Understanding the arab culture

x / UNDERSTANDING THE ARAB CULTURE arise from my years of experience in the cross-cultural field and which every visitor needs to know either to eliminate uncertainty or to satisfy basic human curiosity. It is an attempt to help these visitors and sensitize them to common taboos and faux pas. At the same time, it would be pretentious to suggest that this book applies to every Arab you will meet irrespective of their age, sex, education and nationality. The driving force behind this book and behind a life-time commitment to cross-cultural issues is threefold. As an Arab living in the West, I was gradually becoming fascinated by observing my own culture from a distance. The idea of comparing ‘Arab’ and ‘Western’ cultures became intellectually appealing, and witnessing changes in one’s own attitudes was interesting, as well as being, on some occasions, painful. Furthermore, cross-cultural training gave me more impetus when facing ‘real hunger’ for more information about the Arab region and more importantly when witnessing dramatic transformations in perceptions and attitudes towards the Arab world. Finally, this book is underpinned by the belief that cross-cultural dialogue will definitely help avoid many future international conflicts, or at least help us manage them better. The fact that this book was first published at the same time as the invasion of Iraq owed itself to coincidence rather than timing (good or bad). Nonetheless, the fact that this book had something to say about cross-cultural dialogue was important in the face of world events where real dialogue did not seem to have happened. Events in Iraq, as elsewhere, in the last few years have not disillusioned me, but rather refreshed and strengthened the belief that better understanding between East and West is now more essential than ever. P R E F A C E / xi In summary, this book aims to give guidelines and practical tips, to inform and raise questions, build bridges and demolish barriers, and finally, clarify a few misconceptions about the Arabs, their culture and attitudes. In writing this book I tried to combine theory with practice, to be user friendly without drifting into triviality. I have also made the assumption that my target audience is largely Western. I pray to the Almighty God that this modest book has succeeded in achieving what it set out to do. Dr Jehad Al-Omari This page intentionally left blank About the Author Dr Jehad Al-Omari is an experienced Cross-Cultural Management Consultant and has been training Western executives on Arab affairs and cross-cultural matters since 1986. A regular lecturer and speaker with international institutions such as Farnham Castle, Cranfield School of Management, the Netherlands Institute of MBAStudies and Canning, he also holds a number of consultancy posts with numerous multinational firms operating in the Arab World. Dr Jehad Al-Omari currently divides his time between Europe and the Arab World where in addition to teaching on training programmes he supervises MBA students and is engaged in a number of expatriation and repatriation studies in the Middle East. He can be contacted by e-mail at jamha191@hotmail.com Testimonials ‘Dr Al-Omari thinks deeply, is a wise man and a good teacher.’ Richard Pooley, Canning International Training and Development ‘Dr Al-Omari’s seminars are world class. He has been one of the most professional consultants that we, as a company, have ever worked with (and our standards are very high).’ Hans van der Linden, Managing Director, TMA Ltd ‘Dr Al-Omari’s seminars have broadened our view of the Arab world.’ Nancy Helledie, Borealis A/S ‘Dr Al-Omari balances the theory with practical application and xiii xiv / U N D E R S T A N D I N G T H E A R A B C U L T U R E real-life examples.’ Garth GF Ward, Cranfield University ‘Dr Al-Omari’s teaching and communication skills are very high.’ Sean Rickard, Cranfield University Acknowledgements This book comes as a result of teaching cross-cultural issues for over 16 years throughout Europe, the Middle East and North America. During this time, I had the pleasure and honour to work with many professionals from whom I have learnt many aspects that have helped me in my chosen craft. I would like to extend my warmest thanks to Vincent Guy who was my first mentor and trainer and with whom I have had many useful discussions on aspects of the Arab culture and culture in general. I shall always be grateful to Mike Ward who has shown me many insights into the World of cross-cultural management and multinational teambuilding. Thanks also to many individuals and institutions who have supported me in many ways and particularly to Jeff Toms from Farnham Castle, Richard Pooley from Canning and Garth Ward from Cranfield School of Management. I shall always be indebted to them and to Mark Trier from Language Solutions and to Hans van der Linden from Transnational Management Associates. I am also very obliged to many friends and colleagues who have taught me much about life in the West, edited this book or previous work and given me many important comments. These are too many but I would particularly like to mention Dawn Attlesey, Peter Aylett, Julian Paxton, Anne Mills, Hayder Al Fekaiki, John Mattock, Steven Pritchard and Terence Brake. On many occasions, their interest in the Arab world and culture have given me many hints about what to write and from which angle. xv