don
don
’
’
t they know
t they know
it
Published by Motivate Publishing
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Editors: Simona Simona CassanoCassano
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First published 1998 by Motivate Publishing
First published 1998 by Motivate Publishing
Reprinted 1999, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008 (twice), 2009, Reprinted 1999, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008 (twice), 2009, 2010 (twice) 2010 (twice) New edition 2010 New edition 2010 © Jeremy Williams 1998 © Jeremy Williams 1998
The author asserts the moral right to be identied as the author of this book.
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i s b n
i s b n: 978 1 86063 074 3: 978 1 86063 074 3
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
Williams, Jeremy
Williams, Jeremy
Don’t They Know It’s Friday? Cross cultural considerations for business and
Don’t They Know It’s Friday? Cross cultural considerations for business and
life in the Arabian Gulf
life in the Arabian Gulf
1. Business etiquette – Arabian Peninsula. 2. Business enterprises –
1. Business etiquette – Arabian Peninsula. 2. Business enterprises – ArabianArabian
Peninsula. 3. Arabian Peninsula – social life and customs – 20th century
Peninsula. 3. Arabian Peninsula – social life and customs – 20th century
1. Title 382’.09536
1. Title 382’.09536
Printed by Rashid Printers & Stationers LLC, Ajman, UAE
Printed by Rashid Printers & Stationers LLC, Ajman, UAE
n o t e
n o t e oonn m a p sm a p s: T: The maps in this book represent no authority on borders. They havehe maps in this book represent no authority on borders. They have
been specically designed for the sole purpose of illustrating the geographical exten
been specically designed for the sole purpose of illustrating the geographical extent of t of
such entities as ‘The Middle East’, ‘The Islamic World’ and ‘The GCC’. They have neither
such entities as ‘The Middle East’, ‘The Islamic World’ and ‘The GCC’. They have neither
any purpose nor any relevance beyond this use.
An imprint of Motivate Publishing
don’t they know
it’s friday?
A C R O S S - C U LT U R A L G U I D E F O R B U S I N E S S
A N D L I F E I N T H E G U L F
The author: Jeremy Williams
Jeremy Williams OBE was the Defence, Naval, Military and Air Attaché in the British Embassies of Abu Dhabi and Bahrain at the times of both the Iran/Iraq (the Tanker) War and the Gulf (Kuwait) War. In an army and diplomatic career of thirty-ve years he spent over twelve years living in ve Gulf locations: Sharjah, Dubai, Riyadh, Abu Dhabi and Bahrain. His service includes tours of duty in USA, UK, Germany and Singapore. He remains in contact with many government and commercial organisations throughout the Gulf and wider Arab world.
Jeremy Williams is a member of the Saudi-British Society, the Middle East Association, the Bahrain Society, the British Business Group of Dubai & Northern Emirates and the
Royal Society for Asian Affairs. He is Middle East consultant to the Portsmouth University Language Centre. He
contributes to The Times, BBC, NBC and Sky News on Arab and Islamic matters.
His company, Handshaikh Ltd., is based in Winchester in England but he travels throughout the world to conduct
business seminars which focus on the cross-cultural aspects of life and work for westerners in or with the countries of the Gulf. He has counselled some 400 companies and
organisations at board and other levels. He and his wife, Val, have a daughter, Sophy, and a son, Giles.
Acknowledgements
The views expressed in this book are mine alone but my thanks go once again for this second edition to my publisher Ian Fairservice and my editor Simona Cassano, and to
Moushumi Nandy, Cithadel Francisco, Therese Theron, Zelda Pinto, Charlie Banalo and Abdul Karim at Motivate Publishing in Dubai.
I am enormously grateful to Mike Brennan whose comments on Gulf business practice were invaluable.
I also wish to thank for their helpful advice Moukaram Atassi, Fahad al-Atiya, Sir James Craig, Mua’wia Derhali, Kathy
Girling, Sir Jeremy Greenstock, Jan de Haldevang, Julia Hoey, Dr Dina al-Khayat, Dr Jehad al-Omari, David Pfeiffer, Farah al-Sadr, Sir Harold Walker, Terry Willis, Paul and Nikki Wilson, and Andrew Wingeld.
Several distinguished Gulf lawyers and scholars of Islam
have also provided many helpful suggestions but prefer not to be named.
For this edition Kevin Cook RIBA has added to and coloured his original Edition 1 illustrations.
