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Int. J. Entrepreneurship and Innovation Management, Vol. 12, No. 1, 2010 107
Copyright © 2010 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd.
Islam, entrepreneurship and business values in the
Middle East
David Pistrui*
Illinois Institute of Technology,
Stuart School of Business,
3424 South State Street Suite 400, Chicago, IL 60616, USA
Fax: 312-567-3950 E-mail: pistrui@iit.edu
*Corresponding author
Josiane Fahed-Sreih
Department of Economics and Management,
School of Business,
Lebanese American University,
P.O. Box 36 Byblos, Lebanon
Fax: 961-9-547256 E-mail: jsreih@lau.edu.lb
Abstract: Entrepreneurship has become a defining business trend around the
world, especially in economies transitioning towards free market systems. The
Middle East, specifically the Gulf Region is a growing, lucrative marketplace
that has captured the interest of the world for political, economic and cultural
reasons. This research explores the impact of Islam on the cultural,
geo-political and economic dimensions which shape and influence
entrepreneurship and private enterprise development in the Middle East.
Keywords: entrepreneurship; Islam; culture; Middle East; family firm;
business.
Reference to this paper should be made as follows: Pistrui, D. and
Fahed-Sreih, J. (2010) ‘Islam, entrepreneurship and business values in the
Middle East’, Int. J. Entrepreneurship and Innovation Management, Vol. 12,
No. 1, pp.107–118.
Biographical notes: David Pistrui is the Director of Entrepreneurship at
Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT), Chicago, IL. He holds the Coleman
Foundation Chair in Entrepreneurship and is an Industry Professor of Business
in the Stuart School of Business at IIT. With over 25 years of business
experience, he also serves as the Managing Director of Acumen Dynamics,
LLC, a strategy based education, training and research firms that focuses on
practical knowledge and skills that help organisations align vision and strategy
with execution and performance. He is the author of over 40 publications,
spanning from scholarly journals to the popular press.
Josiane Fahed-Sreih is an Associate Professor of Management in the
Department of Economics and Management in the School of Business at the
Lebanese American University. She is the Founder and currently the Director
of the Institute of Family and Entrepreneurial Business at the Lebanese
American University. She is the 2007 winner of the International Award on
Family Business bestowed by the Family Firm Institute in the US Lebanese
American University.
108 D. Pistrui and J. Fahed-Sreih
1 Introduction and overview
Entrepreneurship has become a defining business trend around the world, especially in
economies transitioning towards free market systems. The Middle East, specifically the
Gulf Region is a growing, lucrative marketplace that has captured the interest of the
world for political, economic and cultural reasons. Religion is a driving force exerting
great influence on economic development and business performance. Islam is often
perceived as an impediment to business development and entrepreneurship, yet most
Islamic economists view markets as the normal vehicle for conducting transactions.
This research explores the impact of Islam on the cultural, geo-political and economic
dimensions which shape and influence entrepreneurship and private enterprise
development in the Middle East (see Figure 1). Our analysis is organised into five
sections. Following the introduction the second section provides an overview of Islam.
The pillars of the Islamic faith are investigated to establish an understanding of how
religion shapes Arab culture in the Middle East. The third section focuses on Islamic
culture and how it shapes Arab business values. The role of family and gender issues will
be addressed. The fourth section looks at the influence of Islam on the geo-political
landscape. Islamic politics are an important force shaping entrepreneurship in the Middle
East.
The fifth section looks at Islam and the economy in relationship to entrepreneurship
and private enterprise development. The Gulf Region is experiencing a new economic era
with increasing interest in how entrepreneurship can be a socio-economic growth engine.
As the region strives to diversify their economies away from oil dependency it seems
certain that private enterprise growth is essential. This section provides insights into how
Islam influences and shapes the traits and characteristics of Middle Eastern
entrepreneurship. Lastly, some concluding thoughts and a call for more research will be
set forth.
Figure 1 Impact of Islam on society in the Middle East (see online version for colours)
Islam, entrepreneurship and business values in the Middle East 109
2 Islam the faith and the faithful
The Muslims define Islam around five pillars that form the core obligations and spiritual
beliefs (see Table 1). One significant distinction of Islam is how the religion categorises
human actions. The majority of religions divide human actions into three categories:
commanded, permitted and forbidden. In Islam there are five categories and a more
complex approach including: commanded, recommended, permitted, disapproved and
forbidden. In Islam, those who do not accept Muhammad as the Prophet and the Koran as
God’s scripture are unbelievers.
