Anne Burns’ Personal Jihad
Anne Burns, a forty-five year old American woman who started a number of businesses in the United
States, was hired by a recently established nonprofit organization called ExportJordan. Working with a grant from USAID, ExportJordan’s mission was to further develop local businesses in Jordan in order to capitalize on the recently signed free trade agreement with the United States. Having just sold her last business, and having her two grown children out of the house, Anne and her husband, Don, decided to forgo their empty nest and strike out on a new adventure in the Middle East.
Anne and Don did not need to work because the businesses they had created, and sold, provided more than a comfortable living for them. Having many productive years ahead of them, they sought out a unique challenge. Jordan was to be that new challenge.
Jordan
Jordan is a constitutional monarchy based on heredity. Male descendants of the dynasty of King
Abdullah bin al Hussein inherit the throne and rule the country without opposition. The country now called Jordan was created at the end of World War I when the League of Nations gave the territory to the United Kingdom to rule. The UK created a semi-autonomous jurisdiction called the Emirate of
Transjordan. In 1946 Transjordan became an independent country and changed its name in 1950 to the
Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. The country is presently ruled by King Abdullah II, a western educated and progressive leader who has strong ties to the United States. King Abdullah has moved for a free press, democratic reform, and women’s rights. King Abdullah’s father ruled Jordan through much of its independence. As King Abdullah has moved for even more reforms than his father, both the United
States and the European Union have rewarded Jordan with free trade agreements. Jordan is a member of the World Trade Organization. The close ties between Jordan and western nations, coupled with the
King and his wife’s desire to advance the status of women, helped create ExportJordan. ExportJordan was charged with helping to create an entrepreneurial spirit among Jordan’s female citizens, and to help them develop and export products. Currently Jordan is successful in exporting clothing, food products, phosphate, and some pharmaceuticals. With the new free trade agreements it was hoped that additional areas could be developed for export.

Trouble from the Start
It was a spirit of adventure and a genuine desire to help others that lead Anne and her husband to
Jordan. They were both impressed with the young King and his views for leading his country into the
21st Century. They had hoped to find a cooperative environment, but that hope was somewhat challenged from the start.
When Anne arrived at the offices of ExportJordan for the first time, she met Hayat Maani. Hayat was a western educated young woman with passion. She was deeply concerned with the plight of women in her country and was involved in a number of social causes throughout Jordan. She welcomed Anne and

gave her a tour of the offices, explaining what the organization did and what Anne’s role would be in the new venture. Anne would work closely with Hayat in helping small businesses owned by Jordanian women to find international buyers for their products. The mission of ExportJordan was to promote all
Jordanian products, but Anne would mainly be involved in helping female entrepreneurs. On the initial office tour and series of introductions, Anne met Jafar Faqir, a middle-aged man who worked in the export finance division of the organization. Hayat introduced Jafar to Anne. Jafar did not extend his hand when Anne initiated a handshake and she thought this a bit odd, but quickly forgot about it when Jafar asked her “How do you find Jordan?” Anne explained that she had only been in the country a short time but that she was very impressed with the King and his approach to the advancement of women. The look on Jafar’s face told Anne that he did not like her response. Hayat told Jafar that Anne would be responsible for promoting women entrepreneurs and Jafar told her to remember these words, “The eye cannot rise above the eyebrow.” Hayat shouted to Jafar something in Arabic and Jafar left without saying another word. When Anne asked what had just happened, Hayat simply said that unfortunately not all Jordanian men were supportive of equality for women. Anne would find that this would not be her only negative encounter with Jafar.
The rest of the day went smoothly for Anne as she continued to meet more people associated with the organization. She noticed that all of the women in the offices wore a hejab or headscarf, except for
Hayat. Anne noticed other interesting cultural dimensions, such as the common response Inshalla or
“God willing.” Many of the people she met seemed very interested in her and asked many questions, such as how many children she and her husband had, especially boys. Anne and her husband had two girls and when she told this to one of her male colleagues, he responded with “Oh, I’m so sorry.” Anne knew that it was going to be a very different and interesting experience living in the Middle East.

