...cool Contrast between Lebanon and Saudi Arabia Culture is one of the treasured traits the some countries carry on throughout centuries, even during our time today. However, although some countries cherish their culture and value it, humans get so caught up with their everyday life routine that they tend to forget their culture and diminish their traditions. Culture is what makes us different that everyone else. Each country has its own culture and celebrations. For example, Lebanon and Saudi Arabia are two Middle Eastern countries that share the same language. Although these countries have some similarities, there is a wide variety of differences between them when it comes to politics, tradition and religion. Both countries share a common religion: Islam. Moreso, there are plenty of other religions in Lebanon. Islam is portrayed in more strict and conservative way in Saudi Arabia. In Saudi Arabia, religion plays a huge role in culture, traditions, and even politics. Religion is used as a way of living more than just a belief. For example, religion is tied in with women’s right and politics. No matter what religion they practice, women have to be covered from head to toes even if they were tourists visiting the country. It is the law. According to the editor Tore Kjeilen, “Officially Muslims constitute 100% of the population, but considering the considerable expatriate community, 90% is a better estimate. Even among citizens, there are non-Muslims...
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...Kassatly Chtaura ABSTRACT In April 2013, Kassatly Chtaura, a family-owned company of both alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages headquartered in Chtaura, Lebanon, faces a dilemma. It is doing well with regard to sales and market share and has succeeded in building a solid income. Meanwhile, the prior year’s numbers show dim growth performance, and the family is unsatisfied about sales of its syrups, juices, ready-to-drink beverages and wines have reached a plateau. Should the firm extend its supply network or manufacture a new factory and move some operations to Angola or Saudi Arabia? They are in distant locations with distinct cultures, although these are assuring markets. Or should it stay put and expand its operations by introducing a brand new product, beer? Adding to Saudi Arabia successful portfolio realize a household vision, and will complement its business strengths in Lebanon, especially when reinforced by its highly successful advertising campaigns. Given the uncertain political situation in Lebanon, is it time to spend money on international marketplaces? Select the best option to internationalize Kassatly Chtaura Kassatly Chtaura is a company that has grown in Lebanon in recent years and has been increasing its market power, given the different beverages they have in the country. In turn, overseas marketing has meant a key engine for the company founded by Akram Kassatly and succeeded by his son Nayef Kassatly. Since 1974 they have been concerned about the market...
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... Causes: Due to the financial crisis and economic downturn across the world, Lebanon has seen an almost flat performance in the real estate market driving down the prices of raw materials used in construction such as wood. Advances in transportation and technology have led to increased competition in the timber industry. A subsidiary of Jabwood based out of Saudi Arabia was closed for non-business related matters. This subsidiary, before closure, contributed almost half of Jabwood’s sales. Jabwood is a large company that has a very strict and limiting business structure. Jabwood’s physical presence remains solely in Lebanon. Jabwood relies heavily on one major supplier for approximately 60 to 70 percent of its revenue. This supplier intends to offer the opportunity to sell to other wood wholesalers, eliminating Jabwood’s exclusivity. Possible Alternatives: In order to increase revenue and sales, Jabwood International has many options. In my opinion, the only feasible options would include expanding their business into two countries: Saudi Arabia and China. Expanding into the Saudi Arabia market is a very enticing solution for many reasons. Saudi Arabia does not have its own wood supply and therefore relies heavily on other countries for this need. Jabwood has had operations in Saudi Arabia in the past and is aware of the culture, business practices, and product needs. However, the Saudi market is the biggest market in the Middle East for wood products and therefore...
