Working in the Middle East: Western female expatriates' experiences in the United Arab Emirates

This study is about the experiences of Western female expatriates working in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), a Muslim Arab country in the Middle East. We reveal these expatriates' own interpretations of their adjustment, cross-cultural training (CCT) and social ties and support experiences. On the basis of a survey of 86 female expatriates from Australia, New Zealand, the UK and the USA and subsequent interviews with 26 of them, we find that Western women successfully adjust to life and work in the UAE despite significant cultural differences between their home countries and the UAE. Surprisingly, Western female expatriates do not find lengthy rigorous CCT critical to their assignments in this country. They see such training as an unjustified cost due to the fact that they rarely interact with host nationals and are much more frequently exposed to other Westerners and representatives of other cultures while undertaking their assignments. The large Western expatriate community is highly appreciated as the primary source of social ties and support for our respondents, whereas interacting with host country nationals is rather an exception and does not provide essential ties and support. Our findings have implications for multinational companies (MNCs) operating via expatriation in the UAE and for Western female expatriates who consider this country as their assignment destination.     

What drives herding in oil-rich,developing stock markets? Relative roles of own volatility and global factors

The main goal of this paper is to formally establish the volatility-herding link in the developing stock markets of the oil-rich GCC countries by examining how market volatility affects herd behavior after controlling for global factors. Using a regime-switching, smooth transition regression model (STR), we find significant evidence of herding in all Gulf Arab stock markets, with the market volatility being the more paramount factor governing the switches between the extreme states of non-herding and herding. The global variables comprised of the U.S. stock market performance, the price of oil and the US interest rate as well as the risk indexes including the CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) and the St. Louis Fed's Financial Stress Index (FSI) are found to be significant factors governing the transition to herding states. The findings stress the effect of contagion in financial markets, despite the restrictions established by the GCC policymakers in order to protect their markets.     

Macroeconomic scenarios for the south Mediterranean countries: Evidence from general equilibrium model simulation results

The “Arab spring” aftermath calls for a closer look at the developments in the south Mediterranean countries. This paper develops and assesses alternative scenarios for the region up to the year 2030 with the employment of GEM-E3, a computable general equilibrium model. The scenarios quantify three alternative visions of the regional future which assume: (i) south Mediterranean-EU cooperation, (ii) south Mediterranean global opening and (iii) escalation of regional conflicts and failure to cooperate. The scenarios are compared to the baseline scenario, which assumes a continuation of the regional policies observed in the recent past. Assumptions on trade integration, infrastructure, population and governance developments are adopted in each scenario. Infrastructure upgrades and governance improvements within an EU cooperation context are found to benefit the region most. The findings have important policy implications indicating alternatives to be implemented.     

Waiting for Pri vat iza tion in the Arab World: The Case of Jor dan

Abstract

This pa per looks at the pri vat iza tion pro cess in the, Hashemite King dom of Jor dan in par tic u lar and the Arab World in gen - eral. It notes the slow and lim ited pace of pri vat iza tion in the re gion. The pa per chal lenges the view that eco nomic fac tors are the main im - ped i ments to pri vat iza tion, and pro vides a fresh ev i dence for the the sis that po lit i cal fac tors are the pri mary fac tors in de ter min ing the out come of pri vat iza tion pol i cies. A better un der stand ing to the way in which po lit i cal fac tors af fect eco nomic re form, in clud ing di ves ti ture, is needed.     

Arab Consumers' Behavior Towards Credit Card Usage

Abstract

Credit card usage by consumers across the oil-rich Arab countries (such as Qatar, Bahrain, and Kuwait) is changing the landscape of consumer behavior, motivating Arab consumers to buy more often, and promoting impulse buying. Our study examines Arab consumers' behavior towards credit card usage from multi-cultural perspective by replicating a western model propounded by Kaynak et al. (1986) and Kaynak et al. (2001)     

Socio-Cultural Values and Organizational Culture

SUMMARY

This exploratory study examines if certain dimensions of the socio-cultural values could explain certain types of organizational culture. The proposition merits investigation because it has important implications for local as well as international and global companies. The study first investigates employees' perceptions of the existing and preferred cultural orientations in four Jordanian organizations, and then it compares the results with other studies conducted in other cultures (American and South African). In Jordan data were collected by means of Harrison and Stokes survey for diagnosing organizational culture, the same instrument used in the USA and in South Africa. The study concludes by suggesting that in certain countries the national culture's effects may appear in a particular dominant organizational culture, that is desired by the management, but not actually preferred by employees. This implies that it is more beneficial for international and transnational corporations to develop “strong” cultures rather than to encourage local units to adapt to their national cultures.     

On One Forgotten Cause of the Arab Spring: the Lack of Economic Freedom

Had the Arab Spring been widely interpreted as a revolution for ‘laissez faire’, it would certainly have stimulated more reflection on the central place of the entrepreneur in economic development, and the fundamental role of economic freedom to let this prosperity‐generating entrepreneurship flourish. The future of the Arab Spring depends on the capacity of the new democratically elected governments to implement measures to prevent crony capitalism, restore the rule of law and promote economic freedom in order to ensure general prosperity.     

Gender stereotypes in television advertising in the Middle East: Time for marketers and advertisers to step up

Gender stereotypes, which are particularly harmful to women, have historically been prevalent in advertising, prompting some governments and brands to regulate conventional gender portrayals. This study examines current gender portrayals in television advertising in the Middle East, and specifically in the countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), because of the increasing importance accorded to women’s empowerment in some of these countries. Building on similar studies elsewhere, we analyze the content of 111 distinct television advertisements aired over a week by a major TV channel in the region. Our analysis reveals that while depictions of certain aspects, such as role (familial/nonfamilial) and location (home/occupational setting), gently nudged traditional stereotypes by portraying women in nonfamilial roles and in occupational settings, depictions of background (female/male/children) and product type further reinforced traditional stereotypes. Based on these findings, we offer specific recommendations to marketers and advertisers in the region.