A Note from Mr. Phillips* 
Dear Mark:  
Now that I have been in Mexico for six months I thought it was about time to drop you a note and let you know how things are going. Unfortunately, "Not good" is about the best I can say  though things didn't start off too badly. On my first day the finance manager, Mr. Luna, greeted me in English. and I found him very knowledgeable and friendly. He also seemed amenable to my outline of new control procedures so I decided immediately to use him as my interpreter. 
From my office I noticed that it was well past 9:00A.M. before the office staff arrived  although working hours were 9:00 to 6:00. So I made a note to add "punctuality" to the agenda for the first staff meeting, which was scheduled for a little later in the morning. At that meeting, Luna first introduced the managers from production, sales, and personnel; each gave me a vigorous handshake. They all appeared very cooperative and expressed their desire to work closely with me. Afterwards, I toured the plant with the production manager and Luna  who pointed out some of the most pressing problems. They both seemed overly anxious for me to meet the key plant supervisors  but I felt there were more important matters to deal with first. Both appeared somewhat disappointed but made no further comment. 
During the next few weeks I was rather surprised to find myself bombarded with problems from my managers who. instead of solving the problems themselves. wanted my advice or. worse. wanted me to make their decisions for them. I didn't want to come down too hard on them. since I'd been there only a short time. but I did want to make it clear that' would expect them to handle their responsibilities by themselves.
 However. things seemed to go from bad to worse. One day I was on a routine tour of the plant when I encountered a supervisor demonstrating to a worker a procedure which was completely incorrect and would have resulted in a faulty product. Naturally, I wanted to nip the error in the bud, so I immediately pointed out what was wrong and reprimanded the supervisor. The next day the supervisor involved was absent because of illness and the production manager avoided me. I guess I must have made quite an impression. I wanted to set the record straight from the beginning so that they would know I accept no nonsense. 

Stan Phillips was the general manager of a large plant of a U.S. multinational firm located in the western part of the U.S. This firm also owned a plant in Mexico that had in recent years been showing a severe profit slippage. Since the plant Smith had managed in the U.S. had a record of outstanding growth, productivity, and profitability the head office decided to assign him to manage the Mexican plant in an effort to turn it around. They seemed confident that Mr. Smith had the right qualifications to whip the plant into shape and would use his strength as a hard-nosed manager to good advantage. 
The note which follows was written six months after Smith began his assignment. In it he relates his initial impressions and experiences to a friend and colleague, Mark Watson, who is on his first assignment abroad in Madrid.  

*Adapted from Kras, Eva. 1995. Management in Two Cultures. Yarmouth, ME: Intercultural Press.

 
When the problems in the areas of punctuality, hours of work, relief periods and "chatting time" continued  I sent out individual notices of our basic personnel regulations to each employee. In spite of this     I have observed only slight improvement in punctuality.
But personnel problems aren't the only ones I've had to contend with. Last month we had a lot of trouble extracting some machinery from the central customs depot. They wanted more and more details before releasing the goods. Gonzalez suggested that making a small payment to the customs officer would facilitate the machinery's release and said that the delay was actually caused by the fact that we had not already done so. Of course I wasn't about to accept that nonsense: blackmail and bribery are not my way of doing business so I personally took the problem in hand. Alas, to make a long story short, following an unsavory experience, we finally had to pay or they would never have released the goods. Can you believe it? 
Next came the problem of one of our telephone lines not functioning. It was urgent because our two remaining lines were constantly occupied. Despite repeated calls and repeated promises that a repairman would arrive "manana" and. despite my personal complaint to the repair service manager, it took one month to get the telephone repaired. It's no wonder I'm getting an ulcer. 
After three months in Mexico, I decided to try a different tactic with the managers in our regular weekly meeting  so I announced that we would have a more U.S. - style meeting. You know, a strictly informal, loosen-the-tie and feet-up-on-the-desk type. But instead of relaxing and enjoying the informality, the managers appeared embarrassed. The big push was still productivity  and we proceeded to lay down the basic outline for a new, integrated, procedural program. It was decided that each manager would provide the backup material, put it together in a presentable format, and have it ready for my approval in ten days.  The details of practical implementation were not discussed because I wanted to leave that up to them. Finally, I felt I was on the right track.
Three weeks later I decided to check on their progress but, Mark, in only one section had the manager even attempted to implement the new program. It was incredible! I immediately summoned the managers to my office and demanded an explanation. The finance manager explained that they were all waiting for my instructions regarding a commencement date. Do I have to spell out everything for these people'? 