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...Background & Problem Identification Jabwood, a timber trading company with branches in Lebanon and a strong distribution and service network all over the Middle East, is owned and operated by the Jabado family since the 1930s.Recently it has experienced a fall in its sales volume and market share due to the middle eastern uprising and the falling demand.. Jabwood is expecting to lose the revenue and market share further as TANITA (competitive edge) is extending its exclusive sales rights from Jabwood to other companies. Jabwood is currently considering international expansion into new markets – in particular Saudi Arabia and China – to offset these declining revenues. This case examines the macroeconomic environment of Lebanon, China and Saudi Arabia, and the timber industry in these countries. The characteristics of a successful international expansion are considered. Besides identifying attractive criteria for each country, the case requires a decision on a strategy to enter the market to ensure a successful expansion of the company. Given the risks involved and the potential profits from each of these countries, Jabwood has to decide whether to expand in any market or both, and the input mode to be taken to increase your chances of success. To summarize the objective of this case, Jabwood has to answer the following critical questions Should Jabwood expand? To China, Saudi Arabia or both? Expand immediately, one at a time or only one of them? Should the company...
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...turn affected his speech and development. Throughout my eldest brother’s life, our mother was his caretaker, his support and the only one who fought so hard for his well being and happiness. She had managed in the late seventies to enrol him in a special school in Lebanon where he started to develop and learn sign language through which we all communicate with him now. I was too young at the time, but my older siblings told me of the stories when during the civil war in Lebanon, my mother would risk it all to go see him and bring him home for Christmas as his school was on the other side of the line separating Beirut into two warring camps at the time. Around the mid-eighties, the war had become much worse, and Palestinians were being targeted in Lebanon, at which point my parents decided to bring my eldest brother back to Saudi Arabia. By the time the war had ended in Lebanon, it was too late for my brother to go back to school, as he was too old. In Saudi Arabia, my parents tried to get my brother enrolled in several special schools in the Middle East, but there were always obstacles. As Palestinians we could not travel to Jordan or Egypt where similar schools were available. To complicate matters, Saudi Arabia had little to offer in terms of schools suitable for my eldest brother. Since my mother’s passing, my eldest brother has been living with my older sister in...
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...immediately. Causes: Due to the financial crisis and economic downturn across the world, Lebanon has seen an almost flat performance in the real estate market driving down the prices of raw materials used in construction such as wood. Advances in transportation and technology have led to increased competition in the timber industry. A subsidiary of Jabwood based out of Saudi Arabia was closed for non-business related matters. This subsidiary, before closure, contributed almost half of Jabwood’s sales. Jabwood is a large company that has a very strict and limiting business structure. Jabwood’s physical presence remains solely in Lebanon. Jabwood relies heavily on one major supplier for approximately 60 to 70 percent of its revenue. This supplier intends to offer the opportunity to sell to other wood wholesalers, eliminating Jabwood’s exclusivity. Possible Alternatives: In order to increase revenue and sales, Jabwood International has many options. In my opinion, the only feasible options would include expanding their business into two countries: Saudi Arabia and China. Expanding into the Saudi Arabia market is a very enticing solution for many reasons. Saudi Arabia does not have its own wood supply and therefore relies heavily on other countries for this need. Jabwood has had operations in Saudi Arabia in the past and is aware of the culture, business practices, and product needs. However, the Saudi market is the biggest market in the Middle East for wood products and therefore is...
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...extremes of wealth, inadequate educational system and a very large semi illiterate population, and less than assertive governments that failed to bring long-term and short-term changes (Harry, 2007). To begin, there must be some recognition of the diversity of the Middle East. The three main areas are so-called because of the legacy of colonization and European statecraft. The Levant consists of the geographical region that includes Israel, Palestine, Syria, Jordan and Lebanon. This area has a very long history tied to Europe going back centuries to the Crusades and the Holy Roman Empire. The Gulf regions comprised of the Arabian Peninsula and has only been regionally important in the past century and the discovery of oil. This area has long been underdeveloped but is the bed rock of traditional Arabian Bedouin culture. North Africa of Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria, Libya, and to some extent, Egypt are considered cultures that have mixed Arab with indigenous African cultures. This article examines the overlap of cultures in the human resources management context. As an example, researchers such as Harry (2007)...