Table 1 The five pillars of Islam
1 The creed
The creed is based on two very clear beliefs:
1 There is no God but Allah and that Muhammad is the prophet of Allah
2 Muhammad is God’s final prophet to human kind, after whom there will be no other
2 Prayer
There are two types of prayers central to Muslims:
1 Salat, ritual prayers prescribed at specific times in particular forms
2 Du’a, a personal prayer or invocation addressed by the believer to God
3 Charity
The third pillar called zakat relates to ‘alms giving and social welfare’:
! Conceived as a tax paid by Muslims to the community, which is used to help the needy
! Early social security system that emerged into a complex global system of charitable
foundations and institutions
4 Fasting
The fourth pillar relates to primarily to the Holy month of Ramadan and abstention:
! Fasting from dawn to dusk for the entire month as prescribed by the Koran and
following the solar calendar
! Abstention from certain food and drink, tobacco, sexual relations, alcohol and pork
5 Pilgrimage
The fifth pillar relates to the obligation of all Muslims who are able to make a pilgrimage to
Mecca for Haji:
! Once in a life requirement to make a pilgrimage to the holy cities of Mecca and
Medina and engage
! Two types of pilgrims, scholars and merchants centred around experiences connected
with knowledge and contacts
Source: Lewis and Churchill (2009)
Unlike the Ten Commandments where three (banning polytheism, idolatry and
blasphemy) things are related to man’s duty to God, in Islam, four of the five pillars of
faith are concerned with belief and worship.
Islam is the second largest religion in the world. Estimates of the total number of
Muslims in the world vary greatly ranging from 800 million to well over one billion. At a
level of 1.2 billion, they represent about 22% of the world’s population (Ontario
Consultants on Religious Tolerance, 2008; Fattah and Butterfield, 2006). Only
110 D. Pistrui and J. Fahed-Sreih
Christianity is larger, with 33% of the world’s inhabitants. Countries with majority
Muslim populations can be found across north central Africa, through the Middle East
and into Asia (see Table 2). There are large groups of Muslims living and working
around the world and especially in Europe and the North America.
Table 2 Cross-section of countries with Muslim majority
Country size Middle East Africa Asia
Iran – 65.9 M Egypt – 81.7 M Bangladesh – 153.5 M
98% Muslim 90% Muslim 83% Muslim
89% Shi’a Majority Sunni
Large
9% Sunni
United Arab Emirates – 4.6 M Libya – 6.1 M Turkmenistan – 5.2 M
96% Muslim 97% Sunni 89% Muslim
84% Sunni
Medium
16% Shi’a
Bahrain – 718 K Djibouti – 506 K Maldives – 386 K
81.2% Muslim 94% Muslim 100% Sunni Muslim
Shi’a majority
Small
Sunni minority
Source: CIA World Factbook (2008)
As Table 2 illustrates there are two primary groups, the Sunni and the Shi’a Muslims.
These groups go back to the beginnings of Islam and were in its origins purely political
[Lewis and Churchill, (2009), p.61]. They have evolved in two distinct factions that
continue to shape Islam and the Muslim culture. These groups have a tradition of
competing for the leadership of the Muslim community. Overtime some differences in of
law and doctrine have evolved, but nothing of significant. The most significant difference
has been a culture of dominance and subordination between the Sunni and Shi’a groups.
Over time this has created social hardship and psychological pain for people of both
groups.
There is another small group of Muslims known as the Kharijites who differ in their
interpretation of the hereditary succession rejecting the caliphates of Medina, Damascus
and Bagdad. The Ibadi movement within the Kharijites group is the predominate form of
Islam in Oman and is also found in East and North Africa [Lewis and Churchill, (2009),
p.66].
Only Iran and Iraq have Shi’s majorities, with the Gulf states, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon
and Syria having Sunni majorities. The Kingdom of Bahrain is the only Arab Gulf state
to have a Shi’a majority, but be ruled by a Sunni royal family [England, (2008), p.7].
The Muslim faith encompasses considerable portions of two continents claims over
one billion racially and linguistically diverse followers. Given the complexity and
geographical dispersion of Muslims our analysis will focus on the cradle of Islam, the
Middle East and in particular the Gulf states region.