Contents
Foreword by Sir James Craig GCMG 20 Author’s preface to the second edition 22
CHAPTER 1: The scope of this book 25
What does this book cover – and for whom? 25 • Gulf-resident executives and frequent visitors to the Gulf 25 • Non Gulf-resident managers or infrequent visitors to the Gulf 25 • General readers 26 • Arab readers 26 • Reading this book 27 CHAPTER 2: General background 28
The importance of Islam 28 • The pace of change in the Gulf 28 • Personality – the main factor? 29
GEOGRAPHY 29• Complications 29 • The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries 30 • What do you mean by MENA? 30 • ‘The Middle East’ – where’s that? 31 • The Arab world 33 • What is an Arab? 33 • We are not Arabs! 33 • Whose Gulf is it? 34 • The three ‘tiers’ of the Arab world 36 • Other Arab
geography 36 • The seven Emirates of the UAE 36 • Map of the UAE 37•
POPULATION 38• Gulf nations’ emergence and wealth 38 • The Gulf is young 38 • The Gulf is small 38 • Arab groupings 38 • Gulf nationals’ employment 38 • Gulf men 39 • Gulf women 40 • Restrictions on Gulf women reducing 41 • A nice government job 41 •
FURTHER STUDY 41• Discreetly study the sensitive subjects 41•Learn Arab opinion on 42 • Common GCC currency and Customs regime 42
CHAPTER 3: Starting out in the Gulf 43
VISIT AND ENQUIRE 43 • Major effort and cost 43 • Business with non-Gulf Arabs 43 • Do you have something for sale that’s really wanted? 44
contents ix
BUSINESS TRIPS TO THE GULF 44 • Silly or sensible programme? 45 • Planning a Gulf tour 46 • Targeting your sales pitch 46 • Come now! 46 • Poor visitor, we live here! 47 • Now I see you – now I don’t! 48 • Not just a consumer market 48 • Preparation of documents and presentation material 48 CLOTHING AND APPEARANCE 49 • Mode of dress and demeanour 49 • Western clothing 49 • Modesty is not just a matter of clothing 51 • Visiting managers take heed 51 •
Clothing in Saudi Arabia 51 •
THE GULF ARAB’S OFFICE 52 • Getting past the gate 52 • How to behave in an ofce 53 • Ofce behaviour: new visitors learn from the locals 54 • A handshake, then sit in the right-hand chair 54 • The give and take of Gulf seating 54 • Coffee and tea in the ofce 55 • Young Gulf Arabs 57 •
YOUR SALES PITCH 57 • When, how and how not to talk business 57 • Young and busy 57 • Laptop, projector and 220/240 volts 58 • The rst steps 58 • Presentation
techniques 58 • A denition? Please write it 60 • See and touch 60 • Don’t tell the client what he wants 60 • We have a very ne chef 61 •Not so expert after all 62 •
CHAPTER 4: Your Gulf Ofce 63
TYPES OF BUSINESS 63• Business status examples 63 SELECTION OF AN AGENT OR SPONSOR 63 • Local
knowledge 63 • Sponsorship 64 • I’m very close to the boss now 64
DUE DILIGENCE 65 • Enquire fully 65 • Gulf condence and its risk 66
COMPANY ORGANISATION 66 • Listen to your Gulf Uncle 66 • Not by Sector alone 67 • Relationships between ‘Head Ofce’ and staff in the Gulf 68 • Safety plan 69
CHAPTER 5: The expatriates 70
Gulf-based staff – or none at all? 70 • International presence 70 • Expatriates – national types 71 • Western expatriates – the two types 71 • Skilled Western worker status 71 • Western
managerial or professional status 72 • Long-term Western expatriates 72 • Ination and nancial downturn 72
x don’ t they know it ’s friday?
CHAPTER 6: Selection and brieng 74
Differences and stress 74 • Work permits in Saudi Arabia 75 • Recruitment costs 75 • Culture shock 75 • Brief everyone 76 EXPATRIATE CONCERNS 76• Patience, resilience and hassle 76 • Patience costs money 77 • Four or ve or more years in the Gulf? 78 • Gulf pre-appointment reconnaissance visits 79 • Destination reception companies 79 • Expatriate allowances 79
WOMEN 80 • Women and the selection process 80 • Guardian in Saudi Arabia 80
PARTNERS 81 • Ability to ignore 82 • Partners and risk of removal 81 • Living together 82 • Other relationships 82 LEAVE THE CASH 82 • Take your leave, not cash 82 • You – not the Gulf – could be the problem 83
CHAPTER 7: Travel 84
Introduction 84 • Travel 84 • Reconrm your ights 84 •
Visas (entry permits) 85 • Visa types 85 • Passport validity 85 • Iqama 86 • Copying & retention of passports 86 • Photos 87 • Exiting the Gulf 87
DRIVING IN THE GULF 87 • Driving licences 87 • Driving habits 88 • Fog in the Gulf 88 • Pedestrians 88 • The car horn: only a nanosecond away 89 • Trafc accidents 89 • Camels as road hazards 90 • Are you insured, sir? 90 • Driving during Ramadan 91
TRAVEL AND NEW RESIDENT CHECK-LIST 92 CHAPTER 8: Behaviour and attitudes 93
GENERAL BEHAVIOUR 93 • The West and the Gulf 93 • Patience and the benet of study 93 • Awareness and
tolerance of the West 94 • Shaikh Rashid of Dubai 94 • Sense of humour 94 • Personal interest 95 • Gulf Arab grooming 95 • Holy men 95
