This article talks about the cultural differences of Latin America and what investors should know about the region. Latin America is a vast and diverse cultural space, which has become an exciting destination for individual investors and companies due to the region’s solid growth and good prospects. Doing business in Latin America is not an easy task due to its bureaucratic burdens and political instability but also because of the region’s distinct behavior rules and customs. There are several aspects of why Latin America has diverse business etiquette, behavior rules, and customs. One of the many aspects is relationship. Latin Americans like to do business with people they know and they tend to establish and maintain an informal network of close partners. From Argentina to Venezuela, it is customary to ask friends and partners for assistances and Latin Americans do show respect to those in authority. The second aspect is communication. Latin Americans are seen as more passionate than Americans or Europeans. They prefer the face-to-face contact to formal correspondence or communication by phone. They are willing to interact directly and include body language or gestures. In addition in a business setting, if you are speaking Spanish, use the formal “Usted” and not the casual “tu”. Businessmen should also use the terms Sr. or Sra. and last names. However, Latin Americans are sensitive to double meaning so investors should double check if they understood the key ideas correctly to avoid misunderstanding. In terms of attire, the appearance is varied throughout the region but you are expected to wear a formal and stylish look. For example, Argentina has a reputation for high fashion sense while in Brazil it seems to be most laid-back in this respect. The third aspect is meetings. Punctuality is not a standard in the region (although in Chile and Bolivia it is considered a priority). Waiting longer for people with authority is normal and engaging a small talk at the start of the meeting is welcome.
Love that you made notice of the different working cultures. Edward T. Hall also describes the high context v the low context cultures, which is another integral part of this analysis.
ReplyDeleteGreat Job!!
Great article! Does a very good job summarizing the cultural differences in LA.
ReplyDeleteThis short article brings to surface a responsibility-shift in matters of corporate social responsibility. We usually see claims from civil society organizations against MNEs, highlighting the latter's duty to uphold environmental protection policies in light of their capacity to enact change in countries where such standards are not met. However, it seems cities such Curitiba have taken pro-active steps to shift the responsibility focus to the host countries themselves, further stressing the need for government action towards environmental protection whenever corporations fail to do so. In other words, the article suggests that the first actor with environmental protection should be the government, with businesses following suit to whatever legislation they enact.
ReplyDeleteIt would be interesting to see if other countries undertook the same measurers, a factor which would very much shift the common mindset relating to international business ethics and the responsibility spectrum.
I thought the articles was great. It was short and full of good and useful information. As a person from Latin America, I learned new things about business ethic in the region I was not familiar with before.
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