Whether you’re in marketing or finance, based in Atlanta or Abu Dhabi — today’s business leaders need to know how to work across cultures and borders.
For almost 10 years, Terry College of Business students have developed and stretched their cross-cultural skills while spending a Maymester abroad in Chile and Argentina.
“The central goal of the trip is for the students to understand issues related to doing business in South America,” said management associate professor Daniel Gamache, who led the trip and designed the course. “Through this trip, students gained a deeper understanding of two diverse business contexts and learned about the culture in these countries.”
This May, Gamache led two dozen students to Argentina and Chile to meet with international corporations such as Cargill and Group Bimbo and agencies supporting exports and imports into the countries and start-up incubators.
For finance student Joshua Waller, it was striking how vastly different the business climates and cultures were in Argentina and Chile — not only from what you experience in the United States but also from one another.
“I would say talking to people in Argentina felt like talking to people in New York and Boston, but Chile had much more of a (Los Angeles) feel to it,” he said. “People were a little more relaxed.”
Waller found valuable lessons everywhere on the trip — from how monetary policy impacts international investment at the U.S. Commercial Service in Argentina to marketing blueberry exports with produce brokers Hortifruit in Chile.
Argentina has dealt with 200% hyperinflation over the past few years, so it was interesting to see how that impacted large businesses and people’s everyday lives, he said. In addition to school, Waller runs a small clothing brand called The Fly Supply Store, and he couldn’t help but imagine how small businesses were coping.
“What I did in my free time was talk to clothing entrepreneurs in Chile and Argentina,” he said. “They couldn’t always speak the best English, and I don’t speak the best Spanish, but they were happy to talk. I asked them how they ran their businesses and what it was like to operate in a state of hyperinflation. It was interesting, really breathtaking.”
For Waller and the other students on this year’s trip, the study abroad was a key part of his experience at the Terry College.
“The main reason I wanted to take this course was to push my limits, especially since I’ve lived in the United States my whole life,” Waller said. “This trip has allowed me to push my limits in terms of working with a different language and in another culture. I was very proud of the progress I made over the 19 days I was in Latam. I felt myself become more patient, open, and reflective and I am grateful that I had the opportunity to participate in this wonderful program”