Work & Perú. Visas & Intercultural Management

Today we talk about Peru that has 28,220,764 inhabitants according to the 2007 Census. It ranks as the fifth most populous country in South America. The biggest cities are on the coast, as Sullana, Piura, Chiclayo, Trujillo, Chimbote, Lima and Ica . Its independence was in 1821.

Currently, to work temporarily in Peru you need a visa, excepting citizens from Brazil and Indonesia. (1)

Temporary visas are as: Artist, temporary worker, designated worker (non resident), student, religious Catholic, non-Catholic religious independent investor and professional independent. For all of them  it is required completing the Form F- 007, which is free. (2)

Economic information from Peru to 2012:

Real growth was 6.3 % in 2012 standing at 40th position in the world . The GDP is 10,900 U.S. dollars. The purchasing power, as a country, ranks at 40th position in the world.. Its economy is divided agriculture: 6.4 % industry: 36.3 % services: 57.3 %. Its current president is Ollanta Humala, a retired military.

It is the world's largest producer of silver and the second of Zinc.

Management in Peru:

It is important to know that they like to talk in close proximity to each other and stepping back, an unconscious gesture to reclaim the "space", is seen as a rebuff, a rudeness.

Keeping eye contact while speaking is an asset.

More information about working or dealing with this culture in: http://www.intercultural-agent.com/

Paula Figueiredo

PM Intercultural Agent

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(1) http://www.digemin.gob.pe/informacion/VISA/VisasXExtranOctubre2010.pdf
(2) http://www.digemin.gob.pe/servicios_inmigracion_visas_temporales.html

China: Who was Confucius? - Intercultural management

Confucius was a thinker who has influenced the Chinese culture in a profound way. He was born 550 BC and the Confucianism doctrine is considered a rule of life rather than a religion.

Among their ideas,there is stability and harmony. An harmonious society is one in which relationships are unequal between its members and there is a strong focus on "hierarchy" producing a strong respect for age, autocratic* centralization of government and management.

The harmony search is done by keeping the "image of oneself" in a social group being thus, a strong and dominant social regulator. If you lose your face within the social group, it is considered as a loss of dignity.

The harmony is maintained in the field of management with the practice of benevolent leadership where everybody practices "loyalty" within the group.

An interesting element of Confucianism is the rule of "hard work and education" and this explains the economic boom of the Asian countries. They are willing to work long hours and make a major effort for the companies where they work .

Family is another crucial element. The concept of the group and the belonging to the group plays an important role in social behavior. In Chinese "guānxi " is a term that refers to the relationship between two people. One can turn to the other no matter if you have the same social status . It's a network where individuals have a high degree of empathy and everybody expect that.

Paula Figueiredo

PM Intercultural Agent

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http://www.linkedin.com/company/pm-intercultural-agent?trk=company_name

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Skype: intercultural-agent

Mail : info @ intercultural-agent. com

* Wikipedia : Autocracy is a political concept . The term comes from the Greek autos ( self ) and kratos (rule or power ). 

Work & Brazil - Intercultural management -

"Si são as mais grandes do mundo, tem que ser brasileiras" (if they are the biggest in the world, they must be Brazilian) said an advertisement of olives. Brazilians realized more than twenty years ago that Brazil is "big". Apart from being the fifth largest country in the world in total surface area and population, the country is ranked at the 25th position as an exporter and the 23rd as an importer world-wide. Its exports are mainly to China, Argentina and the Netherlands according to the "Central Intelligence Agency" in 2012. Its imports are in dollars slightly lower than exports.

Brazil is globally ranked 8th in "purchasing power" which makes it a major attraction for foreign companies and investors. Brazil borders with 10 countries and has 11 satellites. Among its international agreements on multilateral trade is the MERCOSUR.

Working with different cultures demands knowing certain specific points in its history, climate and geography to understand the behavior and thinking of the other.

Brazilians have a great respect for tradition and there is a large social pressure to keep them. Their objectives are measured more in the long run than in the short term. Brazilians also easily accept changes in work projects.

Paula Figueiredo

PM Intercultural Agent

www.intercultural-agent.com

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Skype: intercultural-agent

Mail: info(at)intercultural-agent(dot)com

Twiter :https://twitter.com/PMIntercultural

I hate that you remind me the rules!. Intercultural business

Three years ago, a Spanish and a German employee have coordinated how to reduce the stock of the company in the store. The pressure of the financial crisis and new trends had led them to work almost with zero stock. The project should be carried out during the next twelve months. After two days, the Spanish employee received directives from Germany regarding the implementation.

