Intercultural Perspectives: Middle East Business Practices Report

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of intercultural perspectives in the context of Middle Eastern business practices. It begins with a conceptual framework of culture, exploring Trompenaars' cultural dimensions (particularism vs. universalism, individualism vs. communitarianism, etc.) and Hofstede's model of organizational culture (power distance, masculinity vs. femininity, etc.). The report then delves into specific business practices in the Middle East, highlighting negotiation strategies, the significance of honor cultures, and the role of government policies, particularly in Dubai. It further examines the influence of culture on business etiquette, emphasizing the importance of understanding cultural nuances for business success. The report concludes by discussing key concepts and values within Middle Eastern culture, including the role of Islam and the impact of cultural dimensions on business operations. It provides valuable insights for businesses operating or planning to operate in the Middle East.

INTERCULTURAL
PERSPECTIVES

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
Conceptual Framework of culture...................................................................................................1
Business practices of Middle East based organizations...................................................................3
Culture of Middle East and Business-Etiquettes.............................................................................4
Reflective account regarding the feedback......................................................................................7
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................8
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................1

INTRODUCTION
Middle East is considered to be a very diversified country in terms of its geographical-
nature, ethnic-nature and also because of the various types of cultural practices followed there.
Henceforth the following report emphasises upon diversified impacts laid by the culture over
their business practices. All the associated elements will be reviewed critically with few
frameworks being used to support the same.
Conceptual Framework of culture
→ Trompenaars Cultural Dimension:-
Middle East is a very diversified area with varying types of cultures. The organizations
present there often deal with this varying range of cultures. Mr. Fons Trompenaars in
accordance with this, stated that this existing diversity is responsible for creating a better
understanding regarding reality (Christensen and Telléus, 2016). The framework established by
Trompenaars gives a description of 7 different dimensions which discussed in brief as below :-
1. Particularism v/s Universalism : As per the universalist aspect, values & standards
account to be of utter importance & departing is done only after proper consultation.
People from diversified origin often get same salary when similar situations are faced.
However the particularist approach states that circumstance are responsible for
determining the applying of ideas in usual practice as argued by Miller, (2016). In the
making up of ethical decisions, obligations along with personal-relationships play an
effective role.
2. Communitarianism v/s individualism: Human-beings are often regarded as per the
individualist approach. On the other hand, as argued by Matusitz, (2014), a group is often
considered to include humanity as a characteristic feature by the communitarianism
approach. Western world is often linked to the individualist culture and non western
countries are associated to communitarianism-culture.
3. Emotional v/s neutral : Emotions are expressed in an open way however in neutral aspect
controlling of emotion occurs.
4. Diffuse v/s specific : People who come under specific-culture often have enlarged public-
space which they are comfortable in sharing with other people. With friends as well they
share some private-space. On the other hand formality plays a key role for individuals
under diffuse-culture as argued by Gianolla, (2013).
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5. Ascription v/s achievement : As per the culture of achievement-oriented, worth of a
person gets determined by the help of his performance in given tasks. On the other hand,
ascribed culture, status gets determined person who is accountable with respect to
question. Origin, career, gender or age is responsible for determining the position.
6. Synchronous time v/s sequential : Time is of utter importance and is regarded as money
within the sequential approach. Time is measured in concrete terms. On the other hand,
synchronous approach allows working on multiple projects at once.
7. Outer-direction v/s internal-discussion : This aspect lets to distinguish among the internal
or external impact of environment over an individual. External includes the possibility of
environment being a threat. Also, there is a possibility that this moves towards factors of
society which come under internal.
→ Hofsteide's model of organisational culture:-
Organisational culture has an inclusion of various beliefs, practices as well as ideologies
which differentiates one organisation from other. Under this, there is an inclusion of 5 diversified
principles which have been stated as below :
1. Power-distance : The power which gets delegated to employees is responsible for
differentiating the work cultures. Herein team-leaders are often appointed for guiding the
employees. They are responsible for merging out the hidden talents & characteristics of
their employees. However, there exists certain organisations where an employee is hold
responsible for their performance as contextualised by Koike and Lacorte, (2014). No
such leaders or managers are appointed for handling them.
