LATAM Update

CSIA Best Practices Manual now available in Spanish

By Carolina Casas Anzola

Unfortunately, economic crises — downturns, recession, contraction or economic depression — are a frequent phenomenon of contemporary societies, especially those belonging to the so-called Third World, whose industrial and economic bases are not always very solid or depend
on the market price of the export raw material, for example.

Among the most common causes of economic crises are:

• Bad economic policies: Faulty or erroneous application of economic policies by governments, which can ignite the wick of a local economic crisis.
• Natural, social or political catastrophes: Disasters can include earthquakes, revolutions or wars, which disrupt normal economic performance and alter the type of demand that exists.
• Fluctuations in the price of the raw material: As is the case with oil, whose oscillations have a direct impact on the consuming countries and on the producers as well, sometimes abruptly alternating the boom periods with those of recession.

To prepare for these market disruptors, a system integrator must have the business in tip top shape. Fortunately, CSIA has a resource to
help you do just that: The CSIA Best Practices Manual.

This is an extraordinary instrument that can help you position your company to handle the boom times as well as the downturns.

Carolina Casas Anzola is LATAM Director at the Control System Integrators Association in Mexico City, Mexico.