Customer Service in Panamanian Culture

TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY OF PANAMA

SCIENCES AND TECHNOLOGY FACULTY
CHIRIQUÍ REGIONAL CENTRE
DEGREE IN BILINGUAL EXECUTIVE COMUNICATION

CUSTOMER SERVICE AND QUALITY

PROFESOR:

MBA FREDERIK GUERRA

ESSAY NO 1

STUDENT:

HÉCTOR RODRÍGUEZ

2-746-1475

DATE:

APRIL 20TH, 2021

SEMESTER I
 INTRODUCTION

Customer service involves a series of aspects that must be considered within a

social environment. The culture of Panama has evolved during times when the
quality was very bad to where new ideas, technology, with the passage to
globalization managed to make noticeable changes in the companies of the country.
However, it is notorious that we have never had quality standards when we serve
customers. It is common to see that the Panamanian is not very educated, he has a
lack of empathy for the product he offers and also considers himself someone very
conflictive because he does not know how to deal with customers. Understanding
what affects the personality, efficiency and willingness of Panamanians in the face of
challenges or adversities in a changing market is vital for our companies to be
successful. Thus, this work will try to analyze from the social framework the influence
of culture on productivity and the performance of the Panamanian market.

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 INDEX

CONTENT PAG

Introduction……………………………………………………………………….2

Concept…………………………………………………………………………...4

History Background……………………………………………………………...4-5

Globalization Effect……………………………………………………………...6

Psychology: Panamanian Personality…………………………………………6-7

Social Environment………………………………………………………………7-8

Work Culture……………………………………………………………………...8

National Companies and Professional Panamanians………........................8

National Companies Problems………………………………………………….9-10

Conclusion………………………………………………………………………..11

Bibliography………………………………………………………………………12

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 UNDERSTANDING OUR CULTURE

Concept

In order to understand a more about our culture related with customer service, it is
necessary to regard the culture concept.

We could define Culture as the knowledge that a people has and by which it is
transmitted in their environment characterized by their customs, way of life, way of
thinking and acting. The acquisition of representative icons such as language,
beliefs, religion, art, laws, etc. is common practiced by everybody. Not all social
groups are the same as they have developed differently in different parts of the world
and knowing what values or attitudes certain individuals have allowed us to value the
diversity but also the individual characteristics of a person supported within that
social circle.

Panama is a Latin country that has been influenced by different cultures such as
Afro-West Indians, Arabs, Jews, Americans, and Chinese. The main one has been
with the arrival of the Europeans.

History Background

The Native Americans had formed into small groups: each one under a command
where they worked the land to produce food; others were dedicated to hunting or
raising animals. There were also those who made ceramic, stone and wood objects
for the construction of useful artifacts to meet their needs for housing, food, wealth.
Moreover, the indigenous person were people willing to serve the people in search of
obtaining the resources for their survival. Tasks and quality standards were based on
production with the tools or strategies learned at that time. Customer service is born
when there is a need to exchange and produce a good for another person in which
both are related by the benefit that both obtain.

It is possible that the way to produce, organize, control the product or service has not
been the most efficient because the tropical environment must have been a great
obstacle when it was not well-controlled such as rain, drought, the proliferation of
pests, the lack of a health system, lack of education or knowledge for the use of
better techniques.

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In a world that was believed non-existent to the rest of the world, the lack of quality in
customer service was notorious. However, with the arrival of the Spanish to America
new currents and the industrial development of Europe brought a new vision to the
native peoples of Panama.

Although, the Europeans taught and educated the natives in new doctrines of life;
the power on the part of the rich made a different inequality in obtaining equitably
what the whites produced from the Panamanian lands when they took the spices or
the gold towards Spain.

Thus, this caused a great social backwardness not only in Panama but in Latin
countries. The inequality became evident, because we were left with a vague and
not practiced knowledge, which gave more privilege to the people of the old
continent. The independencies and the awakening were taken due to influence such
as the French Revolution which visioned ideas of equality, protesting together with
freedom and fraternity. Here in time, we gave way to a slow development process of
the cities of the isthmus and they have been mainly made possible by the service
sector such as tourism, logistics, the Panama Canal, banking and foreign
investment.

In this sense, we see that our culture has presented a great cultural backwardness,
mainly our natural isolation from the other continents; when the Spanish people
arrived, new ideas were brought to the continent, but force, the knowledge of
techniques abolished and superiorized those of our ancestors, practically converting
us in people influenced by ideas of globalization and not by a natural development at
the cost of our own efforts.

Customer service to Panama is not something that our ancestors have practiced in
the best way naturally or wisely, but it is the result of the mixture of different ideas
and technology development of world powers throughout history, of course it is the
example of the United States that with its capitalist ideas have led other countries to
adopt this system as an advance in social, economic and political growth.

