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OCTOBER 2000 |
INDUSTRY ANALYSIS: Internet Broadband Emerges in Latin
America REGIONAL TRENDS: The Plight of the Mid-size Company GUEST COLUMN: MBA - The Certificate for Success ECONOMIC OUTLOOK: Chile . |
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MEXICO
CITY OFFICE SAO
PAULO OFFICE |
 INDUSTRY
ANALYSISInternet Broadband Emerges in Latin America Internet users everywhere are thirsty for more bandwidth. Even in the developed countries, such services are only now becoming widely available. Cable modems and various flavors of the Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) are the leading contenders for the next generation of Internet connections. Even newer technologies, such as ground-based wireless systems and two-way satellite links are still in the early development phase. In Latin America, where Internet use lags behind the developed markets by 2-4 years, new digital broadband connections are set to leapfrog earlier technologies and level the playing field at least for businesses and affluent consumers. Cable and DSL have been launched in larger Latin American cities only very recently. In Mexico City, for example, cable Internet access will not arrive until December, and DSL is only six months old. Likewise, Brazilian and Argentinean users who live in the right areas gained access to cable and DSL only this year. Users are well aware of the bandwidth available in developed countries and are clamoring to get on the bandwagon. There is a huge backlog of pent-up demand, at least for those providers that can offer competitive pricing. |
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The MBA has become a benchmark qualification for jobs in international organizations in the 1990s. It may not be the most important single item in a particular curriculum, but it can open doors to an international career. According to studies from the MBA Career Guide, the demand for professionals with an MBA has grown by 15% globally, mostly from companies in the e-commerce and technology sectors. These companies, which are key players in the advancement globalization, use the MBA degree as a reference qualification. The MBA Career Guide study also indicates that salaries offered to graduates of the 40 best international MBA programs went up by 25% over the last four years. North-American MBAs commanded slightly higher salaries than their European counterparts. According to the study, Latin American salaries for MBAs are 10%-to-15% lower than prevailing rates in the US. |
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  MARKET RESEARCH market profile benchmarking market entry viability market trend analysis new product testing customer satisfaction studies MARKET
INTELLIGENCE MARKET
ENTRY |
. REGIONAL TRENDSThe Plight of the Mid-size Company Globalization has been tough on mid-size companies all over the world. Latin America is not immune to this reality. Liberalized trade, growing foreign investment, sudden financial crises, and traditional family management styles have all combined to devastate the mid-size enterprises of the region. As predictable as this shakeout of the Latin American corporate structure over the last five years may have been, it caught many local players off guard. Workers, investors and governments were equally unprepared. Nimbler operators, mostly multinational enterprises, were able to act quickly to take advantage of the one-shot opportunities that opened up. Foreign competitors are now overrunning the region, which was formerly considered frustratingly difficult to break into. While there are fewer of them, clusters of domestic firms have survived the shake out by specializing their business lines and rationalizing their operations. Domestic players like Cemex have slashed assets and focused on core products. Most domestic companies, however, sold out control to multinationals, often for a song, following financial crises in Brazil in 1999, and Mexico in 1995, as well as Argentina in 1996 and again this year. |
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 ECONOMIC
OUTLOOKChile In spite of a tumultuous year in Chilean politics, the Concertación led government continues to exercise prudence in its balanced approach to economic policy. Chile still boasts the lowest risk business climate in Latin America, and is ranked 19th worldwide. It is forecast to lead the region as a safe haven for foreign investors over the next five years. After a painful contraction in 1999, the Chilean economy rebounded strongly this year and should maintain 5% to 6% annual growth through 2002. The economies of Chile's trading partners in Asia and Mercosur are on the mend, and this will continue to drive strong export sales. Buoyant consumer spending leads to higher imports, and in 2001 Chile will see a trade deficit, as copper prices flatten and Argentinean tourism remains weak. As a result, the Chilean Peso is forecast to slide by 4% in early 2001, slightly ahead of inflation. |
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 AMEX Avery Dennison BBDO Booz, Allen & Hamilton Citicorp International Computer Sciences Corp. Conagra |
 INFOAMERICAS
PROJECTSfor OCTOBER 2000
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tendencias |
With offices in
Miami,
Mexico City,
Sao Paulo |
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GUEST
COLUMN
