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Beyond Hofstede: Cultural Applications for
Communicating with Latin American Businesses

William Wardrope


Abstract

This essay explores the culture-specific aspects of Latin America which are related to business
communication. Building upon the foundation established by the popular cultural research of Geert
Hofstede, Edward T. Hall, and others, the current work offers an insight into relational values
practiced in mainstream Latin American business culture. Applications for successful
communication with Latin American constituents are provided to enrich the intercultural
component of the business communication classroom.

Treating others with dignity and respect, and expecting to be treated in the same way, is the hallmark of Latin
American culture (Lenartowicz & Johnson, 2003, p. 278).

The Importance of Latin America to Global Business

Latin America is one of the fastest-growing economies in the global market. With a population of
over 550 million and a GDP exceeding $3 trillion (CountryWatch, 2005), the region is replete with
natural resources and emerging service industries which make it globally competititve. Seventeen of
the worlds largest 100 cities and commercial centers are located in Latin America (WorldAtlas,
2005) and Mexico and Brazil are the 8
th
and 11
th
largest economies in the world, respectively
(Anderson & Cavanaugh, 2000). Foreign direct investment into Latin American countries almost
doubled from 1995 to 1998 (Characteristics, 1999) and the increase of exports to Latin America
surpassed those of other parts of the world in the latter part of the 1990s (Forging, 2001).

The United States accounts for a significant portion of Latin Americas economic activity. More U.
S. foreign direct investment flows into Latin America than to the Middle East, Asia-Pacific, or Africa
(U. S. Department of Commerce, 2003); twenty-one percent of U.S. exports go to Latin America,
and twelve Latin American countries are among the United States top 50 trade partners (Forging,
2001). The United States is also the principal trading partner of many Latin American countries,
including Colombia and Venezuela. The emergence of partnerships between the United States and
Latin America, relatively insignificant prior to 2000 (May, 2001), has been fueled by numerous
political and fiscal reforms in the region over the past two decades, and through various existing and
emerging free trade agreements across the Western Hemisphere.

The continued development of U. S. trade with Latin America is promising. In 2002, United States
President George W. Bush was granted Free Trade Authority, a fast-track to establishing trade
agreements with countries across the Western Hemisphere. The ultimate goal of this action was to
create a hemispheric trade zone that will economically integrate over 30 countries. Chile was the first
country to sign a bilateral trade agreement with the United States in 2003. Moreover, the Central

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America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA), which will establish a free trade zone within the United
States and five Central American countries, is expected to liberalize trade and will eventually
eliminate tariffs on most products within the member countries (Wikipedia, 2005). The agreement,
modeled after NAFTA (Washington Office on Latin America, 2005), is expected to open new
opportunities within the manufacturing, agricultural, textile, and other industries (United States
Trade Representative, 2003).

The prevalence of Latin American consumers in the the global marketplace is significant, trade
agreements nonwithstanding. Currently, there are more Spanish speakers than English speakers in
the world, 358 to 341 million, respectively; Spanish-language countries account for about 7 percent
of the worlds output (Daniels & Radebaugh, 2002); Latin Americans now comprise about 13
percent of the total U.S. population (over 37 million people), a population which is expected to grow
to over 18 percent by the year 2020 (U.S. Census Bureau, 2005). Moreover, there are more than 47
million Spanish-speaking consumers online, as well as 19 million speakers of Portuguese (Businesss
News America, 2002); these figures are growing substantially (Global Internet Statistics, 2003).

Given the enormous potential for increased business with Latin American constituents, it is
incumbent on U. S. entrepreneurs to approach, negotiate, and maintain relationships with Latin
American business professionals whose cultural backgrounds differ from their own. Research
affirms the importance of cultural understanding to the development of partnerships with
international constituents (Baldauf, Cravens, & Wagner, 2000; Ali & Swiercz, 1991); are business
programs adequately equipping their students with the cultural foundations they need to develop
fruitful business relationships with their counterparts in Latin America?

The answer may be no. Curriculum research suggest that business programs offer only superficial,
if any, introduction to cultural aspects of Latin America and other regions. In his study of 100
international business programs, Wardrope (2003) found little attention given to the social, cultural,
and political aspects of Latin American business communities, echoing Varners (2001, 2000)
concern that most intercultual research focuses on the general context of particular courses.
Wardrope and Minifie (2005) learned from AACSB business deans that programs emphasizing Latin
American interests are far outpaced by those emphasizing Europe and Asia in terms of faculty and
student exchange agreements and the number of region-focused business courses being taught.
Moreover, while many business communication courses deal perfunctorily with intercultural
communication issues, there seem to be even fewer courses in existence which explore Latin
American business communication practices (Wardrope, 2003).