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Globalization Effect

The economic development of our country has been affected by the process called
globalization, which is a great aspect to consider. It can be understood as that
international transformation that describes a variety of economic, cultural, social and
political changes that have shaped the world in the last 50 years. It has been made
possible by the evolution of information technology to the reduction of national and
geo-political borders in the increasing transnational circulation of goods, services
and capital. The increasing homogenization of consumer tastes, the consolidation
and expansion of corporate power, the sharp increase in wealth and poverty, culture,
and the increasing ubiquity of liberal democratic ideas.

It is verifiable that this process has facilitated the improvement of the economic
sectors, the production and commercialization of regulated goods or those proposed
by powerful countries that give us lessons on how to advance towards better
practices and sustainable development.

However, although the fruits of globalization have helped to promote a culture of

quality in the life of Panamanians, it is well known that not all of us are favored and
that is why there is what we call inequality throughout the country. We have to
analyze this from the root of the matter in different aspects.

Psychology: Understanding the Personality of a Panamanian

The family plays a great role in forging values regarding positive treatment with
others that come from the external learning of our culture. Those people who are
kind and efficient, have usually lived good and bad experiences within a society of
injustices like ours which is an individual process influenced by our environment. The
attitude of a Panamanian is not the same as that of an Englishman as an example;
they have different stories and social realities. Usually, when a Panamanian citizen
interacts with another person, he has the idea of guaranteeing, first, his personal
interests, doing what he loves or wants and only what he cares about in achieving.
Panamanians have different attitudes depending on the environment in which they
live and since our lives cost us a lot in our country, it is hard as people to develop the
qualities of service as we are in a constant survival and social problems greatly

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overwhelm our minds. Hence, the idea that a Panamanian is not surrounded by
great luxuries, makes it susceptible to its personal or social environment and will try
to find a way to fight for

his own means more than for the others ones. Since, his living condition, he prefers
to see for himself and save himself the stress, anguish or the work of helping
someone who is not going to give him any benefit and that attending only is a mere
obligation for which he needs to perform to the scope of their individual purposes, so
it is common that a Panamanians is considered someone who is not very
polite, unfriendly, who gets angry very quickly or is conflictive, who has no
patience, with little desire to work and who pays little attention to problems of
strangers. The lack of empathy, values, commitment and great ideals to persue
in life, give a typical conduct in Panamanian thinking.

It must be emphasized that not all Panamanians who have grown up and live in
hostile environments are inefficient people. Resources such as the technology, the
internet, books, social interaction with other people or foreigners, the media, training
courses in a field of study or the education that is taught in schools or abroad have
positively contributed to distinguish a Panamanian regardless of his social class of
the rest because he voluntarily recognizes his social condition, approves the fact of
educating himself as an investment in transforming his life and understands that his
situation is also suffered by other people in a way that makes him more empathetic
and friendly, so socializing is a learning that enriches the strengthening of service by
learning that as humans we depend on each other and just because If I do not have
the best conditions of living, does not mean that I should blame someone for my
problems, but rather learn to deal with great optimism overcoming frustration and
challenges of our daily life. Therefore, it is necessary to have a government that
guarantees a secure interaction, protection of children, valuing diversity and the
equality aspect in all senses.

Pointing out the main problems that make the psychology of a Panamanian a little
comprehensible and quite acceptable in our culture is because of the poor:

Wealth Administration of the Panamanian state

Wealth distribution has caused the lack of resources such as housing, job
opportunities, education, recreation facilities, food, decay of street infrastructure,

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public institutions, environmental maintenance make our citizens physically and
socially affected by the nature of inequality where they live, by which shape the
personality of an individual not very competent to perform job functions in the service
of the country. In other words, opportunities and social development are not the
same in all provinces. Therefore, there are people who will be well-educated and
others not so skilled in different areas of knowledge.

Education

The best medicine to try to change the bad attitudes of Panamanians is through
education. In Panama, little money is invested in this sector and still our educational
system presents quality deficiencies with respect to other countries. Thus,
Panamanians are professionals who often do not have both theoretical and practical
knowledge when carrying out a job in our country.

We have already seen that culture shapes our personality and the personal interests
of each person. We are not an equitable country and this creates inequalities. This is
evident when it comes to customer service in Panama. The psychology of a
Panamanian is essential to develop qualities of service by responding to their work in
the best possible way.

Work Culture

Panamanians behave according to their way of thinking, which, as we have already

seen, is part of their personal and social environment in which they live. Other
characteristic attitudes of the culture are the sense of patriotism, spontaneity, joy,
activeness and pretends to be proud of himself towards others. Panamanians often
give in to instincts of survival and convenience, which is why it is very easy to
convince a person with something that represents a benefit for him. Thus, money,
people, lifestyle standards, values are a great trigger in dealing with a customer that
is reflected in work in national companies in the country. Each environment has
typical characteristics of employment and many do not fit the profile of the
Panamanian. Although these behaviors affect the company, few of them pay
attention to the use of human resources.

