The United Arab Emirates (UAE) was established in 1971 and is a country located

Question

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) was established in
1971 and is a country located in the Middle East. The
country is often called “the Emirates” or simply “UAE.”
UAE borders the Gulf of Oman and the Persian Gulf.
Neighboring countries include Oman and Saudi Arabia,
and UAE also shares sea borders with Quatar, Iran, and Pakistan. Strategically, UAE is in an important location
along the southern approaches to the Strait of Hormuz, a
transit point for the world’s crude oil. UAE is also in the
top 10 countries for the largest oil reserves in the world.
The geography of UAE includes lots of rolling sand
dunes of desert and also mountains in the eastern part of
the country. The government consists of a federation with
specified powers delegated to the UAE federal government
and other powers reserved to the member emirates
(equivalent to principalities). The chief of state is the president
and the head of government is the prime minister.
UAE has an open-market economy in which the prices of
products and services are set using a free price system.
The foundation for this market economy lies in the collaboration
between the seven emirates that are part of the
UAE. They include the emirates of Abu Dhabi, Ajman,
Dubai, Fujairah, Ras al-Khaimah, Sharjah, and Umm al-
Quwain. Each emirate is governed by a hereditary emir,
similar to succession planning in countries with royalty
(king or queen) as the head of state. These emirs jointly
make up the Federal Supreme Council, which serves as
the highest legislative and executive body in the UAE.
One of the seven emirs is selected as the president of the
United Arab Emirates. The capital of the country is Abu
Dhabi, Islam is the official religion, and Arabic is the official
language. Most people have heard of Abu Dhabi
and Dubai because they are the country’s centers of commercial
and cultural activities. Dubai is UAE’s most populous
city, with more than 2 million people, and it has
emerged as a true global city with an eclectic cultural
makeup. It also has a strategic location as a business gateway
for the Middle East and Africa for multinational enterprises
from all of the world’s continents.
Dubai has frequently been rated as one of the best
places to live in the Middle East (although it is also one
of the most expensive). The emirate of Dubai has been
ruled by the Al Maktoum family since 183; the emirate
is considered a constitutional monarchy. In 2013, the
Norway-based Global Network for Rights and Development
ranked UAE as the 14th country in its annual International
Human Rights Indicator report. This was a first
among Arab countries, with the next Arab country on the
list, Tunisia, at a distant 72nd place. Only about 10 percent
of the population in Dubai are Arabs, with the remaining
90 percent being expatriates. Most of the
expatriates are from Asia, with India (50 percent) and
Pakistan (16 percent) prominently featured. The largest
group of Westerners is from the United Kingdom.
With this eclectic cultural background, Dubai’s bid to
host the World Expo 2020 with a theme of “connecting
minds, creating the future” makes sense both logically
and strategically. The theme resonates well with issues
related to culture. In essence, the theme illustrates and
acknowledges differences in culture (as does this chapter),
and the theme supports the notion that we strive to
emphasize similarities across the globe. Today, multinational
enterprises have to evaluate their core uniqueness
and how they can leverage this strategic uniqueness in
the global marketplace. The leveraging of the uniqueness
typically requires a focus on similarities across cultures
instead of differences. Connecting minds is a great way
to illustrate how people, companies, and countries can
stress the importance of looking for similarities first and
then focus on the similarities that outweigh the differences
in creating strategic options.
As with any World Expo, the expectation is that the
world will be treated to an important event in the year
2020 in Dubai. The Expo on “connecting minds, creating
the future” will span six months, following World Expo
2015 in Milan, Italy, and World Expo 2017 in Astana,
Kazakhstan. The expectation is also that countries will
showcase who they are and what they can do in the spirit
of today’s era of “nation branding.” Tracing history, the
best-known first World Expo was held in the Crystal Palace
in Hyde Park, London (United Kingdom), in 1851
under the title “Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry
of All Nations.” Since 1928, the Bureau International
des Expositions (International Exhibitions Bureau) has
served as an international sanctioning body for the World
Expo. These Expo showcases have generally gone
through three eras: the era of industrialization (1851–
1938), the era of cultural exchange (1939–1987), and the
era of nation branding (1988–present).
The theme for Dubai’s World Expo 2020 is a direct
connection to its cultural values and beliefs in facilitating
connections and pioneering new ideas. The organizersexpect 70 percent of the 25 million visitors to originateoutside UAE, making it the most globally oriented WorldExpo in its long history. The idea is that the global communitywill come together and explore creative and pioneeringsolutions to three key drivers of globaldevelopment: sustainability, mobility, and opportunity.As viewed by the World Expo 2020 organizing team,sustainability centers on lasting sources of energy andwater. Mobility focuses on smart systems of logistics andtransportation. And opportunity refers to new paths toeconomic development.