GULF EDUCATION 96 • Quick and intelligent 96 • On the other hand 96 • Islamic education 97 • Rote learning 97 •Private education 97
GULF NATIONAL EMPLOYMENT 98 • We can do it all – and now! 98 • We expect you to do well naturally 98
contents xi
dangers of paternalistic attitudes 99 • Reputation 100 •
Honour and respect 100 • Photography 101 • Take the blame; take the favour 102 • Careless talk can cost you 102
ANNOYING TO GULF WESTERNERS 102 • ‘We just wanted to make you happy’ 102 • Queue? You mean ‘Form a line’? 103 • I know my rights (but not my responsibilities) 104 • Financial Services sector not welcome? 104
INTRIGUING GULF ARABS 105 • Modern technology 105 • Intrigue everywhere 105 • Clear-sighted 106 • The demands of the desert 106 • Instinct 107 • Falconry 107 • Camel racing 107 • Horse racing 107 • Judging and trusting you 108 •
Poetry please 108
GIFTS 108• Accepting and giving gifts 108 • Sales gifts 109 • Thanks – but not to you 109 • Saying ‘Please’ and ‘Thank You’ 109
CHAPTER 9: Personal behaviour, body language 111
SHAKING HANDS 111 • Man to man 111 • Men and women – Western circumstances 112 • Men and women – Gulf
circumstances 112 • Hand over heart 112 • Holding hands 114 RELATIONSHIPS 114• Kissing 114 • Four wives 116
FLESH, FEET AND FINGERS 116 • Exposed esh 116 •
Religious police 117 • Feet, soles and shoes 117 • Beckoning with the ngers 118 • Crossed legs 118 • Shway, shway 119 • The right way 120 • Other gestures 121
CHAPTER 10: Time and timing – the biggest frustration? 122
TIME ITSELF 122 • We leave in two hours 122 • Islam’s inuence on timekeeping 122
ATTENDING MEETINGS ETC 123 • Be on time 123 • Gulf Arabs know the West 123 • No show – no matter? 124 •
Mother 124 • Saying no 125 • ‘No one came to our presentation – they all went to the airport instead! ’ 126
THE GULF TODAY 129• Times are changing 129 • The younger Gulf Arab 129 • Some of us mean business 130 IT’S NOT ‘TIME’ THAT MATTERS – IT’S ‘TIMING’ 130 • When the moment is right 130
WEEKS AND DAYS 131 • Tomorrow has already started 131 • Gulf time zones 131 • The former working day 131 • The
xii don’ t they know it ’s friday?
on a Friday 132 • Business and pleasure all together? 133 • Public holidays (GCC) 133
CHAPTER 11: Language, names & writing 134
ARABIC 134 • Local language 134 • Calligraphy 134 • Study of Arabic 135 • Arabic or not? 135 • Signing Arabic documents – are you mad? 136
TRANSLATION 136 • Control your translator 136 • Business cards 137 • Routine Arabic 137 • Complex Arabic 138 • Check their Arabic 138
JUST A FEW WORDS OF ARABIC 138 • Greetings and Replies 138 • In Sha’ Allah 139 • Ma Sha’ Allah 139
ARABIC WORDS OFTEN MISUNDERSTOOD 140 • Allah 140 • Fatwa 140 • Halaal and Haraam 140 • Hareem 140 • Jihaad 140 • Wasta 141
SPEECH 141 • ‘I want’ and ‘Give me’ 141 • Ululation 142 • Loud means sincere? 142 • Arab theatre 142
MUSLIM NAMES AND YOUR NAMES 143 • Muslim name sequence 143 • And grandfather makes three 143 • Names in Gulf forms 143 • Which Abdullah? 145 • No hyphenated names 145 • Gulf genealogy 145 • Tribes and families 145 • Tribal map 146 • Mr Arab, please call me John – may I call you by your first name? 147 • Meaning of Muslim names 147 • Hello Mister John 148 • Names of sons and daughters 148 • Wives keep their fathers’ names 148 • ‘Bin’ or not 148 • How do you like your name,
Muslim? 149 • How hotels and airlines cope with Muslim names 149 • Spelling 150 • Muslim names in Western databases etc. 150 • Gulf royal titles 150 • Honoured name s 150 • Servant of God 151
TALKING ABOUT AND WRITING TO GULF ARABS 151 • Don’t say that - say this! 151 • Not good – Better 151 • The title ‘Shaikh’ 152 • ‘Shaikh’ or ‘Sheikh’ or ‘Shaykh’ but never
‘Sheek’? 152 • Shaikha 152 • His Excellency and Your Excellency 152 • Your Highness and His Highness 153 • His Majesty 153 GULF COMMUNICATIONS 153• Phones 153
•Delivery and collection of mail 154 • Couriers 154 • Examples of formal letters and faxes 154 • Two languages, one page? 156 • Why don’t I get a reply to my letters and emails to the Gulf? 156 • Security of Gulf communications 157 • Censorship 157
contents xiii
CHAPTER 12: Gulf business – how it all works 159
DECISION-MAKING NOT DECISION-TAKING 159• Consult – then decide 159 • You’ll never understand the Gulf maze, westerner! 159 • Delay? – not possible! 160 • We’ll move the highway just for you! 161 • Islamic endorsement in Saudi Arabia 161
TRUST AND LOYALTY 161• Trust the family rst 161 • Trust the useful stranger? 162 • Trusted/Known – Untrusted/
Unknown 162 • Hospitality, friendship and trust 162 • Let me have all your Gulf Arab contacts 163
COMMITTEES AND MEETINGS 163• Committees are safe 163 • Agenda nibbling 163 • Grazing the agenda 163 • Gulf meetings 164 • Testing the water 164