Basic Characteristics of Latin American Culture

Latin American culture is most commonly understood through the concepts of Power,
Uncertainty Avoidance, Individualism/Collectivism, Masculinity, Context, and Time Orientation as defined by
Geert Hofstede (1980) and Edward T. Hall (1959). Hofstede identified the culture-based constructs
of (1) Power Orientation, the manner in which people in a culture defer to legitimate authorty in
familial, societal, and organizational authority structures; (2) Uncertainty Avoidance, the extent to
which a culture relies upon, and expects, information to accomplish a task; (3) Individualism /
Collectivism, or the degree to which a culture or subculture emphasizes the well-being of a group

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over the benefit of an individual; and (4) Masculinity, a cultures perspective about the roles that
men and women play in society. Additionally, Halls work on cultural differences (1959) revealed the
constructs of (5) Context, the pattern of physical cues, environmental stimuli, and implicit
understanding that convey meaning between two members of the same culture (Thill & Bovee,
2005, p.70), and (6) Time Orientation, a cultures attitudes toward time as distinctive cultural
aspects. Figure 1 compares Latin American and U.S. characteristics across Hofstedes and Halls
dimensions.

Figure 1
A Comparison of U.S. and Latin American Cultural Dimensions

Dimension U.S. Latin America
Time Orientation Monochronistic; people value
punctuality
Polychronistic; time is flexible
Context Low Context; Words have literal
meaning
High Context; words
interpreted according to
situational and nonverbal
factors
Uncertainty Avoidance Low Avoidance; feel comfortable
working with limited information
High Avoidance; seeks
thorough information before
making decisions
Power Low Power; feel free to question
and challenge authority
High Power; defers to
authority with little or no
resistance
Masculinity Low Masculine; men and women
are equal in authority
High Masculine; men hold
authority
Individualism/Collectivism Individualistic; Emphasize
individuals rights
Collectivisitic; place value on
the groups well-being
Source: Extrapolated from Hofstede (1980) and Hall (1959).

These basic cultural traits are accompanied by a body of other research which finds that Latin
American cultures are highly relationship-oriented (Kras, 1994), and favor long deliberations before
engaging in business (Ober, 2001; Devine & Braganti, 2000). They may also engage in long
conversational rituals as a precursor to business deliberations (Samovar & Porter, 1991), and ask
personal questions about family (Devine & Braganti, 2000) before discussing business. Taken
together, this body of research confirms that Latin Americans place great value on establishing long-
term, close relationships with interactants on a personal, as well as professional, level.

Latin American Cultural Constructs

In addition to the popular body of knowledge which compares cultures traits on the dimensions
provided by Hofstede and Hall, other work focusing specifically on Latin America provides an even
greater insight into Latin American communication patterns. For example, the culture-specific
concept of simpata, or kindness, is a cultural norm which requires individuals to be friendly, even if

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there is strong conflict between two people (Gomez, 1994, p. 32). Simpata is also often
understood as agreeability in the face of disagreement (Antshel, 2000). Another Latin American
construct, confianza, (trust) refers to the importance of having a personal relationship between
interactants (Brasch, 1973) and typically implies the expectation of mutual interpersonal reciprocity
(Dictionary of Society and Culture, 2005). In many Latin American subcultures, for instance, an
insider who has an established relationship with a company has a distinctively competitive
advantage over an individual whose relational history is not as well established (Trujela, 2005).

Two other constructs--respeto (respect) and personalismo (interpersonal warmth)are conceptualized
in mainstream Latin American culture in a number of ways. Respeto refers to the expectation that
people should be treated with dignity (Lenartowicz & Johnson), and is reflected commonly through
appropriate nonverbal behavior toward another person (Conlogue, 2004) and through a desire to
protect self-dignity (Franquiz, 2004). Personalismo refers to the degree of warmth of a personal
relationship (Paniagua, 1994; Cuellar, Arnold, & Gonzalez, 1995). It is grounded on the culture-
based value that people are worth more than material possessions (Brasch, 1973), and may be
expressed by showing an interest in the other persons language and culture (Antshel, 2002).

