Attempts by Emirates’ Management to Overcome Cultural Barriers

Posted: January 4th, 2023

Attempts by Emirates’ Management to Overcome Cultural Barriers

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Attempts by Emirates’ Management to Overcome Cultural Barriers

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is in the Middle East, and it borders the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman, between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) and Oman. Visitors to the seven emirates of the UAE may be in for some culture shock because other than meeting some people from other parts of the world, one would mainly interact with traditionally dressed Gulf Arabs in their abayas and dishdashas (The Emirates Group, 2019). One is also likely to encounter numerous Arabic chatters in coffee shops, hear the sound of mosques at prayer hours, feel the aroma of Arabian shisha, as well as encounter the beautiful yet intricate Arabic writing in most of the places. Islam is largely interlinked with almost every aspect of the UAE society (The Emirates Group, 2019). The people of UAE take the teachings in the Quran very seriously and see it as the word of God that offers guidance on what people ought to do. The people of UAE have their traditional foods and the mode of dress for men and women is distinct (The Emirates Group, 2019). The literature and poetry in the region are influenced by the Arabic culture, same to the music and dance. The influence of the Islamic tradition is so strong that local companies try to align their operations with the cultural requirements. The management of international firms, however, understands the importance of embracing a business culture that reflects the global needs and practices to attract not only customers of Islamic origin but other backgrounds as well.

The effects of cultural diffusion, however, are so strong that multinational corporations must heed to the interaction happening with people from different parts of the world. Cultural diffusion takes place when there is a spread of cultural norms and traits from one environment or society to another (Harutyunyan & Ozak, 2016). Today, it has become a major process and it presently serves a major role across the globe with its application ranging from technology to business operations. Trading with other countries is one way through which cultural diffusion develops, and going to learn in other areas also leads to the fusion of cultures (Harutyunyan & Ozak, 2016). It is also possible to achieve cultural diffusion and integration through tourism when people from a particular region visit other places (Harutyunyan & Ozak, 2016). Today, success in business does not depend on how well an organization plans its day-to-day activities, but rather on how the firm strives to achieve the consumers’ demands. The cultural variations call on business leaders to develop mechanisms that would embrace other cultures, and serve them without any form of segregation or discrimination whatsoever.

An example of a multinational corporation whose management understands the importance of embracing other cultures while doing business is Emirates Airline. Emirates Airline that is based in Garhoud, Dubai, UAE functions as a subsidiary of the Emirates Group, which is managed by the Investment Corporation of Dubai. The airline is one of the largest in the Middle East and the world, and operates more than 3600 flights every week from its main hub at the Dubai International Airport (The Emirates Group, 2019). The carrier serves more than 151 cities in at least 80 nations across six continents while Emirates SkyCargo takes charge of transporting cargo (The Emirates Group, 2019). The group has made significant growth and transformation since its commencement in 1985 and now ranks second in terms of flown freight, and fourth in terms of revenue generation (The Emirates Group, 2019). The management further hopes to gain more competitive advantage by operating a mixed fleet of Boeing and Airbus making it one of the few companies in the airline sector to use all wide-body carriers in its operations.

How Emirates’ Management adapts to International Culture

Despite the heavy influence of the Islamic culture in Dubai, Emirates has overcome the cultural influences to embrace a global approach to business knowing very well that its customers have varying needs and expectations. Over the recent years Emirates has dazzled the global airline sector with its advanced aircraft orders, rapid growth and expansion, and exquisite services. Other than creating more routes in Australia and Europe, the leaders of the Gulf aviation sector, has immensely invested on new flows of passengers, linking Africa with Asia and Latin America through its hub in Dubai (The Emirates Group, 2019). Actually, Boeing’s latest forecast of the market reveals that the markets that Emirates now places much focus on will occupy more than 62% of passenger flows by the beginning of 2030 (The Emirates Group, 2019). The company’s management released in its annual report that the company’s future is created not only in the long-formed routes, but also in areas such as America, India, Africa, and China, where the need for air transport, both cargo and passenger, is widening at a fast rate (The Emirates Group, 2019). The group’s management further affirms that the strategic station in Dubai serves a major role in forming new trade routes by connecting emerging markets to developed ones, such as linking Durban to Moscow, Luanda to Beijing, and Sao Paulo to Hyderabad.

