Hello All …
I am glad to let you know that I have moved the blog to a new home; it is self hosted now.
I am now at http://www.aneyeonsaudi.org
Please modify your bookmarks/RSS readers with the new address; see you there 🙂
Saad Al Dosari
Hello All …
I am glad to let you know that I have moved the blog to a new home; it is self hosted now.
I am now at http://www.aneyeonsaudi.org
Please modify your bookmarks/RSS readers with the new address; see you there 🙂
Saad Al Dosari
Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »
Marketers can sometimes create a powerful influence over customers by taking advantage of their believes and practiced rituals.
So if I want to sell you a bottle of juice and convince you that it is good for your blood pressure, bones, aging skin, hair, and the bonus, it helps you lose weight! Then, this is how it gonna be:
p.s. this post is based on a true story!
Posted in Branding, Marketing | Tagged brand image, Branding, ethical issue, poor marketing | 2 Comments »
[picapp align=”center” wrap=”false” link=”term=number+one&iid=7291968″ src=”http://view3.picapp.com/pictures.photo/image/7291968/winners-podium-wood/winners-podium-wood.jpg?size=500&imageId=7291968″ width=”380″ height=”253″ /]
‘We have the best working environment around here’ … ‘we changed the whole competition landscape, we are the best now and our competitors have to live with it’ … ‘Our products/services are not comparable to others, we are the best’
Once such kind of mentality starts flying around your organization, then it is in need for a serious therapy; it is going through the ‘illusion of the best’ syndrome! And once you have it, it is the downhill road thereafter.
There is no doubt that the marketplace is a competition arena. However, deciding who is the best should be left to stakeholders and unbiased observers, certainly not to the organization managers only!
And let’s give it some thought; in a business environment, what is the best? the best compared to what? and in which categories? And should we compare our products/services/practices to our competitors only? in our environment only? or should we do that globally? I am sure you can come up with endless series of question like these …
My argument is that the whole concept of being the best should have no place in a business environment. The ‘best in ….’ is a relative term even if based upon ground measurements, because, at the end, those measurements are based on agreements between a number of people.
The illusion of being the best could be damaging on the long run. It generates demotivation and kills innovation; why should we do more, we are the best?!
It happened that I have being sitting once with one of the so-called-managers of one of the biggest companies in the country and he was talking about how they are conducting some of their business. The strange thing is that he was referring to many managerial flaws in his talking, and he was acknowledging those flaws! I asked him ‘it is great that you can put your fingers on the wrong doings that are causing pressure on your staff and your productivity. So why don’t you solve these issues?’ His reply was ‘this is how we do business around here!’ I said ‘but there are many companies around the world that faced similar problems and there are many lessons that you can get advantage of.’ He replied ‘No No No … do not talk about companies around the world. Tell me about local companies. We are the best company in the area and this is how we are running our business’!!!!
I hope you got what I mean now!!
p.s. I think the ‘illusion of best’ syndrome fits Jim Collins’s stage number one of declining organizations; the stage he calls ‘Hubris Born of Success.’ Read more about it in his book ‘How the mighty Fall, and Why Some Companies Never Give in’ published in 2009.
Posted in Culture, General Management, Saudi business | Tagged business success, cultural issue, internal values, modren management, Saudi business, strategic thinking | 8 Comments »
One of the most bizarre techniques that is sometimes adopted by weak managers of culturally weak organizations is the use of threatening language in the communication channels across the organization levels!
The repeated use of expressions like (or else … those who are not with us are against us … I will remember that in the annual appraisal … if you do not want to stay on the ship) in meetings, emails, circulations, or even in the company written policy, cause nothing on the long run but the loss of trust, disappearance of loyalty, and performance tardiness.
What provoked this post is a memo by one of the international brands working in Saudi Arabia. It is hanged beside one of its warehouses in front of everyone to see. It is written in Arabic; but here is its translation:
“Attention!!!!!!!!!!!! For all staff, please do not set anywhere outside the store unless it is a permitted area. If these instructions are not followed, the store management will have to take any necessary action.”
