The Future of Companies in the Face of a New Reality, 1st ed. 2021 Impact and Development in Latin America

This book analyzes the changes brought on to economic and business activities in Latin America due to the new scenarios, environments and social dynamics the world is facing as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, at both micro- and macroeconomic levels. 

Recent changes to working environments has brought discussions on work-life balance to the forefront, and creating support mechanisms to attract and retain the next generation of workers has become a primary focus for talent managers. At an industry level, there are expectations that once the crisis passes, there will be massive capital inflows toward ESG investments in emerging markets driving the transformation of companies. Consequently, ESG business models will have a cascading effect in the whole supply chain (upstream, midstream and downstream) and will generate greater value for all stakeholders. At the same time, technologies of the fourth industrial revolution, such as Blockchain and Artificial Intelligence, have gradually been adopted by companies leading the charge in ESG business models. The financial sector has taken the lead in these two technologies, but the challenge generated by the COVID-19 pandemic forced other sectors to innovate rapidly in order to remain afloat. Using empirical and theoretical frameworks, the contributors in this book identify the most attractive alternatives to benefit consumers in an adverse environment like the one the world is facing as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, which while posing a significant challenge for most industries, has also created new opportunities for innovation and ingenuity, analyzing case studies from the coffee and medical tourism sectors in particular.

Griselda Dávila-Aragón has a PhD in Financial Sciences from Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey, Campus Ciudad de México (ITESM), a Master’s in Insurance and Risk Management from Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México (ITAM), a degree in Risk management from Universidad Panamericana, Mexico and a Bachelor’s in Actuary from ITAM. Her main research areas are Risk Management, Operational Risk, Bayesian Networks, and Small and Micro Enterprises. She has more than 15 years of experience teaching undergraduate and postgraduate levels at different universities. She has held various management positions at public and private financial institutions such as AIG México, Compañía de Seguros de Vida, Banco del Ahorro Nacional y Servicios Financieros (BANSEFI), and Mercer Human Resource Consulting. She has published at Scopus’ peer-reviewed magazines and has written several peer-reviewed book chapters. She is currently a level I member of the National Research System at CONACYT, the Academic Assistant Dean and a Research Professor of the School of Economic Sciences and Business Administration at Universidad Panamericana, Mexico City Campus.

Salvador Rivas-Aceves has a PhD in Economic Sciences, Master’s in Economic Sciences and Bachelor’s in Economics by the Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana, Mexico (specializing in Anthropology) by Universidad Panamericana. An Economics, Finance and Politics Analyst, he has been a research professor since 2006 and from 2015 to 2019 Academic Dean as well as Research Dean of the Government and Economics School at the Universidad Panamericana, Mexico. Since 2020 Research Dean at the School of Economic Sciences and Business Administration. He has published extensively on economic growth, technological change, financial regulation and risk analysis in the financial sector since 2005. He has been a member of the National Research System in Mexico since 2010.