Latin American Negotiations
Business and Socializing Go Hand in Hand in Mexican Negotiations
Background
Anita Rodriquez was a native Mexican who moved with her family to the United States in 1990 when she was 13 years old. Her family settled in Boston, Massachusetts. Over the years, she returned to Mexico twice to visit family and friends. She attended Boston University and earned her master’s degree in business administration in 2001. While at the university, she met John Fitzgerald, who was studying economics. After graduation, Anita and John married and settled down in Boston. Anita had an entrepreneurial spirit and wanted to do business in Mexico. She spoke fluent Spanish and understood the Mexican culture. Even though John had never traveled internationally, he was very supportive of Anita’s goal and helped her with the marketing research that led them to several U.S. manufacturing companies who were interested in doing business in Mexico. The companies had little international experience and were more than willing to let Anita do the initial work in identifying customers in Mexico. They were impressed with Anita’s professionalism, aggressiveness, and Mexican background.
Anita and John were excited, and they set out to identify Mexican companies that would be interested in doing business with the U.S. companies. They began their search by contacting the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City to identify potential leads. They also contacted the regional office of the U.S. Department of Commerce and several trade associations. Their efforts paid off, acquiring the names of two Mexican companies—one located in Mexico City, the other in Monterrey.
Anita was excited and was eager to contact them. She made telephone calls to set up meeting dates with each company. She and John planned a 5-day trip to Mexico where they would spend 2 days with each company and use 1 day to tour Mexico City.
Anita made plans to arrive in Mexico City in the morning and to spend some time with the first company that afternoon. She was sure she could lay the foundation for a full-day discussion the next day. If everything went well, she and John would tour Mexico City on the third day and depart that evening for Monterrey.
Upon arriving at the airport, Anita was surprised that no one was there to greet her and John. She was sure she had given the company the right arrival time. The company representative arrived 45 minutes late with a warm, friendly welcome.
Tired from the trip, Anita and John expected to go immediately to their hotel, but much to their surprise, the company representative ushered them to a nearby restaurant to meet Mr. Raul Martinez, the company’s business development manager. The lunch was cordial and dealt mainly with pleasantry and small talk. There was little mention of the reason for the business trip. At the end of lunch, Mr. Martinez invited the couple to dinner that night. Several senior executives from the company would be there.
Tired and somewhat frustrated, Anita and John arrived at the hotel. Both were hoping the evening dinner would provide an opportunity to discuss some business.
Dinner was at a fancy but busy Mexican restaurant. The couple arrived on time and was surprised to find only Mr. Martinez there. Mr. Martinez welcomed them and explained that Mr. Jose Gonzalez, Vice President of Marketing, and Mr. Roberto Ortiz, General Plant Manager, would arrive shortly.
About 30 minutes later, both executives arrived and extended a warm welcome to their guests. The evening conversation centered on everything but business. It appeared that Anita and John’s Mexican counterparts were out to have a good time. The evening ended with an invitation for Anita and John to meet at the company headquarters at 9:00 a.m. the next day.
They returned to their hotel somewhat frustrated that the day had flown by with no mention of the reason for their trip. Anita contemplated how she would handle the business meeting the next day.
Anita and John arrived at the company at 9:00 a.m. They were greeted by Mr. Martinez and Mr. Gonzalez and were taken to a large conference room. Shortly thereafter, Mr. Ortiz arrived with several department heads. Anita was the only woman present at the meeting.
Anita seized the initiative and began to talk about the purpose of her visit. She presented her business proposal to the company. Mr. Gonzalez was very interested and directed several questions to John. John deferred the questions to Anita. Forty-five minutes into the meeting, an assistant came into the conference room and spoke to Mr. Ortiz. Mr. Ortiz apologized, saying he had to leave the meeting but promising he would return later. Anita continued her presentation, disappointed Mr. Ortiz had to leave. At 2:30 p.m., Mr. Martinez suggested that everyone break for lunch at a nearby restaurant. Several hours later, the meeting resumed. Mr. Ortiz had returned to the meeting, and he directed several questions to John. Anita, somewhat agitated by this time, responded. By 4:00 p.m., it was apparent that another day would be needed to conclude the discussions. Anita and John were invited to dinner that evening.
Back at the hotel, Anita and John reviewed the day’s events. They were already behind schedule, with little hope of meeting with the second company as planned. Both of them had been on the go since their arrival and were exhausted. Yet they expected another long evening of socializing with little likelihood of discussing any business. Frustrated, they mapped out what they hoped to accomplish at the next day’s meeting and discussed whether they should cancel the meeting with the second company and arrange to come at another time.