NYCO - Hispanic Business Council

Standards are Poor...

2011-05-03T07:03:00.000-07:00

2 de Mayo de 2011

Juan Foxley R.: Economista, Consultor Internacional y Profesor del Postgrado en Administración de Riesgos en la Universidad Alberto Hurtado.; http://www.juanfoxley.cl

El destino de fondos tan importantes como los ahorros en AFPs, las reservas internacionales del Banco Central o los excedentes que Hacienda deposita en sus fondos soberanos, dependen crucialmente de la evaluación del riesgo de instrumentos financieros que hagan las agencias clasificadoras. En la práctica, no se mueve una hoja de papeles de renta fija-(bonos emitidos por empresas o gobiernos)-sin que Moody’s, Standard & Poor’s, o Fitch Ratings hayan calificado su riesgo.

Cuando el presidente de la Fed declaraba recién que la advertencia de Standard and Poor´s –(que rebajó a ´negativa’ la perspectiva de riesgo de crédito para la deuda de EEUU)- no agregaba nada que no se supiera, lo que nos estaba recordando era la discutible utilidad anticipatoria de las agencias clasificadoras de riesgo.

Pero aparte de temas de oportunidad, son varios los problemas que se presentan a la hora de poner nota a las emisiones de papeles de países y empresas. Para partir por el caso mencionado, es difícil pensar que las varas de medida sean similares para distintos países. En particular, la calificación a un país con déficit fiscal de 9.7 por ciento del PGB y deuda pública proyectada por encima del 100 por ciento del PGB para 2011 no podría ser AAA.

Menos aún, si su sistema financiero está mal capitalizado y sus legisladores se entrampan jugando al choque de trenes. Peor aún si el presidente no ha sido capaz de convencer que su programa de ajuste fiscal a 12 años plazo es lo que necesita. Si ni siquiera el Departamento Fiscal del FMI se manifestó muy entusiasta y dudó del realismo de las proyecciones de reversión del déficit norteamericano. Así, por lo menos la degradación de un par de escalones (AA) se impondría en un país como ese. El obstáculo es que ese país es el que emite la principal moneda de reserva. Pueden imprimirla a gusto y no solo están atados al dólar. Son el dólar. Pueden inflar sus deudas, devaluar su moneda e imponer los costos sobre todo el resto que la utiliza. Así lo hicieron en 1985 cuando Alemania y Japón fueron citados al Hotel Plaza para admitir la depreciación coordinada del dólar en un 50 por ciento, facilitando la recuperación norteamericana a partir de un limitado poder negociador de la restantes potencias.

En definitiva, ponerle nota al riesgo de EEUU no pasa por examinar su probabilidad de repago. EEUU no tiene riesgo crediticio en ese sentido tradicional. En cambio, puede licuar sus deudas y exportar así buena parte de los costos del apriete de cinturón sin tener que declararse en default.
¿Qué hizo entonces S&P? Reconoció sin decirlo ese estatus especial, y para que no se diga no hacen nada, anunció una tímida advertencia usando la retórica de las perspectivas negativas a dos años.

Pero las agencias clasificadoras enfrentan también otros problemas. Desde luego, no es muy fuerte el incentivo que tienen para ser neutrales. Sus ingresos provienen mayoritariamente del pago que perciben de los propios emisores de instrumentos sometidos a evaluación. Esto pone a la industria de clasificación de riesgo en una posición de conflicto de interés parecida a la que se develó en el corretaje de bolsa y los análisis bursátiles en EEUU. En ese caso, el ´acuerdo Spitzer ´ comprendió compensaciones superiores a los 1.000 millones dólares a inversionistas perjudicados por recomendaciones sesgadas. Se probó que los analistas de 10 bancos de inversión favorecían el negocio de colocación de papeles de las entidades en que trabajaban. Algo se ha hecho en la normativa después de ese caso, separando con murallas chinas los roles de analista y colocador. En el símil de las agencias clasificadoras de riesgo, dichas murallas son de muy baja altura. Quizás el mejor testimonio de aquello es la performance de los MBS y CDO, derivados que poco antes de valer cero en 2008 eran portadores de clasificaciones top. Como declaraba uno de los entrevistados en el documental Inside Job, no había forma en que el volumen de instrumentos derivados aprobados con AAA pudiera haber sido ser evaluado en toda su complejidad en tan poco tiempo. Y si una de las clasificadoras demoraba o negaba, siempre estaba la del lado dispuesta a acoger con ´opinión´ favorable al cliente emisor de dichos artefactos.

