As I arrived in Panama, I had many observations of how they do business, their culture, and their overall country. The global business here is pretty admirable as Panama has multiple banking services while also utilizing their personal currency as well as the United States dollar. Being able to go to multiple stores, even small local owners’ businesses, all accept the American dollar. Many of the differences that I was able to grasp is the difference in prices, naming, and the marketing strategies used to promote products. Some few things I hope to gain from this experience is learning more about Panamanian culture and how it impacts the business country-wide. Another difference I witnessed is the use of ?honking? here when driving which means sometimes thank you, while in the United States honking is more interpreted as impatience/anger. My first impression of this was thinking that all Panamanians are impatient when driving due to the enormous amount of honking, however, when I asked a local citizen here, I was told about the meaning of honking here. Followed by that, I also witnessed many Panamanians saying ? Ok ? when we tell them thank you. At first, I interpreted it as rude but I was informed that this is their response here. Another very informative opportunity was visiting Pepsico as they were very informative not just about their business, but about Panama?s culture. We were informed about a certain Panama holiday that revolves around wearing colorful accessories and clothing; ironically, the holiday was the same day we visited Pepsico?s warehouse. With all this, I was able to see many differences and grasp more knowledge of Panamanian culture. From different prices to different marketing strategies, all of this trip was so impactful to learn more about global business and global culture as a whole.