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...Gulf countries – particularly Saudi Arabia – have been much involved Syria’s conflict; secretly funding the rebel groups against Assad. And now, are there no funds left to help the millions of displaced inhabitants of Syria due to this war? Qatar, Kuwait, UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Bahrain are in the top 20 countries with the highest GDP per capita. They are Arab, they speak Arabic, all have a similar culture to Syria, and are all predominantly Sunni. Assimilation issues would be very low compared to other countries such as in the West, where most of them are migrating to. Why is the Gulf doing nothing to help them? It’s time for the US to pressure them and get them to start receiving Syrian refugees. Saudi Arabia would benefit from taking in refugees as it would increase their currently small work force, and the country is already used to having immigrants, who make up 30% of the population. The demographics of the country will soon cause issues as the population is quickly ageing, and the country needs more workers in the lower class. Additionally, there are has been an ongoing Sunni vs. Shia war for a long time, hence Saudi’s involvement in Syria against Assad and Iran. If they value the Sunnis that much, the first thing they should do is protect the Sunni-majority population of Syria and bring them to their country to favor their side. If Assad is removed by force, any government that comes after him will probably be Sunni, thus it is in Saudi Arabia’s best interest to show...
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...International Group faced a financial crisis after the global economic crisis in 2009. The decision from Chami of investing $ 11 million in his Serbian sawmill was taking right before the beginning of the crisis and may have been crucial. Why did Chabros operate internationally? In order to understand Chami’s decision we have to take into account which reasons he argued for expanding his business outside of Lebanon. First of all, Lebanon was a very unstable country and when Chabros received by occasion the first orders from Lebanese customers in Dubai he did not think twice to expand into this country. In 1998 they opened their first branch outside of Lebanon, which led automatically to a share of risk in their operations. From this point on Chabros did not depend anymore on one single market. Another important reason for the expansion was that they could significantly increase their sales numbers. Change in expansion motivations Through this first very positive experience Chami was convinced about his internationalisation plans and his next country on the list was Saudi Arabia. The market entry was not as easy and successful as the one in Dubai. This was partially due to a different strategy with Italian partners as a joint venture which caused problems through cultural differences (Both Italian partners left the market between the first and second year). Shortly after this Chabros faced supply problems due to a much higher demand than they could deliver on time. Therefore Chabros...
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...BRYANT CHRISTIE INC. I N T E R N A T I O N A L A F F A I R S M A N A G E M E N T R E P O R T THE MIDDLE EAST CONFECTIONERY MARKET: OPPORTUNITIES FOR U.S. CONFECTIONERY EXPORTS Prepared by Bryant Christie Inc. for the National Confectioners Association January 30, 2009 Seattle Telephone: 206 292 6340 Sacramento Telephone: 916 492 7062 TABLE OF CONTENTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY…………………………………………………………… ……..1 INTRODUCTION…………………………………………………………………………4 BACKGROUND ……………………………………………………………………4 METHODOLOGY ……….…………………………………………………………4 REPORT FORMAT …………………………………………………………………4 GENERAL MARKET ENVIRONMENT…………………………………………………… 5 MARKET FOR CONFECTIONERY IN THE MIDDLE EAST……………………………….7 CONSUMPTION TRENDS…………………………..………..……………………. .8 COMPETITION ..……………………………..…………………………...……………..13 MULTINATIONAL PRODUCERS…………………………………………………...14 LOCAL PRODUCERS……………………………………………………………...14 CONFECTIONERY IMPORTS….…………………………………………………...16 DISTRIBUTION……………………………………………………………………… …18 RETAIL……..……….......…………………………………………….……….…19 CONVENIENCE STORES …....……………………………………………. ……...22 HOTEL, RESTAURANT AND CAFETERIA …..……….……………………………23 COLD STORAGE….. ....…………………………………………………….. ……24 MARKET ACCESS ..………………………………………………………….…………..24 LABELING …..…………………………………………………………………..26 CONCLUSIONS……………………………..………………………….……………. ….27 APPENDICES RETAIL PRICES FOR LEADING CONFECTIONERY BRANDS U.S. AND COMPETITOR CONFECTIONERY EXPORTS TO THE MIDDLE EAST CONTACTS Middle East Confectionery Market:: Opportunities...