ATTENDING MEETINGS 165• Loss of temper 165 •
Impatience 166 • Silence 167 • Saying ‘no’ is rude 167 • Never say ‘no’ 168 • Can’t say ‘No’ or ‘I don’t know! ’ 168 •
Post-meeting follow-up 168
MAJOR SALES, EXHIBITIONS, DEMONSTRATIONS AND TRIALS IN THE GULF 169• Sequence of a major Gulf sale 169 • Gulf exhibitions and demonstrations 170 • Trials and tribulations 170 • Offset 171
CHAPTER 13: Gulf business – bargaining and getting paid 173
The sport of bargaining 173 • How to bargain 174 •
‘One-liners’ always ready 174 • Local authority to conclude deals 175 • Everyone bargains 176 • You can’t raise your price later! 176 • Tough but courteous 177 • Arab bargaining techniques – pure theatre? 177 • Senior bargaining techniques 178 • Concluding the deal – a walk-out? 178 • Contractual obligations v. personal trust 179
GETTING PAID 180 • No prompt or full payment? – where’s the contract? 180 • Get it right – all of it 180 • Copyright? Why should I pay you just for thinking? 180 • Performance, retention bonds, sureties and bank guarantees 181 • Disputes 181
CHAPTER 14: Gulf society - what’s wasta ? 182
The importance of wasta 182 • Gulf societies 182 • Desert democracy 183 • Centralism and its power 183 • If centralism
xiv don’ t they know it ’s friday?
is a problem, wasta is an answer 184 • Me deputise? – I think not! 184 • Wasta and the expatriate manager 185
CHAPTER 15: Food 186
The importance of hospitality 186
EATING 186 • Gulf food 186 • Typical food found in the Gulf 187 • Picnics 187 • Right hand 187 • Left hand 187 • Fasting 188 MEAT 189 • The sheep’s eye 189 • The goat’s tongue 189 • Pork 189 • Forbidden food: not just pork; it’s all non-halaal food 190 • Vegetarians 190
ALCOHOL 191• Gulf countries’ attitudes to alcohol 191 • Selling alcohol 191
CHAPTER 16: Entertaining 192
Abdullah, come to dinner; meet the wife! 192 • Saudi wives’ attendance 192 • Invitations 193 • Ofcial receptions 193 • Attendance and seating 193 • Satiated guests 195 • Be
generous 195 • Going Dutch 196 • Smoking 196 •
Entertaining Gulf Arabs in a western country 196 • Arab weddings 196 • Henna 197 • Hair and sword dancing 198 • Belly dancing 198
CHAPTER 17: Coping with visitors 200
GULF VISITORS TO YOUR FACTORY IN THE WEST 200 • Large and small companies 200 • Arrival in your country 200 VISIT ORGANISATION AND PREPARATION 201 •
Preparation for the visit 201 • A director to direct the visit 201 • Visit escort 201 • The task of the escort 202 • Drivers 203 • Walk the course! 203
TRAVEL AND ACCOMMODATION 204• Travel with the delegation? 204 • A three or four-day ‘week’ with you 204 • Before and after you 204 • A smooth, personal airport arrival 205 • Which hotel – old or new? 205 • Who pays for what? Two accounts? 205 • An effortless hotel check-in 207 • The director’s welcome 207
THE VISIT ITSELF 208 • On the day 208 • Arrival at the factory 208 • Reception staff 208 • The factory tour 209 • Good, prepared speakers 210
contents xv
HOSPITALITY 210 • Lunch – surely the caterers know about pork and alcohol? 210 • Some more dog meat, sir? 211 •
Prayers and prayer rooms 211
AFTER THE VISIT 212• Evenings free? 212 • Football (soccer) 213 • Escort to withdraw – but not the driver(s) 213
CONCLUDING THE VISIT 213 • Departure discussions in the chairman’s car 213 • The visitors’ own report on your
company 213 • Now keep in touch 214
IMPORTANT WESTERN VISITORS TO YOU RESIDENT IN THE GULF 214 • Cross-cultural tensions 214 • Dealing with your visitors to the Gulf 215 • Western arrogance 215 • Stamps as gifts 216 • Welcome visitors 216 • We trust him to sign contracts! 217
COPING WITH A VIP VISIT TO THE GULF 217 • Go visitor, go! 219
CHAPTER 18: Stupid things to do in the Gulf and the desert 220
THE LIST OF STUPIDITIES 220 • Extraordinarily stupid 220 • Particularly stupid 221
THE LIST OF DESERT STUPIDITIES 222• Acclimatisation 223 • Heat stroke and heat exhaustion 224
CHAPTER 19: Law, death, tax, insurance, bonds and banks 225 Gulf laws 225
SHARIAH LAW 225 • Secular legislation 225 • God’s law 225 • Nature and signicance of Islamic law 226 • Sources 226 • The sections 226
GULF LAW COURTS 227 • The quiet approach is best 227 MODERN BUSINESS LAWS 228• Impact of WTO rules on Gulf business practice 228 • Bribery and corruption 228 • Transparency of payments 228 • OECD convention 229 • FCPA: go straight to jail? 229 • UK Bribery Act: go straight (and longer) to jail? 229 • Other anti-corruption laws 230 • We pay the invoice – and nothing else 230 • Sponsor’s invoice items 230
DEATH AND TAXES 231 • Death 231 • Coping with a Gulf death 231 • Tax 232 • Withholding tax 232 • Zakat 232 • VAT 233 • Service charges 233 • Utility charges 233 • GCC Customs duty 233
xvi don’ t they know it ’s friday?
