Interview with Mr. Nizar Souiden.

• Thank you for being with us today we are glad to have you can you tell us about your academic path?

Thank you very much for your invitation I did my undergraduate studies in IHEC and I did some work here in Tunis before moving to Japan in the city of Osaka I had the chance there to do my masters at the Osaka University with a specialization in international Marketing then I moved to Kyoto for my PHD also in The field of international Marketing and a more focused view on the Japanese marketing strategies in Arab countries . 

• You had the chance to teach in many schools around the world can you tell us more about that experience and what are the differences between the foreign schools and ours?

After getting my PHD I went to teach at the United Arabs Emirate where I taught at the Sharijah University and the I lived in UAE for Four years and a half it was a strengthening experience, and then I moved to Canada for research purposes and I worked at the Lava University and I still do as a social professor of international marketing. 

• What surprises me is this radical change why did you choose to teach at Laval University, Canada after living in an exciting city as Dubai?

One of the reasons is that I wanted to improve my research output so Laval University was the adequate choice since it is research oriented so it had the perfect environment. 

• What are the main differences between Tunisian students here at TBS and the Laval University students?

At the individual level I don’t think there are many differences , yet the environment of education there is quite different then here , Of course TBS is a new school it has the advantage of having a good infrastructure however it’s still new and not well known , On the other hand Laval University is really old and all of Its educational programs are well established , it has about 35000 students and a staff of 1200 professors it is one of the biggest university in Canada and it is also the First French university in north America and its ranking is among the top 100 schools in the world that might be the main differences between developed countries and developing ones.

• You are a very requested professor and you had many offers to teach at other schools in different countries but why did you choose to come back to Tunisia?

I’m actually here for a sabbatical , you see, each professor has the right to apply for a sabbatical leave every five to six years where they can do research , it was also a chance for me to get in touch with our educational system and see how things were improving in our academic programs so it’s a kind of touch of the ground, and of course it was a chance to come and see my family and be back in my country so it’s a way of balancing things between your private life and your career. 

• How was your experience as a student in japan and is the educational system there different from ours?

It is completely different , I graduated in 1994 and the circumstances of studying back then are not the same as nowadays to mention as example , it was very hard back then to find a book on the field of management or marketing or whatever the subject is , so the students were struggling to find the boos to study so one of the differences is that when I was in japan taking my masters course all the students were able to borrow any book for a period of six month and you can find all of the copies available at any time , also the relationships between the professors and the students were different back then so when I was a student at IHEC the students couldn’t even approach the professors there was some kind of barriers between the students and the professors , so in Japan I was surprised to find myself invited by my professors to have dinner every Friday it is a good way to get to know your professors so it’s not only teaching it’s a whole relationship build upon knowing your professors and are their objectives and vice versa.

• So now can you tell us what do you think of Tunis Business School?

P.Nizar :So to start off the infrastructure and the facilities are really good compared to other schools we all know that some classrooms are still in the process of finishing but I’m sure the result will be good , and to talk about the administration I know that all the school staff is doing their best to make TB one of the best schools in the nation for a matter of fact we all know that the dean this year was very is strict is accepting new students it’s a way of raising the bar , And for the students I was surprised to see how Tunisian students were excited about the school wand were so fluent with the English language I cannot generalize this of course some students are a bit shy but most of them are eager to learn in English and excited about it . 

• We all know that TBS is the first Business school in English so how do you think that this will affect the job market and Tunisia in general?

Obviously TBS is standing out from the regular schools with its American education system since the students have more flexibility in planning their courses by choosing their teachers and subjects that will come in handy on the output since TBS future graduates will have that advantage compared to other French schools graduates so the companies will be more interested in recruiting them.

• You told us about your teaching career now what about you working outside of campus?

P.Nizar : I actually own my own business , so when I was in japan some of my fellow students suggested to my why not start your own business so I thought about it and it sounded like a reasonable idea since it was on something that I was specialized in international marketing so at that time not many resellers sold Panasonic equipment in Tunisia , since our country wasn’t an attractive market for Panasonic so I did all the job here the legal aspect and the marketing surveys and presented the whole dossier to Panasonic in japan and I somehow convinced them to start business in Tunisia but still the company thought it was risky to implant directly and weren’t sure of the output so I had to approach another well-known Tunisian company which was Batam and they agreed to deal with us and it was really successful except when Batam had to leave the Market for political reasons so we had to open out own showroom and deal with the distribution problem so we had to find a good local distributor . I Also me and other few people work on importing and exporting goods to Arab countries such as Jordan and Libya.

• What advice would you give to our future TBS leaders?

Do not Hesitate to take the risks, if you have the opportunity to start your own business do it! you’ll have to start small but you’ll see yourself growing and getting bigger and that might be the best reward you’ll ever get of course if you don’t have the financial resources it’s ok to start working at a company to get more experience but do not leave the idea of managing your own business since you will graduate from TBS as Managers.

• You definitely know about the Occupy Wall street movement and rumors are running that it is the end of Capitalism so what do you have to say about that?

I do not agree that capitalism will end with a couple of demonstration , yes people are unhappy and it’s their right to express themselves freely and demand modification and what expect is that the governments will take the reasonable measures to satisfy their demands and to make a change that will improve things.

• What effect do you think this movement will have on the international economy and Tunisia Especially?

P.Nizar: I don’t think it will have a direct impact on the Tunisian companies, some companies will have to raise the wages, Since the revolution was about the economical aspect here in Tunisia the Entrepreneurs should stop considering that their employees are useless and start changing their productivity plans, so basically things do have to change but not radically it’s a long process in which both the companies and the employees are part of.

• What do you think of the Election and the democratic transition that is occurring now in Tunisia?

I’m Happy first of all that we have finally the right to vote , you know that being a Tunisian without getting your voice heard is humiliating so all of the Tunisian are sort of reborn after the elections of October 23rd , but focusing on which party is going to win is secondary what is more important is the way these parties are going to work together to solve the problems of the people who made the revolution if it happens then I would say that the Tunisian revolution was successful , so I’m very happy to be home here in Tunisia to be able to vote and it is my honor to do so .

• Thank you for your time and for your wise words.

-Mr. Nizar Souiden interviewed by Adnen Bel Hadj Yahia November, 9th 2011 - 

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