Doing business in UAE

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Table of Contents

Background
Business Structure
Management style
Meetings
Team Working
Communication Styles
Women in Business
Business dress code
References

Background

Together with Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain and the Sultanate of Oman, The United Arab Emirate make up the Gulf countries, located at the Arabian Gulf. Conventionally, the UAE was focused on maritime activities such as fishing, thought this changed in the mid 20th century, when it discovered oil.

This discovery changed the country’s economy, influencing its wealth and advanced state among the Muslim countries. The discovery also made the UAE a favourite destination for new businesses and investment from international individuals and companies.

Currently, the UAE has a large foreign emigrant population, making it the most liberal amongst the Middle East countries. The country is full of economic opportunities following its diverse and rich culture as well as historical and religious influences, making it an ideal and unique business destination.

Business Structure

The UAE has been a sought after country because it is the federation of the seven distinct Islamic entities. Several years of European interaction led to various friendship treaties with Britain. This friendship facilitated the formation of the “Trucial Sheikdoms” in 1853.

Following the oil discovery, the UAE has attracted international business interests, making it a thriving business centre, with vast opportunities for economic growth and foreign investments.

Because of this international interest in the UAE, one is most likely to deal with an expatriate when interacting in the UAE, who make close to 80% of the country’s population. Because of this, it is important for foreigners to know whom they are dealing with and know who the final decision maker would be (Peck, 1986, p. 49).

Most Emirati companies have a vertical hierarchical management, run and owned by powerful individuals, who are the sole decision makers. To have a flourishing business relationship, it is important to respect these powerful persons. Age, family and money are key influential factors of an individual’s status.

The official working week in the UAE starts on Saturday, through to Wednesday while Thursday and Friday are resting days. In some cases, people work on Thursdays and rest on Saturdays. The working hours are likely to be 0900 to 1300 and 1630 to 2000.

Most family owned family businesses have family members in key positions while multinational companies are controlled in regard to their headquarters in their countries of origin (Terterov, 2006, p. 56).

Management style

UAE’s local management style tends to be paternalistic and directive. A manager is expected to provide direct and clear instructions to subordinates who carry out the instructions in exact details. A poor or vague instruction from a manager demonstrates poor managerial skills and leadership.

In UAE, status is important, hence must be recognized by everyone. People of valued status are addressed using correct titles such as Ustadh (professor), Mohands (engineer) and Shaikh (chief). It is important for anyone interacting in the UAE to get the right titles of people before interacting with them (Mostyn, 1982, p. 64).

Meetings

During an initial encounter with a group of people, it is critical to shake hands and greet the senior most people in the group first. Generally, the oldest person in the group is the most senior though in some circumstances, other people may step in to make decisions. Prior to meeting people, one should find out the appropriate titles for the people one anticipates to meet. This indicates appropriate respect (Crocetti, 2001, p. 42).

When scheduling meetings in the UAE, this must be done in advance, allocating a little extra time in case the meeting goes on longer than expected or starts later. It is fundamental to be flexible because it is common to cancel meetings at the last minute. When attending meetings, one should indicate their presence by using letters or business cards.

Unlike most Western cultures, the UAE have a relaxed attitude towards time. They view relationships and people as more important than punctuality and schedules. It is common for Emiratis and their counterparts to turn up late though foreigners are expected to be punctual for meetings.

In contrasts with other Middle East countries, the UAE is significantly modern as most of their business practices and traditional attitudes are evolving towards western practices. However, knowledge of some of the present traditional practices is still vital (Hvidt, 2007, p. 54).

Team Working

Unlike other Western countries, whose group work tends to be horizontal, teamwork in the UAE tends to be vertically oriented. Every person in the group is expected to be aware of their roles, despite the presence of a dominate team leader who informs members of their specific roles.

There is also an importance placed on team bonding. Because most local companies consist of family members, there is less ranking in companies. However, hierarchies generally develop through family authority and social class (Ehteshami & Wright, 2008, p. 67).

Communication Styles

People in the UAE hold mutual trust and relationships with utmost importance, making face-to-face communication a common occurrence. To ensure future business dealings and cementation of relationships, it is imperative to spend time and interact more with business counterparts.

Emiratis also value family and friends so it is common to cancel or reschedule meetings in order to accommodate family needs. It is also common for Emiratis to ask confronting questions regarding religion, marital status and wealth. It may be difficult for some people to comprehend Arabic, as it tends to be exaggerated. In addition to this, Emiratis understand an aggressive tone as sincere.

Women in Business

Unlike the neighbouring Saudi Arabia, the situation in UAE is quite different. In UAE, women have opportunities, indicated by the presence of women entrepreneurs in the country. However, there are still local men who display gender bias.

Despite this, it is common to encounter more women in business then before. This is due to the escalated number expatriates working in UAE and the high number of corporations operating in the country, hence importing their beliefs and ideas (Potts & Hellyer, 2003, p. 54).

Business dress code

There has been an evolvement of the business dress code due to the increasing westernization of the UAE’s culture. While in the UAE, it is advisable to dress smartly and in a conservative manner. The business dressing of men includes suits and ties while women must be modest by wearing non-revealing clothes or clothes that draw attention to their bodies.

Top Tipsz:

A bigger percentage of the UAE population is non-Emirati, and so, it is most likely to deal with people from other countries.
Despite adopting much of Western cultures, UAE is still an Islamic country; hence, one must respect their tradition, sensitivities and tradition.
It is common to find families, hence influenced by nepotism, dominate the local companies.
Management tends to be directive; hence, instructions tend to be abrupt and very direct.
It is likely that meetings do not begin on time.

Visitors must abide by local modestly standards i.e., covering most of the body.

When a host offers a gift, it is impolite to decline taking the gift.

Remove shoes before entering a building.

Avoid discussing women subjects.

Successful entertaining

The habitual greeting in UAE is “Assalamo Alaikum”, meaning “peace with you” , which is replied to as “Wa alaikum as-salam”. Because Emiratis place immense importance to relationships (family and friends), it is common for them to entertain lavishly. In addition to this, Emiratis give and expect “only the best”. Because of this, gifts are generally avoided. Instead, most Emiratis offer lavish meals for celebrations.

References

Crocetti, G L 2001, Culture shock!: United Arab Emirates, Graphic Arts Center Pub. Co., London.

Ehteshami, A & Wright, S M 2008, Reform in the Middle East oil monarchies, Ithaca Press, Berkshire.

Hvidt, M 2007, The Dubai model: an outline of key components of the development process in Dubai, Centre for Contemporary Middle East Studies, Odense.

Mostyn, T 1982, UAE, Middle East Economic Digest, London.

Peck, M C 1986, The United Arab Emirates: a venture in unity, Taylor & Francis, New York.

Potts, D T & Hellyer, P 2003, Archaeology of the United Arab Emirates, Trident Press Ltd, New York.

Terterov, M 2006, Doing business with the United Arab Emirates (2nd ed.), GMB, London.

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