Executive Summary
This paper analyses the profile of Qatar briefly and also offers an analytical business analysis. The current changes in Qatar’s leadership have resulted in economic growth and development. As such, it has become one of the strongest economies in the world. The revenue obtained from the sale of crude oil and natural gas has been used to provide financing for various projects that have enabled the stabilization of Qatar’s economy.
Analysis of the Hofstede’s characteristics of Qatar reveals its potential as one of the most welcoming countries in the Middle East. Several societal changes have allowed dynamism as well as the integration of various cultural practices.
Introduction
Qatar is located in the Gulf region on the western coastline. Its geographical coordinates are 25 30N, 51 15E (Chaddock, 2006). It is an independent state and formerly a British protectorate. It is a small country of about 11, 586 sq.
Km that occupies a peninsula with Saudi Arabia as its only neighbor. Most of Qatar’s land is bordered by the gulf. Apart from Saudi Arabia, Bahrain is also a close neighbor of Qatar. The two countries are separated by the gulfs (Chaddock, 2006). Qatar is a monarchical state that has been under the leadership of the Al Thani family for almost two centuries. It is a member of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).
Social, Environment, and Demographics
Qatar has a flat terrain that is mostly rocky. Since most of its land is surrounded by the sea, it has numerous beaches (Chaddock, 2006). It has one of the best tourist beach hotels in the world (Oxford Business Group, 2012). Qatar is mostly arid with minimal vegetation cover.
There is minimal wildlife in Qatar. Agricultural practices are very minimal in this country due to the hostile environmental conditions (Central Intelligence Agency, 2020). However, the available agricultural practices are generally done by irrigation.
The population of Qatar is currently approximated to be above 1.5 million (United Nations Statistics Division, 2020). This is a tremendous population growth bearing in mind that 70 years ago, the population was only 70,000. The native Qataris of this population are about 350,000 (United Nations Statistics Division, 2020). Half of the population in Qatar is located in Doha, the capital city of Qatar.
Other major towns in Qatar include Al Wakra, Dukhan, Ras Laffan, Al Khor, and Masaieed. The population distribution by the year 2008 was 20% Indians, 20% Qatari, 20% Arabs, 13% Nepali, 10% Filipino, 5% Sri Lankan, and 7% Pakistani (United Nations Statistics Division, 2020). Most of Qatar citizens are between 25 and 54 years. This accounts for more than half of the entire population.
The national language is Arabic while English is the most commonly used second language (Central Intelligence Agency, 2020). The most dominant religion in Qatar is Islam, forming close to 79% of the population. Christians form about 8.5% of the population.
Qatar has a rich historical heritage dating back to 4000BC. It is well known for the fishing expeditions that have been conducted in the country for many centuries (Chaddock, 2006). Before Islam religion came into existence in Qatar, it was controlled by foreigners for many years.
Qatar is one of the oldest Islamic nations in the world. British influence over Qatar reduced significantly after the end of the Second World War. By 1971, Qatar attained its independence (Chaddock, 2006). Qatar’s economic status was in mayhem until the year 1995, when the son of the then ruler overturned him. Qatar under the leadership of the current Emir underwent several social and economic changes that rejuvenated the current economic developments.
Economy
Qatar was dependent on fishing and pearling as the major economic activities for many years. However, the discovery of vast oil and gas resources changed the economic status of Qatar (BBC, 2018). These hydrocarbons were discovered in the 1940s, and the revenues derived from oil and gas trade has revolutionized the economy of Qatar from a poor country to one of the fastest growing economies (BBC, 2018).
Qatar has one of the highest per capita incomes in the world. The current economic status of Qatar makes it be one of the strongest economies in the Middle East region. The economic developments are dependent on the revenues collected from the sale of petroleum. It is one of the largest exporters of LNG in the world.
Qatar is currently investing heavily in education. It is developing the education city (Chaddock, 2006). This is being done with the aim of diversifying the economic activities in the country. In addition to educational developments, Qatar has invested in technological research. This has been witnessed with the progress in the planned science and technology incentives.