2. Feminity v/s masculinity : This aspect differentiates female as well as male values in
accordance with the culture of an organisation. Organisation where male-employees are
found to be dominating upon the female ones have different set of policies to be followed
than those where female-employee has the dominant power. According to Bennett,
(2014), herein, there exists a variability in the type of duties assigned to them.
3. Individualism : Many organisations rely their work practices upon effective team-work.
The individuals who have a common set of interest often work together as a team. In this
case, a healthy relationship is shared among employees within organisation. However,
there are a certain set of organisations who prefer working as individuals.
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4. Avoiding-index of uncertainty : This lets the employees to properly react whenever facing
of unusual circumstances has to be done. This is also in relation with depicting the level
of tolerances in case of employees. However, according to Tarrow and Raby, (2014),
various efforts are consistently being made by the organisations for avoiding these
situations and at the same time they even prepare them to deal with these situations.
5. Long-term orientations : Many organisations are there where the key focus is upon
maintenance of long-term relationships with their employees. As per this approach,
employees try harder for meeting the expectations of managers and leaders. However,
there exists certain organisations wherein an employee is instead concerned about his
image as well as position in market. People in this case tend to move on within a shorter
span of time and no efforts as such are made for retaining them as stated by Eddy, (2017).
These possess high concerns about their targets and associated profits as well.
Business practices of Middle East based organisations
Middle Eastern organisation are often found to follow a different set of cultures when it
comes to utilising the negotiation strategy. Here in theses countries organisations are often set to
follow honour-cultures. As per this, social status is often reflected by the self worth possessed
within an individual. Herein organisations compete with each other for primacy. At the time of
negotiating in accordance for establishing new business-relationships, Middle Easterners treat
this as opportunity in order to establish as well as protect their honour. These people are tend to
be more competitive, however, there exists varying levels of trust in their negotiations. As per
the culture of Middle East, people often have to make consistent social interactions in order for
earning trust which is regarded as a commodity. In the situation of competitive negotiation, in
order for protection of their self worth, a major inclination is shown towards getting emotional in
using aggressive tactics. As a result, instead of solving problem by aid of trust & sharing
information, emotional-tactics are utilised in the contest of negotiation (Cushner, 2013). So, it is
rather suggested that they must try developing strong relationships with their partners by aid of
building mutual trust among themselves.
Among the diversified areas of Middle east, Dubai is regarded as one of the highly
popular destination among the business related people from all over the world. The business
practices in such Middle Eastern cities are effectively governed by the highly efficient
government policies. Adding more, infrastructures art is responsible for supporting the
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enhancement of many small businesses. Not just the local citizens but even for foreign investors
are offered business opportunities. Also, the economy of Dubai in particular is highly boosted
because of an effective presence of foreign-business. In all the different sectors of Middle East
commerce & trade is usually at peak specially at Dubai. Also, there is a diversified range of trade
zones. The practices that are carried out in Middle East in accordance with business are quite
straightforward. The policies that are formulated by the government tend to be highly based upon
forward-thinking wherein future is given topmost priority. Since, Dubai is a highly enriched in
terms of its oil industry, this acts as a major point of attraction for majority of foreign investors
from all over world.
Culture of Middle East and Business-Etiquettes
Culture has diversified range of definitions. It is regarded as a type of collective
experiences within a society and its future impact upon the decision making practices as per
various circumstances (Moore and Hampton, 2015). As per the current scenario, ample
opportunities have been emerging out and because of this consistent growth in economy is
foreseen. The countries in Middle East have adopted nowadays a modernised approach. The
reason behind this is that majority of business practices & traditional attributes have moved
towards Western approach.
