Chile Forum

Hi Everyone,

My name is Rita; I am new to this forum, and looking for some information on doing business in Chile. In particular, I'm curious to know the differences between doing business in Chile and the US. I'm looking for this information for two reasons: one, I am creating a corporate expat training program for Americans going to work in Chile (for an MBA course). Second, I choose Chile for the project, because I am very interested in visiting and perhaps living and working there, though do not know much about it yet.

Anyone who can shed some light on this topic, please comment, though expats (either Americans living/working in Chile, OR Chileans who have lived/worked in the US) may have the most insight on differences.

Some specific things I'm wondering about:

Key differences in business practice between Chile and the US (mannerisms, greetings, formalities, meetings, negotiations, bargaining, etc)
Cultural values/norms that affect business
Religious values (do they affect business)
Difference in organizational culture (centralized/decentralized)
Difference in management style (authoritative, participatory, paternalistic, etc.)
Relationship between managers/employees (suboordinates)
Work ethic differences
Status between men and women
Any issues (and policies/regulations that address them) regarding discrimination or harrassment
Status between ethnic groups
Business hours/work week differences
Business dress
Vacation (how much? how often?)
Salary and cost of living differences

For expats:
Challenges in relocating, changes jobs/positions, family issues (if relevant to the relocation), training issues, etc.
What have you learned from working in another country?
If not mentioned above, what other differences do you find between Chile and US?

Anyone who has the time to respond, I would really appreciate your time!
Take care,

Rita

Thanks. I speant some time surfing the forum, which has some excellent information! I bolded the areas I had difficulty finding, so if someone could please comment on those, I would really appreciate it!

Rita

Dear Rita,

As far as I can tell (WARNING! This is my subject personal experience only!!!), management style in Chile is really vertical - that is, you have a few overpaid fat cats and then some really underpaid workers who are not very motivated.

The lack of motivation makes the management very patronizing with the workers, expecting little from them while being annoyed with their low production and lack of motivation, and without offering any real incentives to improve. At the same time, management is very "comfortable" with their high salaries, and not interested in allowing any subordinates to acquire enough knowledge or ambition to threaten their own positions.

My experience: I took a low-paying job in an exports company (got it because of my English skills) and at first, I though all my co-workers were really lazy - ie, chatting during work, working really slowly, not really caring...I, on the other hand, really tried hard, thinking I would do the same as I had in my US jobs - start out slow, but quickly prove my worth and readiness for new responsibilities and more $$.

My reward? They decided to give me a "promotion" for my standout working style - with NO extra money, or benefits of any sort! Just extra responsibility! Needless to say, I quit.

I'm now in a company that has a slightly more modern management style - ie, you start out with a very low salary, but you can quickly apply for new responsibilities or a higher position that (although you still won't make the salary you'd like) will allow you to gain experience and a little more money.

Even still I find it quite vertical, with the people who REALLY make up the company (ie, us workers) having to adapt to the whims of the "important" and dictatorial ones, advancing not only through merit but by being able to "hacer la pata" (suck up)

It really depends on the company, but from what I can see, the most successful ones are the ones that have been able to adapt their management styles to more modern times (ie, more employee participation, bonuses, recognition, etc)

Looking over this, maybe you'll find it a negative point of view, but honestly my point of view of Chilean management is negative, though I truly believe that it will improve as employers (hopefully) realize that it takes a little more investment (time and money) to get the best from their employees.

Will this help you?? I hope a little! Best of luck!

In my own experience with Chilean businesses, (Pacific Anchor Lines and a few other offices I've been in) I've seen that a lot of times there is ONE guy or girl who does the work of an entire office. Everything will bottleneck through them. That person is not nessesarily the boss, usually not. Everyone else is......(what would be the word?)........ decoration, yeah, decoration, like office furniture but human. Human office furniture.
The boss is "out" most of the time. Where? They don't know, haven't seen him since last Tuesday. If you need to do business with a Chilean company you'll be lucky if you find that one person there who keeps it together. He/she will be terrifically overloaded with work and barely have time to even return an email but there is a chance they'll get around to you sometime.

Or another scenario, like when I walked into Solon-Chavez, six guys sitting around,

"Can you help me?"

"No"

"Can't you just take my boxes and give me a receipt?"

"No, we have to wait for jefe to come back before we can do anything."

They didn't have a person who keeps it together while jefe is "out".


That is my admittidly limited but nevertheless street-level experience with Chilean business. I hope YMMV.

love_chile wrote:My reward? They decided to give me a "promotion" for my standout working style - with NO extra money, or benefits of any sort! Just extra responsibility!

The same thing happened to my sister in law. She was ambitious. It seemed that giving her more responsibility wasn't a sincere effort to recognize her contributions and value to the company. It was just to "give her rope to hang herself." After five years she was demoralized and burned out. Quit and went to New Zealand.

I haven't worked in Chile. But, the pervasiveness of the dysfunctional employment culture was the thing that stood out to me during my first trip to Chile. It seemed like the managers had no fear of losing their jobs (and becoming average employees). And, the employees had no hope of becoming managers. Everyone just trying to get the most, which is a relative proposition. What I mean is, employees doing the least amount of work in return for their pay is like getting paid more. It's all relative. And, it's not their fault when it seems like the managers are doing the same thing (as holding tenured positions).

I've always thought a foreigner could make a killing in Chile (starting a business) just by creating a dynamic and inspiring employment culture. In the US, the struggle is more toward building a better or cheaper mouse trap. In Chile it seemed like it's just a matter of using resources effectively instead of squandering them. It always seemed like low-hanging fruit to me. It doesn't cost anything to validate employees and inspire them. The way Chilean businesses operate, it seems self-destructive the way they go *out of their way* to *un*inspire the employees. It seems like it would be so easy to come in and steal a business. Someone would have to go out of their way to fail.

Mark