Managing cultural diversity a case of the kuwait food company americana grup

Document Type:Essay

Subject Area:Business

Document 1

In order to achieve this, one of the fundamental things that organizations need to factor is the cultural diversity within and outside the organization. Presently, there is no doubt that the world is increasingly becoming culturally diverse and the business environment has become more competitive. Moreover, globalization and the creation of various regional trade blocs have given companies the opportunity to venture in culturally diverse markets. This means that the company has to factor in the various cultural elements of the different regions they venture. Therefore, these developments call for the leadership of companies to ensure that the various aspects of their operations are tailored to minimize cultural friction. The Kuwait-based company operates in a number of areas in the food industry.

Sign up to view the full document!

They include retail where they sell and distribute a variety of processed food. In Kuwait, they distribute various products under Heinz such as Cadbury chocolates, processed tomatoes and ketchup among others. Americana also has 29 production sites where they process and package products such as meat, dairy, poultry, vegetables and fruits. Another area that is covered by the company is in service where they run a chain of restaurants both in and outside Kuwait. Out of this expatriate population, most are Asians followed by Africans while Europeans and other regions account for a small part of this number ("Middle East: Kuwait", 2019). Geographically, Kuwait is a small country with a population of about 4-5 million people. Overall, at least 57 percent of this population is made up of Arabs where those from Kuwait account for 30 percent and the Arabs from other countries account for the rest.

Sign up to view the full document!

The second biggest ethic group in the country is that of Asians who account for at least 40 percent of the population, followed by Africans at 1. 02 percent while Europeans and other ethnicities account for the remaining population. Indeed, this is also not a surprise given the huge percentage of Muslims in the country whereby the religion heavily emphasizes on a patriarchal system. Moreover, most of the expats come from equally largely patriarchal societies such as Arab and Asian countries ("Middle East: Kuwait", 2019). When it comes to dining, which is Americana’s forte; there is no doubt that Kuwaitis have developed some western eating traits. This is to some extent attributed to the eating habits of American troops who were stationed in the country during the Gulf War.

Sign up to view the full document!

While franchises like KFC and Hardee’s were first opened in the country in the 1970s and 80 respectively, their popularity only skyrocketed about three decades ago. With the predominant Arab culture, most businesses have been forced to translate their messages, ads and names to Arabic. However, majority of them have both Arabic and English words on their displays and products to cater for tourists and foreign workers who do not speak Arabic. For the norms, institutions and individuals in Kuwait are required to adhere to the country’s rules which are a majorly a reflection of Islamic laws. For instance, food and beverage makers are required to produce and sell halal foods and drinks. This also goes to cuisines in restaurants.

Sign up to view the full document!

Nonetheless, there are deeper values within the Arab world that define their organizational culture. According to Al Suwaidi (2008), aspects such as management of time, favoritism in hiring, consultation, social attachments and face symbolism are strongly influenced by Islam and the Arab culture. Thus, once a company is successful in one Arab country, there is no doubt that they will have a higher chance of success in another. Most notably, Al Suwaidi (2008) adds that Arabs tend to have strong loyalty to groups that they belong to such as family and business. This is even evident from the dining culture where they prefer dining together; a trend that is evident inside the fast food outlets where it is common to see a group enjoying a meal as opposed to individuals in comparison to most western countries.

Sign up to view the full document!

Although Iraq is more conservative, this is slightly being broken by the youth who are readily embracing western cultures and in return influencing the rest of the population. This is also the trend in most Arab countries where the youth make up a significant number of the population. Moreover, just like Kuwait, the American troops in Iraq played a big role in the spread of western fast food outlets such as KFC. Other countries with conservative Islamic ideals include Oman, UAE, Qatar, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia. However, countries such as Lebanon have highly westernized compared to most Arab countries. This will force companies like Americana to seek women from outside who are more experienced in leadership positions to run their Lebanese unit considering they have none at the top.

Sign up to view the full document!

In addition, this might bring friction among the managers given that they are not used to women leaders in the company. Therefore, the company needs to factor gender diversity in their top management. Conclusion The aim of the paper was to highlight the multicultural issues that face companies. The company selected for this task is the Kuwait Food Company which is also known as Americana Group. References Al Suwaidi, M. When An Arab Executive Says "Yes": IdentifyingDifferent Collectivistic Values That Influence TheArabian Decision-Making Process [Ebook]. University of Pennsylvania. Retrieved from https://repository. upenn. theseus. fi/bitstream/handle/10024/55142/Kuwait. pdf Farran, S. , Gallen, J. , & Rautenbach, C. Fast Foods of Arabia [Video]. Retrieved from https://video. vice. com/en_asia/video/american-fast-food-took-over-kuwait-and-made-its-people-obese/5a56538a177dd459b5601821.

Sign up to view the full document!

From $10 to earn access

Only on Studyloop

Original template

Downloadable