BANKING 233 • Islamic banking 233 • Islamic nancial products 234 • Islamic nance 235
INVESTMENTS 235 • Sukuk 235
INSURANCE 235• Islamic insurance 235 CHAPTER 20: Muslim life 236
Introduction 236 • Avoid discussion on Islam 236 • All Arabs are Muslims so all Muslims are Arabs 237 • Islamic nations 237 • Peace Be Upon Him (PBUH) 237 • Denition and background 237 • People of the book 238 • God’s will 238 • The three holy places of Islam 238 • The Qur’an 239 • Respect the Qur’an itself 239 • Pillars or Duties of Islam 240 • Islam everywhere 240 • After the Prophet 240 • The Sunnis 241 • The Shi’a 241 • Gulf Muslim sects 241
CALENDAR 242• Lunar months 242 • The Muslim calendar 242 • Conversion between AD and AH and vice versa 243 • AH advances ten or eleven days into AD 243 • Fridays 243 PRAYERS 243 • Prayers and their observance 243 • The Qibla 244 • Prayer timings 244 • Five prayers per day – why are six shown in the newspapers? 245 • Worry or prayer beads 245 • The call to prayer 245 • The words of the calls to prayer and their meaning 245
RAMADAN 246• The holy month 246 • Fasting and other abstinence 246 • Thoughts and deeds 246 • When does
Ramadan start? 247 • Dawn, sunrise and the black and white threads 247 • Breaking the fast 247 • Ramadan nights 248 • Muslims’ consumption during Ramadan 248 • Non-Muslims’ behaviour during Ramadan 248 • Iftar and other calls 248 • Ramadan hours of work 249 • Tiredness and Ramadan road safety 249 • When does Ramadan end? 249 PILGRIMAGE 250 • Duty of pilgrimage 250 • Pilgrimage clothing 250 •Women travelling alone 251 • The Pilgrims’ route 251 •The Pilgrims’ route 251 • Umrah 251
FESTIVALS 252• Eid al-Fitr 252 • Special Eid al-Fitr mosque 252 • Eid al-Adha 252 • Eid Mubarak! 253 • Celebration of the Eids in the West 253 • Eid texts and cards 253
HOLY DAYS 253 • Dates 253 • Restrictions 254 • Lailat al-Qadr 254 • Lailat al-Miraj 254 • Mawlid al-Nabi 254 • Ra’s as-Sana – New Year 255 • Ashura 255
contents xvii
ISLAMIC NAMES FOR GOD 256
APPENDIX: Prayers, names for God, Arab groupings and clothing 257
The calls to prayer and their meaning 257 • The 99 names for God 258 • The League of Arab States 261• The Gulf
Co-operation Council (GCC) 261 • The GCC and the European Union 262 • Organisation of the Islamic
Conference (OIC) 262 • Muslim World League (MWL) 262 • World population map – percentage of Muslims 263 • List of Muslim countries – The OIC 264 • Organisation of the
Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) 265 • Organisation of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (OAPEC) 265 • Arab and Muslim clothing 266
MEN 266• Agal 266 • Shemagh 266 • Taqiyah 266 •Bisht 266 • Thobe 266
WOMEN 267 • Abaya 267 • Niqab 267 • Headband niqab 267 • Half-niqab 267 • Burka 267 • Hijab 267 • Al-Amira 268 • Shayla 268 • Chador 268 • Khimar 268
Further Reading 269
Photography, map and
illustration credits
1: The GCC countries © Motivate Publishing 30 2: The Middle East © Motivate Publishing 31 3: The Arab World © Motivate Publishing 32
4: Whose Gulf is it? © NASA (http://visibleearth.nasa.gov) 34 5: The three tiers of the Arab World © Motivate Publishing 35 6: UAE Map © Motivate Publishing 37
7: King Abdullah & the Crown Prince with ladies © Afp/Getty Images 40
8: Inappropriate clothing © Handshaikh Ltd 50
9: Business clothing (lady not in Riyadh) © Handshaikh Ltd 52 10: Business clothing (lady in Riyadh) © Handshaikh Ltd 52 11: Getting in © Handshaikh Ltd 53
12: Take the chair to the manager’s right hand© Motivate Publishing 55
13: The twiddle © Handshaikh Ltd 56 14: Coffee cup 56 © Motivate Publishing 15: Coffee pots 56 © Motivate Publishing 16: Tea glass 56 © Handshaikh Ltd
17: Don’t be boring! © Handshaikh Ltd 59 18: Show... don’t talk! © Handshaikh Ltd 61
