While on this trip we learned many new aspects of how the UAE performs business. One main idea that we’ve learned is how the UAE does not want to be one dimensional and over rely on their oil industry because they understand that they have a finite amount of it. Some of the main industries that they want to branch out to are manufacturing, automobile, and pharmaceuticals. Another aspect of business they preach a lot is the UAE goal of utilizing more sustainable and clean energy. They understand that much of their economy is driven by oil and want to make an effort to reduce their carbon footprint on the world. One example of this that we saw when we visited was a company called Yellow Door. This company would build solar panel systems for other companies that wanted to use renewable energy and lease the energy produced to the companies. This allowed firms that didn’t want to risk a large amount of capital for up front costs of solar panels to pay a monthly fee and still reap the benefits. Another thing that was very interesting during our time abroad was how welcoming many of the people there are. During one of our meetings we were told that many locals take pride in the hospitality that they provide to people who travel there. This makes sense because of the fact that a large portion of their economy is tourism. I believe that this trip has definitely changed my perspective on how both businesses and every day life is performed outside of the U.S. . Before traveling to the UAE I believed that business practices would be very similar to the U.S. but I was definitely mistaken. The biggest difference that I see is that most firms missions are geared towards the development and bettering of the UAE as a whole compared to U.S. business that are geared towards more broad problems.
