Page 307 - Aamir Rehman - Dubai & Co Global Strategies for Doing Business in the Gulf States-McGraw-Hill (2007)

Bringing It Home: Fostering GCC Awareness in the Head Office 289

that awareness would be in the single digits. The finding adds all
the more urgency to broadening the collective understanding of the
Gulf region. Consider the state of affairs in your own company or
organization. How many professionals—even those without direct
responsibility for European business—would know what the EU
stands for? How many would identify the GCC? How many of
those who would correctly identify it are not directly involved with
Middle East business?
The good news is that awareness is on the rise. Prominent
investments by Gulf-based investors, and especially Dubai Ports
World’s acquisition of P&O, have turned executives’ attention to
the region. Dubai’s reputation for commerce and tourism grows
stronger each year. Qatar, the “upstart” of the Gulf, is making head-
lines as well. Saudi Arabia, long known more for political and secu-
rity matters than for commerce, is making its way more frequently
into the business section of the newspaper. However, scattered
news reports need to be supplemented with more comprehensive
materials that connect the dots and form a strategic profile of the
Gulf region.
Although most senior executives today have little firsthand
experience managing business in the Gulf, there are notable excep-
2
tions. Coca-Cola’s Chief Customer and Commercial Officer, a
British national, was once regional sales manager for the Gulf and
3
later general manager for the GCC. HSBC’s Chief Operating
Officer was previously chief executive of HSBC Bank of the Middle
East, before which he led HSBC’s joint-venture bank in Saudi
4
Arabia. McDonald’s regional head for Asia-Pacific, the Middle
East, and Africa was formerly managing director of the firm’s
Middle East Development Company, where he oversaw 300 restau-
5
rants in 11 Middle Eastern countries. These executives bring Gulf
awareness to the senior management teams of their organizations
and help the firm, at the global level, make more informed
decisions about the region.
In the energy industry, as one would expect, senior managers
tend to have a more intimate understanding of the GCC. The CEO
of the French oil major Total, for example, spent much of his career
in the Middle East and was formerly Total’s Executive Vice
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President for the Middle East. In 2007, the energy services giant
Halliburton announced it was moving its CEO to Dubai in order to