Doing Business in Mexico; Mexican Business Culture and What is the Culture of Mexico? [4-mins read]

All this in one article? Well, it’s a start. Of course, you can’t sum up everything about doing business in Mexico and what is the culture of Mexico in one article. This article only attempts to describe some of the cultural aspects of the Mexican business culture.

Watch this 3-minute video first to get an impression of Mexican culture.

For Whom Is This Article?

If you’re doing business with Mexicans or planning to do so, you might want to read this article. I am not going to cover economics, imports, or exports. You can find more info (as a good starting point per Latin American country) here.

Nor will I talk about the crime in Mexico. There’s enough about that in the news already. (You can find some more info here if you really must).

No, this article covers Mexico’s business culture and will answer the question “What is the culture of Mexico” from a business perspective.

What is the Culture of Mexico

Let’s start with the basics; the first four primary dimensions of culture. The table below illustrates the scores of Mexico relative to some other countries.

Simply going down the list of the first four dimensions you can conclude the following:

Hierarchy: In Mexico, as in many other countries, the boss is the boss. There is a relatively steep hierarchy whereby delegation of authority down the chain of command is only limited; people are not making decisions that lie outside the scope of their limited delegated authority.

When doing business in Mexico and you’re in negotiations, it is unlikely that the final decision maker will be at the table. The delegation that is talking to you will merely listen to what you have to offer, take that home, and present it to a person higher in the hierarchy.

Patience is key. Don’t hurry things. It will take at least a couple of weeks, if not more before things start moving, if at all.

Loyalty: Mexico represents a collectivistic culture and therefore consists of in-groups. And, logically, if you’re not part of the in-group, you’re part of the “other group“. Understanding the collectivistic culture where relationships are of the utmost importance is crucial.

Goal orientation is relatively high. In the case of Mexico, this does not directly translate into reaching business targets. It is more visible in the concept of Size-Matters. Bigger is better. This goes for cars, houses, and the amount of money you can show.

Predictability is also high, as it is across Latin America. From a business perspective, this translates into the fact that conflicts are generally avoided. Unless… the situation spirals out of control and a conflict becomes inevitable.

Mexican culture compared with American (USA) culture

For a good, step-by-step, comparison of Mexican and American culture, watch this 6-minute video.

Doing Business in Mexico and Mexican Business Culture

The difficulty of doing business in any country depends on your starting point. It is relatively easy for a Dutchman to do business in Scandinavia (read more about doing business there in this article), while an American may have more difficulty there.

Corruption and the Speed of Things

If you have a North-American or European background, things might not move as fast as you’re used to in Mexico. And there is a good chance that you might bump into business issues that edge towards corruption. Should you encounter anything like this, my advice is not to “play the game“, because you don’t know it.

Relationships

One of the most important things to realize about Mexican business culture is that relationships are very very important. This means that you will have to invest time in building those relationships. Both during office hours as well as informally.

For more individualistic cultures this might be difficult to do, where it can be seen as a waste of time. But Mexican business culture simply revolves around having the right connections. And that takes time.

Red-tape and Conflicts

People from the US and Western European countries might also experience more red tape in Mexico than they’re used to at home. In doing business with Mexico, it is simply taking it as it comes. So just go with the flow.

And as said before, slamming your fist on the table and demanding that things go your way will usually backfire. Doing business in Mexico involves avoiding conflicts as much as possible. But when things explode, it generally takes down the relationship.

Summary

So what is the culture of Mexico? Like any culture, capturing it in one article is hard. But here are some keywords:

• Respect the chain of command (hierarchy).
• Don’t think you’re automatically part of the in-group.
• Avoid conflicts and build relationships.

If you want to hear a podcast about doing business in Mexico, click here.

If you want to know more about doing business in Mexico, don’t hesitate to get in touch with us.

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