In March 2020, Mazars Chartered Accountants & Co. and the newly established Oman Arbitration Center invited ADR Center to deliver comprehensive Arbitration & ADR Technical Assistance for the design of the country’s first business-oriented mediation service.
Although Oman’s 2018 Mediation Law opened the door to consensual dispute resolution, few organisations had the know-how to turn legal provisions into a commercially viable service. ADR Center was asked to translate the law into an operational model that would win the confidence of in-house counsel, C-suite executives and public stakeholders—under severe time pressure: the entire assignment had to be completed between March and May 2020, in the midst of pandemic-related restrictions.
Arbitration & ADR Technical Assistance in Action
1. Rapid Project Planning (Week 1)
Kick-off interviews with Mazars partners, OAC board and Ministry of Justice officials.
Delivery of a detailed Gantt chart and risk matrix aligning milestones with Oman’s regulatory calendar.
2. Vision & Destination Workshops (Week 2)
Two interactive four-hour virtual workshops defined the Center’s mission, market positioning and success metrics.
Benchmarked eight regional and international ADR institutions to highlight differentiation opportunities for Oman.
3. Strategic & Business Modelling (Weeks 3-6)
Crafted a value-proposition canvas mapping user personas—SMEs, multinationals, government entities—and their pain points.
Developed three revenue scenarios (subscription, pay-per-case, hybrid) with five-year P&L projections stress-tested against oil-price volatility.
Designed an organisational chart specifying mediator accreditation pathways, case-management roles and digital-platform requirements.
4. Marketing & Sales Blueprint (Weeks 5-7)
Produced a 12-month go-to-market plan integrating legal announcements, thought-leadership content and C-suite round-tables.
Built a CRM workflow and KPI dashboard enabling Mazars consultants to cross-sell mediation to existing audit clients.
5. Governance & Compliance Framework (Weeks 6-8)
Drafted Mediation Rules harmonised with the UNCITRAL Model Law yet tailored to Omani civil-procedure timelines.
Established ethical guidelines, fee schedules and confidentiality protocols reviewed by the Ministry of Legal Affairs.
6. Financial & Operational Handbook (Weeks 7-9)
Finalised manpower model, case-life-cycle SOPs and cost-control measures to achieve break-even by Year 3.
Incorporated stakeholder feedback into the definitive 80-page Business Plan and presented it to the OAC board for approval.
Within 90 days the project moved from concept to board-approved implementation roadmap:
Strategic Clarity – A shared vision and quantifiable KPIs aligned Mazars, the OAC and government regulators, paving the way for long-term ADR uptake in Oman.
Investor-Ready Business Plan – Financial models demonstrated a sustainable revenue stream with an anticipated internal rate of return of 18 % by Year 5, securing initial funding commitments.
Operational Readiness – Detailed SOPs, mediator rosters and digital-case-management specifications allowed the Center to issue its first mediation notices six weeks after project sign-off.
Thought-Leadership Impact – The marketing blueprint positioned the OAC as a regional pioneer, generating coverage in Gulf business media and attracting enquiries from over 40 corporate counsel within the first quarter of launch.
By combining global expertise with local insight, ADR Center’s Arbitration & ADR Technical Assistance has enabled the Oman Arbitration Center to offer a high-trust, cost-effective mediation option that strengthens the Sultanate’s competitiveness as a business hub.
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