Business studies Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Business studies - Essay Example Diversity was not encouraged neither welcome. However, organizations view diversity at workplace as a positive sign and they even try to position themselves as the champions of diversity. Minority groups are no longer forced to fit-in, in fact, organizations make an effort to understand their culture and background to deal with them in harmony (Ham, Shams & Madden, pp. 60-64, 2004). This paper is an attempt to look at how an American businessperson can reach the same wavelength as his Saudi Arabian counterpart while dealing with him regarding business issues. This paper will take use of the classic research of Hofstede and Trompenaars in order to explore lesson for the American businessperson as in to understand the Saudi Arabian culture. Discussion Despite the fact that the entire world is quickly moving away from traditional concepts in all occupations, Saudi Arabia is still one of those countries, which have remained as theoretic Islamic monarchy. This means that the concept of re ligious freedom does not exist even in its theoretical form. The constitution of Saudi Arabia assumes that all the citizens are Muslims, however, it does not prohibit from being a non-Muslim. However, important here to note is that any expression of any religion, other than Islam, in public is taken as misappropriate behavior in public (Shoult, pp. 89-96, 2006). Furthermore, even if someone is found to be following any other religion even in their private lives inside their homes, police has all the right to break in, arrest, and punish those individuals. In fact, there is an entire committee of officers with the name of Committee for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice, which takes the responsibility of application of Shariah Laws on every individual (Morrison & Conaway, pp. 69-74, 2006). Therefore, this means many different things. Nothing can take place, which is not in line with Islam. There are many examples. For example, no liquor would be tolerated even for cel ebration of a business deal or successful completion of a project. Women cannot wear revealing or tight dresses, in fact, it necessary for women to cover their bodies. Furthermore, a considerable distance is important to keep between men and women during their work and conservations. While meetings, it is advisable not to make any comment on the women, which are more than 12 years of age, of the family of the Saudi counterpart. Conversations should start with Islamic greeting line, which is â€Å"As-salam alaikum†, and the reply shall be â€Å"Waf alaikum as-salam† (Ham, Shams & Madden, pp. 60-64, 2004). One of the biggest problems that western businesspersons face while dealing with Saudi people is regarding the conception of time. There is a huge difference between the value, perception, importance, and concept of time in both of these cultures. In western cultures, time is equivalent to money, a very crucial resource, important to use it fully and do not waste any o f it. Business meetings have fixed timings and participants try their level best to ensure that meetings must start at the specific time. Anyone who is late is considered as lazy, lethargic, rude, arrogant, careless, irresponsible and offensive (Shoult, pp. 89-96, 2006). People do not prefer to wait for each since waiting for someone has the meaning, which any