Con todo, regular a las clasificadoras es delicado. Los gobiernos europeos con problemas fiscales podrían querer hacerlo hoy pero las circunstancias sugieren que el remedio podría ser peor que la enfermedad en esos casos.

Un avance sería eliminar la obligación de clasificación por solo tres agencias -(Chila ya usa una propia)-y obligar a la máxima transparencia metodológica, como se hace en la supervisión bancaria. Esto no elimina del todo la ambigüedad de juicio (p.ej. frente a las emisiones soberanas de EEUU) pero al menos limita la discrecionalidad. Alternativamente, el riesgo de crédito debería expresarse en el mercado mismo. Facilitar esto, p. ej. por la vía de difundir profusamente los spreads de riesgo país, ayudaría a complementar los juicios de agencias que al final emiten lo que ellos mismos llaman meras ´opiniones´, sin ninguna responsabilidad ulterior.

Z-Shaped Thinking

2011-02-17T05:49:00.001-08:00

America was affected by two consecutive depressive waves and Latin America -with only a couple of exceptions- suffered the effects of the world crisis. Whatever lessons we learned, Z-Shaped thinking became more important than ever. Those whom were able to think out of the box, being innovative and adapt quickly not only survived but in many cases, transform it in a tremendous opportunity for business and flourished.

On Business Planning

2010-11-01T07:54:00.000-07:00

A colleague asked for my advise regarding the best methodology to build a business plan. As a rule, there is not a single methodology that offers one-size-fits-all. Also, methodology, like process, technology, people are just tools and they are great as far as they allow you to reach -and ideally, excel- your objectives in a timely manner.

What is important in a business plan:

- A clear objective and time-framed goals. The extension of the business plan will depend on them. The longer the term and broader the objective the wider, more complex and more uncertain the plan. Western culture privileges certainty -therefore, you can do well only planning in the short term, while Eastern culture privilege long-term objectives -therefore, they plan in a more flexible but uncertain way. East meets West is an approach were you use both ways. You plan in certainty -therefore with great detail and limited flexibility- for the short term and you outline in a more versatile and flexible way for the long-term planning. I like to use this approach.
- A throughout analysis of the product, its market, competition, etc. Key information, friendly displayed and synthesized (here, as some pointed: Marketing Mix, SWOT, BCG Matrix and other tools play their role)
- Then, you need to analyze the possible avenues to reach from A to B and select those that seems feasible depending on financing, K demand, other resources, blockades, etc.
- For each one of the feasible alternatives, you need to do a quick simulation to identify pros and cons (like cash flow generation, competitive reaction, timing, etc.)

A good business planning model for these steps was designed by Alex Osterwalder

- Select the 2-3 best possible options. The best option will be your main plan while the other/s will be your reserve (plan B or contingency options)
- Prepare throughout projected financial statements as well as clear description of the strategies, goals, KPI, actions, etc. for 2 years.
- Prepare big-picture -adjustable- projections on KPI for longer periods (like years 3, 4 or 5)

The detailed financial part -with which I started- is usually placed by the end in appendixes. The non-financial part is the key of the main presentation of a business plan:

- The Management Team
- The Marketing Plan
- The Operational Plan

Finally, create an Executive Summary in few pages -a Power Point or any other platform you like- where in a concise and simple way, you will show why the business plan is feasible and worth pursuing, why success is the most probably outcome.

