Outside of the group activities there are some things that at first I saw as backwards that I have come to appreciate. Instead of having a parking meter on the sides of streets, there are humans who do the job. It seemed a little antiquated at first but once I realized that they keep an eye out for ladrones and keep the cars safe while also waving in people to help parallel park it seemed superior to the way things are done in the U.S. I would classify this collectivist because it really is looking out for one another and the group.
Besides parking assistants, just called "Asistentes," taxes in some neighborhoods (mine) go to paying the salaries of security officers. The alternative would be a gate with a passcode--which they have those here too. These are by and large not ultra wealthy communities where these security officers are present. These officers just referred to as "Seguridad" talk to people about the weather, look for lost soccer balls, and have taught me a few soccer tricks. They are another example of a human touch where back home it would likely be a mechanical one.
With all of those examples in mind, it is dangerous to generalize because there are still some huge individualist examples present. One of which is a statue of San Martin. San Martin was in the "Army of the Andes" statue on my last post. That statue is great example of a collectivist perspective on the movement for independence here in Argentina. There are also two statues, one in San Rafael and another is near the center of the city, which show San Martin alone on horseback. I think this was probably done to give special recognition to San Martin outside of the military context. But nevertheless, a great example of a competing perspectives in the fight for independence from Spain.
That was a great question and I am sure I will run into examples in the future.
Wild Horse in Ushpallata
Part of the 360 degree vista of the hike to Aconcagua's base camp
San Martin alone in San Rafael. The hooves up in the air symbolizes that he died in battle but he really died of old age.
Joe,
ReplyDeleteBack home we have spoken a lot about being a true "westerner. Do you feel that now you are away you are a true westerner? Pushing the question further than just by being an individualist, but also by your decision making, willingness to speak up etc?
I hope you are having a blast!!
- Shawnte
Hola! In class we discussed how leadership is viewed through a Latin American lens. In Understanding Leadership: An Arts and Humanities Perspective, Dr. McManus and Dr. Perruci highlight the significance machismo has within their culture. Machismo is the idea of aggression and male pride. How have you seen this idea throughout your experience abroad?
ReplyDeleteAlso, I am loving your pictures!
Emily Smith
Joe,
ReplyDeleteI hope you are having a great time in Argentina. I am loving all the pictures that you are posting. A very interesting model that we learned about in class was the LMR model developed by Richard Lewis. He created three categories to classify countries. They are linear-active, multi-active and reactive. If you look at the model, Argentina is placed in the multi-active category. Here, it can be defined as doing many things at once, showing feeling and being people orientated. From what you have described, I would think this is a fair place to put them. Would you agree? If not, where would you place them and why?
I hope you are having a good time.
Addie Posti
Joe,
ReplyDeleteI hope you are enjoying your time in Argentina! We have spent a lot of time this semester discussing leadership in different cultures and how to understand and adapt to these differences in order to become a global leader. When discussing Latin America, the main ideas we found included strong charismatic leaders, a centralization of power, the importance of loyalty, as well as the idea that leaders are pictured riding in on horses saving the day. I notice in your post you mentioned a famous statue with San Martin, a major military leader, alone on horseback, just like we discussed in class. I was wondering if you saw any other similarities between the leaders you have interacted with and the concepts we discussed in class.
Hope all is well!
Kate
Hi Joe!
ReplyDeleteI hope that you're time abroad is going well. In the McManus and Perruci book, there was a chapter on Latin American culture. During this chapter, they highlighted the different characteristics. Some of these include that they are generally very relationship oriented and they are very charismatic. Do you think that this collectivist mentality is consistent with the values that Dr. McManus and Perruci have defined? From your post, it seems like the citizens genuinely care about others from your parking example. Have you seen an examples or situations where these characteristics have not be visible or the characteristics were inconsistent?
Can't wait to read more!
-Jordan
Hey Joe,
ReplyDeleteI hope everything is going great south of the equator! In Global Leadership, as the title of the course implies we have been disusing many different approaches to leadership across the world. We had a speaker in class just the other day who shared some experiences of those approaches first hand. Ms. Marjorie Margolies, president of Women’s Campaign International shared with us how important listing is and knowing when and how to approach delicate situations involving how people and respecting different cultures. In your post, you mentioned how people from other nations may not care so much about who makes it to "the top" first but for them, it is about the journey and the experience. Do you ever find it hard to slow down, listen, and try a new cultural approach to a familiar situation? In Listing to what people had to say and how they experience a journey what stood out to you most of all as something unexpected?
Can't wait to see you again!
-Alex
Hi Joe! I hope you are continuing to have a great time! In our leadership class we have recently discussed cultivating a global mindset. In class, cultivating a global mindset refers to the moment when someone realizes that the world is such a bigger place and realizes the importance of allowing others to help you build upon your leadership. It transforms several cultural norms into one map and creates a new "normal". This also deals with integrating everything you've learned about culture into your attitude and behaviors reflectively. Based off of your experiences so far, can you describe how your mindset may have changed or developed. Or could you describe the moment when you realized you were applying this global mindset because I noticed that you described a few actions in Argentina to be "backwards" like the parking meters.
ReplyDeleteDani Reed
Hi Joe,
ReplyDeleteI hope you are enjoying your time in South America! We talked in class a few weeks ago about leadership styles in different contexts specifically applying the Robert Blake and Jane Mouton Leadership Grid. I was wondering if you have noticed if they have a more Participative style of leadership? Which means they hold relationships more important than the tasks and the followers were the power holders.
