Latinization of the World

It is fact that the American culture is one of the most influential now-a-days, and everybody around the world pretends to imitate its characteristics. However, I believe that there is a worldwide phenomenon going on right now: people in the world want to adopt the Latin culture. Among the most popular things it is possible to include the music and dancing (salsa, reggaeton) and the clothing (more especifically the colors: vibrant and colorful).

Also, the Latin culture has managed to enter in every corner of the wolrd, due to its representatives' easy way to communicate with everybody and exiting feeling that they reflect.

However, in my opinion, there is a lack of real knowledge of our culture. This, I believe, is thanks to the false image that most of the people have of our culture. People in Europe, North America and Asia think that the Latins are lazy,noisy and that women are easy girls; this is because most of the Latin people who emigrate to those countries are people who were in a non stable economic position and were forced to leave their country because of that. Therefore, they are not very educated, and they are just a minority.

Given the previous, I wish to express that not all the latins are the same, and not all of us behave the same promiscuous, lazy and noisy way. In Latin America, there is a lot of people educated and willing to reach a goal in their lifes.

Finally, I want to clarify that I'm not trying to offend anybody, I just pretend to make people from other countries to realize that just because one person behaves in a certain way, means that all the people from that country will be the same. And this also applies to the rest of the cultures.

Healthy system??

This week in class we were discussing the actual health system in Colombia and in other countries from the world, such as the United States. The lack of eficiency in that very important system due to the many policies and restrictions from the bureaucracy is a concern from the mass.

The following cartoon from Ricky, a columnist from El Colombiano, reflects a little bit this situation:

De Paulina O&C

Proud to be part of a minority?

No matter where you are, being part of a minority sucks. I know that many people may sustain that this could be a reason to be proud of, an opportunity to live a legacy and to be different from the mass; and yes, all of the above sounds too beautiful and so ideal at the same time. But let’s face the truth: no minority has the big opportunity mentioned before; by the contrary, they are constantly chased and underestimated.

Now-a-days, there is a big group of minorities in the world, and some of the most global are: homosexuals, women, and indigenous. The last group mentioned has been historically a victim of violence, persecution and rights violations. Regarding to this, Australian indigenous suffered a bloody history in that country, and today people regret of that, offering excuses and saying sorry to this minority.

However, there is one question to ask: is it just enough to say sorry? I believe no. saying sorry is a start, but it is definitely not enough! It is true that it is impossible to undo what was done many years ago and reverse history. But something fair toward the compensation of these tragedies is that many restructuration projects can be leaded by the government and private companies.

Following the previous, we may include in those projects some in terms of:
- Education so indigenous people can reintegrate to the society in a competent way, in order to work as equals with the rest of people.
- Health security; even though their tradition may be against some modern practices, the State should provide them a good health system, so they can be treated in an efficient way.
- Job opportunities. There should be a program to support them with work opportunities so they have a chance to improve what was once taken out from them.

These are just some examples, but the list might keep on growing if the wiling is there.

Finally, there is something that needs to be clear, so there are not misunderstandings: being part of a minority does not imply being a martyr; it might just be a little bit more tough than for the rest of the people to climb in society, but the road could make you stronger and could help you develop characteristics that others may not have. So it is a proud to be part of a minority, as long as people know how to take things; and if a the damage towards them is done, saying sorry is not enough!

A real winner

This entry is quite particular since today nothing will be written from me. However, I invite you to visit the following blog: "Le Monolecte", created by Agnès Maillard, a French woman, mother and entrepreneur, who shows us that it is not necessary to have a degree on literature or to be the most especialized in one topic in order to have deep thoughts. Even a regular person is free to think! So, why shouldn't us?

Anyhow, this blog is one of the winners of the Best of Blogs BOBS 2010 awards; and the link to this blog is: http://blog.monolecte.fr/

I hope you enjoy it as well as I did!

Trade Unions: how is it different in Colombia from the European Union?

No matter if you are in Europe or in Colombia, one thing is certain: workers who belong to trade unions are not well received in any kind of companies; they are even categorized as “trouble”, so most of the times companies prefer to preside of them.

