Moataz Mohamed Zaki Darwish
- Position: Associate Professor of Practice and Associate Chair, Entrepreneurship
- Department: Heikal Department of Management
- Email: moataz.darwish@aucegypt.edu
Moataz Darwish is an associate professor of practice at the Onsi Sawiris School of Business, where he also serves as the associate chair of the Heikal Management Department. A former senior executive with Shell Plc., Professor Darwish bridges the gap between practice and academic excellence, bringing more than 25 years of experience in energy management, strategic thinking and executive training to the Onsi Sawiris School of Business.
Professor Darwish holds a doctorate in business administration from the University of Bradford School of Management (UK), where he was awarded a partial scholarship for his research into the intersection of managerial mindsets and strategic management in uncertain conditions. He also earned an MBA from Edinburgh Business School (UK) and has completed advanced executive programs at Oxford, Harvard and INSEAD business schools, and Shell Open University.
For the past 15 years, he has been active in executive and MBA education, instructing at The American University in Cairo School of Business ExecEd and the Edinburgh Business School MBA programs. His teaching focus centers on leadership excellence, strategic management, scenario thinking and the entrepreneurial mindset.
Prior to his full-time academic appointment, Professor Darwish spent 16 years in senior leadership roles at Shell Plc, most recently serving as the deputy country chair for Shell Companies in Egypt. His distinguished corporate career also includes his tenure as the commercial manager for the UK North Sea at NAM—a Shell/ExxonMobil joint venture in the Netherlands—as well as his roles as country commercial director, executive team member of Shell Egypt, chief of staff and company spokesperson. Furthermore, he served as a board director for the NATGAS and Nubariya companies.
A recognized authority in commercial negotiations, business development, strategy and corporate affairs, Professor Darwish is a recipient of Shell’s prestigious UI Impact Award. His influence on the business ecosystem extends well beyond practice and academia; he is a seasoned angel investor and an entrepreneurship judge and mentor. Additionally, he actively contributes to the industry policy landscape through his long-tenured membership in the AmCham Egypt Oil and Gas and Trade and Industry Committees.
Darwish’s research interests are anchored in corporate and business strategy, with a particular focus on fostering strategic thinking and innovation across both startups and established firms. His work deeply explores the intersection of behavioral strategy, strategic management and innovation, specifically examining the relationship between strategic leadership mindsets and firm-level strategies and innovation approaches under conditions of uncertainty.
This scholarly and practical narrative is built upon extensive comparative research of strategic leadership within big firms, which resulted in a typology of four distinct strategic leadership mindsets—positioners, transformers, creators and adapters—structured along the continua of deliberate versus emergent strategic management approaches and sustaining versus radical innovation strategies. By integrating these strategic leadership typologies with his research into the six key cognitive functions that shape them—sensing, intending, strategizing and innovating, leading and reflecting, judging and acting—he provides the strategic depth and foresight for navigating today's highly complex and uncertain business landscapes.