Innovation Week Day 2: Human Behavior & Financial Insight
19 May 2026
Day one of Plekhanov Innovation Week 2026 set the bar high, and day two picked up right where we left off! Under the theme “Human Behavior & Financial Insight,” the day featured the much-anticipated showcase of the case studies developed by our students for our Neuroeconomics Research Center (NERC), which was followed by a finance session that brought real industry expertise into the room.
As W. Edwards Deming once put it, "Without data, you're just another person with an opinion." It's a principle our students continue to exemplify through their work. After yesterday’s debut of NERC’s work and research findings, audiences were left intrigued by the field and eager to learn more. Today’s session delivered on that, with the presentation of student case studies grounded in real business contexts. The case studies spanned a striking range of territory — consumer behaviour and purchase intention, workplace productivity, cross-cultural negotiations, and SME marketing strategies across the UAE and beyond. Listeners came away with a richer understanding of how behavioral and neuroeconomic insight can be applied to some of today's most relevant business challenges.
The day's second session, led by Dr. Nasiha Osmanovic, was a lecture on “Rapid Financial Statement Analysis Using Financial Ratios.” The lecture was joined by guest lecturer Ahmed Essa Al Ali, who brought a unique industry perspective as the Credit Risk Manager at Al-Futtaim Finance. Students explored how to efficiently decode a company's financial health through ratios — translating complex financial tools into practical, applicable knowledge with the guidance of someone working at the highest levels of the industry.
Three more days of Innovation Week lie ahead, each bringing its own distinct program. Stay tuned.
As W. Edwards Deming once put it, "Without data, you're just another person with an opinion." It's a principle our students continue to exemplify through their work. After yesterday’s debut of NERC’s work and research findings, audiences were left intrigued by the field and eager to learn more. Today’s session delivered on that, with the presentation of student case studies grounded in real business contexts. The case studies spanned a striking range of territory — consumer behaviour and purchase intention, workplace productivity, cross-cultural negotiations, and SME marketing strategies across the UAE and beyond. Listeners came away with a richer understanding of how behavioral and neuroeconomic insight can be applied to some of today's most relevant business challenges.
The day's second session, led by Dr. Nasiha Osmanovic, was a lecture on “Rapid Financial Statement Analysis Using Financial Ratios.” The lecture was joined by guest lecturer Ahmed Essa Al Ali, who brought a unique industry perspective as the Credit Risk Manager at Al-Futtaim Finance. Students explored how to efficiently decode a company's financial health through ratios — translating complex financial tools into practical, applicable knowledge with the guidance of someone working at the highest levels of the industry.
Three more days of Innovation Week lie ahead, each bringing its own distinct program. Stay tuned.