Again, there is not magic recipes here. The way you do it -as another commenter wrote- varies greatly if you are starting from scratch or just taking in someone's previous work, if you are innovating with a new product or market or just following the tides. If you are planning a major expansion or just entering in a new small venture. The extension, detail, amount of resources and time invested in preparing the business plan are in direct proportion of the size of the business you are planning. Never forget that... (your son doesn't need to go to great extent to borrow $20 from you and setup a lemonade stand in the neighborhood but whatever I may have described here falls short if Toyota plans in acquiring GM operations worldwide)

Hope I was of help. Good luck!

Visual Resume gets recognition

2010-10-27T21:03:00.000-07:00

I know...it is a little bit egocentric but anyway, it is nice to see your resume being published by someone in the other side of the planet.

http://www.bhuwanonline.com/blog/2010/03/6-amazing-powerpoint-visual-resumes/

Chile - un espejismo?

2010-05-24T17:17:00.000-07:00

La herencia tras 2 decadas de gobiernos de la Concertacion:

La evaluacion de la situacion economica nacional se hace de forma bastante complaciente por los diferentes actores tanto en el actual gobierno como en la oposicion y la prensa, en general, tiende a levantar cortinas de humo respecto de la realidad del pais. Los ciudadanos, viven inmersos en un chile-centrismo exasperante y con una arrogancia que raya en lo insoportable y no aceptan que el pais no tenga la mejor situacion mundial. Sin embargo, para personas con una vision mas objetiva, quizas debido a que residimos fuera de Chile, la evaluacion es diametralmente opuesta y tristemente negativa.

Al analizar el comportamiento del IPC en el ultimo decenio, segun fuentes del Banco Central, se observa que el indice general ha sufrido una variacion cercana al 40% y resulta especialmente dramatico observar los incrementos en areas tan sensibles como alimentacion, transporte, vivienda, salud y educacion. Fuente: Banco Central de Chile.

Por otra parte, el poder de compra se ha deteriorado en terminos reales y hoy, nos ubicamos en el lugar 46 a nivel mundial, una caida importante respecto de la posicion que ostentabamos hace una decada y dentro de America Latina, el GDP de Chile (ajustado por poder de compra) se ubica por detras de Brazil, Argentina, Colombia, Mexico y Venezuela, ubicandonos en una de las posiciones mas vulnerables en la region, muy cerca de Peru. Fuente: Index Mundi.

Resulta evidente que los expertos en fijacion de precios de las empresas, continuan empleando un modelo simplista que equipara un dolar a mil pesos, sin tomar en cuenta las realidades de la variacion en el poder de compra y las variaciones en el tipo de cambio. El resultado es que los precios internos han aumentado preocupantemente y nuestra competitividad se ha reducido ostensiblemente.

El nivel de endeudamiento, los indices de morosidad, un acceso al credito menos discriminante y con mayor facilidad que aquel en Estados Unidos, donde la entrega indiscriminada de creditos gatillo la peor crisis en tres decadas. En promedio, en los niveles socio-economicos C2 y C3, donde se acumula el 69% de las deudas de consumo en el pais, la carga de creditos de una familia requiere de 26 o 28 meses para poder pagarse. Fuente: PNUD. Asimismo, el spread bancario en Chile es excesivamente alto y una de las principales razones de la fuerte caida que experimentados en el Indice Global de Competitividad (WEF) Esto se refleja en una importante caida en el nivel de las colocaciones (Fuente: Banco Central) que afecta la liquidez del sistema financiero y lo hace vulnerable frente a un alza importante de los niveles de morosidad.

Los salarios en Chile presentan un incremento en la desigualdad por genero y posicion en la empresa, tristemente ubicandonos muy mal tanto a nivel mundial como en la region. Fuente: Banco Central y PNUD. Una consistente caida en los niveles de salario real. Fuente: OIT sobre valores del INE. Chile cayo del primer al cuarto lugar en el monto del salario minimo ajustado por poder de compra, ubicandos detras de Argentina, Paraguay y Colombia en la region. Fuente: TuSalario.org. Por otra parte, el desempleo en Chile es el mal elevado en dos decadas, y se mantiene en dos digitos.