19: The cultural squeeze © Motivate Publishing 68 20: The expatriate ‘dip’ © Motivate Publishing 77 21: Incense burner © Motivate Publishing 95
22. Insensitive photography © Handshaikh Ltd 101 23: Men must shake hands © Handshaikh Ltd 111
24: Men and women do not shake hands in Saudi Arabia? © Handshaikh Ltd 113
25: Holding hands.© Handshaikh Ltd 114 25 bis: Kissing © Arabian Eye 115
26: Beckoning with ngers, wrong and right © Handshaikh Ltd 118
27: Impatiently ‘bouncing the knee’ © Handshaikh Ltd 118 28: Shway, shway © Handshaikh Ltd 119
29: From the right © Handshaikh Ltd 120 30: Airport networking © Handshaikh Ltd 126
31: Gulf Arab view of westerners’ view of time. © Handshaikh Ltd 128
photography, map and illustration credits xix
32: Telephoning back on Sunday © Handshaikh Ltd 132 33: Calligraphy © Mayassah al-Sadr 134
34: Untranslatable text 138 35: Visa form 144
36: Tribal map of the Arabian Peninsula © Handshaikh Ltd 146 37: Gulf meetings’ styles © Motivate Publishing 164
38: A word with the chairman © Handshaikh Ltd 165 39: Loss of temper © Handshaikh Ltd 166
40: Trial report matrix 171
41: The school of bargaining © Handshaikh Ltd 173
42: One-liner ready – even in the lift. © Handshaikh Ltd 175 43: Courteous © Motivate Publishing 177
44: Bedouin meal © Handshaikh Ltd 188
45: Late – and with three friends! © Handshaikh Ltd 194 46: Sheesha 196
47: Henna 197
48: Hair dance © Alamy 198 49:Al-Ardha dance © Corbis 199
50: Visit organisation © Motivate Publishing 203 51: Old or new hotel? © Handshaikh Ltd 206 52: Dog in car © Handshaikh Ltd 222
53: Driving alone in the desert © Handshaikh Ltd 223
54: The three holy places of Islam © Motivate Publishing 238 55: Lunar (Muslim) calendar. Moon around the Earth ©
Motivate Publishing 242 56: The Qibla 244
57: The route of the pilgrimage towards Makkah © Motivate Publishing 251
58: Muslim World populations (source: CIA Factbook) © Handshaikh Ltd 263
Foreword by
Sir James Craig GCMG
President of the Middle East Association,
33 Bury Street, St James, London, SW1Y 6AX
Some time ago a professor at the American University of Beirut wrote a book called Towards a Simplied Arabic in
which he recommended the removal of various irregularities in Arabic vocabulary and syntax so as to make the language easier to learn. On the day of publication he distributed
complimentary copies to his colleagues in the Department of Arabic Language and Literature. One of them looked at the title and protested ruefully: ‘Professor, you’re taking away our bread and butter ’.
I feel the same way about this book. Heavens above, it has taken me fty years to learn something of the secrets of Arab society, Arab manners, Arab psychology. Is it all to be
revealed in about three hundred pages by Mr Williams?
What I particularly like – rather grudgingly – about the book is that it gets the tone right. Some readers may think that it is too kind, too accommodating to the Arab: the westerner, for example, must be punctual at his appointments but suppress his wrath if the Arab is not. Yet the bottom line (if I may be allowed one contemporary vulgarism) is that when you go to another man’s country you have to play by his rules.
Ah well then, doesn’t it all boil down to the old proverb: ‘When in Rome, do as the Romans do?’. No, the book explains that it is more complex, more subtle than that. If Mr Smith wears Arab dress in Arabia he will be in trouble. Chapter 2 warns that if you use an Islamic greeting some Muslims may take offence. As well as simple rules, you need judgement, discretion, experience. Shakespeare can break the laws of English grammar but Mr Smith had better not – not, at least, till he has written a few plays and sonnets and begun to feel at home with the subjunctive and the conditional apodosis.
