Who Should Attend ?

Company managers and staff working and dealing with contacts in the Arabian Gulf (Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Yemen)

Benefits of Attendance

The aim of this seminar is to significantly improve the participants effectiveness in their professional relationships with contacts from the Arabian Gulf, enabling them to be operational right from the start.

At the end of this training, participants will have acquired insights and techniques to:

• Be aware of their own cultural baggage
• Fully understand the context and the culture of their Arabian Gulf contacts
• Analyse possible situations in which misunderstandings may arise and identify ways of communicating
• Reduce stress and misunderstandings
• Decipher and understand decision-making and negotiation processes in the Arabian Gulf

Training Approach

Programme Outline

Module 1 : Understanding cultural differences

1. Intercultural awareness : the key to success in international business

• Taking stock of one's own cultural baggage
• The basics of effective intercultural management
• Identifying and going beyond cultural stereotypes

2. Key aspects of culture in the Arabian Gulf

• Understanding the sub-region: identifying the various Gulf countries
• Persians, Arabs, Bedouins and Tribes: a multi-ethnic environment
• A contrasting region situated between the desert and the sea
• A strategic region internationally
• Oil and tourism-based economies currently undergoing diversification
• Political issues

3. The impact of values and behaviour patterns on professional dealings and relationships

• Friendliness, hospitality and a sense of service
• Family and friends: the importance attached to private life
• Pride and a sense of honour
• The role and importance of Islam in day-to-day life
• The status of women: a complex situation despite popular misconceptions
• A respect for authority, age and rank
• A flexible view of time

4. The corporate world in the Arabian Gulf

• Islam in the world of business
• A strong sense of hierarchy
• The influence and adaptation of western and American business methods and models

Module 2 : Succeeding in work in the Arabian Gulf

1. Effective communication with colleagues and clients from the Arabian Gulf

• Navigating between words and gestures: understanding unspoken communication
• The vital importance of networks and networking
• Politeness and protocol
• English used for business.  The advantages to be gained from making an effort to speak the language.

2. Adapting your working methods

• The key characteristics of a good leader: discipline, self-control and experience
• Effective management: maintaining a respectful distance, an open mind and a willingness to listen
• Building a climate of mutual trust and consensus to maximise efficiency
• Deciding, supervising and managing
• Pitfalls to be avoided

3. Successful meetings and negotiations in the Arabian Gulf

• Giving relationships that personal touch
• Building long-term friendships and relationships
• Proposing, reacting and follow-up
• Understanding written contracts, their interpretation and implications
• Organising the post-negotiation phase

4. Final handy tips

• Caution, patience and humility
• Protocol and etiquette
• Social standards, gifts, business cards, dress code
• Sensitive subjects: politics, history, religion
• Humour: a double-edged sword