to venture their training operations into Europe. “We are also committed to fulfilling our objective of Mission 500 which aims to employ 500 professionals in the company by the end of 2025,” says Dr Menon.
“This will add to the workforce and strengthen company operations as well as support employment and empowerment.” The company’s employees have doubled in the last one year which is the result of their positive work culture.
Blue Ocean strives for excellence and empowerment. Dr Menon says, “Our brand values lie in our SPIRIT – Service, Passion, Integrity, Respect, Innovation & Teamwork. We have excelled in quality, the hallmark of which is the Dubai Quality Appreciation Award. We are the number one workplace in the UAE for working parents (SME), as per a survey by Great Place to Work . We still have more milestones to achieve.” We want to reach the World No 1 position in Procurement and Supply Chain Training. We are very proud to evolve as a Multi National Company with headquarters in Dubai and UAE. We still have more milestone to achieve.”
At the core of its organisation, Blue Ocean believes in customer and employee satisfaction, and wants to inspire other home-grown brands to dream big.