Regardless of the main topic of the memo, which is the staff seating arrangements, the memo was going somehow OK till the threatening language begun. As someone who knows nothing about the internal processes or culture of this company, reading these few lines I can tell that it is based on fear and intimidation. I can picture how demotivated their staff are and how the internal communication channels are filled with tension.
I am not saying that companies policies should not contain rules against misbehavior and so forth, but I am saying use them wisely, trust your staff, and do not threaten them. If you cannot build your company, department, or team culture based on trust, rest assured that you are going … nowhere!
Posted in Culture, General Management, Human Resources | Tagged communication, company policy, cultural issue, employee motivation, internal values | 2 Comments »
[picapp align=”center” wrap=”false” link=”term=manager&iid=284641″ src=”http://view.picapp.com/pictures.photo/image/284641/portrait-business-people/portrait-business-people.jpg?size=500&imageId=284641″ width=”500″ height=”333″ /]
If you are ‘that-kind-of-manager,’ then you will must enjoy the following tips on how to burn your staff. And you do not have to worry about what other people would say or think about that, they just do not understand your style and how you think you are driving your staff to be big performers. And hey, you are ‘The-Manager,’ people have no right to question your ways of conducting business … and from there we start:
So … do you have any more tips to share with us?
Posted in General Management, Leadership | Tagged bureaucratic management, business processes, communication, employee motivation, enhancing employee productivity, modren management | 2 Comments »
The Forbes’s list of the 100 most powerful women in the world is out. And out of the 100, only 4 Arabic women are there.
The magazine claims that its decisions to sort out the powerful women was based on their influence, creativity, and entrepreneurship. These women have not been chosen because they are celebrities, but because they are making a difference in their societies, if not in the whole world. These women are creating paychecks, forming new cultures, and challenging status quo.
One of the really interesting findings is that 39 of those powerful women are categorized in the business sector (the most influential sector followed by the political one). For those still debating women abilities to lead and inspire, they should read the profiles of these women who are running companies considered among the best in the world. Throughout their tenures, they created values, strengthen brands, and made differences. Maybe in Saudi we need some more time to comprehend such realities, we are still debating if women should be working in cashiers or not!!!!!!!
Anyway, from the Arab world, 3 politicians and 1 businesswomen made it to the list; that could give you another indication that Arabic women are still behind when it comes to the business world and to its top positions.
Here it goes according to the list:
[picapp align=”center” wrap=”false” link=”term=Lubna+Al+Qasimi&iid=4154655″ src=”http://view2.picapp.com/pictures.photo/image/4154655/global-investment-and/global-investment-and.jpg?size=500&imageId=4154655″ width=”380″ height=”277″ /]
[picapp align=”center” wrap=”false” link=”term=Sheikha+mozah&iid=9874573″ src=”http://view.picapp.com/pictures.photo/image/9874573/sheikha-mozah-bint-nasser/sheikha-mozah-bint-nasser.jpg?size=500&imageId=9874573″ width=”234″ height=”358″ /]
[picapp align=”center” wrap=”false” link=”term=Queen+Rania&iid=7992509″ src=”http://view4.picapp.com/pictures.photo/image/7992509/60th-sanremo-music/60th-sanremo-music.jpg?size=500&imageId=7992509″ width=”380″ height=”253″ /]
Posted in Entrepreneurship, Leadership | Tagged arabic businesswomen, forbes list, Most powerful women | 12 Comments »
[picapp align=”center” wrap=”false” link=”term=email&iid=5265765″ src=”http://view3.picapp.com/pictures.photo/image/5265765/close-email-address/close-email-address.jpg?size=500&imageId=5265765″ width=”380″ height=”253″ /]
Sometimes a phone call can serve the purpose of a series of emails and get the job done faster … and sometimes it does not!
I believe that each and every staff should develop his/her own style of communication and should know when to use emails, phone calls, or call for a meeting. Such styles, or skills, are built with training and experience. Eventually, a staff should have a sense of how to get the job done and in the most efficient way.
For that, I cannot really understand managers who shout things like ‘Why did not you call him? do not send more emails … call him!!’ or ‘send an email and after 10 minutes, follow up with a phone call.’!!
Help your staff build their skills instead of telling them what to do!!
