Question

Your company had entered into a joint venture with a foreign company in a Middle Eastern country but you knew that women were not treated fairly in that culture. Assuming that you are a global HR manager. What is your emphasis and plan for selecting, training and maintaining female expatriates who will be sent out to handle the start-up in a Middle Eastern country

Answer 1

Emphasis and plan for selecting, training, and maintaining female expatriates who will be sent out to handle the start-up in a Middle Eastern country are as follows:

• A slow pace of building a productive relationship with female customers should be maintained in the middle east. Most of the countries do no maintain gender equity in society. Thus, rapid ‘hi and hello’ or direct approach for selling products cannot be fruitful in those countries.

• The female expatriates must be properly mannered in front of middle eastern customers and business partners. They must greet and acknowledge first the senior person they meet. It makes interaction more natural.

• The female expatriates should be trained for not asking any customer or business partner about the female members in their family. Instead, they can be asked about their family in general.

• Middle eastern customers also prefer handshakes. However, the female expatriate should be trained not to withdraw her hand first during the handshake. The senior person or the male one should be allowed to do so.

• Female expatriates should be trained for not saying any interest rate, interest collection, or lending while signing a business contract with middle eastern business persons. It strongly goes against the religious etiquette of them.

The female expatriates who can perform all the above mentioned activities properly while visiting middle eastern countries for business dealing will be selected to be the expatriate for the company.