So take this book as a guide, the best I know. Trust it without fear in your early days when you are new to the
region. Be very cautious about departing from its advice, for it is full of information, common sense and good manners, all reliable. But be prepared to adjust, modify and learn, as you
foreword 21
go along, from your Arab friends, customers, agents, employees, bosses. The Arabs are not one homogeneous
entity. Quot homines, tot sententiae, as we used to say when the world was educated.
James Craig
Oxford, June 2010
Sir James Craig GCMG. President of the Middle East Association and President of the British Society for Middle Eastern Studies. Formerly British Ambassador to Syria and Saudi Arabia; lecturer in Arabic at Durham University; Principal Instructor at the at the Middle East Centre for Arab Studies (MECAS) in Shemlan, Lebanon; member of the British Diplomatic Service in Dubai, Beirut, Jeddah and Kuala Lumpur; Head of the Near East and North Africa Department in the Foreign and
Author’s Preface to the
Second Edition
The rst edition of this book, reprinted twelve times, was written in the Ramada hotel in Dubai in 1998. The text
developed into a book after an Arab banker suggested that the free handouts I gave to audiences at my cross-cultural
seminars were helpful not just to westerners but also to Arabs. He explained: ‘You, as a westerner, can tell other
westerners what we Arabs nd odd about you all. But we, as hosts, can’t tell guests in our country how to behave as that would be inhospitable. And there are several things we thought everyone knew about Arabs and Muslims; we didn’t realise that western people don’t understand quite a lot about us. So thank you for
telling everyone how we see things’.
This second edition written in Winchester remains a cross-cultural guide mainly for westerners engaged in business
with Arabs of the Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) nations of Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Oman and Saudi Arabia. It is not a travel or guide book but a business ‘behaviour’ book, mainly but not exclusively for small to
medium size businesses. The text has been adapted to reect the impact of the emergence of many young Gulf Arabs of both sexes highly trained in and exposed to modern
international business practice, the increased visibility of GCC women and a hardening, perhaps, of Arab opinion towards ‘The West’ in general.
Even though the book’s geographic focus is the GCC, it has relevance to westerners’ business with Arabs throughout the twenty-two different countries that form the Arab world. In the Gulf the pace of change in many spheres is exponential and it is important to keep up to date, not least in terms of the impact of international and local laws on traditional Gulf business practices.
Much has happened and continues to happen to the Arab and Muslim worlds since the rst edition was published. Some of it, not all, is negative. But several matters bring extra tension to the ways in which western, Arab and Muslim
author’s preface 23
individual, i.e. personal, relationships should ourish across national and religious divides. One experienced British diplomat said he had been guided throughout his career by an Arab’s
remark: ‘I don’t like the British at all but I quite like Bill Smith’. The central advice of this book is that Gulf Arabs prefer to do business with patient, friendly people whom they know and trust, who offer something that is needed and is available now. So do most people, everywhere. Good personal
relationships in business are as important in the Gulf as anywhere and are the stuff of this book. They help to bridge the considerable differences of at least language, religion and customs that exist between Arabs and westerners. But trust and cultural awareness should not be regarded as an absolute prerequisite to successful Gulf business. Most Gulf Arabs are rstly practical, here-and-now folk – their harsh heritage of desert (and seafaring) life made them so. They have always sought to make the most of an opportunity that brings benet to them and their families. They usually look rst to their
advantages and necessities in any situation, not to its niceties. A colleague, very Gulf-experienced, witnessed an American selling to Arabs in a Gulf ofce. The American broke every possible cross-cultural rule that this book might have offered him. Returning later, my colleague asked: ‘How did you get on with Hank?’. They said: ‘We signed a big deal with him’. He said: ‘But he’s ghastly! ’. They said: ‘Indeed he is – but you should have seen his prices’.
Jeremy Williams
Winchester, September 2010 www.handshaikh.com
1
The scope of this book
What does this book cover – and for whom?
This book focuses on the cross-cultural aspects of westerners’1
life and business with Arabs of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC)2countries of Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar,
United Arab Emirates and Oman.
It also covers in general terms other Arab nations. It is written mainly but by no means exclusively for westerners from small to medium size companies. It will be of general use and interest to many, but it is written with two
main groups of business people in mind and these are shown below.
Gulf-resident executives and frequent visitors to the Gulf
The rst group are the business executives who frequently visit, or who are resident in, the Gulf. These include:
■ Professionals, advisers and company executives – with or
without their families.
■ Business and government visitors to the Middle East3. ■ Men and women who need to know how to behave with
Arabs in business generally, in negotiations and in personal etiquette.
Non Gulf-resident managers or infrequent visitors to the Gulf
The second group includes managers who do not need to visit the Gulf frequently, if at all, but who nevertheless have
1 The term ‘westerner’ has a limited denition which is generally understood. It is used throughout this book.
2 See ‘The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC)’ in the Appendix on page 261.
26 don’ t they know it ’s friday?
responsibilities for the selection, tasking, evaluation and nancing of company or government staff employed in the Gulf. If company interests are to be realistically advanced, such managers should attempt to understand the nature of what their colleagues in the Gulf frequently encounter. These could include:
■ Managing directors and personnel directors. ■ Finance directors and commercial directors.