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...Arabic language First, it is important to define what actually makes an Arab. The answer is quite simple – The Arabic language! An Arab is a member of a linguistic group—and therefore, the Arab World can best be defined as the region in which people predominantly speak Arabic. Yet throughout what would be considered the Arab World, tens of thousands of people speak languages other than Arabic, ranging from the numerous dialects of Berber on the African coast of the Mediterranean to Kurdish and Armenian in southwest Asia, and so on. Arabic is a Semitic language and the sixth most common language in the world. It is a language of religious importance since it is the holy language of the world's approximately 1 billion followers of Islam. It is used as a first language by approximately 200 million people and as a second language by about 246 million speakers. It does also belong to the six official languages of the United Nations. It is characterized by diglossia, a linguistic situation in which two varieties of the same language have a functional distribution, with the spoken variety used in informal and intimate contexts and the written variety, the Modern Standard Arabic (MSA), acquired through literacy and used in written and formal discourse. For those wanting to do business in Arabic-speaking markets, the Modern Standard Arabic is important, because it is common to all the countries in the Arab world, and is used in newspapers, magazines, books, and government documents...
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...BRYANT CHRISTIE INC. I N T E R N A T I O N A L A F F A I R S M A N A G E M E N T R E P O R T THE MIDDLE EAST CONFECTIONERY MARKET: OPPORTUNITIES FOR U.S. CONFECTIONERY EXPORTS Prepared by Bryant Christie Inc. for the National Confectioners Association January 30, 2009 Seattle Telephone: 206 292 6340 Sacramento Telephone: 916 492 7062 TABLE OF CONTENTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY…………………………………………………………… ……..1 INTRODUCTION…………………………………………………………………………4 BACKGROUND ……………………………………………………………………4 METHODOLOGY ……….…………………………………………………………4 REPORT FORMAT …………………………………………………………………4 GENERAL MARKET ENVIRONMENT…………………………………………………… 5 MARKET FOR CONFECTIONERY IN THE MIDDLE EAST……………………………….7 CONSUMPTION TRENDS…………………………..………..……………………. .8 COMPETITION ..……………………………..…………………………...……………..13 MULTINATIONAL PRODUCERS…………………………………………………...14 LOCAL PRODUCERS……………………………………………………………...14 CONFECTIONERY IMPORTS….…………………………………………………...16 DISTRIBUTION……………………………………………………………………… …18 RETAIL……..……….......…………………………………………….……….…19 CONVENIENCE STORES …....……………………………………………. ……...22 HOTEL, RESTAURANT AND CAFETERIA …..……….……………………………23 COLD STORAGE….. ....…………………………………………………….. ……24 MARKET ACCESS ..………………………………………………………….…………..24 LABELING …..…………………………………………………………………..26 CONCLUSIONS……………………………..………………………….……………. ….27 APPENDICES RETAIL PRICES FOR LEADING CONFECTIONERY BRANDS U.S. AND COMPETITOR CONFECTIONERY EXPORTS TO THE MIDDLE EAST CONTACTS Middle East Confectionery Market:: Opportunities for U.S. Confectionery Exports...