The management at Emirates understands the importance of serving customers from different backgrounds without looking at their differences, and the focus has enabled the form to brand and position itself to newly formed global customer bases. More essentially, the desire to serve customers equally and without much influence from the Islamic culture help the firm to create proper solutions while offering the various services such as dining, entertainment, and others (The Emirates Group, 2019). Emirates Airlines while forming its workforce do not pay attention to hiring employees from the Arabic background alone, but rather tries to hire employees from different cultures. The human force comprises of employees from 130 countries, thereby making it possible to staff the flights with employees who speak a variety of languages such as English, Arabic, and the local languages of the flight’s destination (The Emirates Group, 2019). The group with regard to dining practices does not allow its Islamic background influence its decisions. The team tries to plan the menus in accordance with the individual routes to ensure that travelers enjoy foods of their regional preferences (The Emirates Group, 2019). The company, for example, uses a Japanese chef to prepare a range of Japanese foods while heading towards the Japanese route, and similarly hire an Indian specialist when to serve customers when heading towards India. The firm also embraces a broader way of entertaining passengers as a way of meeting the international requirements and overcoming the constraints of the Islamic culture (The Emirates Group, 2019). The passengers have the freedom to listen to songs or watch programs of their choice while on board, which is enough evidence that the company is committed to serve buyers from all walks of life (The Emirates Group, 2019). The advanced entertainment approaches together with the other initiatives aimed at satisfying consumers’ wants makes Emirates a favorite carrier for many, Muslims and non-Muslims.

Today, achieving the necessary standards is a vital requirement for many businesses and consumers across the globe have almost similar perceptions of what good and quality goods and services entail. Emirates in a bid to meet the international standards adhere to the directives of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) that guide businesses on how to achieve standard measures and quality. The management, for instance, understands that observing the international standards is important for addressing most of the globe’s pressing issues, especially those connected to sustainable development and growth. Many people across the globe, for example, consider quality production and services to be a vital aspect of business operations regardless of their background. The carrier in return tries to comply with the provisions of ISO 9000 family that addresses the various areas of quality management to achieve the best standards. The standards offer tools and guidance for the firm to ensure the services and products consistently meet the buyers’ needs (ISO, 2019). Furthermore, the company adheres to the provisions of ISO 9001 to ensure it constantly improves its quality. The management at Emirates in an attempt to meet the global expectations complies with the provisions of the ISO 14001, which is the international guideline that identifies and specifies requirements for appropriate environmental management system (ISO, 2019). The standard offers a framework that a business can follow, rather than formulating internal environmental performance needs. The management at Emirates further tries to achieve the needs or expectations of the global market by observing ISO 45001 that help the organization improve worker safety, lower workplace risks, and form better and safer working conditions across the globe (ISO, 2019). The management also tries to meet international standards that would make it possible to fit into other cultures by adhering to the requirements of ISO 56002:2019 that provide guidance into the implementation, maintenance, and formation of an innovative management structure for use in large and SMEs (ISO, 2019). The adherence to the ISO provisions is adequate proof that Emirates seeks to overcome its boundaries, and serve in a manner that meet international standards.

How Emirates Adheres to the Islamic Culture

Even though Emirates tries as much as possible to embrace a culture that would be perceived as being global by its buyers and other stakeholders, it is still possible to identify some effects of the Islamic culture on the business operations. First, the group has more Arabic employees than any other cultural group. Being a Gulf-based company, the management trains its crew for a number of Islamic and Arabic cultural practices and beliefs, and these may include being exposed to practices in the mosque, learning how to serve Muslim passengers with veils, and how to serve Arabic meals such as dates and coffee (The Emirates Group, 2019). The influence of the Islamic culture is so strong on Emirates that the management places considerable attention to the holy month of Ramadan when every year during the celebrations the group’s management offers specially created Iftar snack presents close to the evening meal on flights leaving the main hub in Dubai to allow Muslims observing the month break their fasts while on board (The Emirates Group, 2019). It is also possible to witness a scenario where some female workers of Arabian background wearing hijab while at the place of work, which further illustrates how the company cannot prevent all the aspects prescribed by the Islamic community. The Quran defines that women puts on the hijab as a way of expressing modesty, and it become hard for companies and other employers in the public and private sectors to overcome the requirement.

