Adjusting to Saudi Arabian Culture1 For most outsiders, Saudi Arabia is a land of contrasts and paradoxes. (Map 2.

1 sho s its location.! "t has supermodern cities, but its strict "slamic religious con#ictions and ancient social customs, on hich its la s and customs depend, often clash ith modern economic and technical realities. Saudi Arabians sometimes emplo$ latitude in legal formation and enforcement to ease these clashes and sometimes accommodate different beha#iors from foreigners. %e#ertheless, man$ foreigners misunderstand Saudi la s and customs or find them contrar$ to their o n #alue s$stems. Foreign companies ha#e had mixed success in Saudi Arabia, due in large part to ho ell the$ understood and adapted imaginati#el$ to Saudi customs. Companies from countries ith strict separation bet een state and religion or here fe people acti#el$ engage in religion find Saudi Arabia&s per#asi#eness of religion daunting. 'eligious decrees ha#e sometimes made companies rescind acti#ities. For example, an importer halted sales of the children&s game (o)emon because the game might encourage the un*lslamic practice of gambling, and a franchisor as forced to remo#e the face under the cro n in Starbuc)s& logo because Saudi authorities felt the public displa$ of a oman&s face as religiousl$ immoral. +o e#er, most companies )no the re,uirements in ad#ance. For instance, Cot$ -eaut$ omits models& faces on point*of*purchase displa$s that it depicts in other countries. Companies )no that the$ must remo#e the heads and hands from manne,uins and must

not displa$ them scantil$ clad. Companies, such as Mc.onald&s, dim their lights, close their doors, and stop attending to customers during the fi#e times per da$ that men are called to pra$. Companies also adjust #oluntaril$ to gain the good ill of customers/for example, b$ con#erting re#enue*generating space to pra$er areas, (Saudi Arabian Airlines does this in the rear of its planes, and the 0.1.&s +ar#e$ %ichols does this in its department store.! .uring the hol$ p eriod of 'amadan, people are less acti#e during the da$ because the$ fast, so man$ stores shift some operating hours to the e#enings hen people prefer to shop. "n 2222, Saudi Arabia ratified an international agreement designed to eliminate the discrimination of omen3 ho e#er, its prescribed beha#iors for omen appear paradoxical to outsiders. 4n the one hand, omen no outnumber men in Saudi Arabian uni#ersities and o n about 22 percent of all Saudi businesses. (5here are separate male and female uni#ersities, and female*o ned businesses can sell onl$ to omen.! 6omen also comprise a large portion of Saudi teachers and doctors. 4n the other hand, omen account for onl$ about 7 percent of the or)force. 5he$ cannot ha#e pri#ate la or architectural firms, nor can the$ be engineers. 5he$ are not permitted to dri#e, because this ma$ lead to e#il beha#ior. 5he$ must ear aba$as (robes! and co#er their hair completel$ hen in public. 5he$ cannot or) alongside men except in the medical profession, and the$ cannot sell directl$ to male customers. "f the$ are emplo$ed here men or), the$ must ha#e separate or) entrances and be separated from males b$ partitions. 5he$ must be accompanied b$ an adult male relati#e hen dealing ith male cler)s. 5he female prescriptions ha#e implications for business operations. For example, the Saudi American -an) established branches for and staffed onl$ b$ omen. (i88a +ut installed t o dining rooms/one for single men and one for families. (6omen do not eat there ithout their families.! -oth +ar#e$ %ichols and Sa)s Fifth A#enue ha#e created omen*onl$ floors in their department stores. 4n lo er le#els, there is mixed shopping, all male salespeople (e#en for products li)e cosmetics !, and no change rooms or places to tr$ cosmetics. 4n upper floors, omen can chec) their aba$as and shop in jeans, or hate#er. 5he stores ha#e also created dri#ers& lounges for their chauffeurs. A do nside is that male store managers can #isit upper floors onl$ hen the stores are closed, hich limits their obser#ations of situations that might impro#e ser#ice and performance. Similarl$, mar)et research companies cannot rel$ on discussions ith famil$*focused groups to determine mar)eting needs. -ecause men do much more of the household purchasing, companies target them more in their mar)eting than in other countries. 6h$ do high*end department stores and famous designers operate in Saudi Arabia here omen co#er themsel#es in aba$as and men t$picall$ ear thobes (long robes!9 Simpl$, the man$ #er$ rich people in Saudi Arabia are said to )eep (aris couture ali#e. :#en though Saudi Arabia prohibits fashion maga8ines and mo#ies, this clientele )no s hat is in fashion. (5he go#ernment also prohibits satellite dishes, but some estimates sa$ that t o*thirds of Saudi homes ha#e them.! 6omen bu$ items from designers& collections, hich the$ ear abroad or in Saudi Arabia onl$ in front of their husbands and other omen. 0nderneath their aba$as, the$ often ear #er$ expensi#e je elr$, ma)eup, and clothing. 6ealth$ men also ant the latest high*end fashions hen tra#eling abroad. Another paradox is that about ;2 percent of the Saudi pri#ate or)force is foreign, e#en though the unemplo$ment rate is about <2 percent. Changing economic conditions are at least partiall$ responsible for this situation. "n the earl$ 1=>2s, Saudi oil re#enues caused per capita income to jump to about ?2>,222, but this plummeted belo ?7,222 b$ the earl$ 2222s. 6hen incomes ere high, Saudis brought in foreigners to do most of the or). At the same time, the go#ernment liberall$ supported uni#ersit$ training, including stud$

