Welcome to

Strange Lands

Global Assignment Specialists

We provide coaching, training, and other intervention programs designed to prepare and support persons, teams and organizations as they encounter the challenges of what we call "Strange Lands" - the new and rapidly changing ecologies we all face in a rapidly changing global world characterized by new people, cultures, places and technologies. This focus is applied to international assignments in business, government and non-governmental organizations, to our diverse, changing workplaces and communities at home, and to those engaged in the rapidly expanding world of geographically dispersed teams.

Our programs are designed to enhance the success of participants by helping them deal effectively with the Three KeyChallenges encountered on all assignments to Strange Lands at home, abroad or in the virtual world of the internet. These challenges include: coping with ecoshock or their psychological and physiological reaction to encountering new sociocultural, physical, and biological environments; getting the job done in the new ecology by dealing effectively with diversity and change; and maintaining motivation or the "will" to continue to try and put forth their best efforts day after day, year after year. We work with participants to help them develop the strategies and skills necessary to deal effectively with these challenges. Special emphasis is placed on helping diverse intercultural/international teams work together face-to-face and online.

Our programs are designed for assignees, the families that may be accompanying them, the trainers and managers supporting them, their hosts abroad, and the teams at home, abroad or online with whom they are working. The programs deal with the needs and experiences of them all using a variety of training and support techniques. These techniques help trainees take the skills they've learned "back home" to their job and continue to develop and expand them in a manner tailored to their specific job situations.

I am the Principal Program Specialist for Strange Lands  and an emeritus professor in the School of Communications at the University of Hawaii.  My primary professional interests center on helping people and organizations deal with the new people, places, cultures and technologies encountered on assignments in contexts such as international business, diplomacy, foreign study, geographically dispersed teams, distance education, knowledge creation and transfer, immigration, justice, tourism, and service delivery, and intercultural marriage. A complete description of my professional background and activities is available through my Home Page and Resumé. I am an intervention specialist, author and researcher with over 30 years experience in the Americas/Asia/Pacific region and have provided services to personnel from over 100 organizations. A sample of these includes:

Air New Zealand; American Express International; Asia Industrial Development; Asia Motors; China American Petrochemical; Citibank; Coca-Cola; Crazy Shirts; Del Monte Fresh Produce (Asia-Pacific & Philippines); Digital; Dole Philippines; Dow Chemical Pacific; Dow Chemical Singapore; Fujitsu Nagoya; Honeywell; General Electric; Green Giant Fresh; IBM Singapore; International Catholic Migration Commission; Kodak; Kong Ming Bank; Manila Hilton; Mercedes-Benz; Mobil Producing Services East Asia; Motorola Semiconductor; NCR; Nestle Singapore; New Zealand Steel; Permodalan Bumiputra Sabah; Petronas; Philippine Long Distance Telephone; Reuters; Rothmans; Singapore Polytechnic; Sycip, Gorres, Velayo & Co.; Telecom Australia; TNT Skypack; US Agriculture Dept.; US Navy.

Or go to a full geographical listing of Strange Lands' organizational clients.

Please check-out a typical one- to three-day training Program with topics & visuals.