Doing Business in Mexico More and more people are holding jobs that do not require commuting. Various positions in the publishing industry, such as writers, for example, do their work at home (or wherever they wish) and simply send their production over the internet – in a word, they “telecommute.” This makes a great deal […]
Continue ReadingDoing Business in Mexico The experience of going through a job interview is, for most people, exhausting and stressful. You seek advice from others, read books about it, and prepare yourself to talk and behave in ways that feel unnatural to you. The main reason why the interview process is so stressful is because the […]
Continue ReadingDoing Business in Mexico In the early part of the 20th Century, American industrial engineer Fredrick Taylor revolutionized management practices through his famous concept of Scientific Management. His basic premise was that for each task there is one best way of doing things, and workers must be taught to do it that way. At the […]
Continue ReadingDoing Business in Mexico There is no doubt that being a manager today is a different and more demanding challenge than it has been in the past. The much-talked-about globalization of business operations has forced managers to expand their mental horizons beyond the old borders. This is not an easy task, since most managers still […]
Continue ReadingDoing Business in Mexico Perhaps the single largest cultural gap between Latin Americans and North Americans in the realm of business practices is the “personal” dimension. As I have explained in earlier articles, Latin Americans tend to view the personal and professional aspects of a person as two parts of a whole, whereas most North […]
Continue ReadingDoing Business in Mexico When I ask managers what they hate most about their jobs, writing and reading reports is usually on the top of their lists. Managers who have to write reports are often inadequately prepared: They were hired for expertise in specific business areas, such as marketing or finance, and have received little, […]
Continue ReadingDoing Business in Mexico Over the last two years, working with different companies in both the United States and Mexico, I have heard time and again about a relatively new nagging problem for managers: handling their email. According to a poll conducted by USA Today, roughly 25 percent of Americans feel overwhelmed by their email, […]
Continue ReadingDoing Business in Mexico Most of my activities in the area of consulting involve training managers from the United States and Mexico. The people I generally work with to organize and prepare these kinds of activities are Human Resource managers. The Human Resource (HR) division has traditionally been a very weak unit in most companies, […]
Continue ReadingDoing Business in Mexico When it comes to professional training, Mexican managers and companies seem fascinated with anything that comes from more developed countries, especially the United States. From leadership courses (so many that one wonders who is left to be led) to negotiation techniques, the Mexican market is flooded with pitches from U.S. companies […]
Continue ReadingDoing Business in Mexico There is an old movie starring Jack Lemmon in which a father (Lemmon) is frustrated that his less-than-motivated son has quit his job after one day. When he asks his son why, his son simply replies, “My boss is a jerk!” to which his father replies, “All bosses are jerks … […]
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