Critical Essay about Working in UAE by Expats

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Introduction:

This Essay is about Emily who works as a luxury retail manager in the UK and moved to the UAE after getting an attractive offer from a rival company. After coming to the UAE, she realized that the culture in the UAE was different from that of the UK in the way the customers interacted with her. Customers would not come to meetings on time and would contact her personally outside office hours for help. Hofstede’s cultural dimension theory (1984) will be used to evaluate the given issues and give some suggestions for possibly solving them.

Analysis:

After moving to the UAE from the UK Emily realized that the culture in the UAE was more centered on culture. According to Al Mazrouei and Pech (2015), the “UAE is very culturally sensitive and aware”. The clientele in the UAE would ask for her personal contact and contact her outside her office hours which was not seen with clients back in the UK. Another issue to be pointed out was the fact that clients would never get to meetings with Emily on time and would always be around 2 hours late. The clients would also expect her to contact them personally after purchase as the culture in the UAE was such. According to Fernandes and Awamleh (2006), “All justice constructs had an impact on satisfaction for the expatriate group”. Emily would expect the company to provide some sort of rule regarding this issue but the business outlook in the UAE is such that this is seen as the culture within the region.

Looking at the issue where clients would personally contact her outside office hours as noticed in Hofstede’s theory (1984) that when comparing the UAE to the UK there is a difference in the way people interact with others around them. In the UAE the culture is born out of respect and that personal touch which is seen in the case of Emily. To the clients, Emily is seen as a friend more than an employee. For Emily, this was seen to be too personal.

The issue with clients coming in 2-3 hours late for a meeting is something seen in the culture not just in the UAE but also in the GCC countries as a whole. In the UK time is seen as important to the point where people would be at meetings well before time. In the UAE time is given importance but only with regard to certain situations. According to Klein, Waxin, and Randell (2009), the national culture of the UAE greatly influences the organizational culture. This explains why the lack of timekeeping is seen in clients

When Emily mentions the moment when her client was upset that they did not get a personal message from Emily the same point as from the first issue arises. In the UAE the whole idea of creating a more personal relationship is seen as a norm. Unlike in the UK where the relationship between the employee and the client is only work-related the UAE culture is far deeper rooted in making a bond.

All three issues are a case of indulgence vs restraint dimension (Hofstede,1984) with regards to the culture of the UAE vs the UK where Emily used to be. In this case, the UAE is more indulgent in that they allow for more freedom in terms of culture whereas the UK is tighter on their culture with regards to businesses and their clients. Also, these issues also come under the collectivistic dimension (Hofstede,1984) in the UAE where everything is a ‘we’ as compared to an ‘I’ in the UK.

Recommendations:

The main issue with clients not being in on time is can be sorted by a better relationship between employees and the business. Bashir (2012) states that “there is a positive relationship between organizational support and expatriates’ cross-cultural adjustment”. The business gives out rules regarding meetings between clients and employees. The advantage is that the client will have to make it for the meeting thus reducing the delay. The caveat here is that clients may not like this system as it may be unfit for a luxury retail brand and therefore may object to the idea.

When clients contact Emily outside of office hours a suggested solution would be to give a certain time period for clients to contact her outside of office hours. It would be a fixed time period throughout the week and must be strictly followed by Emily and her clients. According to de Waal and Frijns (2016) that “Despite the international business setting there is still an Arab business setting that is seen in the business”. Not all clients may find it suitable to contact Emily during the specified time period as it may not match their view on the business setting and will want more flexible timings. Another caveat to be seen is in sudden requests and needs outside of the hours Emily will have set and she may have to make time for such out-of-the-blue requests which are outside of her given time periods. As much as this solution will curb sudden requests, calls, emails, etc. during Emily’s private life those out-of-the-blue requests will always come in and will need to be dealt with

Looking at the final issue the client who expected a mail from Emily has the right to expect it as the culture of the UAE is such. According to Cerimagic (2010)” In order to act appropriately, they need adequate expatriate preparation and cross‐cultural training which can reduce or even prevent expatriate failure”. Emily could train herself towards understanding and adapting to the culture in the UAE but that would mean departing from her original culture as a British national. For the clients, this means Emily will be more understanding of their needs which would be a plus point.

Conclusion:

In summary, the main issue pointed out by this essay is the fact that Emily after having moved to the UAE from the UK as a retail manager of a luxury retail company. Her issues stemmed in that the culture of the UAE was on a personal level, unlike the UK where everything was more professional and to the point. A number of suggestions for the issues were given and they were critically examined

References:

AlMazrouei, H. and Pech, R.J., 2015. Working in the UAE: expatriate management experiences. Journal of Islamic Accounting and Business Research, 6(1), pp.73-93.
Bashir, S., 2012. Perceived organizational support and the cross-cultural adjustment of expatriates in the UAE. Education, Business, and Society: Contemporary Middle Eastern Issues, 5(1), pp.63-82.
Cerimagic, S., 2010. Influence of culture on project practices: Insights from Australian project managers in UAE. Education, Business, and Society: Contemporary Middle Eastern Issues, 3(4), pp.277-288.
de Waal, A. and Frijns, M., 2016. The influence of the UAE context on management practice in UAE business. International Journal of Islamic and Middle Eastern Finance and Management, 9(2), pp.236-253.
Fernandes, C. and Awamleh, R., 2006. Impact of organizational justice in an expatriate work environment. Management research news, 29(11), pp.701-712.
Hofstede, G., 1984. Culture’s consequences: International differences in work-related values (Vol. 5). sage.
Klein, A., France Waxin, M. and Radnell, E., 2009. The impact of the Arab national culture on the perception of ideal organizational culture in the United Arab Emirates: An empirical study of 17 firms. Education, Business, and Society: Contemporary Middle Eastern Issues, 2(1), pp.44-56.

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Critical Essay about Working in UAE by Expats

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