A Wealth of Business Experience:
Domestic & Global
Canadian Maritimer goes Global
Although a Canadian and a Maritimer at heart, Ginny MacDonald has traveled the world. Ginny has experienced expatriate living in Sri Lanka, France, Saudi Arabia and the United States, and has studied, worked and traveled in Europe, the Middle East, Asia and North America. The interactive map, below, is your opporutunity to learn more about Ginny’s international experiences.
To return to the Base Map of World Regions, click here.
What does International Experience bring to the table?
International business experience broadens one’s view of the world and its possibilities, problems and solutions. Locally, you may run into international people, by design or by accident, and gain an understanding of how they think and approach problem solving; however, if you have actually lived internationally, you have been in the MIDDLE of those situations and learn to appreciate issues of problem solving in a world that doesn’t think the same way you do or is brought up the same way you were.
You learn, or attempt to learn, how different cultures think, how they problem solve, and come to a resolution that is applicable to the culture within which they live. The North American resolution may not be appropriate in another culture.
The Benefits of Cross-Cultural Experience
Ginny’s common sense and experience have afforded her many opportunities internationally. She has learned how to be proactive while maintaining cultural sensitivity. Ginny knows that if the culture is different, you need to do the extra steps to accommodate the culture. Simple observances such as, knowing introduction and scheduling protocol, understanding male/female roles and respecting sacred ground or practices, go a long way in conducting successful business in another culture. If you don’t understand the culture you are doing business in, you will make grave errors on how you approach the business in that culture.
Ginny’s approach is not to assume the expert of any particular culture, but rather to build appreciation and respect for the different cultural systems that any company going international will encounter. This is a delicate expertise that can only be acquired through a lifelong international career, such as Ginny’s.
Cross-Cultural Example: More to a Well than Water
A group of male engineers decided to build a community well. They chose a location with ample water supply, large open space and minimal barriers for construction. After the well was built, it was observed that the women, the primary water gatherers, did not use it. When asked, it was learned that the women did not use the well because it was too far to walk from their homes, and was in the opposite direction of the path they used to take their children to school. In this simple example, the women’s daily culture conflicted with the rational placement of the well. The lesson: There is more to where to put the well than the fact that you have to get water from it.