This class exists in these courses :
• IÉSEG > IESEG Degree - Programme Grande École > Semester 2 > 2,00 ECTS

Prerequisites

Students are best served by entering the course with a good basic knowledge of intercultural management, international marketing and management;

Learning outcomes

At the end of the course, the student should be able to:
- Explain what are the main characteristics of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region
- Outline the process of doing business in the MENA region
- Effectively link International business strategies and the MENA idiosyncrasies
- Create an effective organizational design to drive a business venture in the MENA region
- Describe the strategic role of intercultural arrays while building a sustainable business in MENA
- Understand key socio-economic, cultural and political factors that influence the negotiation process between Arab and non-Arab managers

Course description

With the MENA’s rapid economic development of recent years, the number of foreign ventures operating in the region has increased substantially, as has the number of expatriates living and working in that part of the world. The course analyses the cultural and marketplace challenges and failures encountered by these foreign organizations and expatriates, as they attempt to operate in the MENA region. Likewise, it scrutinizes the MENA’s organizations and managers partnering and working with foreign organizations and individuals; it finally examines numerous strategic and intercultural challenges, as to help understand foreign approaches to business strategy and relationships.
Objective
The main objective of this course is to provide participants with a practical and theoretically-based understanding of personal and organizational strategies for operating in the MENA region. The course offers insights into the intercultural adjustment aspects of living in MENA as well as the organizational strategic elements that make entry into MENA’s markets either viable or vulnerable to failure. A brief description of the course follows:

1 - Introduction to Doing Business in the MENA region
2 - MENA’s Short-term Macro-economic Outlook
3 - The Strategic Role of Information in the process of Doing business
4 - History and Context of Public Administration in Saudi Arabia, UAE, Egypt and Morocco
5 - A set of regulations sustaining the business landscapes the MENA region
5 - Marketing in Mena Region including Turkey, UAE, Morocco and Egypt
7 - Corporate Social Responsibilities (CSR) in the MENA Region
8 - Key Risks and Constraints on Trade in The Middle East and North Africa in 2018
9 - Cultural Variables as dominant threads to help seize business opportunities
10 - Multilingualism as a leading array of intraregional cultural diversity
11 - The negotiation process between Arab and non-Arab managers
12 - MENA facing challenges and opportunities

Class type

Class structure

Teaching methods

• E-learning
• Project work
• Seminar

Assessment

This course is conducted in a "seminar" style, meaning that classes will normally include a combination of instructor-led discussions related to the reading material, combined with in-class application cases. Because textbooks and related PowerPoint notes serve as an important "springboard" for further discussion, classroom presentations by the professor will not be a mere rehash of the text material but will instead use it as a platform on which to build a deeper dialogue. This type of course requires that each day, every student come to class fully prepared to discuss the material that is relevant for that class period and also to participate in any in-class team breakouts. In order to succeed in this course format, each student must be willing to contribute his/her ideas to the class discussion. I may call on you in class for feedback, so it is very important that you be prepared for the day's assignments.

Recommended reading

• • Doing Business in the MENA Region: Insights from the EFMD Case Writing Competition by Laoucine Kerbache, Wolfgang Amann, and Nadine Burquel ©Emerald Publishing Limited, First edition 2017 -