Western Women in the Emirates: Intercultural conduct

Women have been working hard to earn their respectful place in the western business world for decades. Today, we are perceived as equal business partners and can discuss with our male counterparts on eye level. In Arab countries, we see a male majority in the business world. Female business partners are a rarity. The standing of businesswomen seems very difficult. What is the role of women in the Arab business world?

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Study week Dubai 2015: Hofstede and the Masculinity Index

In intercultural studies, Hofstede’s Indexes of Culture provide an empirical way to compare countries. Based on the Power-Distance Index, for example, all major airlines around the world have created guidelines to overcome deference to authority: In a cockpit, where the lives of passengers and crew are potentially at stake, bowing and scraping is inappropriate behavior. You have to be able to criticize the captain regardless of their social standing. The implementation of low-context communication and low power-distance is now industry …

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Study week Dubai 2015: Service Culture and Innovation in Dubai

Prof Paul Williams at the American University in Sharjah guided us through the intricacies of providing service in an Arab context during out second session. Arab culture values service highly, but does not want to be on the serving side. The high number of Filipinos employed in the service sector in Dubai attests to this. While shoppers may appear demanding in Westerners’ eyes, their attention to high service quality means that they will accept only the best. It also means …

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