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...Married Address: P.O.Box: 11- 2065 Riad El Solh Beirut 11072100 Lebanon. Land Line: 961 - 1 - 355046 Mobile 961 - 3 - 714279 E-mail: Prof., charbaji@charbaji.com Computer Skills: Econometrics Eviews, SPSS, Advanced SPSS, Excel and Microsoft Project. EDUCATION: Year 1978 Degree Ph.D. Institution Univ. of Northern Colorado Department of Applied Statistics & Research Methods Univ. of Northern Colorado. U.S.A http://www.unco.edu Univ. of Northern Colorado. U.S.A Beirut Arab University Area of Study Applied Statistics & Research Methods http://www.unco.edu/coe/asr m/programs.htm http://www.unco.edu/coe/asr m/index.htm Business Administration/ Financial Management Commerce/Economics 1975 1971 M.A. B.A. Published Research In International Referred Journals: " The Effect of Globalization on Commitment to Ethical Corporate Governance and Corporate Social Responsibility in Lebanon”, Social Responsibility Journal (2009). http://www.emeraldinsight.com.ezproxy.aub.edu.lb/Insight/viewContainer.do;jsessionid=F8 FECFB1ECF1459573B900E5DE0A6B28?containerType=Journal&containerId=6000003 "Assessing the Global Readiness of Arab Countries to Join the WTO: A Multivaraite analysis" Journal of Economic & Administrative Sciences (JEAS) Vol. 24, No. 1, June 2008 (1 - 14). http://jeas.cbe.uaeu.ac.ae/jeas2008_Jun/01_Assess.pdf http//:jeas.cbe.uaeu.ac.ae Developing a model to restructure the overpopulated banking industry in Lebanon Author(s): Abdulrazzak Charbaji Managerial Auditing Journal;...
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... ▪ Traditional definition of the Middle East: Egypt, Syria, Israel, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, Turkey, Cyprus, UAE, Oman, Yemen. ▪ Population: estimated 2010 about 350 million. ▪ Situated between Asia, Europe and Africa. Throughout its history, the Middle East has been a major centre of world affairs. ▪ The Middle East generally has an arid and hot climate. ▪ In modern times the Middle East remains a strategically, economically, politically, culturally and religiously sensitive region. The Middle East expected economic growth rate is at about 4.1% for 2010 and 5.1% in 2011. [pic] 2. Religions The Middle East is very diverse when it’s come to religions, many of which is originated there. Islam is the largest religion. Besides, Judaism and Christianity are also important there. There are still many branches in each religion. 1.3 Languages Three top languages based on numbers of speaker: ▪ Arabic: Arabic is the most widely spoken language in the Middle East, the influence of Arabic has been most important in Islam countries such as: Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Lebanon, Kuwait, Qatar, Iraq, Bahrain, UAE, Palestine… ▪ Persian: is the second most popular spoken in Iran, Iraq, … ▪ Turkish: is the third – most widely spoken language, spoken in Turkey, Cyprus… ▪ English is also widely spoken as well as French in Lebanon and approximately 30 other languages are also spoken. 1.4 Economy ...
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...Arab-Israeli Conflict The Arab League * October 1945 Britain helped form the Arab League * The first members were Egypt, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Saudi Arabia * Its purpose was to prevent Soviet progress in the region * Others joined as they became independent * By 1983 new members included Sudan, Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia, Libya, Oman, South Yemen, Kuwait and Bahrain * The 36 million Arabs had a common language and culture * Most were Muslims and hated colonial rule * They had similar economic problems * Even oil rich states had unequal distribution of wealth among rich and poor * But above all else they hated Israel Palestine 1923-47 * British Mandate from 1923 * Promises made during World War I led to Arab expectations * Also led to Jewish hopes for a homeland * Theodore Herzl (Viennese Jew) started the Zionist Movement * 1896 First Zionist Congress – he proposed a national home for the world’s Jews * The Balfour Declaration seemed to be a British commitment to this * 1920s 10,000 Jews a year settled in Palestine * Arabs alarmed – saw this as more Western imperialism * 1922 Churchill said it was a promise of a national Jewish home not a state * 1929 Arab riots against the 100,000 Jewish settlers * Jews protected themselves with the Haganah (their own security force) 1930s * 1933 Britain restricted Jewish immigration to Palestine to appease the Arabs * Led to Jewish riots *...
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