Salarios estables o cayendo, desempleo elevado, endeudamiento creciente, colocaciones en picada, morosidad en aumento, precios creciendo sostenidamente…parece la receta perfecta para una crisis financiera de envergadura. La pregunta no es si ocurrira sino cuando? 12 – 24 – 36 meses?

Creo que es un tema apasionante y que debe investigarse. Ver opiniones de expertos extranjeros -pues al parecer los chilenos no queremos reconocer vulnerabilidades o que no nos ha ido tan bien- y seria aun mas interesante saber que opina el gobierno…reconocen esta herencia? que medidas han considerado para intentar revertir la tendencia y quizas evitar la peor crisis economica en Chile, una que puede devolvernos 5 decadas?

Taking a Sabatical

2009-02-23T16:29:00.001-08:00

So, I will discontinue this blog for a little bit but it will come back soon with renewed content and more frequent posts as there are several professional wanting to collaborate. Stay tuned!

Is Marketing Dead?

2008-06-09T06:55:00.000-07:00

This is a great post from a member of Linkedin: Geert Stox from Business Bazaar. Some excerpts:

"The profession is not dead but INVADED BY NONSENSE"

"There are 2 types of markete(e)rs: those who do marketing by applying the models and typologies as usual, and those who try to start from a different level and use the models and stuff to make their strategy come true. For me the second type of markete(e)r is the true markete(e)r. Apparently, the type of markete(e)r also influences the way people react to the question."

"In the understanding that marketing isn’t about the markete(e)r, but about the consumer. That it is about understanding the deeper motivation and expectation in the consumer’s mind and that an insight isn’t an aspiration. Marketing has a systemic role in the whole strategy, as Hernan Cuevas, CEO of the New York Commercial Office stated in his answer. And I couldn’t agree more. If one tends to think that marketing is becoming more difficult, most people agree that is has become different. And maybe, it’s been too easy until now."

I recommend its reading. The link is here

What are the disadvantages of the traditional Customer Lifetime Value Model? Especially concerning telecom business

2008-05-11T13:36:00.000-07:00

How should a modern Customer Lifetime Value approach look like?

Asked by Rasim Hasanovic

NYCO's answer:

“The main disadvantages were related with the quality of the parameters used as input: proper churn/retention adjustment, picking the right discount rate, etc; and the proper consideration of externalities like: risk factors, walking dead, technology changes, product life cycle, etc. Unfortunately, every model remains only a valuable approach and one element of judgment and companies should not take its results as granted. The experience, intuition and wisdom of senior executives is still the key element to weigh (ponderate) results and make decisions -thanks to that, because it means guys like me have a chance to keep working, LOL- Also, measuring CLV requires deep commitment from many areas within a company (because you need input from several different departments) and the larger the company and the more complex its market, the more difficult to keep track of CLV. The main elements a good CLV model should address are: a) Transaction metrics: average value, periodicity, margin, discount rates, etc.; b) Retention: retention rate, average retention cost per customer/transaction, etc., c) Acquisition costs: cost of reaching, response rate, cost of attracting, discounts, etc.d) Externalities: walk dead rate, product life cycle, seasonal adjustments, obsolescence, etc. Then, the executive will apply his/her own wisdom 80/20, I believe right results should show a long tail. Problem: many companies will find it very expensive to apply. Solution: again, common wisdom and some simple key metrics may help as a compass to manage CLV without measuring CLV. HBS has a simple but nice calculator: http://hbswk.hbs.edu/archive/1436.html Below are some links to papers that may help your investigation. Two of them addressing the specifics of your industry: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=985639 http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=605501”

Anyone familiar with the business environment in Latin America? Have heard conflicting perspectives -

2008-05-11T13:35:00.000-07:00

Asked by Richard Candia

NYCO Answer:

“Richard, you will always hear conflicting perspectives if you want to treat LATAM as a whole. The region is diverse in grades of development, political and economic systems, stability, etc. If you want to analyze business environment, you must do it country by country as they differ so much. By doing this segmentation the opinions would be much more homogeneous. I am very familiar with the region. What countries are you specifically concerned about? From my point of view, in the past 2 years, Venezuela and Bolivia are the countries with the deepest changes in business environment for political reasons and in a negative way, while Argentina and Peru had the deepest change in a positive way due to economic development.”

