One of my classes insisted one of our discussion topics for the course would be business. That sounded awfully boring to me, so I decided to spice things up a little by presenting them with an article on the cultural differences one might come across when doing business with the Middle East .
I found this article online with a few fairly offensive comments in it.
‘Many Westerners that have lived or worked in the Middle East might use the words chaotic, disorganised and frustrating when discussing doing business there. Although this is a matter of perception, it is true that business runs on very different tracks to business in the West.’
[…]
‘The Middle Eastern culture places more value on someone's word as opposed to a written agreement. A person's word is connected to their honour. Contracts are viewed as memorandums of understanding rather than binding, fixed agreements. Be sure to promise only things you can deliver. Failure to do so will result in loss of honour.’
[…]
‘Meetings can be chaotic. Always be prepared to exercise patience. Phone calls are taken during meetings and people may enter the meeting room unannounced and proceed to discuss their own agendas.’
One could broadly interpret the above statements as ‘Arab are chaotic, always late, very proud and can be very rude’. Kind of insulting, no?