1. What forces shaped the culture in the country
of UAE and Dubai in particular? How similar
or different are these forces from those that
shaped the culture of Western nations?

2. What kinds of misunderstandings, if any, are
likely to arise between Western-based visitors
and people from the UAE during World Expo
2020?
3. If you were in a position to advise a Western
company that was considering doing business
in UAE for the first time, what would your
advice be?
4. Using Dubai as an example, do you believe that
cultural similarities among people can outweigh
cultural differences that exist in terms of doing
business together in the future?

Explanation / Answer

1. What forces shaped the culture in the country
of UAE and Dubai in particular? How similar
or different are these forces from those that
shaped the culture of Western nations?

The origin of UAE is a commercial interest. These Emirates are also having large oil reserves. The governance is also not democratic. The geographic location of UAE and especially of Dubai gives an advantage. UAE is not a secular country .Hence, the forces that shape the culture are Political, economic, cultural, social and geographical.

In wetsrn countries the form of govt. is democratic and there is no official religion and a secular approach is shown. Countries in the west have a written constitution and courts can interpret it while parliament can change it. In UAE King and other Emirs make legislative and executive council. However, the people in UAE come from many different countries and obviously contribute intellectualy to UAE growth, however, cultural freedom is limited for them. Human rights recogition is better in western world and UAE is matching slowly with it especially Dubai.

2. What kinds of misunderstandings, if any, are
likely to arise between Western-based visitors
and people from the UAE during World Expo
2020?

Western visitors may feel that there is no cultural freedom as UAE is having islam as official religion and practices like less freedom to women, other traditions are against human rights. They may also find that behind economic prosperity there is only a royal family that is benefiting and common man cannot participate in decision making. Also practices like alcohol ban in public places, no freedom to sex may be considered as going against western notions of freedom.

3. If you were in a position to advise a Western
company that was considering doing business
in UAE for the first time, what would your
advice be?

First, understand the culture and what is not acceptable in their society. What kind of products may go against their official religion. Eg. pork in non veg products. Also not to show any disrespect to their cultural practices even though westerners feel that they are anti human rights. There are a large number of tourists which come to visit UAE. By having low price strategy for well known brands may create huge cashflow as taxes are less in this country. Trade fairs, attractive store displya may create more business opportunities. Also company may take initiative to carry certain social responsibilty projects with royal family to better relationship.

4. Using Dubai as an example, do you believe that
cultural similarities among people can outweigh
cultural differences that exist in terms of doing
business together in the future?

Yes, It is possible. Once economic prosperity comes and market drives the allocation of resources people be less concerned about cultural differences. This is already shown in western world.

Due to the advent of social media and consumerism culture companies can create market common for all irrespective of nationality and common culture. Example- Many beauty products are making money in UAE even though women do not get much freedom. This is possible because common cultural affinity for beauty and anti-ageing products among women.

However, 100 % tolerance is never possible and there will be some pseudo nationalists elements which will be creating troubles. A strict control on them with proper policing is the solution.

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