■ Human resources staff, i.e. those who select, administer,
fund or deploy personnel to the Gulf.
■ General managers who may, perhaps, have little or no
knowledge of the everyday circumstances and tensions of life and work in the Gulf.
■ Tourists to the Gulf (how to behave, what to wear).
General readers
This book will also interest:
■ Business and other executives who want an insight into
the Arab mind, into Arab negotiation and bargaining attitudes, and their techniques.
■ Those who arrange visits by Arabs to their organisations,
and expatriates who have to cope with senior and other visitors to the Gulf.
■ Ofce staff and others who need to understand the
sequence and usage of Arab/Muslim names; how to show these in lists and databases; the correct layout of letters and faxes and how to greet and look after Arab and Muslim visitors.
■ People who need a basic outline of Islam, Islamic banking,
insurance and commerce as well as shariah law.
■ Readers who wish to understand the make up of various
Arab groups such as the Arab League, OAPEC and the GCC. Arab readers
In addition, the book offers comment to:
■ Gulf and other Arabs who may wish to know how they
1. the scope of this book 27
■ Gulf and other Arabs who are to attend education courses
or other training in the West. Reading this book
The rst chapters give information useful to westerners who visit the Gulf on business. These chapters assume that
business people will rst visit the Gulf on several occasions to test the market and to take legal and other local advice before setting up an ofce or other presence in the Gulf.
The middle and later chapters offer comment on matters that particularly affect western expatriates resident in the Gulf. There are descriptions of the construction of Gulf society, and of Gulf business practice.
2
General background
The importance of Islam
So important is Islam in the Middle East that some study or acknowledgement of the religion is now sensible preparation for life in the Gulf. This study should not (perhaps must not)1
lead to active discussion on Islam with your Arab and Muslim colleagues, but they will sense and appreciate your awareness of a part of their life that is fundamental to most of them.
Be different from most westerners in the Gulf: do some research on Gulf history, culture and religion. Chapter 20 (‘Muslim life’) focuses deliberately only on those aspects of Islamic practice that a visitor or resident expatriate will
observe or hear in the Gulf. Page 225 gives a very basic outline of shariah law as well as Islamic nance, commerce and
insurance, while page 143 addresses Muslim names.
Islam is a binding force, not just throughout the region, but beyond. Islam is more than a religion; it is a code of behaviour and a way of life. The power and effect of Islam may be difcult to comprehend for those who have not lived in or known the region for any length of time and it is
therefore sensible to enquire into the structure and values of the religion.
The pace of change in the Gulf
The Gulf is changing exponentially in many ways. Some Gulf Arabs complain that it is changing too much, too fast. Several, particularly in Saudi Arabia, seek to resist ‘modernisation’ because, for them, this inevitably leads to ‘westernisation’ (which some see as a threat) and therefore the loss of national
2. general background 29
identity and heritage. Some mourn their former less frantic ways and a few even believe that their earlier desert life was better. Many Arabs take weekend breaks in the desert2to enjoy
its tranquillity and to touch their past. They look at the pace and nature of change in some parts of the Gulf and worry. Personality – the main factor?
This book looks mainly at the cross-cultural aspects of life and business with companies and individuals in the GCC
countries. It emphasises the behaviour, beliefs, habits, pressures and outlooks of Gulf Arabs, some of which can overwhelm unprepared business visitors and expatriates in the Gulf. However, there will be many examples in the Gulf where the personalities of the individual Gulf national and that of the expatriate will dominate their business and
personal relationships – far more than any of the general cross-cultural considerations set out in this book.
GEOGRAPHY
Complications
There are many western geographic complications and disagreements concerning the composition and names of various Arab regions and countries, even within departments of the same organisation or ministry. Your solution, in
terms of preparing for Gulf business, is simply to enquire into the history, geography etc. of each individual Arab country and city in which you have an interest. Do not be drawn into discussion on which regional terminology is correct, several of which are shown below. Do not say ‘We have an ofce in the Middle East’ but rather ‘We have an ofce in Bahrain’ or ‘We have an ofce in Abu Dhabi from where we cover the GCC ’. The GCC is a useful and non-controversial term in widespread use since it denes clearly a grouping of specic Arab countries.
30 don’ t they know it ’s friday?
The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries
The GCC countries are Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, UAE and Oman. For further information see the appendix at page 261.
What do you mean by MENA?
You should avoid expressions such as Middle East & North Africa (MENA) or, worse, Europe, Middle East & Africa (EMEA) because these terms patronisingly regard large,
varied regions, cultures, religions and nations as though they are a single market or business region. The terms are too broad – too crude – and are therefore unhelpfully confusing.
Unfortunately, they are in common use by many western organisations, particularly in America. You should focus on
1: The GCC countries
