Improving the cooperation of a mixed Saudi Arabian-German project team

Seminar paper from the year 2014 in the subject Communications - Intercultural Communication, grade: 1,0, University of Applied Sciences Essen, language: English, abstract: This paper deals with the question how the cooperation of a mixed project team can be improved by an analysis of the cultural characteristics of the societies which are taking part in a project. Due to Saudi Arabias monopolistic position regarding fossil power resources, the country has a certain importance for the world economy. Furthermore, because of plans for massive investments in the public infrastructure, the energy and water supply systems as well in the education and health systems in the future, Saudi Arabia plays an important role as a business partner for German companies like the Siemens AG. Therefore the subject of this study will be the cultural disparities between the Saudi Arabian and German culture. As a first step, the Saudi Arabian Kingdom is compared briefly with the Federal Republic of Germany in a fact file. Afterwards, the term “culture” in general is elaborated. Then the cultural theory of Geert Hofstede is explained and applied to the two societies. As an inference of this analysis, several possible major improvements in the project team cooperation are described.