Pygmalion effect

What is the Pygmalion effect?

"Treat a human being as he is, and he will continue being just like that. Treat it as he could be, and he will became what he could be" Blaise Pascal

The trust that you have in a person, makes him improve his work, and in that line, makes it reach more goals. This theory is based in the actions a person makes, knowing what the people expects of him, in the enterprise case: a workers will act according to the expectative that his boss has of him.



                                                   Case:

Alex Rovira, in his book “la Buena Vida”, told a history that had place in a very well know multinational company, which fabricates high technology products. The department of personal, chose a person of the cleaning service of the company that hadn’t even finished the high school, of course that job is related to the last level in the pyramid of the company, but never the lest they called him and told him that he was the best prepared worker, to be in a high job of technical responsibility in a 2 year period. The worker accomplished the promise charge in less time that it was tough, and after that he continued winning name and charges in the organization.

How good example this is to show, how the rust of company leaders, in a person that is not seen as well prepared, and that develops its work in what it can be call the lowerspot in the company, shines when trust is put on him, and when his bosses make him feel that he is the best option for do a job, he doesn't go against that vision, but tries as possible to acomplish it in the best way.

Image taken from:
http://www.calwatershedfunds.org/the-pygmalion-effect/

Dealing with cultural differences



" Culture is more often a source of conflict than of synergy. Cultural differences are a nuisance at best and often a disaster." Prof. Geert Hofstede, Emeritus Professor, Maastricht University.



The exposure of the importance of cultural differences in the matters of international business, gave us and important wake up, about how fundamental is it to be aware of how different human beings behave in their home town, country or culture, and how much this behavior influences in their style of life, perceptions, and of course their relations with the people that they want to negotiate, the chances of losing a good business because of lack of cultural knowledge are huge. Geert hofstede’s research gives us 5 dimensions in which we can support ourselves to acquire the understanding that requires negotiating with people from another country.

“Power Distance Index (PDI) that is the extent to which the less powerful members of organizations and institutions (like the family) accept and expect that power is distributed unequally. This represents inequality (more versus less), but defined from below, not from above. It suggests that a society's level of inequality is endorsed by the followers as much as by the leaders. Power and inequality, of course, are extremely fundamental facts of any society and anybody with some international experience will be aware that 'all societies are unequal, but some are more unequal than others”. (Taken from http://www.geert-hofstede.com/)
The Power Distance (PDI) ranking of 67 indicates a level of inequality of power and wealth within the society.

With the power of distance or PDA dimension, we can see as an example our very own, Latin America, that for being and undeveloped region, sets itself in a situation of disadvantage for negotiating treaties, and business in general. We tent to accept more easily the inequality of the contracts, and in that scale, the employees of the Latin America enterprises, accepts more easily bad and unfair work conditions. The employees expect their leaders to be in an example of work and in a high position pretty much important than theirs.
A clear example of this kind of dimension is the TLC of Colombia and US. Colombia tried to win with some articles that benefit the country the most, specially the agricultural ones, they actually didn’t made a lot of progress in that field, but tried to show the country that we had to settle for whatever the negotiation could achieve because US was bigger and had more bargaining power, and in the end, anything would be greater that nothing. (what I personally believe is true.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G9zZfCRIGeo










Images taken from:
http://globersoa.blogspot.com/2009_06_01_archive.html
Videos taken from: Youtube.com, TLC Colombia and USA.