The third week of CGE’s International Business program allowed students the opportunity to listen to Mexican – Canadian author Betty Ramos discuss her new book entitled, “The Geo – Context: A Guide to Intercultural Understanding Between Canada, Mexico, and the United States.” Ramos explained a unique way of thinking about different communication styles beyond borders.
While Ramos lived in Canada she experienced a block between her communication style and that of others. Ramos explained that even though she was communicating in English, she was thinking as a Latin American. Ramos discussed that Latin Americans tend to think spirally, not always answering a question or topic directly like individuals from Canada or the United States. Miscommunications can come into play between spiral and linear individuals when their norms do not always meet each other's. For example, an individual who thinks spirally may consider a linear individual to be cold, arrogant, and only concerned with time instead of building personal relationships. Ramos explained that the importance of correctly communicating with individuals is extremely important in order to successfully build lasting relationships, especially in business situations.
Ramos intertwined communication styles with business procedures that aid in the development of partnerships between Latin America and the United States. While discussing communication styles, Ramos also focused on the essence of respect along with similarities and differences that occur depending on the locations of Latin America, Canada, and the United States. Ramos discussed the ties of similarity between Latin Americans and Canadians in terms of viewpoints toward the United States. Interesting aspects between Ramos's real world experiences allowed us to dive into the twenty-first century intercultural communication styles essential for partnerships in Latin America.
Through discussions in class of cultural differences regarding respectable business procedures, we have been able to learn why Latin American business interactions are the way they are. For example, to this day Mexican businesses still dislike compromising because of feelings stemming from defeat from conquest. Ramos states, "It's either winning or losing in Mexico, where compromising in the United States is viewed as a positive aspect."
Class discussions about interculturalism, along with Betty Ramos's personal experiences, have made me more aware of communication styles in the workplace and their importance for corporations. The skills I have learned this week have broadened my understanding of different intercultural communication styles. Thanks to the discussions on intercultural understanding, I now have the ability to use successful tactics in the workplace throughout Latin America.
Great posting, Mara! I'm glad you found the speaker and class discussions of interculturalism interesting and helpful, as developing cross-cultural awareness and intercultural communication skills is so important in all fields today. As you talk with more speakers, it would be intersting to see if they agree with Ramos or not regarding her comment that "It's either winning or losing in Mexico," as opposed to compromising. I suspect some business leaders would disagree with her, but I don't know. Please let me know what you find out. Thanks! Again, great posting! Ann
ReplyDeleteMara, I am glad that you found Betty Ramos' talk to be helpful - I found it helpful as well. I especially agree with you on the importance of Ramos' statement about communication being key to the success of partnerships between international businesses. She mentioned that not only did verbal communication matter during negotiations, but nonverbal communications like gestures and facial expressions could demonstrate whether progress was being made. I study communication at school so it was intriguing to learn how modes of communication (linear and spiral) apply to corporate culture. I had never made the connection between the two, so Ramos' book, “The Geo – Context: A Guide to Intercultural Understanding Between Canada, Mexico, and the United States”, allowed me to see how integral communication is to culture. Hope we are practice successful intercultural business tactics in the future!
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