You are standing in a queue at an airline counter in Guayaquil. You notice that fellow passengers are going to the counter past you, apparently just to ask a quick question. You also notice an elderly person cut straight to the front of the queue and is served before the other passengers. Then you notice an agent signal to someone in the queue and take him around the counter. The agent furnishes him with a ticket and then escorts him through the terminal and onto the plane before general boarding occurs. You become upset at the general lack of regard for queues. Do you?
Start raising your voice and telling others to get back in the queue?
When you get to the clerk, demand to see the manager in a loud voice and become quite irate? You begin thinking like a gringo might: ‘The squeaky wheel will get the grease.’ Yelling, you exclaim ‘I will never fly this airline again because you allow customers to cut the queue ahead of others!’
Smile and keep moving with the queue but curse quietly to yourself? You keep reminding yourself how lucky you are to be in this unique and beautiful country.
would be considered very rude by Ecuadorians, despite your desire for order. Ecuadorians have a much higher tolerance for queue-cutting than most North Americans or Europeans. You would be considered most rude if you started yelling at an older person, as they are usually allowed to be served before others. However, in some cases, if you politely point out to the person who cuts into the queue that he/she has done so, the meeker people in the queue might appreciate your attempt, even if that doesn’t produce any results.
is very similar to . The clerk and manager will not argue with you. However, they will start to think of ways to make your life miserable. Challenging the manager will not change the situation. Getting angry will create the opposite effect. The person who received the preferential treatment was probably a friend of the agent or had connections in the airline.
is the correct choice. Smiling and going with the flow is the best solution. Arriving at the airport as early as possible might reduce your stress.
You meet an Ecuadorian friend for lunch at a restaurant. When the bill arrives you suggest that each of you pay for your meal. He wants to pay the bill but you insist that you pay your half. Do you:
Continue to press the issue and insist you pay your portion of the bill?
Decide to pay for the bill as he has been very kind in the past and you know his funds are limited?
Allow him to pay the bill? You comment that you will allow him to do so this time but you will treat him for lunch the next time.
would be considered very rude. Splitting bills or asking for separate bills at a public meal is not practised by Ecuadorians. Being a host is considered an honour and you should accept the hospitality graciously. The general rule in Ecuadorian society is that the inviting party is obligated to pay for any entertainment as well. Also, please don’t negotiate in advance for separate bills.
is acceptable unless your Ecuadorian friend asked you out for lunch. is also acceptable.
While at the home of an Ecuadorian, he asks you about your children and how tall your son is. Not knowing his height measurements, you use your hand as a ruler for his height. Do you:
Demonstrate the height of your son with your palm facing down?
Demonstrate the height of your son by turning your hand in a 90-degree angle with the bottom of the hand being the ruler?
is an extremely rude gesture to make in Ecuador. Measuring things with the palm down is only used for animals, not for people.
is the correct answer and used to show the height of someone.
An Ecuadorian friend has just visited your home in Quito. When he leaves, should your appropriate gesture be:
Shake his hand as he is leaving and see him off until he is in his car and well on his way, making sure you leave the front door open?
Wave him goodbye at the front door and shut the door after he has left.
is the appropriate response. Ecuadorians shake hands a great deal, both when meeting and parting with each other. Letting the friend leave the house and closing the door behind him would be considered rude. The door should be left open until you are sure he is well on his way.
While at a party, you are drinking glasses of beer or whisky. You realise that you have consumed your limit. Do you:
Finish the glass and tell your host you have had enough to drink?
Accept one more glass but continue to sip it and don’t finish all of it?
would not be appropriate. By finishing the beverage you are telling your host you would like some more. This is especially so among the lower classes. is the appropriate response as you will be allowed to nurse your drink and will probably not be offered any more.
You have a business appointment for four o’clock in the afternoon. Should you:
Arrive exactly at four o’clock and expect to wait for your meeting?
Arrive 15 minutes early and expect to wait for your meeting?
Arrive 10 minutes late and expect to wait for your meeting?
All answers are correct in this scenario. It is not considered rude to arrive a few minutes late for a business meeting, on time, or early. However, it is always best to be punctual and please be prepared to wait. (However, this is not the rule for a private party, arriving half an hour to 40 minutes late is fine.)
You are the new country manager in Ecuador for a foreign major export company. One of your duties is to assign a manufacturing representative for Ecuador. You have found two qualified people, one from Quito and the other from Guayaquil. However, your firm’s practice in the past has been to assign only one representative. Do you:
Choose the agent from Quito because he has a little more technical experience than the agent in Guayaquil for your particular product?
Choose the agent from Guayaquil who is of Lebanese descent and has an excellent reputation in sales?
Divide the territory up for the agents giving the Sierra region to the agent from Quito and the Costa market to the agent from Guayaquil?
Choosing may cause your firm to have representation problems, especially on the coast. The Serrano will always be viewed as an outsider by many of the Guayaquil clients and not trusted.
causes the same problem in reverse, although some businesspeople may disagree with me and decide to take the risk, given his expertise. The Costeño will, however, have problems operating in the Sierra.
is the best choice for market penetration, as numerous companies have found. This will also minimise travel expenses, resulting in a higher profit margin.
You are attending a friend’s party and you join a group at the party outside the residence. One of the partygoers opens up a bottle of beer, fills his glass up and consumes the alcohol. He then fills up the glass and hands it to you so you too can enjoy a glass of beer. Being concerned about hygiene, do you:
Say “No thank you” and pass the glass on to the next person?
Say “Don’t you know you can pass germs and illness by drinking out of the same glass with a number of other people”?
Say “I’m sorry I have diabetes and I am not allowed to consume alcohol”?
Say “I’m sorry, I have a bad cold and don’t want to infect anyone”?
Say “Thank you” and drink up while you say a silent prayer that you won’t catch anything?
The first two responses would definitely offend the people you are with. has worked for me in the past and didn’t seem to offend others. and may be the best responses to being invited for a drink. This cultural practice is deeply imbedded in much of Ecuador’s culture and is seen as a sharing and bonding experience. You really need to make the call yourself on this social activity and realise how your actions may offend your new Ecuadorian friends.