November 2019

You recently took a group of IEMBA students to Jordan. What was the aim of that study trip?
Our first objective was to fulfil the requirement for the International Executive MBA program. Jordan was the second study trip of this year’s course.
Our second objective was to understand the business environment in the Middle East and beyond that to understand how business is conducted, not only concerning the context and the economic and political situation, but also the culture. Equally important was understanding how people react, interact, and behave while conducting business.

What was the highlight of the study trip?
For me, one of the big highlights was meeting His Highness Prince Hassan of Jordan, who gave a speech about the situation in general and about bridging the gap between Europe and the Middle East. He asked our students to be active and to come up with new ideas, initiatives, and activities to build such bridges and construct a world where peace and understanding is the rule.

What are the current trends in the Middle East region?
In talking about the Middle East, I think we have to look at two big trends that are going on in this region. The first concerns the political environment and the second the economic environment. Naturally, both are linked.

Concerning the political environment, there has been instability in the region for many years, and this is still ongoing. We have different crises, which are either interstate or intrastate. This also influences how people behave at the social, political, or economic level. As a direct implication for businesses entering the region, many things must be planned at relatively short notice; a long-term approach is difficult.

At the economic level, the impact of political instability is obvious, but we must also consider the impact of some social trends like the demographic development. In addition, new trends influencing economic growth must also be taken into account, like changes in the business models as a result of the digital transformation coming from new innovations, "Industry, 4.0”, smart cities, as well as ecological issues. These new models of business are new and evolving, and they are different than models in other parts of the world. In other words, there are specific aspects which are unique to the region as a result of its political instability and changing environment. It is not easy to understand how to conduct business in the Middle East, and I think that it is one of the advantages we have here at ZHAW, that we more or less understand big parts of this complex environment. This is an opportunity for us to coach, guide, or help companies willing to go there.

Of course, we are dealing with companies willing to invest in these countries. Here we touch on the issue of the attractiveness of these countries. There are factors which attract companies to go to these countries, like cheap manpower, short geographic distance, availability of raw materials, but there are also repelling factors that prevent investment. These include – depending on the country, a country’s market size, availability of some raw materials, purchasing power, geopolitical position, corruption and bad infrastructures without forgetting the prevailing political system, and sometimes the inadequate level of education.

The bilateral relations between Switzerland and the countries in the Middle -East are also of importance for an investment. There are some good agreements with some countries . Some countries are open to direct investments; they have the necessary frameworks. Others have a lot of bureaucracy and other complicated issues which make it difficult for investors to invest in these countries efficiently.