Apart from the petroleum products extraction industries, other industries such as fertilizer, ammonia, cement, and ship repair are in operation in Qatar. Currently, agricultural practices are on the increase in Qatar. Some of the available agricultural products include poultry, beef, fruits, fish and dairy products (Chaddock, 2006).
The political and legal environment
Qatar is a supreme monarchy that was established in 1825 (BBC, 2018). This monarchy is headed by the supreme chancellor. The leader has a council of ministers which comprises the ministers and the Prime Ministers (BBC, 2018). The council of ministers is appointed and dismissed by the supreme chancellor. This council forms the government of Qatar. It also formulates laws that are then passed to the Emir for confirmation (Chaddock, 2006).
Qatari legislation is based on Islamic law (Nations Online, 2020). The law is applied to inheritance, criminal acts, and family law. The sharia courts are no longer in use. However, the current law, which is a mixture of Islamic and civil law, has most of its legislation adopted from Islamic law.
It is generally a patriarchal society where women are rarely used as witnesses in cases (Nations Online, 2020). Qataris are allowed to consume alcohol. Nevertheless, there is regulation limiting the areas where alcohol can be found to be specific government facilities and licensed social places (Nations Online, 2020).
Hofstede’s Qatar Characteristics
Qatar has one of the most diversified societies in the Arab region. Several sociopolitical changes witnessed in Qatar makes its rating to be different compared to other Arabic countries (Nations Online, 2020). The power distance in Qatar is the lowest compared to the other Arab countries.
The less powerful people in Qatar have the highest probability of operating freely with minimal influence from powerful people compared to other Arab countries (Al Dulaimi & Bin Sailan, 2011). However, compared to Canada, the levels of free operation in Canada are more advanced than Qatar due to advanced reforms and democracy (Oxford Business Group, 2012).
Compared to other Arabic countries Qatar is a more individualistic society. Nevertheless, the levels of individualism witnessed in Canada are very high compared to Qatar. This difference is associated with the type of state since Qatar is an absolute monarchy, while Canada is a constitutional monarchy.
The workers in Qatar are more concerned with individual success rather than group performance (Al Dulaimi & Bin Sailan, 2011). The changes taking place in the social setup of the Qatari state has resulted in the appreciation of the roles women play in nation building.
Uncertainty avoidance is very high in Qatar compared to Canada. Most of the companies that operate in Qatar are fully regulated by the government. The government has in most cases withdrawn licenses for several companies without legal explanations.
Most technological investments are highly suspect and therefore take a longer time to obtain operational licensing. The government is currently adjusting regulations in an attempt of addressing this disparity (Al Dulaimi & Bin Sailan, 2011).
The long term orientation is higher in Qatar compared to Canada. Most Qatari citizens prefer to maintain social classes the levels of interactions between the rich and the poor are very minimal. The Canadians generally live to interact freely as equals (Al Dulaimi & Bin Sailan, 2011).
Prospects of trade
Qatar has witnessed sporadic economic development in the last two decades (Oxford Business Group, 2012). Several international companies have heavily invested in infrastructural development of Qatar. However, agribusiness is the least exploited sector in Qatar. Over 70% of the food consumed in Qatar is sourced externally (Oxford Business Group, 2012). As much as the country is arid, the available infrastructural developments have opened up the lands for agricultural practices (Oxford Business Group, 2012).
Any industry that will venture into agricultural investments has the highest probability of obtaining high returns to investments due to the availability of a ready market for the products.
The current government policies allow for the importation of labor; these will allow for access to cheap labor from the international market. The current technological investments in Qatar will ensure enough water and farm machinery available (Oxford Business Group, 2012).
References
Al Dulaimi, S. H. & Bin Sailan, S. (2011). Examining National Culture of Qatar. Australian Journal of Basic and Applied Sciences, 5(10), 727-735.
BBC (2018). Qatar country profile. Web.
Central Intelligence Agency (2020). The World Fact Book: Qatar. Web.
Chaddock, D. (2006). Qatar. New York, NY: Stacey Publishing.
Nations Online (2020). Qatar. Web.
Oxford Business Group (2012). The Report: Qatar 2011. Oxford: Oxford Business Group.
United Nations Statistics Division (2020). Qatar. Web.