However, there is one big difference between trade unionists in Europe and those in Colombia. More explicitly, in the E.U., trade unions are organizations that seek for the respect of the rights of the employees and their demands are taken into account, avoiding conflict between the company and the parties involved. Nevertheless, this is not the case in Colombia, since trade unionists are chased and even murdered. There is also a popular belief that most of those assassinates are responsibility of the right wing paramilitary groups.

An article posted in the Amnesty International webpage on April 2008 states that “Amnesty International has highlighted how, over the last two decades, the numbers of trade unionists killed have experienced years of dramatic falls followed by large increases. The organization has insisted that a lack of decisive action by successive Colombian governments to end the over 90% impunity in such cases means that there cannot be any guarantee that a fall in figures one year necessarily translates into a sustainable improvement in the human rights situation”1 This means that there is not much cooperation from the government to stop these actions in the country, and therefore the support to these organizations is almost inexistent.

Also, there is another article that states that “The Colombian labor movement has been the target of a campaign of intimidation unparalleled in the contemporary world. More than 3,800 union leaders and activists have been assassinated since the mid 1980's”2 This article, The United States and The War on Trade Unions in Colombia: A Call for Solidarity, explains how ever since its beginnings, the trade unions in Colombia have been chased by armed groups, and how it is almost impossible to count with a decent protection from the government.

Therefore, it is not a surprise that trade unions are tending to disappear in Colombia, even some are resisting to its total end; in which it is possible to recall: Central Union of Workers, Confederation of Workers of Colombia, Corriente de Integracion Sindical, General Confederation of Democratic Workers, SINALTRAINAL.3.
However, the dissolution of those organizations is not only a Colombian phenomenon, but it is also happening in the E.U., like the Federation of European Employers (FedEE) explains: “Over the last twenty years there has been a widespread decline in trade union membership throughout most of western Europe. Since the fall of the Iron Curtain in 1989, unionisation in many eastern European states has collapsed at an even more dramatic rate… FedEE estimates that, in the medium term, the average level of unionisation across the EU will fall even further - from 26.3% today to just under 20% by 2010”4.

Finally, I believe that trade unionist need to find a way to make themselves be heard by the big corporations without using the violence. Maybe, the perception towards them could change in a positive way, especially in Colombia, if their approach is a little more rational than passional. Otherwise, this wave of violence and rejection towards them will not change, even with the government’s help.

Reference
1. (April 2008) Killings of trade unionists on the rise in Colombia. Retrieved on April 22nd, 2010 in Amnesty International from: http://www.amnesty.org/en/news-and-updates/feature-stories/killings-trade-unionists-rise-colombia-20080430
2. Rayner, J. The United States and The War on Trade Unions in Colombia: A Call for Solidarit. Retrieved on April 22nd, 2010 in International Labor Relations, from: http://henningcenter.berkeley.edu/gateway/colombia.html
3. Trade unions of Colombia. Retrieved on April 22nd, 2010 in mundoandino.com, from: http://www.mundoandino.com/Category/Trade-unions-of-Colombia
4. Trade unions across Europe. Retrieved on April 22nd, 2010 in Federation of European Employers, from: http://www.fedee.com/tradeunions.html

E-commerce in the Islam and all around the world

Taking into consideration the basic rules of Islam to make e-commerce, it might look very appropriate and very wise, since those rules are basically the main logical path to follow when making business with anybody, through any mean, no matter the religion, culture or believes of the counterparty.

Such rules are included in the research paper “E-Commerce from an Islamic perspective”1, which make an emphasis on the legacy of the e-commerce in the Islamic religion; and therefore, named the following statements:
- Before starting the contract, both parties need to be present, or have a delegated; and the seller must prove that the product exists in the market.
- During the process of the negotiation, there are some things that are prohibited: charging interests, because it is considered as usury; uncertainty (not knowing well what is to be taken); fraud, duress and/or gambling.
- When implementing the negotiation or contract, the seller must be to real owner of the subject of the contract and this must be free from liabilities.
- Signing the contract by the parties, after verifying the real existence of the company, since it was only known through the website.
- Finally, when exchanging the payment and product, the first one should not be made with credit card, because it goes against the principle of no usury.

Following the previous, one might believe that there is no need to make such statement, since most of those rules are from common sense and people from all around the world should know that when making business online. However, the reality is different; most people have little knowledge when practicing this kind of business, and sometimes they might fall into traps causing them a great lose of money and many times, a loss of their good name.

