Meet MSM's faculty members: Introducing David Dingli

Maastricht School of Management provides scientific knowledge allowing managers and entrepreneurs to make evidence-based decisions. To achieve our mission we encourage and support our faculty members in a broad range of areas. MSM’s faculty members are passionate about what they do and tenacious in finding solutions to the toughest business challenges. Each month MSM will highlight one of its faculty members and this month the spotlight is on David J. Dingli.

Let me introduce myself…
My name is David. J. Dingli (Maltese) and I am Assistant Professor in Operations Management at Maastricht School of Management (MSM).

I started my career as Professional Officer in Engineering at Telemalta Corporation (Malta’s former telecommunications provider). After a few years I moved to Medwear Clothing as an Industrial Engineer where we manufactured men’s suits for the German Market. Because of the rapid growth we opened a second factory of which I was responsible for 5 years. After 10 years I decided to switch completely and moved from industry to services for the position of Secretary General at the Malta Institute of Management. And that’s were my relation with MSM began…which resulted in the position of Assistant Professor in the year 2000. At the same time I started my own consulting firm Resource Productivity Consulting Services specialized in Strategic Planning, Efficiency improvements, Quality Audits and Human Resource Development targeting Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SME’s) in Malta. My consulting activities give me hands-on experience within organizations, which is also of added value for my lectures on the various outreach programs at MSM like for instance at FHR School of Management in Suriname and the School of Industrial Management (SIM) in Vietnam.

David teaching the MBA students of the School of Industrial Management (SIM) in Vietnam

It gives me the opportunity to constantly bridge the gap between theory and practice…
I feel that my primary role is to enable students to develop a passion for learning, to examine their own potential and prepare them to exploit it both academically and ultimately in their business life. I also instill in them the added responsibilities they must realize when working in middle or senior management positions and the importance for ethical leadership in everything they do. I do not only enter a class as an academic, but with the added advantage of working as Management consultant at the same time. This gives me the opportunity to constantly bridge the gap between theory and practice based on my own real life examples from the various companies I consult in.

The real satisfaction is motivating the weaker ones to find their inner strength to succeed…
Supervising students on their final dissertation is another interesting role I fulfil. It is extremely challenging, demanding and sometimes also a worrying experience. We all love the brighter students who hardly need any support but the real satisfaction is finding a way to motivate the weaker ones to find their inner strength to succeed. Some “words of thanks” that I have received from students when they would have passed have truly touched my heart and motivated me to do more. I want to serve as a source of inspiration to others who today are much younger than me. When I see 30 year olds, or younger, in a classroom with the best years of their career ahead of them; I feel privileged that I can contribute to shape their path to achieve professional success and to change someone’s life for the better.

Being part of the MSM family has enabled me to develop multi-cultural skills within a team-based environment….
I often hear how lucky I am to travel around the world! True, I’m not denying that, but therefore I have to thank my wife, Gabby, for her understanding and especially in the early years when we had 2 young children. International work means being away from home very often and that can be exhausting! However, I have totally transformed my outlook to life, the world, culture & religion. Being part of the MSM family has enabled me to develop multi-cultural skills within a team-based environment. I have worked in 29 countries, met students and faculty from over 50 nations and somehow realized that, despite the obvious differences between us, there is a global commonality in our aspirations, desire for success, receiving due dignity at work and wanting to improve our quality of life. We just go about achieving these things in different ways.

The research I have been working on….
My initial research interest lies in the field of measuring manufacturing competences. After gaining a lot of experience in manufacturing I wanted to find out what factors accounted for the competences in this field. Nowadays I’m getting more and more interested in Artificial Intelligence and its impact on the job market. It’s going to be the next industrial and social revolution. Big changes are ahead of us and will make our future even more exciting!

The networks that I am active in…
I am a member of the Malta Chamber of Commerce, Enterprise and Industry. The Chamber is the independent voice of the private sector in Malta. Its principal mission is to actively represent companies from all economic sectors and ensure that entrepreneurs enjoy the best competitive environment and regulatory conditions possible for the conduct of business. The Chamber constantly champions the need for competitiveness enhancing measures with the pertinent authorities in Malta as well as in Brussels.

In my spare time you can often find me…
As I live on an island, surrounded by sea, my favorite pastime is sailing. I do this the whole year round. The winter months require tougher decisions to be taken due to the stronger wind and summer it is more about socializing with friends. I love listening to music – mainly jazz. I also play guitar, drums and a bit of piano. – Music defined my youth, playing in bands and performing in concerts. I also enjoy reading academic books in line with my areas of expertise as well as biographies of politicians or successful people. I also have a passion for Cosmology and Particle Physics. I feel that my hobbies are a constant source of learning that enriches my world view and perspective on life itself.