Dutch managers on a study trip in Peru
“Unexpected confrontations with yourself”
In May this year 15 participants, assisted by Nelleke van der Vleuten and Myrtille Danse of Share People and ICCO, spent time advising four projects in Peru: a button factory, a clothing workshop, a hotel that is in the course of being taken private, and an IT project for a group of businesses working together. De Baak program facilitator Machiel Willemsen was responsible for the group’s learning process: with participants as a group and via one-on-one coaching.Pressure is high
Machiel: “the participants had great motivation, but you also see that the pressure is high when you’re abroad. Everybody wants to put a lot in, in a short time and under completely new circumstances. It’s intensive and tough, so you get tensions within the group, which also means plenty of learning situations. People don’t express their irritations or they look at things differently. And your own presuppositions take quite a hammering in the Peruvian context. You’ve got to be flexible both on the spot and in advance and you have to be able to cope with your own uncertainties because there’s no way you can imagine beforehand how you’ll operate in Peru. There are conspicuous culture gaps too: the direct communication style Dutch people have goes down badly in Peru, they’re more sensitive in that area. The participants get a lot of feedback in terms of their behavior and that allows them to learn and change.”
Other ways of thinking about business
Machiel says that companies in Peru are very keen on exporting their products to the West, but they find that difficult. And when you look at their operations from a western point of view, there are many differences. “A man who knotted carpets thought he was making 30% profit, but hadn’t counted the salaries for himself and his family. It’s another way of thinking and looking at running a business which isn’t of itself any worse than ours. In addition to a stream of suggestions for improvement, the participants had prepared a test case for the owner. They buy a carpet, but he has to get it shipped to Europe within a certain time period. There was another project, “the public hotel”, where participants made a plan for finding investors and had made a start on a regional tourist development plan.”
Entrepreneurship under tough circumstances is moving
“This enormous drive to want to work touched me deeply,” says Machiel. “Some people juggle with four jobs to pay the bills. Forget the nine to five mentality, and no way is there anybody, and especially in the worst-off areas, that could afford that. People are motivated to make something of it: their entrepreneurship comes with huge enthusiasm and vigor. They want to accomplish things together. In addition to some meaningful contributions our visit made, it also produced a lot of publicity for the Peruvian NGO that had chosen the companies for this project, both on television and in various newspapers. So that way you give an indirect power boost to entrepreneurship in Peru. Others see this and want to join in.”
Share People, of which de Baak is one of the original backers, organizes learning trips abroad. Dutch managers spend two weeks in a developing country and spend part of the time working on business problems that companies face. They advise local organizations in the area of marketing, IT, finance or design. These are projects coming under a local Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) associated with a Dutch NGO, the ICCO. The trip is not just about transferring expertise but also about learning about yourself. A De Baak program maker facilitates this last point.
Like to go on a trip like this? This year we’re going to the Philippines and India. Go to www.sharepeople.nl to read the travel log and general information..