Islamic culture considers lawful personal effort as a legitimate way of gaining money.
Arabs are taught to respect money, but money to Muslims is not considered valuable in
and of its self. Islam stresses working collectively rather than individually creating an
Islam, entrepreneurship and business values in the Middle East 111
affiliation orientation. However, free market enterprise and business transactions are
encouraged by Islam (Creevey, 1985) Researchers Vogel and Hayes (1998) pointed out
that in Islam some fundamental concepts associated with hard work and legitimate
business operations are acceptable forms of behaviour.
3 Muslim culture in the Middle East and Gulf states
The cultures of the Middle East are unique. Guided by Islam and governed by the
decedents of royal tribes who have emerged as Kings, Princes or dictators (or a
combination of all), there is a prevailing tendency toward fatalism. An example of this
fatalism is depicted in the expression ‘insha’ Allah’, translated as ‘Allah (God) willing’.
This expression has also associated with ‘if the boss wills it’ [Rice, (1999), p.346]. Allah
is often used to explain uncertainties in life and sometimes reposition decision making
(Welsh and Raven, 2006). In the Gulf region traditional Muslim culture is being greatly
impacted by population growth and the influx of people from outside the region.
However, traditions run deep and unlike Jews and Hindus both Christians and
Muslims view their truths as universal, exclusive and final and that they should bring
them to all human kind, overcoming and removing or destroying what obstacles may be
in the way. Traditional diversity, within limits, was acceptable and beneficial. Until
modern times Islam had no constituted or empowered authorities to define what was
correct or incorrect belief and behaviours. Consequently there are often problems with
misconceptions and interpretations. For example the virtues of one value system can
often be a shortcoming of another.
Muslim culture has segmented into three ideological groups, traditionalists,
modernists and secularists. Traditionalists gain respectability through the strict following
and interpretation of Islam’s original leaders. They believe that anything not established
in Islam should not be followed, that Islam is complete and perfect and failure to adopt
this perspective will lead to castigation (Jibril, 2003).
Modernists search for approaches and values that are compatible with Islam. They
believe that Muslims can learn whatever is good for themselves and society regardless of
the origins. For example modernists may read and accept parts of the work of thinkers
such as Darwin, Marx, Kant and Freud, because in their interpretations, not everything
they said was wrong and in violation with Islam (Fattah and Butterfield, 2006).
Secularists believe that Islam or any religion, for that matter, can, when necessary be
used to justify any form of government or economic system. The underlying assumption
driving secularism is that Muslims need to follow the paths of the most successful,
systems if Islam is to surpass them. This belief includes reading, understanding and
adapting components of non-Muslim Western philosophers such as Locke, Machiavelli,
Voltaire and Rousseau.
As one might expect the convergence of these three Muslim ideologies creates great
debate, conflict and confrontation within the Islamic world and around the globe. As
Islam struggles with the challenges of integrating and adapting to changing mindsets and
cultures Muslim value systems continue to differ significantly from Christian beliefs.
The Muslim and Christian value systems often have contrasting and conflicting views
and interpretations (see Table 3). This result is misconceptions around social, cultural,
political and economic life.
112 D. Pistrui and J. Fahed-Sreih
Table 3 Muslim and Christian value standards
Muslim value standards Christian value standards
! Thrift equals avarice ! Thrift equals sensibility
! Generosity equals extravagance ! Generosity equals kindness
! Courtesy equals subservience ! Courtesy equals respect
! Loyalty equals nepotism ! Loyalty equals partnership
Source: Lewis and Churchill (2009)
The values associated with loyalty and nepotism are especially important to this analysis
as they are embedded in the Muslim and Arab cultures socioeconomic and political
systems. At the root of loyalty and nepotism is the deep rooted and continuing tradition of
tribalism. Tribalism in the form of hamula continues to dominate Middle Easter culture
today.
A hamula is a group of descendents connected to a shared ancestor typically over five
to seven generations who live in close proximity in urban or rural settings. Loyalty to
family and kinship is a fundamental and traditional moral obligation in Islam. Those in
positions of power and influence are expected to use their rank to provide socioeconomic
benefit to family and kinship as part of their moral and social values and commitment to
their faith.