Therefore, I believe that this rules shouldn’t be taken into account by the Muslims themselves, but by everyone in the world who is engaging a negotiation through the internet (electronic commerce); in order to avoid a fraud.


References:
1. Zainul, N., Osman, F. and Mazlan, S.H. (2004). E-Commerce from an Islamic perspective. International Islamic University Malaysia: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Mortal Dowry

There are many social issues in India to deal with. However, this entry is mainly focussed on one important and common tradition in the country. The "Dowry" is a financial gift that the family of the bride has to pay to family of the groom when they are getting married. Traditionally, the purpose of the dowry was to give the husband a financial support and to thank his family for choosing their daughet and releasing them from the spinsterhood (which is still considered a curse in India).

Usually the amount of this "gift" is iracional so people must get into high doubts in order to fulfill the demands of their family-in-law. "In a middle class family, the expenditure could rise to 300.000 and 400.000 rupees (between 5.400 and 7.100 euros, something exorbitant in a country where the per capita income rises to a little more of 2.700 euros per year)"1. If the family of the bride refuses to accomplish this amount, the bride is mistreated, physically and emotionally, and sometimes even murdered. The most common way to kill the wife, is by burning her, since it is easier to make it look like an accident."In 2006 more than 9.800 cases related to violence due to the dowry were reported"2

Having a daughter in India and the payment of the dowry is so stressful to the level that even in one abortion clinic there was a poster that quoted: "Invest 3.000 rupees today and safe 30.000 rupees in the future"3. This might be the cause that now-a-days in the country, it is prohibited to know the sex of the children before they are borned. Also, many families prefer to kill the daughters or starv them to death before they grow up, in order to safe that money. This is why, in India there are more men than women, even though many campaigns are trying to change those numbers.

This tradition is supossed to be prohibited in India since 1961, with the 'Dowry Prohibition Act'; however, there are few cases that have really been taken to trial. This proves that tradition is greater than common sense, and they hide it by calling the dowry "a gift". In many cases, the family of the groom brives the police so no charges are made against them.

However, not everyone in India is in favor of that tradition. There are many young men and women in the country who are against the dowry, even when they (men) could get a signficant amount for getting married. An example of this is the website: idontwantdowry.com, a place where all young people against the dowry have the opportunitty to meet other people with the same beliefs. Many traditional families are agains this website, and they tell their sons that it is crazy to do that since they are really succesfull and have a good carrier, which in caste system means that they can charge a lot of money and luxury things for that.

The creator of the website, Satya Naresh, states that: "There are still a lot of challenges in the merriage system in India, such as the religion barriers, caste, region of origin, and economic diferences. But the dowry is the most serious thing. It is the most threatening of the social curses because it involves money, and people can kill for it"4.

Even though this website is really positive, and many efforts are beign made in order to abolish this tradition in India, the reality is that there are still a lot of families who demand the "dowry", if not before the wedding, after it.


References:
1. La dote, rito mortal en la India (2007). Retrived from: http://www.elmundo.es/elmundo/2007/05/21/solidaridad/1179746513.html
2. Íbid
3. El problema de la dote en India (2008). Retrieved from: http://www.softwarelibre.net/el_problema_de_la_dote_en_india_0
4. India: Yo no quiero dote (2007). Retrieved from:http://paraula.espacioblog.com/post/2007/10/09/india-yo-quiero-dote

Business in China

Doing business in China? Well if you are planning to, I really advise you to take into account that the Chinese culture is very unique and there are some protocols that must be followed in order to have a succesful deal with them.

Something very important to know is that this culture is highly influenced by Confucianism, which stands for the harmonious relationships between ruler-subject, husband-wife, father-son, brother-brother and friend-friend, so the society as a whole will function smoothly.

