Challenges in establishing a foreign business in Qatar: the case of the education sector

It is widely agreed that innovative organizations increase their competitiveness in foreign markets through services and product innovation. Organizations that aim to escape away from cost leadership strategies are in immediate need of applying a business hybrid offerings strategy which are defined according to (Ulaga and Reinartz, 2011) as combining one or more services as well as goods in order to provide as well as create more benefits for their customers, which consequently counts for the majority of an organizations revenue stream. In order to achieve this objective organizations are highly required to adopt appropriate organizational structures that are strong and well established when expanding their operations into new economies such as the educational sector in the State of Qatar where the business eco-system is characterized by a complex value creation process and network of production systems. In order to achieve this objective it is argued that international managers and business leaders must identify as well as understand the main obstacles and challenges that they are likely to encounter before and after expanding their operations into the international marketplace such as the educational sector in the State of Qatar. Various objectives have been initiated in this research in order to achieve the aim of this research. Firstly, to identify the main challenges and obstacles faced by international managers and business leaders before and after expanding their operations into the educational sector in the State of Qatar. Secondly, to identify the main critical success factors for successful international businesses establishing inward international investments into the educational sector in the State of Qatar. Thirdly, to critically review the main financial and non-financial impacts of the identified challenges and obstacles from an investor’s international business perspective on their foreign operations. Moreover, to critically evaluate the main policies related to foreign international investments initiated by the government of Qatar.The outcomes of this research revealed that foreign investors encounter various challenges (i.e. organizational as well as institutional challenges) that are likely to affect their process of creating a business hybrid offerings model for example lack of understanding of market imperfections, lack of competitive advantages, lack of local tacit knowledge, lack of multinational foreign direct investment (FDI) experience, lack of management expertise, lack of abundant production factor, lack of specialization, lack of host country resources allocation, poor market assessment, lack of understanding of the process of internationalization, lack of innovative products and services, lack of understanding of specific locational advantages, lack of understanding of internationalization factors, lack of understanding of cultural factors, lack of understanding of economic factors, lack of understanding of political factors, lack of understanding of social, legal, environmental, as well as technological factors, lack of organizational strategy, poor customer equity plan, poor understanding and planning of a market-orientation plan, lack of local market efficiency rational, as well as poor understanding of internationalization obstacles. Consequently, a framework has been developed in this research in order for foreign international managers as well as business leaders to adapt when expanding their operations into the educational sector in the State of Qatar in order to ensure a successful business performance.