2008-05-03T11:59:00.001-07:00

What Latin America's Companies must consider before going global?

2008-03-06T19:13:00.000-08:00

To go global and expand operation overseas is an increasing trend among Latin America's business but they must consider:

1) Be sure you have a competitive edge that you will keep when going global. Sometimes, being the leader in a region doesn't necessarily mean you will remain competitive or successful when going global.
2) Make a throughout feasibility analysis and investigate the resources you will need: investments, production capabilities, logistics, etc. Are they available to support your global expansion?
3) Identify those markets that represent a closer match to your current ones first. Leave the others for a second step.
4) Study those markets in-depth and I mean in-depth.
5) Find local advisory/employees/partners that understand the culture and ways to do business in that market. Give close attention to their input.
6) Be ready to adequate your process to that market. In example, the traditional way to export products within Latin America don't work well when targeting the U.S. market neither the American approach to Federal Contracting works well in China.
7) Most companies in Latin America don't have a "global culture" so be sure that you prepare your inner organization to face the world globally.

The Monority Influence in the United States

2008-03-06T19:03:00.000-08:00

I came across the folowing question:

America in 2012 - Opportunities and Challenges as a Result of Multiculturalism. Your opinion?

Multicultural USA in 2012. I was wondering if anyone ever pictured the USA in five years? Looking at the growth of the Hispanic and Asian population in the USA, I must admit that the country will become a major multicultural mix in five years with a redefined position on world affairs, shifted ideology and different business climate. How would it change the way we live, work and interact with each other and the world? Posted by Yuriy Boykiv on Linkedin.com

My answer:

While I agree that the multicultural picture of the United States is changing dramatically due to the increasing numbers and influence of certain minorities, specially Hispanics, I don't think you'll see traumatic changes or a deep impact within the next 5 years. Basically, because I don't share your opinion that those majorities will be able to affect the country's definition/position on world affairs. While increasingly important, the non-traditional minorities are still starting to gain public and political spaces and their economic impact or control of power is far distant from that in the hands of the majority.

The diversity among and inside those minority groups is probably one of the main obstacles for they to reach a unified stance. Without a common front, their influence and power will continue to develop slowly and they will require even larger numbers to make a significant difference.

From an economic point of view, they already reached a purchase power attractive enough to get a place among corporate strategies and increasing budgets to target them.

I would probably think in U.S. 2025 or 2050 as milestones where a significant change in the social structure of America may be witnessed. But the main issues in multiculturalism by 2025 or 2050 won't come from the United States but the consolidated -but this time- position of China and India.

Thank you for the theme. it's certainly a nice issue for debate.

---------------------------------------

Hernan:
Great post. Thanks for the comment as I share your view on a long term effect of multiculturalism. However, I still think we will see certain changes within the next five years. Many specialists believe that the new elections will heavily depend on the Hispanic and Black voters that constitute about a quarter of the US population. By 2050 Latinos will be a dominant force in the US culture, politics and business. According to the US Census, there will be 103 million US Latinos in 2050 and the purchasing power will rise to over 10 trillion USD (currency value of 2007). I think this is major! Additionally, as Luba mentioned, a lot of new immigrants prefer a collective society, thus there will be some shift in cultural values as well.
Best,
YB

The Hispanic Entrepreneurs Toolbox: 100 Networking Resources, Guides and Links

2007-08-22T13:40:00.000-07:00

I recently received an email from Rich McIver introducing me this new blog. I believe it has valuable information for anyone doing business with Hispanic targets or wanting to network the Hispanic community.