Also, here are some special characteristics and tips that might be useful:
- Adress to a person by his or her family name (last name. Do not insist either on them to call you by your first name
- The meeting starts with a hand shake and a slight nod of the head. Try not to be too enthusiastic when shaking hands because they might interpret it as agressive
- Physical contact is not well seen, so make sure not to touch someone's hands or pat/put your arm around someone's shoulders
- In general, be consious about all your moves in order to remain in a calm position and not look too agressive.
- The relationships are very formal, and are directed towards business. Avoid jokes and distracting commentaries. It also good to have an intermediary, who could be an interpretor and a reference person.
- There are some specific gestures that are considered rude, like: pointing the index finger,finger snapping, showing the soles of shoes, whistling. However, this does not mean that there are not Chinese customs that are annoying to western people, such as: spitting on the street, failure to ask permission to smoke, slurping food, talking while eating.
- When exchanging business cards, hold out your card using both hands with the writing facing the recipient
- In China, it is assumed that the first person that enters the room is the head of the group
- At a formal banquet, be prepared to give a short, friendly speech in response to the host's speech
- Punctuality is vital when doing business in China
- Prior to any meeting always send an agenda
- One known strategy for Chinese negotiators is to begin negotiations showing humility and deference. This is designed to present themselves as vulnerable and weak. You, the stronger, will be expected to help them through concessions.

I hope these tips were useful and that you keep them in mind when doing business with Chinese people.

References:

http://www.protocolprofessionals.com/articles_china_print.htm
http://www.china-window.com/china_business/china_business_tips/business-etiquette-in-chi.shtml
http://www.kwintessential.co.uk/etiquette/doing-business-china.html

Korean, Japanese and Colombian Management

In this entry I would like to show a table that contains the main differences between the Korean, Japanese and Colombia managerial skills. However, it is important to note that these differences might not apply to all cases, especially on those internationalized firms, because it is well-known that globalization has made that all firms around the world tend to unify the management models.



Reference
Lee, J., Roehl, T.W., and Choe, S. (2000). What makes management style similar and distinct across borders? Growth, experience and culture in Korean and Japanese firms. Journal of International Business Studies, 31, 4: 631-652

About " The Past and future of immigration to Canada" by David Verbeeten

the objective of this post is to identify the main idea of the reading "The past and future of immigration to Canada" by David Verbeeten; and then number three of the arguments the author used.

Following the order of this statement, the main idea of the text is to indicate how the immigrants have been an important factor in the economy of Canada; and how the migratory policies of that country have changed through years in order to allow the entrance of the propotypes that are in accordance to what they need at that time. But not only the immigration influeces the economy; also the emmigration, because Canada has suffer from a big loss of professionals who left to other countries, such as United States. Finally, it leaves the doubt of the future of migration in Canada, which is unpredictably at the moment.

To feed this idea, the author states that "Over the course of four decades—decades
which were otherwise politically formative for the Dominion—the population of
Canada actually expanded at a rate below that of natural increase. Immigration only
began to contribute significantly to population growth after 1901. For much, if not
most, of its formative history, Canada was not a country of immigrants, but rather a
country of emigrants or transients". This means that Canadians at the begginings were looking for better opportunities elsewhere, and the migration rates where low; leaving Canada as a country merely agricultural, and only developing in one or two cities.

Then, after the Economic Boom in the XX century, the rates of immigration increased and now the government was forced to change the policies, to make them moer selective and restrictive, so these preferred the entrance of protestants and white people. But in the interwar period they were accused of discrimation, so they based their policies on a system of points and more objective.

This change affected the economy in a way that immigrants were more prepared but they were not willing to stay for a long time in the country, meanwhile the nationals professionals of the country were leaving mostly to the Unied States in the search for lower taxes and better salaries. However, there was work-force enough to continue growing.

finally the author states that the immigration rates beagan to get affected by the brain drain of professionals, leaving a country full of age people and low birth rates; and also, immigrants stoped looking at CAnada as a destination to migrate. All of this carries a series of social problems. The author says: "In the context of worldwide
aging and decline, Canada may find itself in a strengthened or weakened position. In
the event that developing societies are destabilized by severe imbalances in their
demographic distributions, Canada may once again become a destination of choice
for the skilled and educated workers of these societies as they seek to relocate"

In my opinion, Canada is a country with a lot of potential to be a destiny for migration, but the only main issue that stops this to happen is the lack of openness to immigrants, in a way that offers them more social securities and more facilities to stay there, have a family and improve the economy of the cuntry.

Expatriates are the same as migrants, right?.... NO!

In a general definition, and according to the UN Convention on the Rights of Migrants, "The term 'migrant' in article 1.1 (a) should be understood as covering all cases where the decision to migrate is taken freely by the individual concerned, for reasons of 'personal convenience' and without intervention of an external compelling factor."1 Sometimes this term is used in a pejorative sence, since most migrants are people coming to big states, such the United States, in order to reach a better life, through a better paid job.

