I’d love to have had this book five years ago when we first came to live in Mexico. It’s not that we ran into a string of problems then but it’s just such a useful source of information and opinion about living here it would have cut a lot of corners for us at the time. As the author says, this book is written for people of all ages who want to live in Mexico and Central America, from retirees to baby-boomers who want a new life to artists and writers who want a stimulating and less expensive way of life. read more

It is surprising how different norms on the proper greeting method in the business world affect people so strongly. This is especially true when we contrast U.S. and Mexican preferences. Some people wi... read more

Entering a Mexico City taxi means entering the special world of cabbies - a place where two traffic lanes can swiftly become three, seatbelts generally are very few and far between, and where there app... read more

Brazil's forced devaluation of the real in January, sent the peso plummeting from 9.87 pesos per US$1 to 10.25 pesos in just one week. In previous attacks on the currency in some emerging market countr... read more

Discrimination is an important moral concern for all of us. In the business world, the issue of discrimination goes beyond moral grounds. Although businesses’ main concern is profits, discrimination... read more

These days it seems every company is adopting a team approach to doing business. While the concept is relatively new in the Western world, it is an old practice in Japan. But team-building, which requi... read more

A reality of any manager's life is attending and calling staff meetings. Another reality is that most managers complain staff meetings are a "waste of time." When meetings involve Mexican and Anglo-Am... read more

Anyone who has ever worked in Mexico realizes that one of the biggest differences between doing business in this country and its two Nafta partners concerns information. Whereas in the U.S. and Canada ... read more

In the past five years we have witnessed an explosive growth on the Net in terms of the quantity and quality of Mexico-related websites. For example, a handful of Mexico City newspapers debuted online ... read more

I received various emails on my recent column dealing with management standardization. Many people were concerned that my column suggested that standard procedures are not necessarily the best way to m... read more

More often than not, when foreigners simply refuse to engage in the human aspects of the working world, they tend to see the more negative aspect of the Mexican experience. When I talk with non-Mexica... read more

Both friends and enemies of Nafta predicted the treaty would bring increased investment crossing national borders, and in the case of Mexico, a significant new presence of U.S and Canadian firms. This ... read more

"The problem in Mexico is that workers, and generally speaking all people, resist change." This was the opinion expressed to me recently by a successful (at least, rich) entrepreneur in Mexico City. Be... read more

I've discussed cultural differences and clarity in Mexico's business world. But dealing with Mexican realities is not the only challenge faced by U.S. executives on Mexican assignments. Inevitably, as ... read more

Four years ago, if you had asked people in the transportation industry about their logistics, you would have been greeted with blank stares. Times are changing, though, and now even the word "logistics... read more

Over and over and over this is all I hear. It would appear that this noise means that my uninterruptable power supply is currently being interrupted. Click-clack, click-clack. Click-clack, click-clac... read more

Permission from the Secretary of Foreign Relations is required for the formation of 'Fideicomisos' or real estate bank trusts to invest in this industry. These permission may be given under the followi... read more

Doing business in Mexico is very different than in Canada and the US. The values, social practices, managerial methods, and belief systems of the Mexican worker and Mexican manager are different. They ... read more

Although the three countries that make up North America are physically close, Mexico is simply a different country than her northern neighbours. Mexico has a different history and thus a different cult... read more

Merida, Yucatan..I returned to Merida in July, 1997 to follow up on my contacts I had made last year while on my grant to facilitate trade between the Yucatan and the state of Mississippi. ( See pr... read more

Yucatan, Mexico -- My mission...to explore the Yucatan to discover business opportunities for trade, manufacturing, and joint ventures. I was to be the liaison between the Harrison County Economic Deve... read more

Foreigners who contemplate visiting Mexico with the intention of seeking employment can't remain in the country to work . Those who have the above purpose in mind, should first contact established com... read more

In recent time, we have all been inundated with news about the financial crisis. I don't know anyone who has not been affected by the devaluation, the increase in interest rates, and the uncertaint... read more

For families being relocated to Mexico, also see Moving to/Living A New Time For Mexico , 1996-2006 , by Carlos Fuentes (Marina Castaneda, translator). Publi... read more

IntroductionMexico is Canada's most important trading partner in Latin America. Trade between the two countries was worth more than CDN $5 billion in 1994 and has grown significantly since the mid 1980... read more