Culture of any country, nation
or area consists of the art and other demonstration of human rational
accomplishment regarded communally. “The sum total of the beliefs, rules,
techniques, institutions, and artifacts that characterize human populations”.
Why I choose Saudi Arabia - The Basic Facts
The Saudi Arabia is the largest country in the Arabian Peninsula. It area is
around 2.3 million sq.km. Its neighbor countries are Iraq, Kuwait, UAE, Qatar,
Bahrain, Oman Yemen and Jordan. It is mostly desert area. The population of
Saudi Arabia is 21 million out of which 4.6 million from different parts of the
world. The office timing in government sector is from 7:30 to 14:30, private
sector 8:00 to 17:00 or 8:00 to 13:00 and then 17:00 to 20:00. There are two
occasions of official holidays each year which represent religious festivals,
the dates of which vary from year to year. The holidays include 4-5 holidays of
Eid Al-Fitr at the end of the holy month of Ramadan and 6-8 holidays of Eid Al-Adha
- at the end of the Hijra year approximately. Workers are allowed to work for
maximum of 6 hours during the month of Ramadan.
The sectors established in the Saudi Arabia include Banking, Petrochemical,
Cement, Real Estate, Building and construction, Agriculture and Food, Energy,
Transport, Media and Publishing, Hotel and Tourism and the Insurance etc. The
major business opportunity are in the Hotel and Tourism, Building & Construction
and the Transport sector because Saudi Arabia is a Muslim country and the
Muslims come every year to perform Hajj as well as for offering Umrah, therefore
transport and hotel business are more profitable in Saudi Arabia. The
Construction sector is also growing. Foreign investors can invest in these
sectors in Saudi Arabia due to available opportunities and better economic
conditions. We, keeping in view these factors, decided to set-up business in
Saudi Arabia.
Different aspects of culture and their effects on business setup
I noticed various differences in the culture of Saudi Arabia with respect of
language, religion, meeting decorum, dress manners, gift giving custom, business
cards, table etiquette, business meeting decorum. These facets of culture of
Saudi Arabia have perceptible effects on the working business norms and
practices there with regard to the setting up and managing business in that
culture.
The language can affect the business because English is the most widely used
language in the world business community while the language of Saudi Arabia is
Arabic and the English is also speaking and understanding there in business
circle. But the non Saudi Citizen speaks Urdu Turkish and Farsi language.
Therefore, I may face the communication gap due to language differences;
however, this gap can be filled through hiring of local administration or
through passing through language course of key higher management.
The religion can affect in the business because the religion of Saudis are the
Islam so they definitely, as others in the world, will prefer to live according
to their religion. The mostly peoples are the Muslim. The Islamic rules and
regulation are implemented on the Saudi Arabia. The Islamic rules for business
management have long lasting effects on business and somehow tough as well. The
law and order situation is very effectively controlled there, so the Saudi
Arabia is a very safe place for business. The week is started on Saturday and
end on the Thursday. Friday the official holiday from the government and many
companies gives the Thursday the weekend holiday.
The meeting etiquette can also affect the business in Saudi Arabia because the
meeting manners of Saudis citizen are different from other nations based on
their religion. The Saudis citizen can meet with each other with hand shake by
the men and the close friends can meet with each other with a handshake and a
kiss on each cheek but the Muslim women can hug with other ladies and kiss to
her close friends. The men and women cannot meet with each other in the public
place or from outside the family. This may cause a communication gap in managing
business at business place.
The dress also affects the business working environment because the normal
business dress all over the world is different from the Saudi culture. The
Saudis citizen mostly wear the Islamic dress the Saudis men normally wears the
long white thobes and the Saudis women wear the dress which fully cover the
whole body. The dress of women is not formfitting. The Saudi citizen give gifts
to the other person however the gift of flower is not given to the men. The
Saudis think it is not good even the women cannot give flower to the women. The
Saudi citizen always tries to make good relation with the other person and they
give the business cards to everyone when they meet.