Progress Begins
Anne and Don settled into their life in Jordan and apart from the normal difficulties of living abroad, the couple didn’t feel as if they experienced too much difficulty adjusting. Although there were no other
Westerners at ExportJordan, Anne and Don met other American and British expatriates and enjoyed their company and they all enjoyed sharing their experiences living in Jordan. Don kept busy looking for business opportunities for himself and helping Anne with her assignment.
After two months, it became clear to Anne that she was in need of an assistant to help her with the preliminary analytical work she was doing. Anne suggested to Hayat that Don be hired to help her. Hayat told her that she didn’t think that would be possible; however, she would find someone else to help her.
After a few days, Hayat introduced Anne to Karim Dabbas, a young Jordanian man who was hired as her assistant. Karim spoke English well, yet his youth and inexperience gave Anne some concern.
With the help of Karim, Anne completed her initial analysis and was ready to begin her fieldwork. Anne had planned on hosting seminars for women around Jordan explaining the possibilities of the export market and finding women with whom she could personally consult about their businesses. Karim would be helpful in the fieldwork, acting as both a driver and interpreter.

The first seminar was planned for Amman and was heavily promoted. Although Anne and Hayat had hoped for a very large audience, they were not unhappy with the few women who attended, because among the attendees were some good prospects for the export market. With Anne’s expertise in creating business plans and her knowledge of the U.S. market, Anne and Hayat began helping three women who produced crafts which were felt had international appeal. Additional seminars were planned for other cities in Jordan in the future, and Anne was convinced that she would be able to make a contribution to ExportJordan.

Warnings from Jafar
During the next two weeks Anne and Karim worked with the three women from the seminar on their business plans and creating ways of making their products more appealing to the global marketplace.
Anne had not seen Hayat for a few days but she and Karim were busy, and she really didn’t need any help from Hayat at that time. One of the female entrepreneurs introduced Anne to two other women who were seeking help with their businesses and so Anne now had five clients to assist. With the increasing workload, Anne began to turn more responsibility over to Karim. Karim was not confident that he could do the work requested by Anne, but she tried to reassure him that he was capable and there would not be any problems.
Karim made slow progress and frequently asked Anne for help with his work. Anne became increasingly frustrated by the slow pace of Karim’s work and his constant need for assurances. She developed a nickname for him, “worn sole,” meaning that he was wearing out the bottom of his shoes running back and forth from his office to hers asking questions. His nickname appeared appropriate as well to her in that Karim was constantly worried and thus was developing a “worn soul.” Karim took the puns in stride but, nevertheless, didn’t seem to change his behavior.
One particular incident involving Karim produced difficulties for Anne. She was standing in the hallway talking to another ExportJordan employee when Karim came running down the hall, again looking for her. She mentioned to her coworker “here comes old worn sole again.” She continued to tell the coworker about Karim’s weaknesses and as she discussed these weaknesses she noticed that Jafar was near and listening. Anne and Jafar did not have much contact with each other, yet the relationship between the two was strained. When they passed in the hall Jafar would not even look at Anne. After once again giving Karim clarification on his task, Anne turned to Jafar and asked him if he needed anything from her. He stared at her for what seemed like a very long time and then muttered, “Just remember this—the family knife does not cut.” At this point Anne had had enough with Jafar and his sayings and so she decided to confront him. Jafar turned and went back to his office and Anne followed him. Anne asked Jafar, in a loud voice, “What is it with you and all of these bullshit sayings?” Jafar’s eyes got big as he pointed his finger toward her and told her that she should be very careful in her “American ways.” With no intention of letting this go, Anne sat down in the chair in front of Jafar’s desk and propped her feet up on his desk. She told Jafar to sit down, as they needed to talk. Jafar refused to sit down and asked her leave. Anne began to explain to Jafar that she was in Jordan to help the Jordanian

people and that by helping women to develop their businesses she was helping all people in Jordan. It appeared to Anne that Jafar was not listening to a word she was saying. After a long silence Anne stood up and walked out of the office. As she was leaving Jafar said to her “Don’t you want to know what happened to your friend, Hayat?” When she turned in surprise, Jafar closed and locked the door.
Anne hadn’t seen Hayat for a number of days and was curious where she was but now she was concerned. Anne immediately found Karim and asked him if he knew where Hayat was, and he responded that he didn’t. He also didn’t know if she still worked at ExportJordan. Anne began to ask others in the offices if they knew what happened to Hayat, and it seemed that no one did. One of her colleagues, Mania told her that she thought that Hayat had been fired and that Jafar had something to do with it. Already upset with Jafar, Anne decided that it was time to confront him again. She went to his office and found the door unlocked this time. She barged in and demanded to know what he meant by his statement about Hayat and what happened to her. At first Jafar denied knowing much about the situation and told her that he was only in charge of financing arrangements and that he had no authority over Hayat. Anne, losing her temper, shouted to Jafar, “Goddamn it Jafar, tell me the truth about Hayat.”
At that moment it appeared that a calm had come over Jafar. He put his head down and stared at the floor. He then raised his head and told Anne that he wanted her to tell him about “the truth of
America’s plan to eliminate Palestine.” Anne could see that this conversation was not going well and decided just to leave Jafar’s office. Before she could go, Jafar approached her, stood very close, and looking into her eyes announced, “Muslim Brotherhood will prevail.” Anne felt frightened and threatened as she left the office.