We can briefly quote this: “For my discomfort and in the injustice in which I live. If I'm
not happy, I don't have to make you happy. Believe in something, that even if I work

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hard, it does not represent a desire of my own and is only merely an obligation to my
need to survive”

National Companies and Professional Panamanians

Panamanian companies present many problems due to the lack of capital and its
correct management, growth techniques of their products or services and above all
because they have a poor human resource with respect to international standards.
Candidates are discriminated according to their characteristics: Level of study, but
above all experience. What happens is that people with experiences are already very
old, some tired and not very productive and the least experienced ones, which are
young university students or recent professionals do not have the required skills on
the other hand. The education system is constantly evolving and is no longer the
same as it was in the 90s. Currently new methodologies are being implemented;
there are scholarships to study in other countries and it seeks to prepare students in
priority careers. In this line, the human resource is also constantly updated according
to the market demands. Thus, we have a profile that varies in economic status,
academic preparation and individual goals that possibly fit a type of employment.

Common Problems

There are many factors that intervene in the quality of customer service in Panama
companies.

 Lack of Leadership: Not all command leaders have leadership qualities and
only want to get money more than guaranteeing that the final product is at its
best quality. In this situation, employers find themselves helpless and little
committed to the service they offer.
 The company mission: Not all companies exalt the objectives and goals to
each employee, for which many they forget the north and where they are
going.
 Adequate pay: Many jobs require a lot of effort and dedication, but they do
not receive a good salary. This is reflected in the attitude of dissatisfaction
and lack of enthusiasm in a Panamanian when there is no balance in what
they do and what they earn.

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 Lack of Supervision and Professional Ethics: When there is a decline in
norms or organizational structure where the employer is not respected and
motivated, many prefer not to comply with their obligations, they hide the
secrets and try to benefit themselves. That is, when there is no control over
what is done, employees take that control at their convenience, despite the
fact that it involves immoral acts or leaves incomplete work.
 Job specialization: Something that Panamanian companies present, is that
they do not invest in preparing their human resources to face market
challenges. Many do not meet these quality standards, they are
psychologically affected by fulfilling tasks that they cannot complete
satisfactorily, which is why it ends up stressing them or depleting them in
some way. Therefore, if we want to have productive individuals, it is
necessary to invest in their continuous preparation.
 Lack of resources or adequate infrastructures: Panamanian companies
are small due to their low profits, budget and investment. They present
problems with physical or material structures that are not the most feasible.
The worker feels that he does not work in a place that gives him satisfaction
to be and does not have both the technological and abstract tools to perform
his work efficiently.
 Handling business psychology: Some other attitudes of the Panamanian
include laziness, lack of commitment, leadership, having everything easy and
doing the tasks until they can do it, that is, regardless of whether they are the
most creative or productive, staying in the comfort zone, without going any
further. The Panamanian becomes frustrated very quickly in the face of
adversity, he does not know how to deal with a bad moment and closes
himself before possibilities of improvement. When clients are very heavy, he
usually forgets his job position or professionalism and falls into the error of
subjectivity; To take it very personal and defend yourself against the threats
posed by the other person. According to our culture, “we cannot let other
people insult or treat us badly, so we must always respond to threats against
the physical and psychological integrity personally. As this is a big problem, in
Panama customer service is known as poor in quality, since Panamanians do
not have a culture of courtesy and the skill to deal with bad moments or

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 different clients. Discrimination against people of different background such as
a VIP or foreigner in comparison to students, common Panamanian people,
etc. Then, this another determinant in which a Panamanian is friendly or gets
angry quickly when facing conflicts and the idea of trying to not give up on his
points.
CONCLUSION

Ensuring that our society changes its way of thinking, being or acting will take a long
time, when there are social problems in the notorious inequality that Panamanians
experience. To do this, we can attack the educational system, which will allow us to
obtain more oriented people to correctly perform their role in society. On the other
hand, national companies must invest more in their human capital, include new
production techniques in their organizational structure, especially by demonstrating
leadership and desire to improve towards specific goals that benefit both the
company and society. The client must always be considered first, so our personality
and interests must not compromise with our professionalism. Know that we always
have conflict. For this reason, it is necessary to constantly prepare Panamanians
with quality standards that globalization brings with it in a country in growing
development where the service sector needs specialized professionals who are
committed to the services or products they offer.

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 BIBLIOGRAPHY

Council of Europe. (s.f.). Obtenido de https://www.coe.int/

/es/web/compass/globalisation

Panama Cultural.com. (s.f.). Panama Cultural.com. (s.f.). Obtenido de

https://panoramacultural.com.co/historia/6215/influencia-de-la-revolucion-francesa-
en-las-independencias-de-america-latina%E2%80%8B#:~:text=Es%20decir%2C
%20la%20influencia%20que,de%20Latinoamérica%2C%20y%20no%20así

Wikipedia. (s.f.). Obtenido de https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historia_de_Panamá/

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