Posted in General Management | Tagged communication, communication via emails, enhancing employee productivity | 6 Comments »
[picapp align=”center” wrap=”false” link=”term=iPhone+4&iid=9199086″ src=”http://view1.picapp.com/pictures.photo/image/9199086/customer-displays-iphone/customer-displays-iphone.jpg?size=500&imageId=9199086″ width=”380″ height=”253″ /]I really hope some undercover Apple agents were present yesterday around the retail stores of the phone company that officially released the iPhone 4 in Saudi.
The scene of customers, all types of them: technical savvy, young, mature, students, and employees, all waiting in lines for hours to have the chance to get their hands on that magical device called iPhone 4 is an indication that Apple products are having a good opportunity to grow even bigger in the Saudi market (read more about it in this Saudi Mac post).
So the logical question in such situation would be: how come that a central country in the region with a huge fan base (and huge disposal income!) does not have a direct presence in the form of Apple Stores or at least a certified representative! To get an answer to such question, a one should be able to penetrate the Apple management minds, which is not a very wise nor save thing to do?!
By choosing not to be in the Saudi scene, Apple has allowed its products and its prices to be manipulated in the market and its fans to be taken advantage of (a friend told today that he knows someone who bought an iPhone4 before it was released in Saudi for about SAR7000 = $1866.5). And let’s not start talking about warranties and technical support.
Will Apple ever listen to its Saudi fans? lets wait and see …
Posted in Branding, Marketing, Saudi business | Tagged Apple, brand image, brand loyalty, customer experience, customer understanding, iPhone4 | Leave a Comment »
[picapp align=”center” wrap=”false” link=”term=Holiday+shopping&iid=230947″ src=”http://view.picapp.com/pictures.photo/image/230947/holidays-occasions/holidays-occasions.jpg?size=500&imageId=230947″ width=”500″ height=”333″ /]
One or two days to the Eid; hope you all have a happy holiday. And now be honest, how many times have you been out shopping for Eid?
There is something I am not quite getting about the retail markets in Saudi. Most of the countries around the world have organized sales seasons. You most probably heard about the US’s Black Friday and such. The concept behind such seasons is strictly simple; as holidays are getting nearer and people wants new stuff to own and to gift, prices are slashed to attract customers and drive sales. Simple, right!
Now when it comes to Saudi, it is a bit strange. Sales are coming on and off all the year long without prior notice. That’s till shopping season really starts which is mainly before Eid Al Fiter. Once started, prices hike almost exponentially!!! (if you want another point of view on the sales and shopping experience in Saudi, Jeddah in particular, you may want to check out this audio blog from That Jeddah Podcast.)
Not only that, there is another tactics usually used by most retailers in the market. Just before Ramadan and during its first days, the flashy signs of ‘sales up to 50%, 60%, 70%, etc’ start to pop up everywhere. Now, if you ever shopped during this period, you will know that it is a mess. You cannot find all the things you want. It’s old merchandise, few pieces, and out of stock sizes! And just few days before Eid, all the new lines of merchandise are offered and prices more than doubled.
The strange thing is that customers are adapting and getting along with these tactics or how can you explain the crowded malls just two days before Eid!!??
So when most countries choose sales seasons based on holidays, retailers around here choose to charge more … and more!
Posted in Marketing, Saudi business | Tagged Eid shopping, marketing strategy, Saudi business, Saudi consumer behavior | 10 Comments »
Days are passing by and the end of the year is around the corner. For a lot of companies and a lot of managers, these three last months of the year are so critical. It is time to revise plans, goals, budgets, and not to forget, performance appraisals are just around the corner.
In such heated situations, there are two types of leaders that you may encounter, or might be yourself:[picapp align=”right” wrap=”true” link=”term=clowns&iid=76347″ src=”http://view.picapp.com/pictures.photo/image/76347/clown-business-suit-with/clown-business-suit-with.jpg?size=500&imageId=76347″ width=”234″ height=”351″ /]
Look around you and check; which type of managers are you pumping into more often?
Posted in General Management, Leadership | Tagged business success, great leaders, management talent, modren management, Strategy | 6 Comments »