Doing Business in Mexico 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-Mexican businesspeople about their experience with Mexican organizations or Mexicans, I hear extremely contrasting views. One executive […]
Continue ReadingDoing Business in Mexico 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 manage, and that if this is the case, wasn’t I suggesting discriminating double standards? I think those concerns are valid. Historically, […]
Continue ReadingDoing Business in Mexico 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 information about most business issues is widely available, and often free, Mexican managers have to face the reality […]
Continue ReadingDoing Business in Mexico 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 requires that individuals think of themselves primarily as members of a group, rather than as individuals, is […]
Continue ReadingDoing Business in Mexico 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 is also bad for business and the economy. U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan said in a recent speech that discrimination is […]
Continue ReadingDoing Business in Mexico 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 will say “hi,” others will take a few seconds and exchange polite talk, such as, “How are you doing […]
Continue ReadingDoing Business in Mexico I have argued before that discrimination in the workplace is not only ethically wrong, but inefficient for the organization, since great candidates are often not considered for hiring. More specifically, companies lose out in the area of innovation when they do not have a diverse workforce. There is considerable evidence that […]
Continue ReadingDoing Business in Mexico I recently spent ten days in California working with one of my clients to develop marketing strategies that would reach the increasingly important Mexican (and overall Hispanic) market of this important state. Current demographics show that Hispanics constitute the largest ethnic/minority group of the state, accounting for over 30 percent of […]
Continue ReadingDoing Business in Mexico As many of you know, there are a number of ways to approach risk analysis, but the dominant model in most MBA programs falls under the category of “rational” models. In these models, risk analysis and decision-making relies as much as possible on objective and quantifiable data. There are other models […]
Continue ReadingDoing Business in Mexico You must have all heard or read about it by now: The Coca-Cola company has announced it will “reduce” its payroll by 7,000 employees. Profits were not as good as expected, and it is time to tighten the belt. This makes investors happy: Fear that a company is losing profits are […]
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