How can I build business relationships in the Middle East? Is
business networking in Dubai different from the networking in Abu Dhabi?
These questions were raised during a panel discussion which I
recently moderated in Dubai as a part of the Middle Eastern launch of my book “Network Advantage: How to Unlock Value from Your Alliances and Partnerships”. The discussion involved INSEAD MBA students
and senior business leaders from the UAE, such as Mishal Kanoo (Deputy Chairman
of the Kanoo Group), Gary Chapman (President of Group Services & dnata, The
Emirates Group), Nicholas Clayton (CEO, Jumeirah Group), Mansour Hajjar
(Managing Director, Chalhoub Group), Robin Mills (Head of Consulting, Manaar
Energy) and Constantin Salameh (CEO, Al Ghurair Investment).
It will not come as a surprise that business networking among
customers, suppliers and even competitors is important all around the world,
but especially in the Middle East. All over the region, local business partners
want to learn about you as a person way before they will do any deals with you.
One panellist reflected on a situation when a Western colleague posed a question
“How many cups of coffee does it take to close a deal in the Middle East?” The answer
was “As many as it takes!” Companies in the Middle East, and especially in the
UAE, are eager to do business with the West, but Western businessmen need to be
sensitive to the Emiratis’ need to deeply understand the partner’s motivations.
Some Western companies try to enter the region for short term gains and are
ready to exit quickly. These are precisely the partners whom the local business
people want to avoid.
To the Emirati community, the investment in the long term
relationship is a key success factor for doing business. One panellist reflected
on several instances when his company, the leading purveyor of luxury brands in
the region, turned down offers for collaboration from partners who did not show
deep commitment to staying in the relationship over the long term. That is, his
firm was prepared to forego very attractive contracts that promised short term
profits without the promise of the lengthy collaboration. Interestingly, the
panellists suggested that businesspeople from the Northern Europe (Scandinavia
and perhaps Germany) often fell into the trap of cutting the networking part
short and going straight to business and were less willing to invest in a long
term relationship. At the same time, Southern Europeans (presumably Italians
and Greeks) often found it easier to understand the long term focus on
networking in the region. Yet, one should not assume that the Emirati
businesses are slow in decision-making! Once trust is built, the local partners
make decisions very quickly and will open doors to many opportunities in the
region.
It is also not correct to assume that people network the same way
in all parts of the Middle East. One of the panellists indicated that there are
significant differences even between networking in Dubai and networking in Abu
Dhabi that are only 90 min on a highway. The Abu Dhabi’s business community
places a much stronger emphasis on the establishment of long term relationships
with prospective partners than their Dubai based counterparts. That is, one
should be expected to make more investments (in terms of time, effort and, yes,
drinking coffee) in getting to know the business partners in Abu Dhabi than in
Dubai before the deals are actually struck.
My own reflection is that a very short term orientation for
doing business in the region is perilous in another respect. The local business
community has a lot of wisdom of how to navigate complex relationships among
buyers, suppliers and competitors, and they can offer advice on the relative
merits of different local business partners. This can give the newcomer a good
perspective of the region’s social landscape. It’s a shame to fall into a
temptation to short charge such potentially valuable insights that could only
be obtained through long-term relationship building and go straight to
business. And, yes, the Arabic coffee
coupled with marvellous local sweets are a great complement to a thoughtful
discussion among (prospective) partners.
For more insights into business networking, please out my book at networkadvantage.org.