The link is: Hispanic Toolbox 100

Immigration Reform, Illegal Aliens and Terrorism

2006-05-17T07:35:00.000-07:00

Illegal immigrants versus law-abiding migrations

I don't support illegal immigration nor we advocate for those aliens braking the laws. Period. Those who knowingly brake the laws are delinquents. They will keep that behavior or it will get worse -if the society doesn't enforce the laws- Law trespassers that are getting away easily, will keep trespassing other rules and conventions.

I believe this is not an issue related with general immigration policies -as every party want us to believe- but a specific political and bilateral problem. First, Mexicans don't believe in the border. They don't even believe the United States has nothing to do in those territories. For most of them, Texas, California, New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado and Nevada are rightfully Mexican territories given to the United States by corrupted governments. Mexicans don't migrate to other countries nor they have strong clusters outside the Western States. Second, Mexicans don't want nor they have an immigration policy towards people from Honduras, Guatemala or other countries in the region. It's easier for them to grant relatively secure and expedite pass for that people into the United States, transfering the problem and the burden associated with them. Recently threats by the Mexican government of lawsuits against border patrol measures only contribute to this theory. Not to mention that the U.S. government -backed by Corporate America- also confirms they are acting only for the polls and votes. They don't protest nor they answer those unacceptable statements from a foreign government, deliberately interfering with domestic affairs.

We have to separate the above mention individuals from the rest. They are not terrorists, they are not immigrants. They are illegal aliens with their own agenda. A program that has nothing to do with the American dream, the values of freedom, etc.

In next articles we will continue analyzing two more groups: refugees and those immigrants looking for the American dream and willing to join this society, aculturate and integrate. They represent the essence of what America is. They have our total support and we will always advocate for them.

Finally, we will explore a controversial subject. Immigration and terrorism. We strongly argue against naive approaches. Terrorism and Immigration are two separate things. You don't fight terrorism by fighting immigration. Most terrorists will either be American or citizens from close allied countries or will have perfectly fake American, British, Canadian passports. They won't make the lines in fron of an Embassy nor they will apply for visa extensions or change of status while in the U.S.

Some Changes inside NYCO

2006-03-01T11:01:00.000-08:00

It has been a long journey since we started NYCO 5 years ago and we are experiencing some major changes and growing fast. I accepted to fullfil a position as CEO for Tresmontes Lucchetti (USA) a large food & beverage manufacturer with presence in more than 30 countries. So, I'm leaving my position in the line with NYCO and I'll continue overseeing the operations from the board, as Chairman and President. Leslie Tampier, will be assuming as VP of Operations (West Coast) as we are expanding our operations there and Ambassador Gabriel Guerra-Mondragón will be the VP of Operations (East Coast) in charge or current businness based in New York.

I believe those changes will expand our capabilities to provide outstanding services to our customers and I have confidence my new endevour with Tresmontes Lucchetti will be valuable for my career and help to expand the overall network for NYCO.

See you soon,

Hernan Cuevas

Hispanics & Customer Service

2005-12-13T11:59:00.000-08:00

There is a crisis in customer service in the United States. Period. How do Hispanics respond to this scenario? This exclusive report is coming soon...

Comments from other bloggers on this issue are kindly accepted. Let's start a debate!

Hispanic 101

2005-08-27T06:25:00.000-07:00

The basics everyone must command

This is the first tangible contribution and hopefully, the beginning of a series of valuable publications that would help to understand "Hispanics"

1) Hispanic or Latino -both terms are socially accepted by this minority- is not an ethnic denomination. This is a crucial element that everyone should know but only few realize. As the U.S. Census Bureau correctly stated, in the only appropriate profiling among governmental branches, Hispanic or Latino represents a term based on a political classification and not on phenotype or genotype classifications. As Americans -those born in the United States regardless their heritage- Hispanic means those individuals born in Latin America. Latinos represent a group of diverse ethnic origins, mainly, they belong to 4 races: Caucasian (European whites) Amerindian (native Americans) Afro-American and Asian-American. There are also diverse groups of "mestizos" and "mulatos" which are the multi-ethnic or interracial descendants of two or more different ethnic backgrounds. Therefore, the first thing everyone must understand is that there is no common ethnic profile addressing Hispanics. Accordingly, when communicating to the group we shouldn't use a single stereotype.