Culture has been found to be a major situational variable in understanding
entrepreneurship across cultures (Fahed-Sreih, et. al., 2009; Pistrui, et al., 2006).
Entrepreneurship is embedded in a complex network of social relationships often tided to
kinship and family. The Arab Gulf states share many societal norms and practices that
stem from their religious, social, economic and political characteristics which shape
entrepreneurship and enterprise development.
Arab culture, the Muslim religion and political leadership are an interesting and
important model of the complex relationships and practices that influence
entrepreneurship and economic development in the Middle East. The next section
provides some insights into the geo-political fabric of the Middle East and Gulf states.
4 The geo-political landscape in the Middle East
The geo-political landscape of the Middle East and Gulf states is unique. Unlike in many
Western countries there is no separation of ‘church and state’, an example being the
Islamic Republic of Iran. Across the region there is a range of dictatorships (Iran and
Libya), Kingdoms (Saudi Arabia, Bahrain), States (Qatar, Kuwait) and Emirates (Dubai,
Abu Dhabi). All of these countries are being governed by ruling families including King
Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud in Saudi Arabia, King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa in
Bahrain, Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum in UAE and Sheikh Hamad bin
Khalifa Al Thani in Qatar.
Governments across the region are very centralised and managed by family members
and trusted people loyal to the regime. Arab leaders dislike federalism and feel that
decentralising power is very risky to their control (Smiley, 2008). Yet in the UAE there
are some questionably federal experiments. In the UAE seven families control the
Emirates. The richer two Dubai and Abu Dhabi dominate a brokered deal to help the less
Islam, entrepreneurship and business values in the Middle East 113
fortunate five. Yemen has struggled to bring together the north and south together with
very little success. Tribes and local clans still dominate much of the political process
today.
What all these countries have in common is a challenging set of geo-political issues to
address (see Table 4). According to McKinsey, the Gulf economies need to create
280,000 jobs a year to employ the young people graduating from schools and universities
(Economist, 2008). The major challenge is that students do not graduate with the skills to
work and compete in the marketplace. Plus, as McKinsey reports a quarter of native
employees in Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and the UAE fail to show up for work
(Economist, 2008). What is really called for is a change in mindset, which will take time.
One primary ways to change the region’s mindset is through education. This is at the
forefront of all Arab nations. Qatar has been especially aggressive here. Education City,
on the outskirts of Doha has approximately 2,000 students enrolled in branches of six US
universities including Northwestern, Texas A&M, Weill Cornell Medical College,
Virginia Commonwealth, Carnegie Mellon and Georgetown (Devi, 2008a).
Saudi Arabia is also making significant investment into education. King Abdullah
University of Science and Technology (KAUST) is being built in Saudi Arabia as an
international, graduate-level research university dedicated to inspiring a new age of
scientific achievement in the Kingdom. KAUST is the realisation of a decades-long
vision of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud
and boasts a multi billion dollar endowment. (www.kaust.edu.sa, 2008)
Table 4 Geo-political forces shaping the landscape in the Middle East
! Youth and job creation*
Over 180 million young Arabs in the region who will be entering the workforce – Arab Business
Council report to World Economic Forum, 2005
! Education reform*
Need to reform educational system in order to teach the skills required by modern economies –
education key to make youth the driving force of the economy
! Gender emancipation**
The empowerment of women is at the forefront of the debate over the future of the Arab world –
there has been a dramatic shift in Arab attitudes over the past decade
! Socioeconomic diversification***
Need to create a large-scale platform to encourage public participation by starting new
businesses – focused attempt to diversify and create jobs
! Oil and energy*
Debate and often disagreement about how to manage oil and gas production levels – exploring
how to diversify into the production of renewable energy sources
Source: *Saudi Business Focus (2007a, 2007b, 2007c, 2007d);
**Financial Times (2007),
***Javed (2008); Gulf Business (2008a).
The limited participation of women in the work force is a consequence of economic and
social forces that pre date the oil era (Dechant and Lamky, 2005). Requiring woman to
cover their entire bodies, preventing them from driving a car and separating students by
gender are not mandated by Qur’anic law but culturally driven practices in some parts of
the Gulf (Ruff, 1998).
