INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS GLOBALIZATION
For many decades, the emirates of the United مساعدة التعيين – خدمة كتابة المقالات من قبل كبار الكتاب العرب, Arab Emirates have seen the face of global businesses influx. Global giants such as the HSBC bank and the KPMG have been trying to establish their in the UAE which for many times has been regarded to as the hub to Asia. There are many reasons as to why those business organizations focused on the global markets focus on the UAE (UAE National Media Council, 2013). Some of the distinctive reasons include the peace which spells out prosperity as experienced in the UAE despite being surrounded by not so stable nations in the region such as Qatar and Iran. The emirates also strengthened their trade ties with the world over the 1990s after signing business treaties with other members of the world including the World Trade Organization in 1996 and the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade in 1994. Despite the many the many enticers, business organizations focusing on UAE have to review their marketing strategies to deal with a few challenges including religious and cultural barriers (Aljifri, 2008). This research paper will focus on the pros and cons facing HSBC UAE Bank as an international business organization in the UAE by mainly focusing on the 7Ps of marketing.
A general wave in the marketing profession stipulates that every organization was formed to market something called the product. As simple as it may sound, that happens to be the key objective of every business organization and it is far much wider than what many people perceive of marketing as a profession. HSBC Bank Middle East Limited or HSBC UAE as it is famously known in the UAE seems to have proper understanding of is role in marketing and the market itself. The company provides financial services in the UAE including government lending. Firstly incorporated in Hong Kong, this corporation entered the UAE market in 1959 through the acquisition of The British Bank of the Middle East. Since then the corporation has had its fair share of maturing opportunities and challenges which prompted a series of changes in the marketing strategies which include re-branding from The British Bank of the Middle East to HSBC in the 1990s (HSBC Bank Middle East Limited, 2013).
With regard to the 7Ps of marketing, the systems in the UAE have had a lot in support of international business globalization. With regard to place, UAE happens to have all necessary systems that served in attracting HSBC UAE into this vibrant business environment. The UAE has been rated one on the best destinations in the world for business tourists with smart transport systems that make the region attractive to foreign investors. The transport systems which include well developed airports, roads, electric rails, and world class seaports ensure that the distribution systems match world class standards. In addition, UAE has for many years been regarded as the hub to Asia. These factors attract customers and tourists to the region thereby increasing the demand for financial services as provided by HSBC UAE (UAE National Media Council, 2013).
Secondly, business promotion strategies stand at their best in the UAE. This is because the emirates have had an increasing uptake of modern technologies. The technological development in the UAE enables businesses to promote their businesses to reach the maximum number of the target market. The radio, newspapers, promotional magazines, and the television have been there for long and that may not have attracted as much international business organizations to the UAE as has the development and uptake of internet technology. HSBC UAE promotes its financial services mostly via the internet and in the recent past it launched internet banking making it even more attractive to its clientele (UAE National Media Council, 2013).
The product provided by HSBC UAE has had a lot of advantages as well as constraints. The corporation provides financial services all over the world which include savings and deposits and overdrafts and loan services among others. The organization entered the market at a time when the country was recovering from the Second World War at a slow pace due to other economic factors which had led to the foreseeable collapse of The British Bank of the Middle East. This made the organization’s products attractive but with the recent developments in Islamic banking, HSBC UAE was forced to restructure its products and services to meet the changing needs in this market (HSBC Bank Middle East Limited, 2013). One of the key challenges with the Islamic banking system being the prohibition of interest on loans, the bank’s income base narrowed abruptly but the bank rose to success after the evolution of its products as the market demanded.
One of the key problems that an international business faces in the UAE regards the place and the people of the UAE. UAE is located in a place where the people’s culture has had prohibitions as to the employment of women. Though this has been changing gradually, the first problem that any business faces at its entry into the UAE market happens to be shortage of labor. Sources indicate that over 43% of the labor force in Dubai comprises foreign workers (Singh, 2008). The shortage of employees in this region emanates from the Islamic culture as well as the developed systems in the region which have continued to expand the business bubble at higher rates than the market can provide labor. This pushes the cost of business operation in the UAE a bar higher than in other parts of the world. HSBC UAE is on many occasions forced to source for employees from other parts of the world thus inflating its wage bill and product price and thus affecting its marketing strategies (Singh, 2008).
In conclusion, this paper presents some of the pros and cons faced by an international business in the UAE based on the product, price, place and all other Ps of marketing. However, the research reveals that the advantages supersede the marketing strategy constraints thus the region remains attractive (Bains & Middle East Economic Digest Ltd, 2012).
References
Aljifri, K. (2008). Annual report disclosure in a developing country: The case of the UAE. Advances in Accounting, 24(1), 93–100.
Bains, E., & Middle East Economic Digest Ltd (2012). A guide to doing business in the UAE. Dubai, UAE: Meed Media.
HSBC Bank Middle East Limited (2013). Welcome to HSBC UAE. Retrieved October 20, 2013, from https://monkessays.com/write-my-essay/hsbc.ae/1/2/about-hsbc
Singh, S. (2008). Business practices in emerging and re-emerging markets. New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan.
UAE National Media Council (2013). Reasons for Doing Business in the UAE. Retrieved October 20, 2013, from https://monkessays.com/write-my-essay/مساعدة التعيين – خدمة كتابة المقالات من قبل كبار الكتاب العرب – UAEinteract.com/business/business.asp
