On Wednesday, March 10th, we had our midpoint check-ins with our client, Caras con Causa. I feel like we’re at a good point right now and are ready to dive deeper into the project to make a positive impact at Caras.
I think the connection between the US and Puerto Rico is really interesting in terms of culture. Yes, Puerto Rico is part of the US, but Puerto Ricans (Boricuas) celebrate their Taíno culture proudly. I really appreciated the culture lesson we received from Mariela Ramírez at Caras, along with the culture humility lesson we received from Bibi Al-Ebrahim at Amizade.
There are a few cultural differences that may present a challenge when conducting business, but being aware of the differences is the first step to overcome the challenges! I used Hofstede’s Insights to learn about the main differences across various categories. This tool is extremely helpful for comparing cultures and learning about other countries.
Puerto Rico scores a 0 on Hofstede’s Long Term Orientation meaning it has a normative culture. One of the characteristics of a normative culture is a focus on achieving quick results. This may prove challenging given the current circumstances that we must work at the pace allowed by COVID and associated travel restrictions.
Puerto Rico is a hierarchical society with a score of 68 in the Power Distance category. This fact, along with the fact that Puerto Rico is a collectivist society, means that it may be difficult to make any decisions without all members of the Caras team present, especially those with more power. However, it seems as though the founder and CEO Michael Fernandez is accessible and willing to meet with and help our team.
Overall, this experience is teaching me a lot about non-profits, the Boricuas, conservation efforts, recruitment strategy, and costing models. I’m interested to see if this experience will change my perspective of global business at all. Just really excited to continue working with my student consulting team to help serve Caras con Causa!