Script, anglais.

Good morning everyone and thank you for visiting the best global show in the world. My name is Lizbeth Hdez. Today we will have 2 guests, one from Mexico and one from the Netherlands. They came all the way from their countries to be with us today and share their cultures with us. Please welcome Anakaren from Mexico! (Walks in; HOLA A TODOS) And next Jamal from the Netherlands. (Walks In; HALLO ALLEMAAL)

Lizbeth: welcome and thank you for coming!

Ana & Jamal: your welcome! It’s a pleasure.

Lizbeth: (introduces to the audience what we are going to do that show)

Lizbeth: so as we all know every country is different and has their own habits, we all know our business ethics here in France but today we want to know more about yours.  

Power distance

Lizbeth: As we all know, individuals in societies are not equal and this can be seen in business cultures. Is there a big difference between less powerful people compared to more powerful people in organizations?

Jamal: In the Netherlands we have equal rights, no matter what position you have. We know our positions and take our own decisions. We are independent and the power is decentralized. I count on the experience of my team members. I don’t take control in everything and everyone can call me just Jamal. My team can always come to me, as a group or individually with questions or any suggestions.  

Lizbeth: Okay that sounds as a very open and relaxed atmosphere, how about Mexico Ana?

Banano: I can relate to that too, but in Mexico we accept a hierarchical order so you can see inequalities within the organization. Every team member accepts what is told to him or her to be done and they respect me a lot. But this of course doesn’t mean that they are not allowed to enter my office when they have any problems or when something is going on that they think is not right. 

Individualism

Lizbeth: Now, let’s talk about individualism. Okay, Individualism is the one side versus its opposite collectivism, which is the degree in individuals are integrated into groups. People who lives in countries with a individualist business culture orientation tend to take care of only themselves and their immediate families; on the other side in collectivist countries we find societies in which people from birth onwards are integrated into strong, cohesive in-groups, often extended families (with uncles, aunts and grandparents) which continue protecting them in exchange for unquestioning loyalty.  So basically, a society’s position on this dimension id defined in whether people’s self-image is defines in terms of “I” or “We”.  So what can you tell about your countries orientation in this matter.

Jamal: Well, In the Netherlands we consider us and individualist country, this means there is a high preference for a loosely-knit social framework in which individuals are expected to take care of themselves and person’s efforts.

Lizbeth: That’s very interesting, and what can you tell us about Mexico Anakaren?

Banano:

Well in Mexico it is the other way around. We are more of a collectivist society in which we tend to foster strong relationships where everyone takes responsibility for fellow members of their group. We also perceive employer/employee relationships in moral terms, kind of like family links, and unlike the Netherland, our hiring and promotion decisions take account of the employee’s in-group. 

Masculinity

Lizbeth: Ok now we that have define the way people are ,I want to talk about the gender roles in both of your countries; we know that masculinity and femininity are a set of guidelines we’ve imposed upon men and women as a consequence of culture and history, we have created and perpetuated a masculine ideal, tell us about what had change through the years in this point Jamal

Jamal: Well in the Netherlands we have a Feminine society so this means we seek to have conventional traits, we are supportive and we oriented in creating a relationship whit your coworkers, and involve them to reach the goals of the company, so we don’t really think that money is the way of success, there’s more than that we have to fine a balance between our work and our personal life

Lizbeth: That seems like a good orientation, is it the same in Mexico Anakaren

Banano:  Not at all, we have more a Masculine society, so we can say “Mexicans live in order to work”, I have to be decisive and assertive, and my orientation is on equity, performance and competition, also the way I resolved conflicts with my coworkers is by fighting them out. The goal here is to be the best in the field.

Uncertainty Avoidance

Lizbeth: So we have a masculinity society in Mexico and a feminine society in the Netherlands, interesting! Then I’m really curious how you try to avoid uncertainties in business? Do you set up rules or you just go with the flow and wait for unknown situations to occur?

Banano: No we really aim to avoid as much as possible, we have a really high preference for that. We have rules for almost everything, and of course sometimes it happens that the rules don’t work but then at least we’ve tried and sometimes I try to come up with new rules to see if that will work. But I like to have structure and be prepared for all that can happen. 

Jamal: ah yes I totally agree with that!

Lizbeth: Okay Jamal, so in the Netherlands it’s the same?

Jamal: Yes, maybe a little bit less rules but basically I work the same in my company, in the Netherlands we have a saying: ‘’Voorkomen is beter dan genezen’’ and if you translate this into English it’s:  to prevent is better than to cure.  Time is money, so why shall we wait and spend extra time on things if we could’ve avoid them.