Six months later, there was a meeting to present the first results. The Spanish employee had no concrete results because the suppliers demanded more time. The German results were presented concretely.

The line managers of both discussed what happened. The German employee trusted that the Spanish employee would know how to carry out the directives. He did not know that he joined the company only six months before. They have no shared information or results within six months.

In the case of the Spanish employee, he could not put pressure on providers to cut their deliveries in such a short time in order to reduce the stock. Furthermore, everything was documented . The Spanish and German employees both did their job properly.

The German said during the meeting that he had worked with an employee of Spain once and he told him that he hated to be reminded of the rules all the time, what that influenced the business relationship now.

This was a real case.

There are several intercultural communication errors . The first is the lack of information about the other's culture and what one expects from the other side. The second error is to generalize a culture with the behavior of a single individual. Third, we believe that if a person is asked he could  act regardless of the cultures of the companies with which that person works. Besides the problem of not communicating clearly and openly with each other, eg. calling once a week , writing mails , making conference calls to  get updates, etc., people make the mistake of thinking that they can work with an employee even if they don't know  that the network of companies with which he operates is also immersed in a culture that has its own concepts , beliefs and processes.

It is extremely necessary to create an area code where everyone can truly understand and carry out their objectives efficiently. 1 +1 = 3

Paula Figueiredo

PM Intercultural Agent

PM Intercultural Agent

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"There are not just flags or borders." Types of culture - Intercultural Communication

Normally it is believed that each country has a particular culture but if we simply detach them according a flag or language, be making a mistake. In a country or national culture are more divisions of which the author Gibson has referred . For example the "professional culture". This means that according to different occupations we find different cultures. Example, lawyers culture differs from  doctors culture. We can also mention the "religious culture". In countries where there are different religious groups we can not communicate in the same way with everyone. I mention Mcdonald's in India who sells burgers substituting beef.

The "geographical Culture" separating groups between north and south Example in Italy or the "gender culture" which  separates women from men.

National cultures are not homogeneous but have sub-cultures with their own characteristics which are produced by different evolutions over time.

Paula Figueiredo

PM Intercultural Agent

www.intercultural - agent.com

http://www.linkedin.com/company/pm-intercultural-agent?trk=company_name

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Skype: intercultural-agent

Mail : info @ intercultural-agent. com

How is "designed" the human? Intercultural Business Communication

Hofstede's pyramid shows how is divided the human's personality in the world.

The base is universal level. These are the feelings or physical needs that have all of us around the world and do not make a cultural difference. We all feel hunger, anger, hope, concern, and so no matter what country or culture we proceed. It is something inherited.

The next level is the cultural area. It differs according to the language, values, religion, perspectives of time and space, and so on. These are learned from our family, friends, social environment, teachers, etc..

Finally, there is the last step of innate personality which is inherited and learned what makes each human being a unique within their peer group with opinions, feelings and behaviors unique.

Paula Figueiredo

PM Intercultural Agent

www.intercultural - agent.com

http://www.linkedin.com/company/pm-intercultural-agent?trk=company_name

www.facebook.com / pm.interculturalagent

Skype: intercultural-agent

Mail : info @ intercultural-agent. com

4 typical intercultural management mistakes.

At the beginning, in a business relationship which are different cultures, the first failure is trying to impose its own working style to another. That means, if my leadership style is to make quick decisions without involving everyone to compete, I will expect that the another person will do the same thing understanding and accepting what I do.

The next mistake will think that if there are other methods of leadership, certainly the one I have is the best. This creates longer a barrier to reconciliation and understanding between people in companies.

The third mistake is to generalize cultures because one has known or worked with a person of that country or because we have heard about it. You need to separate the person as an individual of the culture's country.

The fourth mistake is just having a list of what not to do or do with the other culture's people. Eg. If they are English, you should not be late.

A good training of intercultural stereotypes prevent forcing those involved to engage in understanding and not in imposing ideas on others.

Paula Figueiredo

PM Intercultural Agent

www.intercultural - agent.com

http://www.linkedin.com/company/pm-intercultural-agent?trk=company_name

www.facebook.com / pm.interculturalagent

Skype: intercultural-agent

Mail : info @ intercultural-agent. com