Importance of culture in business :-
Culture plays a vital role in determining growth and success of the business in new
market. It is important that any organisation working in Middle East should give focus on
understanding the culture of a new place so that their operational activities could be performed
without facing any difficulty and challenges. It is essential that companies should give focus on
understanding the culture of an organisation so that products and services offered by the firm
could be developed and designed as per the needs and requirements of buyers (Christensen and
Telléus, 2016). Success or failure of any organisation depends upon its strategic approach and
thus any firm which understand the culture gain more success as compared to other firms that are
operating in the same sector. Beliefs, attitude, values and norms and ethical guidelines followed
by any organisation comes in the category of culture.
All these elements comprise together for developing working working culture at that
place. Patterns and practices followed by individual for purchasing services and products differ
from one place to another and thus due to that it becomes essential for the firms to understand the
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culture of specific geographical area. Values that are followed by people in a particular
geographical area are important to be considered while designing the products and services. For
example if in any area people does not give preference for wearing black cloths than they will
also avoid buying black garments. All the clothing organisation needs to consider this fact so that
they should design and develop their products according to it. All the strategy formulation and
decision making procedure needs to be followed by understanding different aspects of culture
(Holmes, 2014). In every geographical area different types of culture is followed and due to that
all the business houses needs to consider various aspects of culture in designing their products.
Different dimensions of culture :-
There are majorly six dimension of culture as mentioned in Hofstede's dimension of
culture. Major dimensions includes Power distance index, individual versus collectivism,
masculinity versus femininity, uncertainty avoidance index, pragmatic versus normative,
Indulgence versus restraint. Power distance index is defined as extent to which less powerful
members of any particular organisation accepts the fact that power has been distributed equally.
Individualism vs Collectivism is index which defines about the degree to which people in a
society are grouped together (Miller, 2016).
Uncertainty avoidance index describes about tolerance shown by any society towards any
event that is unexpected. Cultural dimension of masculinity vs Feminity mentioned about
preferences given by society members towards material rewards for success. In addition to that
dimension of long term orientation mentions about connections which the organisation is having
with the current and future challenges that are faced by the firm. Moreover, short term
orientation shown by any organisation reflects about the the place has very lesser potential for
having economic development (Agboka, 2014). Cultural dimension of Indulgence vs Restraint
mentions about measures for happiness. If people living in Middle East are joyful and enjoying
life than they are having higher indulgence power. Cultural dimension of the society describes
about effect given by society's culture on the beliefs and values posses by individuals living in
that place. There are different outcomes that are received from higher and lower cultural
dimensions. If there exist cultural differences in any society than due to that any firm working in
that geographical area will face difficulties and challenges and will also face communication
barriers. In addition to that working work people in different nation requires to understand about
the cultural aspects of that place.
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Key-concepts & Values involved in Middle East Culture:-
 Islam : In the Middle East religion has been playing a crucial role in shaping its culture
as well as society. It is usually pervaded in life's every aspect. Islam imposes a strong
influence upon Middle East's laws, education lifestyle, daily conversations as well as
food-habits. Modesty, respect and generosity are the 3 key elements upon which Islamic
faith poses a strong influence. These elements are adopted by majority of Middle
Easterners in their behaviour (Paik and et. al., 2015Chen, 2017). So, before planning to
conduct business in the Middle East, one needs to effectively understand the influence
imposed by Islam upon the everyday lives of individuals as well as upon the business-
culture.
 Family : The entire culture of Middle East is based upon connections among tribal and
family as well. Family & tribes are accounted to be highly influential in formulating the
personal values & behaviour of particular individual. An individual gets both emotional
& financial support from his/her tribe or family. And as said by many, family is the first
priority and so their honour is protected.
 Loyalty : Within the business, loyalty among the tribe and family members is extended
As a result, it would not be treated as surprise case if ample family members are found to
run an entire chain of business. Hospitality : This particular element takes in consideration both the professional &
social contexts (Matusitz, 2014). The guests are often treated with ample levels of
generosity. Emphasising more upon business related context, meetings are found to be
most suitable and hereby accompanied by pastry or Arab-coffee. Herein, emphasis is
given in majority upon the existing relationships.
