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    c4 Case Study

    Uploaded by

    Duong Quoc Nhat Quynh (K17CT)
    The document discusses Turkey's push to join the European Union and debates around whether Islam and Western-style capitalism are compatible, pointing to the example of Kayseri region in central Turkey which has thriving Muslim businesses despite holding traditional Islamic values. While some attribute the region's success to an entrepreneurial spirit in Islam, the managing director of the largest furniture company in the region says globalization is the main driving force, with locals now prioritizing business over religion and seeing the Western world as a model. However, the low participation of women in the local workforce is cited as a potential weakness of the emerging Islamic business model in the region.

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    c4 Case Study

    Uploaded by

    Duong Quoc Nhat Quynh (K17CT)
    78 views2 pages
    The document discusses Turkey's push to join the European Union and debates around whether Islam and Western-style capitalism are compatible, pointing to the example of Kayseri region in central Turkey which has thriving Muslim businesses despite holding traditional Islamic values. While some attribute the region's success to an entrepreneurial spirit in Islam, the managing director of the largest furniture company in the region says globalization is the main driving force, with locals now prioritizing business over religion and seeing the Western world as a model. However, the low participation of women in the local workforce is cited as a potential weakness of the emerging Islamic business model in the region.

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    The document discusses Turkey's push to join the European Union and debates around whether Islam and Western-style capitalism are compatible, pointing to the example of Kayseri region in central Turkey which has thriving Muslim businesses despite holding traditional Islamic values. While some attribute the region's success to an entrepreneurial spirit in Islam, the managing director of the largest furniture company in the region says globalization is the main driving force, with locals now prioritizing business over religion and seeing the Western world as a model. However, the low participation of women in the local workforce is cited as a potential weakness of the emerging Islamic business model in the region.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    78 views2 pages

    c4 Case Study

    Uploaded by

    Duong Quoc Nhat Quynh (K17CT)
    The document discusses Turkey's push to join the European Union and debates around whether Islam and Western-style capitalism are compatible, pointing to the example of Kayseri region in central Turkey which has thriving Muslim businesses despite holding traditional Islamic values. While some attribute the region's success to an entrepreneurial spirit in Islam, the managing director of the largest furniture company in the region says globalization is the main driving force, with locals now prioritizing business over religion and seeing the Western world as a model. However, the low participation of women in the local workforce is cited as a potential weakness of the emerging Islamic business model in the region.

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    Turkey, Its Religion, and Politics

    For years now, Turkey has been lobbying the European Union to allow it to
    join the free trade bloc as a member state. Even as grumblings take place in some EU
    countries about leaving (e.g., Brexit), Turkey is all in to join if it can. If the EU says
    yes, it will be the first Muslim state in the European Union. But this is unlikely to
    happen any time soon; after all, it has been half a century in the making!

    Many critics in the EU worry that Islam and Western-style capitalism do not
    mix well and that, as a consequence, allowing Turkey into the EU would be a mistake.
    However, a close look at what is going on in Turkey suggests this view may be
    misplaced. Consider the area around the city of Kayseri in central Turkey. Many
    dismiss this poor, largely agricultural region of Turkey as a non-European backwater,
    far removed from the secular bustle of Istanbul. It is a region where traditional Islamic
    values hold sway. And yet it is a region that has produced so many thriving Muslim
    enterprises that it is sometimes called the “Anatolian Tiger.” Businesses based here
    include large food manufacturers, textile companies, furniture manufacturers, and
    engineering enterprises, many of which export a substantial percentage of their
    production.

    Local business leaders attribute the success of companies in the region to an


    entrepreneurial spirit that they say is part of Islam. They point out that the Prophet
    Muhammad, who was himself a trader, preached merchant honor and commanded that
    90 percent of a Muslim’s life be devoted to work in order to put food on the table.
    Outside observers have gone further, arguing that what is occurring around Kayseri is
    an example of Islamic Calvinism, a fusion of traditional Islamic values and the work
    ethic often associated with Protestantism in general and Calvinism in particular.

    However, not everyone agrees that Islam is the driving force behind the
    region’s success. Saffet Arslan, the managing director of Ipek, the largest furniture
    producer in the region (which exports to more than 30 countries), says another force is
    at work: globalization! According to Arslan, over the past three decades, local
    Muslims who once eschewed making money in favor of focusing on religion are now
    making business a priority. They see the Western world, and Western capitalism, as a
    model, not Islam, and because of globalization and the opportunities associated with
    it, they want to become successful.

    If there is a weakness in the Islamic model of business that is emerging in


    places such as Kayseri, some say it can be found in traditional attitudes toward the
    role of women in the workplace and the low level of female employment in the region.
    According to a report by the European Stability Initiative, the same group that holds
    up the Kayseri region as an example of Islamic Calvinism, the low participation of
    women in the local workforce is the Achilles’ heel of the economy and may stymie
    the attempts of the region to catch up with the countries of the European Union.

    Sources: Marc Champion, “Turkey’s President Is Close to Getting What He’s


    Always Wanted,” Bloomberg BusinessWeek, February 8, 2017; “Dress in a Muslim
    Country: Turkey Covers Up,” The Economist, January 26, 2017; “Turkey’s Future
    Forward to the Past: Can Turkey’s Past Glories Be Revived by Its Grandiose Islamist
    President?” The Economist, January 3, 2015.

    Answer the following questions:


    1. Can you see anything in the values and norms of Islam that is hostile to business?
    Explain.
    2. What does the experience of the region around Kayseri teach about the relationship
    between Islam and business?
    3. What are the implications of Islamic values towards business for the participation of
    a country such as Turkey in the global economy or becoming a member of the
    European Union?

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