Using the Hofstede’s cultural framework may further help to understand how the company still adheres to particular Islamic practices and beliefs despite the numerous efforts to embrace a global culture. Official state documents acknowledge that men and women have the same chances to advance themselves, yet patriarchy is still evident in social life. Men continue to dominate high positions in the public sphere and in business and women play less influential roles in religious life and politics as these areas are perceived to be male domains. Even though UAE scores 50 in masculinity in Hofstede’s cultural structure meaning that the country can be termed to be neither feminine nor masculine, Emirates offers more powerful position to male workers as it happens with the positions of the CEO, Chief Operating Officer (COO), Divisional Senior Vice President, and Chief Commercial Officer among others. UAE scores 25 in the Hosftede’s cultural framework in the individualism versus collectivism category meaning that the society is highly collectivist (Hofstede Insights, 2019). Contrary to some countries in the Western world such as the U.S. where individualism prevails, people in the UAE, including the workers at Emirates would share many things as they work as a team. More essentially, the UAE score 90 in the power distance category in the Hosftede’s cultural framework, which suggests that people agree power is not distributed equally in the society (Hofstede Insights, 2019). It is the reason why some workers at Emirates occupy higher position while others take less superior positions. The situation results in a situation where the business leaders make influential decisions regarding the company’s operations while the junior officers heed to the directives. The company’s management, however, believes that adhering to such cultural practices and beliefs will not hamper its efforts to perform well in other markets.

More, essentially, Emirates employs Porter five forces analysis to understand how the external environment could influence its activities and this helps the management to make adjustments that would increase compatibility with other cultures. The company, for example, understands that competition is stiff in the area where it serves and that each competitor present or adhere to different cultural practices despite their effort to embrace a global culture (The Emirates Group, 2019). Emirates in its attempts to fit into the competition try to understand and accept the competitors and even try to acquire lessons that would help them venture in the markets where these rivals operate. The group also focuses on the supplier power as a way of fitting into the global context. The company relates with suppliers from across the globe, and tries to relate with those who may inform them about the nature of external markets and how suppliers in these regions relate with companies (The Emirates Group, 2019). Emirates Airline further considers the buyer power at the global context, and takes into account what the buyers in the various markets are willing to pay for the company’s products and services. The group understands that cultures vary in the way they set prices, and also influence how consumers pay. Some cultures, for example, do not limit their people from buying costly items or services while others do, and the UAE-based company understands this very well (The Emirates Group, 2019). The carrier further considers how the threat of substitution in other cultures could impact on its performance, and tries to overcome any threats by offering quality operations that are likely to attract and satisfy buyers. Finally, the group pays attention to how the threat of new entrants could affect its operations at the international level, and tries to plan its undertakings in a way that includes what new operators use to attract customers (The Emirates Group, 2019). The management plans to improve its application of Porter’s five forces analysis to understand how it could fit better into the global context.

Conclusion

The study focuses on how Emirates attempts to overcome the cultural barriers that could deny it the chance to relate with buyers from other backgrounds knowing very that success and competiveness depends on how well the group meets the needs of its different customers. Despite the heavy influence of the Islamic culture in Dubai, Emirates distinguishes itself from other local operators in the way it hires its staff, offers food, and entertains its customers. Furthermore, the company tries to meet the standards of the international market by adhering to the provisions of the International Organization for Standardization that help organizations meet standards that would be acceptable in many global markets. Emirates, however, still has to adhere to some practices as outlined by the Islamic culture. The company offers special instructions to its workers on how to relate and attend to customers of Islamic background, and pays much attention to Islamic festivities such as Ramadan. Emirates Airline also adheres to the Islamic culture in the way it adheres practices and beliefs outlined in Hosftede’s cultural framework.

References

Harutyunyan, A., & Ozak, O. (2016). Culture, diffusion, and economic development. Working Papers of LICOS – Center for Institution and Economic Performance.

Hofstede Insights. (2019). Compare countries. Retrieved from www.hofstede-insights.com/product/compare-countries/

ISO. (2019). International Organization for Standardization. Retrieved from www.iso.org/home.html

The Emirates Group. (2019). Emirates. Retrieved from www.emirates.com