José Medina Mora Icaza: Business Resilience in Times of Crisis

José Medina Mora Icaza is the founder and Chairman of the Board of CompuSoluciones, a Master Integrator of Information Technology and Communications solutions.

Lessons from moments of crisis:

Periods of tension and uncertainty — or outright economic, political, and financial crisis — can arise from any number of circumstances, forcing companies to make difficult decisions about their investments, their future projects, and even their survival.

In the globalized world we inhabit — where economies are fully interconnected and mutually dependent — what unfolds on the other side of the globe affects us in one way or another. This is all the more true when friction involves our principal trading partners. While such events are difficult to predict with precision, companies can put in place preventive measures to position themselves as well as possible to absorb their effects.

First and foremost, it is always essential to stay informed and conduct rigorous prospective analysis and risk assessment — both within the company’s specific sector and across the broader economic, political, and social landscape. Beyond that, the following strategies merit serious consideration for navigating moments of uncertainty or crisis:

1. Protect your people: make every effort to preserve jobs, maintain diverse teams in terms of gender and experience to meet the challenge, and — should circumstances require it — be fully transparent with employees about the situation. In extreme cases, consider reducing working hours and use quieter periods to invest in training and development.

2. Protect your clients: work to preserve trust and loyalty through empathy and close communication, and implement flexible pricing and payment models.

3. Innovate: read the context clearly and explore new business models, transforming established frameworks and embracing new digital tools to remain relevant.

4. Safeguard liquidity: prioritize maintaining cash flow, reduce expenditure, defer investments, and if necessary, secure bank credit lines. Reach collaborative agreements with employees, suppliers, and creditors to protect profitability.

5. Optimize processes: redesign the company’s operational processes to adapt to the new reality, minimizing losses in both resources and time.

6. Accelerate digital transformation: every company must be enabled by technology and seize the opportunity to streamline processes, reduce costs, and compress timelines.

7. Act with social responsibility: behave ethically, place people at the center of the organization, fulfill all legal and fiscal obligations, protect the environment, and connect the company to its community. These commitments position a company as a vehicle for change — and ensure that, whatever the moment, it remains close to the society it serves.

It is virtually inevitable that any company will face some moment of tension, uncertainty, or crisis over the course of its existence. For that reason, prevention will always be superior to reaction — and drawing on the experience of those who have navigated these challenges before allows us to capitalize on hard-won knowledge, arrive better prepared, and build the solid foundation required for endurance and lasting relevance.

Further information at:

Coparmex, CONCANACO, Concamin