Adjusting to Rapid Change

Managing in South America is a balancing act that requires agility, flexibility, optimism, realism, and sometimes a good sense of humor. Change can be rapid and radical in this part of the world, and businesses must react quickly to avoid disaster and embrace opportunity.

Expecting the unexpected

Dramatic changes are the norm in South America. Politics in the region have been consistently tumultuous: Argentina once had five presidents in two weeks. Extreme weather shifts and inadequate infrastructure also cause dramatic interruptions. A popular joke claims this is the land of tomorrow, but tomorrow is always in the future. In this volatile climate, the most valued skills are related to building relationships and adapting to change. Due to constant uncertainty, plans are less important than crisis management.

Ensuring success

Table

Fast track	Off track
Building a network of relationships	Ignoring social groups
Planning optimistically and adapting strategically	Making rigid plans and sticking to them
Responding swiftly and innovatively to rapid changes	Failing to pick up cues from the immediate environment
Focusing on having the right people instead of the right plan	Not trusting local people: keeping them out of top positions

Managing crises

Successful managers in South America expect uncertainty to be a daily occurrence, not an occasional event. They face disruptive trade disputes, lengthy labor strikes, floods and landslides, volatile politics, privatizations and expropriations. Organizations have to react quickly to survive. To draw an analogy with a game of soccer, strategy is not mapped on a grid, but is developed by training the team in practice so that they can act during the game to quickly analyze a situation, react swiftly, and work together cooperatively.

Cooperating to succeed

South American managers must know whom they can trust. In uncertainty, in upheaval, and in hope, it is relationships that provide security, partners who cooperate in crisis, and friends who share the victories. In 1990 when Fernando Collor, the President of Brazil, froze personal and corporate bank accounts across Brazil, managers turned to a network of relationships and survived the 18-month freeze through a system of barter. A business network is not a collection of business cards, but a lifetime of friendships and bonds of mutual confidence.

Corporate agility

South America is Avon’s biggest market. The company’s personal selling model allows them to respond quickly to economic changes. When times are good, people buy more cosmetics. When times are bad, more people sell to supplement their incomes, and the company makes it easy to get started. The model provides agility for payments. One sales representative in the Amazon will accept a chicken in trade for a lipstick and then pay the company in cash. Sales representatives are also trained to educate women about current health issues, providing a vital service.