Wishing you all the best

Our presentations are complete!   We had a great farewell "local" dinner in Dubai. Now it is time to say goodbye.  From all of us...

 Team 1: Giulia, Yadov, Cheryl, and Robert

Team 2:  Ryutaro, Sunil, Rosa, Angela, and Yves

Team 3:  Seongsoo, Deb, Thomas, Asuka, and Karthik

Wishing you all the best!

#ibmcsc  #uae #dot

Souqs, souqs and more souqs

It has been fun to explore the souqs located in Sharjah and Dubai.  I have to admit, I was not prepared for the sensory overload from these visits.  From Hollywood's representations of these markets, I expected to find vendors displaying their wares in the streets.  I did not expect to find rows of shops squeezed together, overflowing with merchandise.  I also did not realize that souks specialize in product categories.  For instance, there are souqs for

 nuts,

 spices,

                                                                                   fish,

                  

                       fruit,

      

                                                         pets,

                                                                  and  livestock.

I think you get the point by now.  Shopping malls are organized much like souqs.  Services, such as tailors and cell phones, are grouped together on a floor, women's fashion on another, with electronics in a separate area.  Giulia has noticed that stores along streets are organized along the same concept.  For instance, in Sharjah there is a place known as cell phone roundabout.  IBM is located in Internet City.  Global Knowledge is part of Knowledge City, etc.

Here ends our shopping excursions for the day.  I hope you enjoyed it.   

#ibmcsc  #uae

                                                                                     

                                                                                

                                                            

Our final week

The Sharjah e-Government  hosted a traditional Sharjah breakfast for us on Thursday at the Palace of Cultural affairs.

A traditional Sharjah breakfast. 

The waiting room is filled with ornate chandeliers, window coverings, and furniture.

The Sheik and his entourage stay in this room prior to concerts, plays, and cultural events.

Today, Sunday, we begin our final week in the UAE.  (Our four weeks have passed quickly!)   All teams are working diligently on our project recommendations for our Wednesday deadline.

Our team met with two professors from the College of Business earlier today.  They shared research on the topics of e-Government services, e-commerce, and e-loyalty with us.  Mid-day we received an additional 700 results from our first survey!  (Time to redo our analytics!)  By late mid-day, we were informed of a schedule delay for the results from our second survey.   The answers about which marketing techniques that appeal to students in this region will not arrive until Tuesday.  What is a project with a few challenges? 

#ibmcsc  #uae