Personal Statement: The Challenges Of Strategies For International Management

My very first international job assignment was in 1992, when I was responsible for Tender sales contract negotiation. I was required to travel frequently to Iraq, Libya, and Turkey in order to negotiate tender sales with local institutions. I took that job because I love traveling. But soon, I realized that it is more than simple travel, it needs to travel from country to country in one trip which means that you will away from your home and family for one week or more. The challenges were in meeting people from different cultures and each culture has their own norms when you interact and communicate. For Example, in Turkey the language was a barrier for me. It was difficult to deal with their high hierarchical system in Iraq and Libya. I was

Are there any other experiences that you think helped prepare you for international management?

One of the main experiences that foster my passion for international work was built during my educational experience when I was studding my MBA in the U.S. This experience helped me to discover my personality characteristics, such as openness and being more comfortable with different cultures. Also, to cope with unknowns and ambiguities, and being extrovert and collaborative. I was able to know different cultures as I was surrounded by student from all over the world with high diversified cultures. That helped me to developed my passion as international professional.

5. Who was the person from whom you learned the most about managing in an international setting? What did you learn from

In the international assignments you need to acquire new knowledge and skills about the culture and the market the you plan to work in. You need to know their laws and regulations. Sometimes you need to adapt your strategy according to the local norms. In general, the competition in international work is more dynamic and complex than domestic work. having a global work is riskier than domestic’s, as the possibility of failure is higher. Developing global leaders is more complicated than domestics leaders. In addition to the differences in languages, religion, weather, and food, there are difference in the role and the goal of your work. Unlike domestic work, most of the times, companies send international professionals for a specific goal, such as implementing new policies, fixing a problem, and doing business turnarounds. And most of the times international work assigned with a limited time. If I have to choose a person for international work, I look for a person that have both the talent and the experience in addition to have a good knowledge of different cultures. I will look for one who is creative in solving different challenges, who has the know-how, who has the ability to deal with an ambiguity, and has the curiosity to know and interact with different cultures and has the humility in dealing with different people. In the same time, I should avoid “just like me” bias in choosing the right person,