Taken collectively, these cultural nuances may seem at odds with contemporary Anglo-Saxon
business communication practices. For example, a bad news letter written in accordance with
traditional Latin American cultural standards may differ from the typical bad news model that is
prescribed by most popular business communication textbooks, an approach which generally
adheres to the following general pattern:

1. Buffer
2. Reasons for Decision
3. Presentation of Bad News
4. Alternative/GoodWill

This structure might be ineffective if applied to a Latin American reader with no knowledge of U.S.
business practices, because it violates the concepts of simpata, personalismo, confianza, and
respeto. A more culturally sensitive model might be:

1. Greetings to Reader; Expression of Goodwill for family and associates
2. Reasons for Decision or Description of Decision Process (The decision is implied)
3. Alternatives, Future Action
4. Reiterated Goodwill (separate from Alternative)

The differences between the two models are slight, but culturally meaningful. In the second model,
the reader: (a) exhibits personalismo by relaying formal, polite greetings; (b) builds confianza by
expressing goodwill to the readers family (c) protects the readers feelings of potential
embarrassment by avoiding a clear statement of bad news; and (d) maintains the relational confianza
by reiterating personal goodwill at the end of the letter. To a Latin American reader, the implicit
meaning behind this letterthat payment is due and that collection efforts may be undertakenis
as strong as the explicit statement, Pay your bill or we will turn you over for collection that Ango-
Saxon readers might expect.

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How would the second model be applied to a bad-news business message? Figure 2 shows a sample
letter following a more Latin American format, with content translated into English.

Figure 2
Sample Latin American Bad News Letter


Hernandez Fabricante Industrial y Distribuidor
Avenida Ramirez No. 272
Distrito Morales, Quito, Ecuador
Tel. 593-55555-5555
Fax 593-55555-5555

12 Junio del 2002

Seor
Juan Antonio Perez Marcela
23 Avenida San Pedro
Guayaquil, ECUADOR

Estimado Sr. Perez:

We send our best wishes to you and to your family and hope that all is well for you in
Guayaquil.

In accordance with Contract #123, we are anticipating your response and hope that you have
made suitable arrangements for payment. You are one of our best clients and it would please us
to know that you have already taken care of this matter.

Please, tell us about any problems you may have. We look forward to hearing from you and to
continuing working with you and your associates.

Atentamente,

Maria Patricia Sanchez Rodolfo

Maria Patricia Sanchez Rodolfo
Directora General

Model extrapolated from Conaway & Wardrope (2002).
Intended as a sample only; each situation may require variation.


Numerous aspects of Latin American culture may be observed in this letter. First, the use of

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mothers surnames (Marcela and Rodolofo, respectively) is standard fare in Latin American
correspondence, although these names are usually not used in spoken address. Second, there is no
direct statement of debt or its amount, nor is there any explicit threat of legal remedy. Third, the
tone is continually positive and personal, with frequent use of first and second-person pronouns
(use of I and we is common, whereas contemporary U.S. business communication authorities
generally frown on such practice). Finally, the letter resounds with a strong, implicit (high context)
messagePlease tell us may as well mean, when are you going to pay your bill? Such implicity
also is a way of helping the reader save faceor avoid shamewhich is especially important in
high-context cultures (Rosenberg, 2004).

These Latin American conventions may vary by country (Lenartowicz & Johnson, 2003) and may
also differ according to the degree of exposure a business has had with Anglo-Saxon
correspondence standards. Therefore, legal attention should be given to any contractual implications
before correspondence is finalized. In general, however, Figure 3 provides some goals and methods
for creating successful business communication with Latin American constituents.

Figure 3
Cultural Rules for Communicating with Latin American Businesses

Goal Method
Initiating Contact Offer polite self-introduction, goodwill statement for
reader, associates and friends
Using Titles Use of seor, seora, or professional titles; avoid first
names on initial and early contacts; include Mothers
maiden name in correspondence
Showing Respect and Knowledge of Culture Use at least some of readers language; show interest
in readers country & company
Building relationship Develop personal rapport first; inquire about family;
communicate frequently; visit country or offer to
host;
Giving Gifts Send or bring gifts to potential associates*
Handling Bad News Present news implicitly and with high regard for
readers feelings and reputation
Maintaining Personal Tone Frequently use pronouns; express formal, yet
personal, goodwill for family and associates
*Country-specific research should be conducted to determine appropriate gifts.

Conclusion

Understanding the nuances of a particular culturenot just how the culture compares to other
mainstream cultural groups using a universal set of criteriais essential to effective international
business communication. The importance of culture-specific research is particularly true with regard
to high-context cultures such as Latin American societies, which place a premium on relational
constructs such as personalismo, simpatia, confianza, and respeto. Failure to read between the
lines can destroy a potentially successful business relationship; failure to write between those lines

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may prove even more disastrous. Careful study of Latin Americas societal norms and
communication practices will prepare todays professionals for productive and enjoyable
international business outcomes.

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