Aricent. 2007 right after graduation.

One of the first Mexican employees to work with Indians

Texas instruments for 4-5 years. Moved to automotive industry. Continental 2, Bosch 2

Was in India 2017. Coimbatore.

1) Punctuality – Similar to Indians. Mexicans are little more on time. Indians 10-15 minutes late
and Mexicans 5-10 minutes
2) Greetings: Shake hands (formal) every morning. Good morning. Close to females – Kiss on
cheek.Indians don’t usually shake hands in the morning. They just wave.
3) Knows what to expect from India because had been to India before. Expects spices.
Population is huge. Many people. The level of sanity was a shock. Garbage on streets.
4) Festivals – holidays and leisure: In terms of family, similar to Indians – very close to family
and friends. Very attached to people. Celebrate almost the same as Indians. Christmas is
similar to Diwali. Felt home when was here for last New Year when at India in 2017
5) In India, hierarchy is very strict (Vertical) but in Mexico it is horizontal. Employees start
asking questions on work. Decision making not solely with Boss. Some Indian colleagues in
Mexico also show Indian behaviour
6) Mexican is not that difficult to adopt. With awareness we can bridge the gap
7) Language dissimilarities: In terms of business, communication has always been an issue. Mis
understanding on job.
Indian have difficulty saying ‘No’ to higher management. They try to excuse themselves out
of situations. In a similar situation, Mexicans also have difficulty saying ‘No’. It depends on
the seniority. Seniors do not command in Mexico.
8) Competitive: Indians are very competitive. Fight yourself to get into the college. Mexicans
usually are more relaxed in workplace. Competition is not a big deal.
Competition improve technical levels.
9) Vacation: Some prefer to stay in family and some on vacation. Similar to Americans culture
10) Health: Mexicans get into new trends like Vegan, going to gym. More awareness of being fit.
American influence. In India people are not fitness conscious. Eat whatever the tradition is.
No one goes to gym
11) Feminism: In Mexico, women have gotten equality. In the past, women could not vote. Now
a days there is no gender differences. Even workplace there are many women in
management. In India, women are not treated same as men (not in workplace but outside)

Common thing is Mariachie. Taquila. Taco. There is a difference in the taste of Taco in Mexico and
across the world. Because of the ingredients.

Outside: hard and includes only meat with tortilla

We interviewed Mr.___________ from Mexico who had been working in Mexico with the
<<____org______>> for_______years.

Upon discussing with him, we got to know about the following cultural nuances of Mexico,
specifically pertaining to the workplace.

 In terms of tangible aspects like gestures and greeting manners, the Mexican have a similar
trend as in the American corporate culture i.e. , use of handshakes and greeting ‘Good
morning’ or ‘good evening’ in the office space and around the work environment.
 In terms of punctuality and the starting and ending of events on time, the Mexicans are
similar to Indians at work, they consider it alright to be a little late. This is also substantiated
by the fact that Mexico has a polychromic culture.
 The Mexicans culture has a high power index where the roles inside the office are vertically
distributed in terms of power. The subordinates are not involved in alot of decision making
and they also don’t directly say ‘No’ to their bosses. In fact this aspect is also very similar to
the Indian culture. People, in general, are not comfortable saying ‘No’ to someone on
his/her face. They have a face saving culture which is low on content and high on context.
Employees, especially the subordinates in the team, only speak what is required.
 The Mexicans at workplace are not very competitive as compares to the Indians. They are
relatively chilled out and show care and concer for their team mates and o-workers as well
 Mexico is a country that enjoys indulgence over constraint. Vacations are an important part
of the work life in Mexico. Christmas is celebrated with as much zeal there as is Diwali in
India. The Mexican manager who was interviewed said that when he was in India in the
New Years’ Eve, he didn’t miss his homeland much because of the similar level of
celebrations here in India.
 Employees take out time for their family and friends during weekends and vacations and are
inclined towards social happenings. In other words, they are more collectivistic in nature.
 In the office, men and women are treated equally in terms of giving responsibilities and pay.
There are good number of women in management roles. This is however, a recent change
that has happened, earlier women in the society were not given voting rights but things have
changed drastically now.
Mexican Company: Cinepolis
Indian Subsidiary: Cinepolis India Pvt Ltd
Cinepolis is a Mexican company founded in the year 1971. Today it has positioned itself as the
second biggest movie e theatre circuit having 738 cinema complexes across 17 nationalities and
serving over 330 million customers. The company employs total workforce over 39000 people across
nations to support all its operations. Its mission is to provide its customer the best experience in the
film and entertainment industry
Cinepolis India is a completely owned subsidiary of Cinepolis and it is the first international exhibitor
in India.It has over 360 screens under the brand of of Cinepolis, Cinepolis VIP, and Fun Cinemas. The
company offers multi- benefit Loyalty program called ‘Club Cinepolis’ to increase its customer
loyalty. It has received multiple awards including the "Most trusted brand of the Year 2018" at Big
Cine Expo 2018 and the "Fastest growing chain" at the Global awards for retail excellence. It has
around 550 employees in India most of whom are stationed at the Metro cities. Javier Sotomayor is
the current Managing Director of Cinepolis India Private Limited who is a Mexican by origin.
However this arm of Cinepolis was founded by two Indians, Milan Saini and Deepak Marda, in
collaboration with Ramirez, CEO of the parent company (Cinepolis) and Mier, the COO.
Back in 2013, Cinepolis removed the two co-founding members from the board of directors because
of a dispute arising out of equity sharing contracts. The two of them then approached the Civil Court
in Gurgaon, Haryana demanding for the equity allotment and restraining the promoter from making
any changes in the management team. Marda and Saini claimed that in the 2007’s business
arrangement, it had been signed upon that in “consideration of the efforts put in by the said
management team, in establishing the business in India, after five years from the start of the said
company, the management team would be entitled to equity in the company based on the internal
rate of return generated on the investment.” When this was not met, they raised objection and they
were removed from their positions by Cinepolis.
Talking of the working behaviour of the current MD of the subsidiary in India, Javier Sotomayor, in
an interview with the Financial express said that the does not like any delay in any work or event and
considers time to be very important. This is a good example set for both Indian and Mexican
employees who belong to a polychromic culture and where punctuality and timeline stringency are
not very high regarded and often ignored.

Sources:
 https://www.linkedin.com/company/cinepolisindia/
 https://www.cinepolisindia.com/about-us
 https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/companies/cinepolis-removes-indian-founding-
members-from-top-jobs/article20601791.ece1
 https://www.financialexpress.com/industry/i-am-very-particular-about-my-time-javier-
sotomayor-md-cinepolis-india/1151258/