World Famous Comics: Dubai & Co.: Global Strategies for Doing Business in the Gulf States
Dubai & Co.: Global Strategies for Doing Business in the Gulf States
By: Aamir A. Rehman Publisher: McGraw-Hill Average Rating: Binding: Hardcover Label: McGraw-Hill Number of Items: 1 Number of Pages: 288 Publication Date: November 19, 2007
It's been called the fastest-growing city on earth-a hub for the Gulf region experiencing unprecedented growth in energy, financial services, consumer goods, hospitality, retail, real estate, technology, shipping, and countless other industries. According to global strategist and advisor to Fortune 500 companies Aamir A. Rehman, no truly global firm can afford to ignore the booming Gulf region. The key, however, is to approach the region with savvy strategies for managing risks and drawbacks, while crafting business models designed for this unique market. Welcome to Dubai & Co.
This up-close, in-depth guide will help you to:
Deepen your understanding of a region of critical importance to global business
Change your perceptions about the Gulf states and the broader Middle East
Create corporate strategies that fit your firm and the region
Expand your international business to make it faster, bigger, and better
Access Gulf capital more effectively, enabling expansion and generating both local and global profits
This essential hands-on book will show you how to successfully navigate the region's most attractive markets: the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, and Oman. You'll learn the key characteristics of each country-historical, demographic, political, economic, and regulatory-in order to adapt your business to each unique environment. You'll hear stories of major companies that paved the way for your success. Whether you're already doing business in the Middle East or just thinking about expanding your company into new markets, Dubai & Co. is the perfect guide to one of the greatest growth opportunities in the world.
Authoritative almanac to doing business with the Gulf States Little heard-of, but increasingly important, the six nations known as the Gulf States are using their oil wealth to become global players in world finance. In turn, multinational corporations are recognizing that these nations should become integral parts of their expansion plans. All this makes author Aamir A. Rehman's work important to any business investigating this marketplace. He provides a cultural, economic, historical, political, demographic and geographic overview of this area, while spelling out the pros and cons of doing business there. Through this book repeats some key sections, Rehman keeps advancing his presentation, so any intrepid reader will have a strong foundation for future business plans. Think of this as a business guidebook to the region. If you are investigating an expansion in the Gulf States, getAbstract would suggest that an investment in this book could generate large returns.
A very diverse region As an American born Muslim who has lived and worked in the Middle East as a strategy consultant, Aamir Rehman is able to bring a cross-cultural perspective to his subject. In 300 concise pages, he brings the GCC countries alive, and helps the reader understand how different they are to each other.
I took three key messages away from this book:
(1) The intense demographic and political challenges the smaller GCC countries face, with tiny domestic populations and large communities of non-citizen expatriates. (2) The story is not just oil, with signficant diversification efforts being made across the GCC. (3) The cultural differences between the states, with restrictive Saudi Arabia and ultra-liberal Dubai being at the two extremes.
I recommend this book to anyone interested in international business; as Aamir says, the GCC is too important to ignore.
Simple and Clear, not Complex and Deep [Translated from an Arabic version of this review]
I began reading Dubai and Co shortly after I finished Christopher Davidsons's work entitled "Dubai: The Vulnerability of Success". I also have some background in Dubai as I resided there in 2005. Ever since that time, I have been interested in Dubai, especially its infrastructure, government and economy. Still, information on these subjects remains sparse save the ubiquitous wire article about the latest tower being completed in the Emirate. So, Rehman seems to be in the right place at the right time to talk about this booming city state.
When I began reading the book I was surprised at the simple but clear nature of the author and the useful information contained. For example the comparison between differing regions in the gulf was especially enlightening, and the explanation of differing levels of engagement was also useful.
However, after these subjects, the author starts to focus on business strategies in the gulf and what should be his strong point becomes his weakest. First, he begins to repeat his ideas about halfway through the book. For example, I read numerous times about how KSA forms the core of the gulf market, a statement repeated nearly verbatim with no new analysis. Worse, I found an entire page figure devoted to the same point in the second to the last chapter of the book- something that should have been included earlier or edited out. Even though the book is longer than 300 pages, the analysis becomes surface level. Rehman's most detailed example was about the move of Halliburton to Dubai, but even it only spanned 2 pages. So, much of the book becomes useless platitudes. In the end, this book seems appropriate for the clueless manager on his first flight to Dubai, but does not merit anything more than a skim by those who already have a background in the area.
Good book from a compay standpoint. Excellent and Well Researched. The book is a very good at listing why to do business in Dubai and how to go about it from the standpoint of a Large Multi National Company. Personally though I was looking for more of a guide to working in Dubai on an individual basis as either a company owner or employee. The book however was full of information, it almost requires a reread to absorb it all.
A Must Read "Dubai & Co. is a must read for any person or company that is interested in capturing the opportunity in one of the world's fastest growing markets. Having grown up in the Middle East, I can attest that the author has done a spectacular job of highlighting nuances that are essential for doing business in the GCC. I read the book cover to cover in three sittings and surprisingly learned many new facts about my own region. Even if you were born in the GCC, haved lived there for 20 years, or speak Arabic you will be hardpressed not to read this text. Indeed, the book is beautifully balanced in such a way that it sharply dissects through the popular press hype about the GCC and includes some thoughtful points on how the GCC can occupy a larger role in the global economy. In Dubai & Co. A.A. Rehman has written a long-needed book about doing business in the GCC. Not satisfied with a spectacular summary of the history and culture of a much misinterpreted people, Rehman has illuminated the many ways in which understanding the GCC can enrich your business. Just as no corporate strategy should be considered global without attention to the GCC, no business professional may consider him or herself forward thinking without reading this book."
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