Following that incident I have been very specific in giving instruction and, on the whole, the managers seem more productive. But I just don't understand their mentality. Aren't they aware that constant referral to me for decisions and advice reflects on their competence or that accountability is an essential part of their responsibility? Another thing I don't understand is why they always seem so excessively cooperative and agreeable. They rarely make any comments on my decisions unless I specifically request them, and even then the response is very diplomatic and guarded. 
Or see if you can figure this one out. Recently I learned about a job opening for a senior sales manager in northern Mexico. I thought of our sales manage, who is very competent, but when I told him about the position, which would. be a major step up for him, he showed no interest whatsoever. He politely refused to consider the offer, explaining that his family and his home were here and he was happy, so he had no desire to go elsewhere. Amazing, isn't it'? 
A different type of situation occurred shortly after that. We were in the process of redecorating the general office when I noticed that the sales manager's office was also in a rather shabby state, so I requested the decorating firm to do it as well. Immediately, I was confronted by the other managers requesting similar treatment for their offices. 

Another troublesome incident occurred recently. Following performance reviews, I decided to discharge a number of employees whom I considered "dead wood." Well, I soon discovered that terminations because of incompetence are extremely difficult and costly here in Mexico. We finally managed to dispose of three people, though it wasn't easy, especially since they were relatives of other employees working in the plant. They were very upset. It seems that Mexicans expect their relatives to get hiring and job security preference irrespective of their performance. 
Enough of that, I thought, so I issued an order requiring that people be hired on the basis of qualifications and that no preference be given to family or friends. But all this created such a commotion that the union leader came to me and threatened to call a strike. 
Then there was our upcoming union contract renewal. Our company proposals were ready and I was prepared to discuss our preliminary position but he didn't seem to have any interest in that either. Luna told me that it was customary to come to an under-the-table arrangement with the union leader in order to facilitate a quick and problem-free contract. Back where I come from we call this a bribe!  
It seems that here. family and friends are very much involved in helping each other. even in business. We had an interesting example of this not long ago. We needed some special metal storage shelving in the plant. so I requested the production manager to do a price comparison from two well-known firms in the city. which he did. However. he suggested that a good friend of his could provide it directly from the factory at a favorable price. Interestingly enough, his friend did in fact offer a more favorable price and we accepted it. A similar situation arose with the decorating contract where Luna suggested contacting his cousin who was in the decorating business. Once again the results were satisfactory. A lot of people in the States would cast a pretty suspicious eye on this kind of mixing of business and personal relations. especially if you ever decided to run for political office I 
Overall, as you can see, these past six months have been extremely frustrating. Although the Mexicans are courteous and unquestioning in their acceptance of my authority, they just silently ignore aspects of their work they either don't understand or don't agree with. What a mentality to try to decipher! Nevertheless, in spite of my frustrations, I still feel that tight controls and a strict approach are the only ways to teach them the right way to run a business. 
But enough. What I have written represents only a sampling of what has happened so far. I could go on and on, but I won't. I hope your assignment in Madrid is proving more rewarding than mine. Drop me a line when you have a minute.

Best Regards, Stan
. Naturally. the language barrier is still a problem, but with Luna as interpreter and only another two years to go, it seems hardly worthwhile wasting time studying Spanish. It certainly won't be of much use at home. Joanne is finding life in Mexico extremely frustrating as well. Thank goodness we live in an area of the city where there are a lot of other Americans with whom we can let down our hair and compare notes.