114 D. Pistrui and J. Fahed-Sreih
The Arab world is making strides but has not been able to leverage the full potential
of women in industry and public service. Challenges facing Arab women in business
include (Gulf Business, 2008b):
! lack of gender sensitivity and hinders woman’s economic participation
! women still face gender-based discrimination in hiring and non-wage benefits
! the private sector displays preferential treatment for male employees, partly due to
labour regulations
! continued perception that women’s income is secondary to the household.
Although gender emancipation is progress in the Arab world much more is needed. Some
notable improvements are taking place in Kuwait where women have the right to vote
and be elected to legislative posts. Another example in Kuwait is in the area of
entrepreneurship where woman are leading both small, midsize and lager enterprises and
serving on the boards of banks (Al Salem, 2007). Bahrain is also quite progressive with
women serving on boards of family businesses and starting and serving as managing
directors in both the private and public sectors.
Female entrepreneurs and industry leaders are a relatively small club. The majority
of successful female entrepreneurs are primarily children of the privileged from
family businesses or members of the royal families. What is obvious is that change is
coming, but very slowly. Organisations such as the London based Arab International
Women’s Forum are calling for a focus on training and to help women gain the
confidence and to help them create small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs)
(Khalaf, 2007).
Socioeconomic diversification is critical to the stability of the Middle East Gulf
States. Government leaders face three primary challenges:
1 which sectors to focus on
2 the role of the private sector
3 building a workforce to meet the needs of socioeconomic diversification.
There is an increasing need to foster development of the private sector to meet
the growing demands for certain services like healthcare. In Dubai the government
is challenged by the rise in healthcare costs and rates of chronic disease and is turning
to the private sector to solve problems and meet the growing markets demands
(Bladd, 2008).
In Saudi Arabia the expanding non-oil sector is increasingly becoming the driver of
economic growth, most notably manufacturing, telecoms and financial services
(Big, 2008). In Bahrain the crown prince Sheikh Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa is leading
a drive to specialise in niche areas of financial services such as hedge funds, Islamic
banking and insurance. Abu Dhabi is experimenting with a more interesting future where
in February 2008 kicked off Masdar Institute of Science and Technology, the first step in
an intuitive to foster renewable energy technologies, from conception to manufacture
(Economist, 2008).
Islam, entrepreneurship and business values in the Middle East 115
5 The economy, entrepreneurship and family business in the Middle East
The Gulf states have been greatly influenced by oil reserves and the revenues they
generate. To a large extent their economies are being built around expatriate workers and
Western technology. Yet, Arab leaders across the region recognise the need to empower
entrepreneurship, the development of sustainable SMEs and help the well-established
family businesses navigate succession and prosper into the next generation. Some
countries from the region including Qatar, UAE and Bahrain are highly competitive with
healthy macroeconomic environments, strong public institution and governments
committed to change and modernisation (Blake and Lopez-Claros, 2005).
One of the most unique and distinctive developments in the Arab world is the
emergence and growth of Islamic finance products and services. Islam forbids the lending
or borrowing of money with interest. As a result an entire industry is being created
around Shari’a compliant products including mortgages to support home ownership,
construction financing and the creation of local stock markets. The basic principle of
Islamic finance is risk-sharing. Someone invests $1000 dollars in your enterprise and the
takes a share of your profit or loss.
Built on this one simple principle Islamic finance seems to work very well. Shari’a
compliant banks are also being developed outside the region as well. Currently the UK
has five Islamic banks and a growing number of other banks such as HSBC, Lloyds TBS
offer Islamic mortgages (Oakley, 2008).
Although interest is forbidden profit taking is not only permitted, it is praised, even
extolled, in many of the hadiths, saying attributed to the Prophet: “The best gains from
honourable trade and from a man’s work with his own hands”, and “To seek lawful gain
is the duty of very Muslim” (Lewis and Churchill, 2009). Clearly entrepreneurship is
permitted and encouraged in the Muslim religion.
The family and its kinship network are one of the central elements powering the
Middle East socioeconomic system. Family businesses are the engine that drives
socioeconomic development and wealth creation around the world and entrepreneurship
is a key driver of family businesses. Family and closely held businesses tend to be
entrepreneurial led, owner managed enterprises where the family or a small group has
financial and managerial control. The ability to create and foster an entrepreneurial
mindset across generations is a major element of family business continuity and longevity
and is instrumental in effective strategic execution, innovation and growth (Pistrui, 2005).
