Sharan Saarsar

Section H
2020PGP390
Situational Analysis
Seema Saran, the protagonist of the case, has eight years of experience and is a senior project
at Singh security systems limited. She did her MBA from Christ University. Samir Singh had
collaborated with Al Zulfi Group to widen the scope of his venture in Qatar. His firm lately faced
rapid increase in the construction market and this is an excellent chance for SSSL to expand its
reach. Qatar has majority of its population following Islam religion and patriarchy still exists
there. Male Citizens do not want women to work in a corporate setting or a surrounding where
males are involved as they see women as a home runner and men as breadwinner.
Problem Statement
Samir is contemplating on whether to send Seema Saran to supervise business in Qatar, as it is
a golden opportunity for his company to expand its operations overseas.
Options
a) Send Lal or Mehta to Qatar and give Seema other challenging projects in India
b) Send Seema to Qatar to work in full capacity and supervise the expansion plan
c) Send someone to lead and ask Seema to work on the Qatar expansion plan from the
backend while staying in India
Criteria for evaluation
a) Saran’s career: She is a disciplined and competent women who does her job brilliantly
and needs to be in Qatar to grow her career and Samir’s final decision will have an
impact on her professional career.
b) Qatar’s male dominated stance: Women were not seen as someone who can earn in a
corporate environment. Samir’s company can face a backlash if Seema goes to look after
the operations in Qatar.
c) SSSL’s opportunity to grow: Expansion of the business is a mission they need to
accomplish to achieve market presence in the industry. Therefore, it is essential to
select the right person for this job.
Evaluating options
a) Send Lal or Mehta to Qatar and give Seema other challenging projects in India:
Sending Lal or Mehta will resolve the issue of male dominated culture of Qatar, which
does not allow women to work especially in corporate settings where men are in
majority. Additionally giving Seema other challenging projects will help Samir in
retaining her in the long run. This option has one demerit as Lal or Mehta does not have
the prerequisite skills to work in a project of this level.
 b) Send Seema to Qatar to work in full capacity and supervise the expansion plan:
Qatar’s male dominated culture does not allow women to employ themselves in jobs,
which are seen as work in which women will not fit well due to some regional
prejudices. Seema acting as a leader in this project will hurt the sentiments of male
working at Zulfi. This will also lead to traction among the employees of SSSL and Zulfi
and this will affect the cooperation/cohesiveness, which is necessary to make this
project a success. On the other side, Seema is the most deserving candidate to look
after the expansion operations in Qatar. She also has the relevant experience, which
makes her fit for this job.
c) Ask Seema to work on the Qatar expansion plan from the backend while staying in India:
This will resolve the issue of the patriarchal nature of Qatar that does not accept women
working especially in a corporate environment. This way she can use her skills and
knowledge at the backend to make expansion plan a success.
Recommendation
Seema should work in backend while staying in India, which will gradually help her to excel in
her career. Seema is well qualified and has expert level skills that she uses to best of her ability
to achieve desirable outcomes for the firm. Lal and Mehta will assist Seema in day-to-day
workings. Male association will help; otherwise, Zulfi employees will feel humiliated while
taking orders from a woman.
Action Plan
Seema while staying in India could work with Zulfi employees indirectly, which will help in
building a relationship with sheikhs. She could prove her competency by working hard and
using her expertise while keeping in mind Ahmed’s reservations against women which may
eventually convince Zulfi employees in accepting her proposals directly (not using Lal and
Mehta as a front face in the future). Singh could encourage Seema at each step of the project,
which will help her making this project a success.