On the other hand, Expatriate is mostly refered to "A person who has citizenship in at least one country, but who is living in another country. Most expatriates only stay in the foreign country for a certain period of time, and plan to return to their home country eventually, although there are some who never return to their country of citizenship"2 In this sense, many people use "expatriate" when refering to those people who enjoy traveling and are adventorous, so they go from one country to another looking for experience.

Keeping up with the first debate, why is it a discriminative separation of these two words? Actually tradition is the one who has stablished this difference, because from many years ago migrants are labeled as desperate and unsophisticated people that have the need to go to a different country and start over again. Meanwhile, expatriates are albeled just leave their home country to improve skills or for pleasure. Therefore, it is important to note that the use of these terms in a differentiated way is not something intentional; just usual by traditional language.

Finally, the point of writing this post is not to create a strong debate or make a referendum over who is right or wrong, and why. But to bring out the common definition of these words, very usual in our daily life; specially now that we live a every-day-more-globalized world.


References:

1. Measures to improve the situation and ensure the human rights and dignity of all migrant workers. 1998. Report of the working group of intergovernmental experts on the human rights of migrants submitted in accordance with Commission on Human Rights resolution 1997/15. COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS Fifty-fourth session, Intergovernmental working group of experts on the human rights of migrants.

2. Business dictionary.com (2010). Retrieved on February 25th, 2010, on: http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/expatriate.html

Corporations as an influence in culture

Before the industrial revolution, handlaboring was considered an art that created customized artefacts for each of the real needs of the people. Then, when machinery and technology improved the productive activity, the handycrafter became a worker of a big plant, which produced in massive quantities, and who now was required to follow a schedule and accomplish a specific goal.
It didn't took too long until those big factories came to Colombia, and changed the daily life of its nationals. Big corporations, now-a-days, could and do change a culture: with its policies and its corporate culture, which eventually have an influence in people's customes.
Taking the example of Colombia; this culture has always been very family centered, so people procured to be home early in order to spend some time with their relatives. However, this corporations brought with them, besides great technology and techniques, a whole new set of values (corporate culture) rooted in the industrialized country's culture, who don't care that much about family time; and also a new set of benefits INSIDE and AROUND the company (such as a gym, reading clubs, sports teams, movies...). Therefore, the Colombian workers are getting affected by this, in a sense that now they prefer to spend more time in the company as they feel attracted to all of those benefitss. Sumarizing, big corporations are separating workers from their families, and are trying to create a new "family" with its own values, culture and customes.

Culture vs. Organizational Culture

Culture could be defined as the group of beliefs, values, experiences, religion, attitudes, roles, material objects, notion of time, and many more aspects learned and adopted by an individual or by a group of persons throgh time and generations. Therefore, culture could be as well a major influence in the personality of the ones who adopt it.
Given that, it is not hard to define organizational culture, since it makes the personality of an organization. Better explained, organizational culture is the values, norms, attitudes, beliefs and experiences shared by the members of an organization, and influencing the way they interact between each other.
With this said, it is possible to conclude that organizational culture is the culture of an organization (although it is a little obvious).

Is it possible to change our culture?

This week in class, the teacher asked the students in which other cultures they would have liked to be borned or live. Many of them answered that in a more organized culture, given that the Colombian culture is the opposite of that. Now i ask if that issue is just of our culture, or many other have the same problem. Well, in my opinion, and it is just an opinion, our culture could be just as organized as many other from Western Europe and so, like they mentioned; the only thing we are missing right now in order to be in their level is education.
To me, educating people to act in a certain way, in this case more organized, is the key to become a "better" culture. Right now we might be so disorganized because we just dont see the need to improve that, but whenever a situation pushes us to be organized we learn how to.
A specific example of this was given by a classmate who pointed out that in Western Europe, people make a line to take the bus; something that is not particular of our culture. However, now-a-days it is possible to find Colombian people making a line to take the bus, specially in those routes that are needed the most by the travelers; otherwise, they are not allowed to get in the vehicle.
This shows that we are able to learn and apply organized actions when educated; of course not inmediatelly but with time.
As a conclusion, each of us has the responsibility to educate the others little by little until eventually we reach that so desired level of organization.