Eighteenth International Conference on Diversity in Organizations, Communities & Nations

Abstract

This paper answers the following questions: How “class conscious” is the Chilean culture at large? In what direction goes the process of “decision-making” in the country? How big is the “power distance” in that society? This study is the result of a post-trip reflection by the author (participant in a Fulbright-Hays Summer Abroad Program in Chile, 2017); based on many interviews, observations of workplace interactions, analysis of news media (newspapers, TV programs, etc.), exchanges with academics and lay persons, attendance to lectures and diverse talks, pre-and-post trip readings, libraries and museums visits, and informal dialogues with Chileans from all walks of life. It explores aspects of this very class-conscious society, its unequal power use, and the vertical way of decision making that permeates institutions and organizations in the country. The paper describes detailed examples of these three cultural dimensions at societal, political, and corporate levels; taken from sources such as labor, literary, research, government, non-profit entities, historical accounts, and so forth. The paper emphasizes how the national culture at large functions as a mental programming mechanism to impact the political and managerial subcultures of the Chileans, as observed by a foreign visitor.