abroad. Saudis de#eloped a mentalit$ of expecting foreigners to do all the or) or at least some of the or) for them. 5he %e @ealand head of %ational -iscuits A Confectioner$ said that Saudis no ant onl$ to be super#isors and complain if the$ ha#e to or) at the same le#el as people from %epal, -angladesh, and "ndia. Although the go#ernment has ta)en steps to replace foreign or)ers ith Saudis, pre#ailing or) attitudes impede this transition. For example, the acceptance b$ a Saudi of a bellbo$ job at the +$att 'egenc$ hotel in Bidda as so unusual that Saudi ne spapers put his picture on their front pages. Saudi Arabian legal sanctions seem harsh to man$ outsiders. 'eligious patrols ma$ hit omen if the$ sho an$ hair in public. 5he go#ernment carries out beheadings and hand* se#erances in public and expects passers*b$ to obser#e the punishments, some of hich are for crimes that ould not be offenses in other countries. For example, the go#ernment publicl$ beheaded three men in earl$ 2222 for being homosexuals. +o e#er, there are inconsistencies. For example, religious patrols are more relaxed about omen&s dress codes in some 'ed Sea resorts, and the$ are more lenient to ard the #isiting female executi#es of M%:s than to ard Saudi omen. 6hereas the$ don&t allo Saudi omen to be flight attendants on Saudi Arabian Airlines, because the$ ould ha#e to or) alongside men, the$ permit omen from other Arab countries to do so. Further, in foreign in#estment compounds, here almost e#er$one is a foreigner, these religious patrols ma)e exceptions to most of the strict religious prescriptions. "nteresting situations concern the charging of interest and the purchase of accident insurance, both of hich are disallo ed under strict "slamic interpretations of the 1oran. "n the case of interest, the Saudi go#ernment gi#es interest*free loans for mortgages. 5his or)ed ell hen Saudi Arabia as a ash ith oil mone$, but borro ers must no ait about 12 $ears for a loan. "n the case of accident insurance (b$ strict "slamic doctrine, there are no accidents, onl$ preordained acts of Cod!, the go#ernment eliminated prohibi* tions because businesses needed the insurance. (ersonal interactions bet een cultures are tric)$, and those bet een Saudis and non* Saudis are no exception. For example, (arris*'ogers "nternational (('"!, a -ritish publishing house, sent t o salesmen to Saudi Arabia and paid them on a commission basis. 5he$ expected that b$ mo#ing aggressi#el$, the t o men could ma)e the same number of calls as the$ could in the 0nited 1ingdom. 5he$ ere used to or)ing eight*hour da$s, to ha#ing the undi#ided attention of potential clients, and to restricting con#ersation to the business transaction. 5o them, time as mone$. +o e#er, the$ found that appointments seldom began at the scheduled time and most often too) place at cafes here the Saudis ould engage in hat the salesmen considered idle chitchat. 6hether in a cafe or in the office, drin)ing coffee or tea and tal)ing to ac,uaintances seemed to ta)e precedence o#er business matters. 5he salesmen began sho ing so much irritation at Dirrele#antD con#ersations, dela$s, and interruptions from friends that the$ caused irre#ocable damage to the compan$&s objecti#es. 5he Saudi counterparts considered them rude and impatient. 6hereas businesspersons from man$ countries in#ite counterparts to social gatherings at their homes to honor them and use personal relationships to cement business arrangements, Saudis #ie the home as pri#ate and e#en consider ,uestions about their families as rude and an in#asion of pri#ac$. "n contrast, Saudi businessmen seldom regard business discussions as pri#ate3 the$ thus elcome friends to sit in. 5he opposite is true in man$ countries. "n spite of contrasts and paradoxes, foreign companies find a$s to be highl$ successful in Saudi Arabia. "n some cases, legal barriers to some products, such as to alcoholic be#erages and por) products ha#e created boons for other products, such as soft drin)s and tur)e$ ham. "n addition, some companies ha#e de#eloped specific practices in response to Saudi conditions and ha#e later benefited from them in their home countries. For example,

companies, such as Fuji and 1oda), created technolog$ for hile*$ou* ait photo de#elopment for Saudi Arabia because customers anted to retrie#e photos ithout an$one else seeing them. 5he$ transferred this technolog$ to the 0nited States se#eral $ears later.