There was an interesting story in O Globo awhile ago about how Latin Americans (more specifically, Brazilians) administrate and run businesses. It explains a lot and I think it's an excellent anthropological insight as to why things work differently here.
- Authoritarian culture: In Latin America, authority is strongly imposed in the work environment, which discourages disagreement and sometimes, innovation. In Anglo culture, it is expected that you disagree with your superiors and discuss your differences with them, but it is frowned upon in Latin culture. The history of coronels in Brazil, who ran entire parts of the country with an iron fist, can help explain this concept.
- Paternalism: Family is an extremely important part of Brazilian culture and this concept transfers to the workplace. While in Anglo culture, co-workers are considered part of a team, in Brazil there is a family-like relationship in which the bosses are like fathers and relate to their inferiors as such. Consequently, bosses wait longer to fire people, since they are afraid of how the rest of the employees will feel, which can harm productivity.
- Collectivism: Unlike in American culture, in which the individual is valued, Latin Americans tend to value the group as a whole. The individual expects that the group will take care of him, and in exchange he offers his loyalty to the group. This can make for better inter-office relationships.
- Flexibility: Perhaps one of the most positive consequences of doing business in a developing country is the flexibility that businessmen must have by adapting quicker to difficult situations and being able to do a lot with a little. In turn, this stimulates creativity.
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