Meeting with the Director
Anne made it straight to her office and felt comfort there. She composed herself and began thinking about what she should do. The organizational structure of ExportJordan was very unstructured and
Anne really did not have a supervisor. Hayat acted in some ways as her manager; however, Hayat really did not have formal authority over Anne, and Anne also was not sure whom Jafar reported to as well.
Anne decided that perhaps she should schedule an appointment with Dr. Massimi, director of
ExportJordan. She felt a bit uncomfortable approaching him directly, but because there really wasn’t any formal organizational structure (at least that she knew), she reasoned that it would not be improper.
She had met Dr. Massimi on a number of occasions and he appeared to be a very kind and understanding man. She hoped that a meeting with him would clear up what happened to Hayat and resolve the tensions with Jafar.
Anne asked Karim to call and schedule an appointment for her with Dr. Massimi. Karim appeared very nervous and didn’t appear to want to talk. He said he would do it as soon as he returned from a meeting.
Anne wasn’t aware of any meeting involving Karim and he wasn’t forthcoming about the details. Anne decided to do some work to get her mind off the Jafar incident. Later in the afternoon, Anne came out of her office to check on Karim. He was nowhere to be found. Anne asked if anyone knew where Karim was and was told by one of her colleagues that he was with Jafar. Surprised by this information, Anne

went back in her office and decided to call Dr. Massimi herself. Dr. Massimi answered the telephone directly and Anne told him that she needed to see him as soon as possible. He told her that she could come to his office immediately.
Anne entered the office and immediately asked Dr. Massimi what happened to Hayat. Dr. Massimi sat in his chair and without answering, asked her how she was enjoying Jordan. Anne told him that she liked most of the people but that she was having a problem with Jafar. At that moment an assistant brought a tray of tea into the office and offered a cup to Anne. She was too upset to drink tea, she told the assistant. Dr. Massimi took a cup and told Anne to take a cup and that it would calm her. Anne still refused the tea. As Dr. Massimi enjoyed his tea, Anne began to tell him about Jafar. He listened a bit and then asked Anne about her family. Anne told him that they were fine and then proceeded to again explain her situation with Jafar. Dr. Massimi listened a bit more and then interrupted Anne again by telling her about his family and told her that his son was studying in the United States. He explained that his son had some difficulties adjusting to American culture. Anne told Dr. Massimi that she and her husband were adjusting well but that she was having problems with her job. Dr. Massimi then began telling a story about his first international job in Iran. He went into great detail about the problems he experienced. Anne listened but wondered if Dr. Massimi was just avoiding her questions.
Anne decided to take another approach. When Dr. Massimi finished his story, Anne told him how happy she was to be able to help Jordanian women and that she was hoping that she could be more successful in her job. Dr. Massimi told her that she was providing a very important service to Jordan and that her work was appreciated. When Anne started to mention Jafar again Dr. Massimi interrupted her to ask if she had visited Petra. When she said that she had planned a visit but had not yet had time, Dr. Massimi began to tell her the history of this ancient city and its importance. Visitors to the office interrupted the history lesson. Three men from the Jordanian Ministry of Tourism stopped by to see Dr. Massimi. He invited them in and introduced them to Anne. Dr. Massimi told the men that he was just talking about
Petra and the four men began a discussion about tourist sites in Jordan, and more tea was brought in the office. The four men discussed many things, sometimes in Arabic and sometimes in English, as Anne sat looking at her watch. Getting impatient Anne got up and told Dr. Massimi that she would come back and talk to him “when he could give her his full attention.”
Returning to her office, Anne decided that she should compose an email message to Dr. Massimi explaining what she was not able to explain in his office. She explained the situation with Jafar, asked for clarification on Hayat, and told him that she was confused by the structure of the organization.
As Anne was ready to leave for home she checked her email one last time. There was a response from
Dr. Massimi. As she anxiously opened the message expecting to get clarification on all the issues, she was shocked to see the response was “Yes, Mrs. Burn, Jordan is a complex country.” He did invite her to come to see him again so that they could discuss her situation. Anne muttered as she turned off her computer “What’s the use.” She set out for home with the intention of telling her husband that they should look for another opportunity, one not in the Middle East.

Questions:
1.

Evaluate Anne’s approach to ExportJordan and business in general with the Jordanians?

2.

What differences in culture between the Jordanians and Americans can be found in this case?

3.

What could have been done differently in order to produce a more desirable outcome?