SCHEDULES AND TIME 4
Discussing The Concept 'Time Is Money'.


Latin American Executive Opinions

• Carlos Romero Uscanga
• Alejandro Octavio Aguilera
• Julio Balestrini Ponce
• Mario Espinosa Yabar
• Ysabella Castro Bilancieri


Key vocabulary related to this topic


Cultural points related to this topic

Carlos Romero Uscanga
México, Xalapa, Veracruz
"Bueno, yo he escuchado mucha gente, fuera de México..."
Right/Control click here to download MP4 for ipod.
Alejandro Octavio Aguilera
México, Monterrey, N.L.
"Es muy importante poder cumplir puntualmente a las citas de negocios..."
Right/Control click here to download MP4 for ipod.
Julio Balestrini Ponce
Perú, Lima
"Hace tiempo existía una broma que se refería a la hora peruana..."
Right/Control click here to download MP4 for ipod.
Mario Espinosa Yabar
Perú, Lima
"Creo que el concepto de 'tiempo es dinero' aquí se aplica más a lo que es producción..."
Right/Control click here to download MP4 for ipod.
Ysabella Castro Bilancieri
Venezuela, Caracas
"OK, en nuestro país sí se oye mucho la expresión 'el tiempo es dinero'..."
Right/Control click here to download MP4 for ipod.



ambiente (m) environment, atmosphere
ascensor (m) elevator
asunto (m) subject
broma (f) joke
cena (f) dinner
cita (f) appointment
cita concertada (f) arranged appointment
clave (m) key
congestionamiento de tráfico (m) traffic congestion
cumplir to fulfill
eficacia (f) efficiency
eficiencia (f) efficiency
enfoque (m) focus
excusa (f) excuse
infraestructura (f) infrastructure
interpretar to interpret
iten (m) item
llegar a tiempo to arrive on time
margen (m) margin
nivel social (m) social level
obligar to be obligated
orientado (adj) oriented towards
producción (f) production
producir to produce
puntual (adj) punctual
recorrer to cover
respetar la hora to keep appointments
retraso (m) delay
sobre tiempo (m) overtime
tráfico (m) traffic
vigente (adj) in effect
Juan es un poco gordito. Juan is a little chubby.
María es más alta que Susana. María is taller than Susana.
Pepe tiene los ojos claros
y la tez blanca.
Pepe has light colored eyes
and white skin.
Mi tío es bastante peludo, alto y de barba abundante. My uncle is very hairy, tall, and with a full beard.
Mi prima es muy bonita, rubia y de nariz fina. My cousin is pretty, blonde, and has a thin nose.

It is rather humorous to see that in these interviews the Mexicans joke about "Mexican time" and the Peruvians joke about "Peruvian time", but they are all talking about the same thing. It is also interesting to see that many of the respondents come from large cities where traffic and travel from place to place is extremely difficult. Mexico City, Caracas, and Lima are all difficult to get around in and this is frequently becomes an excuse (and a very valid excuse) for arriving late. Their advice is to call and let others know when you will be arriving late. Mario Espinosa states that he thinks that time is money applies more in production and he laments that many days he doesn't know when his workday will end because he works to get certain jobs done, not by the clock. Sociologists talk about monochronic and polychronic time and how cultures tend to divide time between these two patterns. Monochronic time is that where time is divided into singular sequential units. North Americans are thought of as leaning more towards monochronic time. They do one thing at a time and then move on to the next. Polychronic time is where "multi-tasking" is common. Those that adhere to polychronic time don't divide activities into singular temporal units. Latin American cultures are traditionally identified as polychronic. Time is money, although applicable everywhere, falls within a monochronic mindset.