2) Because it is a political division, even in culture and folklore there are some important differences. Most of Hispanics are Spanish speakers as they were mainly colonized by Spaniards but there is a huge country in Latin America, Brazil, colonized by the Portuguese that has a different linguistic background as well as some Amerindian groups that barely speak Spanish but their own dialects. As per those Hispanics of foreign origin, Spain was the main source of immigrants but during the last two centuries, important waves of German, Italian and British emigrated to Latin America running away from the wars in Europe, as well as Jews, Arab and Asian descendants looking for better opportunities or escaping civil wars or religious prosecution in their countries. We must then differentiate two main languages: Spanish and Portuguese and several cultural backgrounds.

3) As all countries in Latin America has a long history since Columbus arrived -in most cases even longer than that of the United States- there are strong particular differences among them, as their folklore and traditions are different. It means educational background, language singularities, music, food, clothing are different among Hispanics from different countries and specially from different regions. In example, those coming from Central America share similar climate, Maya or Aztec native heritages and therefore, there are fewer differences among them. In an effort to have a broader classification, we may try to identify some regional groups: Central American and Mexicans, Caribbeans, Amazonians and South Americans. But a closer look will demonstrate that this is the wrong approach. There also are strong cultural differences among Hispanics in the same country when we move up and down the social pyramid. Ultimately, when addressing the target, the only possible way to really be successful is to address a particular group at a time. And in the case of the United States, we are lucky as Latinos belong to a much smaller universe than that present in their countries of origin. Almost 3/4 of Hispanics in the country are of Mexican origin and the rest are mainly from Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, Cuba, other Central America's countries and Colombia. This represents a more approachable target but we must be careful and again, do not rush with the wrong stereotypes.

This is the first chapter, an attempt to shake the basis of wrong profiling in America regarding Hispanics. In the next chapter, we will talk about successful approaches to the target and effective communication strategies.

Debates on Multiculturalism

2005-08-23T08:11:00.000-07:00

I have crossed with several blogs that debate about multiculturalism (Andrew Hagen, Latino Pundit and Michael Paine). And the common element of the debates seems to be the threat that Hispanics and other minorities represent for the "pure" American culture. You may read the entire exchanges by following the links as well as my point of views. I would love to hear more comments.

Americans don't know Hispanics

2005-08-07T15:53:00.000-07:00

Hi, welcome to my blog. Here you'll find useful information about doing business with Hispanic markets, please give me some time to know how to blog and a little more time to upload it.

About me:

I started New York Commercial Office, NYCO , about 5 years ago, to help companies from South America doing business with the United States. Thru the confidence of several important clients, we built a reputation and a track record of success. Then, we thought, why don't go the other way and help Americans learn how to do business with Hispanics. Most consulting alternatives in the market are mediocre at the best and even large Fortune 500 seem working with amateurs.

I have a couple Master Degrees in Business Administration. A Chilean alien -with a wide experience in executive positions for American companies in Latin America- that likes business old-fashion: based on honesty, hard work, commitment, trust and respect. At 40, God blessed me with a nice family: my significant other, Leslie, and three kids: Ignacio "Tato" (18) Javiera (9) and "Junior" (7 weeks) We live in New Jersey since year 2001.

Nop! I don't like hot spiced food and my country has not a tropical weather. Those are some of the stereotypes I crossed with while in New York. The Global Economy requires for each individual to start deeply understanding the profiles and backgrounds of different cultures without simplicities.

This Site:

I would like to create an open space for debate about marketing to Hispanics targets. But, also, as topics of interest, I want to share opinions about what I believe is a serious crisis in customer service in America and what we can do to change the wave. Ultimately, I see this site as a billboard for business opportunities between America and the "other America" south of Rio Grande and beyond. A window to a Globalized world of opportunities.

See you later!

Hernan