Tony,
I was surprised by your posting, because I am a mexican, and there is a
similar phenomena in Mexico. I've been living by more than 18 months in
the USA, and I've been surprised by the differences, and similitudes,
between USA and Mexico (or "3rd world countries").
Although the Mexican system is very far from being as authoritarian as in
China, it is pretty authoritarian, anyway. Even though we have a
"democratic" system, it is not that democratic. Generally speaking, the
government works as a very well designed mafia.
Somebody wrote in Newsweek some months ago (I'm sorry, I can't remember
who) that the problem with Mexico was the patriarchal system. Similar to
the Chinese system, the father figure has an unquestionable authority, and
he is supposed to solve most of the "children" problems.
I was surprised to find out how involved was the public in the community
problems at USA. People is actively involved in schools, libraries,
recycling, charities, etc. In Mexico, the government is supposed to take
care of every major problem... and of course, it is "guilty" of every
problem. Even further, the President is responsible of every problem in
Mexico... he is supposed to solve everything. In exchange, he will have
almost absolute power in everything. The President is the ultimate
"father". Every President is supposed to take the country a notch close
to the "first world".
That is changing gradually, because people is getting more and more
educated and participative, but you can't expect much when the average
adult does have about 5 years of school.
Mexico is not very different from South American countries, and I'm
affraid that it's very similar to Islamic and other "3rd world" regions.
Please have this tip: When you are a manager in Mexico, you are supposed
to take care of your employee's problems... and in return they will be
your most loyal partners. If you want to have their support, you will have
to support them too. Ultimately, they will work for you, not for the
company. Of course, you may find exceptions.
I would like to here more experiences of people working in both rich and
poor countries.
Best regards,
Luis
--"Luis J. Colorado" <luiscolorado@home.net>
Learning-org -- Hosted by Rick Karash <rkarash@karash.com> Public Dialog on Learning Organizations -- <http://www.learning-org.com>