Doing business in Venezuela

Résumé du document

It is difficult to establish if Venezuelan society is strongly direct or indirect, but one thing is true, they always tend to be clear in negotiations, they try to express what they think at every moment, becoming emotional many times. They don't establish symbolic or sign communications when doing business, so it is clear that they try to be as much transparent as possible. As we will see in detail in the following Hofstede's analysis; Venezuela has got a high power distance impact due to the high level of inequality of power and wealth within the society. However society seems to accept this situation as normal which derives in the power of corruption, poverty, etc. They feel impotent in front of Government laws and policies, and when there are demonstrations, the response of order forces is often repressive.

Extraits

[...] If the service was exceptional, however, ensure that you leave an additional Public behaviour - It's considered very important in this culture to maintain good posture at all times, even in more informal situations. - A firm, assured, handshake is the customary greeting on all occasions. - During the handshake, state your full name; the Venezuelan will then reciprocate by doing the same. - Once you establish a closer acquaintance with certain people, you may even receive an an embrace which involves a squeeze of the arm, and sometimes even a kiss on the cheek. [...]

[...] Individualism vs. Collectivism: There exist a conflict between what we want as individuals and the group global interest. Nowadays there's a general tendency to Individualism because that's one of modern society's main characteristics. On the other hand Collectivism is more common in traditional societies. The level of Individualism/Collectivism of a society is strongly influenced by religion, for example, it has been observed that the catholic Latin cultures and the Pacific-Asian cultures are less individualist than protestant occidental cultures. Venezuela is not a 100% collectivist or individualist country under the point of view of Trompenaar, however, as we said in Hofstede's analysis it tends to collectivism more than other southamerican societies for example, in negotiation is individualist in the sense that they prefer meetings one on one more than big group negotiations. [...]

[...] - Generally, there are two approaches to conducting business in this culture. Businesspeople from the older generation often place a greater emphasis on getting to know you personally. Conversely, the younger generation, especially those educated in the United States, is chiefly preoccupied with business concerns. - In Venezuelan business culture, interpersonal skills, such as the ability to and maintain cordial relations with the group, are often considered more important than professional competence and experience. - In both the government and private sectors, Venezuelan women hold positions of rank and authority, so you'll find that Venezuelan men will be accustomed to dealing with businesswomen. [...]

[...] In many of the Latin American countries, including Venezuela, the population is predominantly Catholic. The combination of Catholicism and the cultural dimensions explained in this work reinforce the theory that says that Venezuelans think that there is an absolute As Geert Hofstede explains, “There can only be one Truth and we have In a country that has over 50% of its population practicing the Catholic religion, we found the primary correlating Hofstede Dimension to be Uncertainty Avoidance. The large majority of predominantly Catholic countries (those with Uncertainty Avoidance as their highest ranking Dimension) have a low tolerance for ambiguity. [...]

[...] This is indicative of a high level of inequality of power and wealth within the society. This condition is not necessarily subverted upon the population, but it's accepted by the culture as a whole. In Venezuela we can find out that there exist a big power distance because the less powerful members, a majority in Venezuelan society, feel and perceive a great inequality in comparison with the most powerful members of the country, which are a minority. Wherever we apply the power distance analysis we will find out that in politics, enterprises, public administration or national security there is a concentrated power, which acts as what it is: the power of a few, with all its consequences: extortion, corruption, abuse of power, creation of more inequalities, etc. [...]