Although they are the backbone of all market and most developing economies family
businesses are delicate beings. Entrepreneurial led family firms have only an average life
span of 24 years. Only 30% survive into the second generation, 10% into the third and a
mere 3% into the fourth (Pistrui, 2005). Over the next decade approximately 43% of
family firms will change hands representing the largest intergenerational transfer of
wealth in recent economic history. Given the prominent socioeconomic role that family
and closely held businesses play it is no wonder that they are gaining the attention and
admiration of service providers, academics and the media.
Throughout the Middle East family and closely held companies dominate the private
sector economy. Estimates are that 85%–90% of all commercial activities in the Gulf
region are controlled by families (Gulf Business, 2008a). The majority of family
enterprises, as in most developing economies, are young emerging SMEs in the first and
second generation. In SMEs the family plays a leading role, often serving as the primary
116 D. Pistrui and J. Fahed-Sreih
source of start-up capital, not to mention low-cost labour and know-how. The tradition of
involving younger brothers in the start-up of a business suggests that there could be a
large number of sibling partnerships across the region. As in other developing economies
SMEs are being called upon by local governments to create jobs and foster social stability
in an effort to promote socio-economic growth. For example in the Kingdom of Bahrain
and the UAE, especially Dubai entrepreneurial led family centred start ups, including
women owned businesses are being encouraged.
In the Middle East extended family networks own and operate most large private
sector companies as well. Many of these companies have evolved into diversified global
corporations with business units in a variety of different activities including light
manufacturing, shipping, transportation, travel, importing, retail, automobiles and
construction. Examples include Al Zayani Investments, a third generation Bahraini
company, the Almajdouie Group, established in 1965 as a transport company in the KSA
and the Jashanmal National Company who in 1919 opened its first retail store in Iraq and
has subsequently expanded across the region. Larger family businesses are also being
called upon by local governments to create jobs and stimulate socio-economic growth.
Challenged with small and limited markets many Middle East family companies are
branching out across the region and in some instances to other parts of the globe.
As a result of changing socioeconomic conditions many are asking what makes
Middle Eastern family businesses unique. The answer is threefold. First is the new and
emerging business climate across the region. Given the need for regional socioeconomic
growth and development governments are placing greater emphasis on building and
supporting private sector development. This includes the privatisation of some state
enterprises and the establishment of support institutions such as the Bahrain Development
Bank’s Bahrain Business Incubator Centre and UAE’s Indus Entrepreneurs Organisation
initiatives.
The second factor is the unique ownership and governance practices. This includes
the availability of external capital in combination with the reform of accounting and
compliance systems. These changes are impacting ownership and control of the
businesses as a growing number of family businesses go public to secure external funds
for expansion and growth.
The third factor is the leadership and mindset associated with multigenerational
continuity and business succession. This can be seen in the development and
professionalisation of family and non-family management practices.
Today there is a new found respect for family businesses in the Middle East. Family
businesses are a deeply rooted tradition in the region and although they were largely
overshadowed by the discovery of oil the ongoing call for the development of the private
sector is encouraging the revival of entrepreneurial led family and closely held
businesses. The availability of large pools of capital in combination with the need for
business growth and regional development are encouraging new venture creation,
business continuity and succession strategies and the development of more professional
managerial practices.
Several support institutions and specialised programs are being established
throughout the region to help family businesses with their many unique challenges. This
includes the Family Business Academy, a Saudi Arabian not-for-profit organisation that
provides education and assistance programs. Academic institutions are also playing a
leading role. An example is the Lebanese American University’s Institute of Family and
Entrepreneurial Business. The Middle East Economic Digest (MEED) has also
Islam, entrepreneurship and business values in the Middle East 117
recognised the needs of the region’s family enterprises with the establishment of an
annual Family Business Conference, which brings together family businesses and global
experts for dialog and learning.
6 Conclusions
Entrepreneurial led family businesses are the key to unlocking the region’s potential.
Family firms tend to be more long term oriented. This policy includes an emphasis on
long term relationships and investment strategies. They also take a keen interest in their
employees and tend to be community-minded often supporting local philanthropic
causes. Family firms typically create unique loyalties and traditions that can both support
and inhibit business growth and change. Given the unique opportunities and profound
challenges the Middle East and Gulf region faces both entrepreneurship and family
business development need to become an even greater focal point of governments,
service providers, academics and the media.
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