Emphasising the etiquettes of business
→ Contrary to the western culture, the business occurs at a very slow rate. So, for carrying out a
business in Middle East, flexibility & patience play an effective role.
→ Social events invitations should be accepted. In the Middle East, in order for doing a
particular business, relationships play an effective role. So, one must spend ample time with their
associated Middle Eastern counterparts in order for developing a mutual understanding among
individuals.
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→ Appropriate titles have to be followed in order when addressing thje Middle
Eastern counterparts is done (Gianolla, 2013).
→ One-to-one meetings should not be expected since presence of other person s is likely to
happen at offices & meeting rooms.
Reflective account regarding the feedback
The feedback which was given regarding previous report led to the ability of enhancing
my abilities in order to assess all the recommended comments and necessary changes wherever
necessary. Since it was asked that use of theoretical frameworks has to be focussed, so I have
effectively assessed this recommendation. In accordance with this, I have utilised two
frameworks of Trompenaars and Hofsteide. Also, adding more to this, I have included the
diversified concepts of both these frameworks. Each of the individual concepts has been
critically argued. Also, with these 2 frameworks in particular, I have analysed the role of
diversified concepts as per the 2 frameworks.
Adding more to this, the reason involved in choosing these particular frameworks is that
according to my opinion and findings, these were found out to be more reliable and authenticated
with reference to the analysing impact of culture on business practices in Middle East. I found
out that these two framework were suitable to be evaluated critically as per the organisational
context in Middle East. Adding more to this, as recommended in the feedback,
I have effectively presented all the necessary arguments. To do so I have taken help from
viewpoints of many other previous research works done by diversified researchers.
To effectively understand the impact of culture upon the business practices of Middle
East, along with utilising the two frameworks, I have also utilised a certain set of themes. I have
formulated these themes covering all the key aspects of Middle Eastern culture and its role in
driving their business practices.
I have also avoided the utilisation of first-persons within the academic writings. Also, in
order for making the things more clear, I have supported each of the arguments involved with
many of the concepts and themes on the cultural aspects. Also, in addition to this, I have also
supported each of the included claims with proper references. This led to the formulation of more
accurate statements. Also, the arguments which have been presented in the report have been
reviewed critically.
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Also, the issue which was consistently being faced regarding the grammar has been
assessed in a very well manner. Assessing the issue of grammar led in me the ability to enhance
my skills as well. Furthermore, each of the argument that has been included has been supported
with the undertaken topic. Also, I have even eliminated all the unnecessary elements in order to
make the report more academic. I have even described each of the utilised framework in detail.
This has effectively assisted me in supporting all the diversified arguments which I have
included to support the topic. With this, I have very well established the link between each of the
sentences. Also, I have properly referenced all the work that has been included in the report.
Also, the inclusion of the two theoretical frameworks has assisted effectively in making the work
more ethical and of value as well. The concepts have been supported effectively by
contextualising more upon Middle East area. All the study elements have been included as per
the topic and have effectively assisted me in making the necessary improvements.
Conclusion
From the report, it can overall be concluded that culture plays and effective role in
effective evaluation of the business practices at the Middle East. Adding more to this, the
undertaken frameworks of Trompenaars and Hofsteide are helpful in analysing the different
cultural concepts that are in practice at the organisation. Also, Middle East offers ample of
opportunities in terms of trade. This particular geographical area has been a highly attractive
centre for the foreign investors from all over the world. Regarding this, one needs to have a
proper understanding of the culture being in practice there before establishing business
relationships with Middle Eastern counterparts. So, this also leads to one more fact that culture
has an effective role to be played in the business practices of certain organisations. As per this
fact, individuals must be thorough with the culture of the country or area in which they are going
to establish their business.
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REFERENCES
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