PART THREE
Potential Culture Clash
Now let's look at the potential areas for UK and Middle Eastern culture to clash.
1. "Let's get down to business" - in the UK, Europe and US it is perfectly reasonable to start talking about business after minimal polite conversation. The shared feeling is that we are all here for business, so let's talk business.
In the Middle East however business and personal life are not separated. Getting to know people on a personal level is crucial in order to assess whether a relationship can be established. As such if one were to jump straight to business without investing some time in a "getting to know you" process you will be seen as uninterested, inflexible, rigid and lacking sensitivity.
2. Personal Space - personal space is respected in the UK. People speak to each other at a distance and touching is kept to a minimum. However in the Middle East this is the opposite. Once should be prepared to be held, touched, felt and kissed! Recoiling from such behaviour would make one seem cold.
3. Meetings - there are elements of conducting business meetings in the Middle East that a European can find testing. For example, people may take telephone calls. For the European this is seen as slightly rude whereas for the Arab to not answer the call is rude! You may be in a meeting a find that people walk in and out of the meeting room, will sit down next to you and completely change the topic of conversation. For the European this is a distraction but for the Arab it is simply hospitable to allow people in, and those that wander in will naturally want to speak with you. It is important to always be patient in meetings and to allow for delays and distractions.
4. Negotiations - negotiations can be lengthy and frustrating affairs. There are quite a few elements someone should bear in mind when considering negotiations. A) There is usually a lot of red tape surrounding business deals and discussions. B) Arabs often make decisions on gut and heart feelings, not on facts and figures. If they are unsure about you they will want time to try and learn more about you. C) Decisions usually come from the top. If you are not negotiating with the decision maker you are most likely wasting your time and simply being sussed out. D) If the right level of trust has not yet been established through the building of a relationship then this may be holding up proceedings.
5. Disagreements - Due to the need to save face in this part of the world it is never a good idea to be too direct with people. When disagreeing one should as diplomatic as possible. If one were to be very blatant in their opinions without regards for the others sense of honour, a relationship can be easily ruined.
6. Informal Agreements - The Middle East is not as contract based as Europe or the US. In fact much of the time someone's word is considered enough. This can make those unused to this way of doing business nervous. To become insistent on contracts and deadlines can make Arabs become rather stand-offish as they would consider such behaviour as signifying a lack of trust in them.
Part One: Introduction
Part Two: A Relationship Driven Culture
Part Four: Building Relationships