Chris Rasnake
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteHi Joe,
ReplyDeleteIn Dr.Perruci's book Global Leadership A Transnational Perspective we study the Lewis LWR Model that characterized different countries by Linear-active, Multi-active or Reactive.I am glad that you mentioned cllectivism in this blog, which is identical with LWR Model's description of Multi-active.However,in accumulating the multiplicity of dimensions, LWR Model might run the risk of creating confusion for those who sought clarity. Sometimes it's kind of far-fatched to classified a certain behavior to a LWR Model Characteristic.So my question is, have you ever met a social behavior or cultural characteristic during your stay in Argentina, which is hard to be applied to LWR Model?
Enzo
Joe, hope all is well. In class recently we have been discussing global leadership in terms of verbal and nonverbal communication. I am particularly interested in the nonverbal aspect. In Chapter 9 of his book, Perruci talks about how some of his students are frustrated when their university classes do not start on time due to the relaxed stance Latin Americans take on time. I was wondering what the major differences in non-verbals you see here and there are.
ReplyDelete-Bryce
Hey Joe,
ReplyDeleteHope you are doing okay. I am so jealous of your trip to the Andes! I would love to go hiking there. It's interesting that you pointed out the atmosphere of the group, how the American wanted to race to the top were the others were just interested in the trip. I think that your comments on human touch is definitely different than that in the states. We learned in class that Spain is a multiactive country meaning that they value human interaction and building relationships with one another. This seems to line up with what you have been talking about.
Hope all is well,
Brittany
Hey Joe!
ReplyDeleteI am glad you are enjoying your time abroad! As I'm sure you know, in class we are studying various cultures throughout the globe and how they impact the leadership styles evident in each country. I find it interesting how you have noticed aspects of collectivism within Argentina as in our chapter on Latin American cultural context, an opposing metaphor is presented. Dr. McManus and Dr. Perruci write that the Latin American culture is similar to a rocky river in which the "strongest" will stay on the boat while the "weakest" will fall off and sink to the bottom of the river. I am glad this is not the case in the moments you have mentioned above. However, I am curious to know if you find that this "rocky river" metaphor does have a rightful place in Argentinian culture. I look forward to hearing about more of your adventures!
Katie McIlroy
Hi Joe!
ReplyDeleteHope you're still having a great time abroad! As others have said we have talked about the Latin American cultural context of leadership in class. In the class it was said that in this context decisions tend to be made by focus on relationships and who holds the most power. For example in our case study "The President" every follower did what the leader said solely because they held the greatest amount power. Do you believe this is true? Or have you noticed decisions being made on a more individualistic approach influenced by other factors such as religion?
Grace Gebhart
Hi Joe!
ReplyDeleteYou look like you are having a blast and just really taking in everything there is to see! While you go out exploring do you notice a change in how people react to each other when they are out and about? Do people interact more or stick to themselves? Do they seem to be in a rush or are they just causally going on their journey? You said that the security guards and traffic attendants are a vast improvement to how things are done here in the US, so on your travels what have you found is one of the hardest cultural norms that you have had to adapt to? Also What are some of your favorite cultural norms that you have experienced? And in the same way that experiencing this new culture and how it has changed you a little what do you think you have given to the culture of the people you are around all the time? I hope you continue to enjoy your time!
Best wishes,
Torri Clarchick
I've loved keeping up on your blog and am so happy (and extremely envious) that you're having a lovely time in Argentina! Dr. Perruci mentions intercultural comm as a chapter and discusses verbal and nonverbal differences. What have you seen in nonverbal differences between people in the US and in Argentina? What other cultural differences have you noticed?
ReplyDeleteEnjoy the rest of your time!
Liz Reed
Hi Joe!
ReplyDeleteI have had a great time reading your most recent updates to your blog. I hope your time abroad is continuing to go well!
I just had a quick question:
What is one thing that you have learned while in Argentina that you wish you knew before starting your journey to travel abroad in Mendoza, or just studying abroad in general? Why? Also, how do you think this information would change the experience you've had with the culture and communication differences that you have mentioned about Mendoza?
I am looking forward to a response to these questions, so that if I ever have the opportunity to travel to Argentina, or study abroad, that I can use that information to help my own experience!
- Kylee McBride
Hi Joe,
ReplyDeleteI was wondering since you have been in two different South American countries do you believe the Latin American leadership model (from the Understanding Leadership book) can be applied to local leaders as well as national leaders? From my experiences being in Peru and talking to friends that were born and lived in Chile, it seemed to really only apply to national leaders because the local leaders seem to always put the peoples' needs over their own personal ones.
Chris,Hi Joe,
I was wondering since you have been in two different South American countries do you believe the Latin American leadership model (from the Understanding Leadership book) can be applied to local leaders as well as national leaders? From my experiences being in Peru and talking to friends that were born and lived in Chile, it seemed to really only apply to national leaders because the local leaders seem to always put the peoples' needs over their own personal ones.
Chris,
Hey Joe!
ReplyDeleteI found your experiences hiking the Andes very intriguing. The sequence of those who reach the top is a very interesting subject to consider. Which one of Hofstede's dimensions do you think can best explain the difference in cultures reaching the top first or last? Also on the topic of Hofstede's model, Argentina is rated as a 46 in individualism, so it is pretty much well-centered between collectivism and individualism. This seems to be consistent with your experiences of having examples of both in the Argentinian culture.
Thank you for sharing and I hope you have safe travels!
Aubrey