For Alfred Chandler, the founder of business history as a modern academic discipline, strategy is a long-term structure that goes beyond operational plans or isolated decisions. It is a definition that requires forward-looking vision, along with the organization and management of resources aimed at achieving long-term objectives.
For those of us who lead companies at the local, national, or international level, strategy development has undergone an unprecedented acceleration. The growing complexity of market interests, combined with rapid technological change that can transform entire organizational structures in a matter of months, has forced decision-makers to strengthen the agility of their decision-making processes. This has also increased the need to build operational structures capable of keeping pace with that speed, while maintaining flexibility, precision, and efficiency. Although technological advances have replaced certain repetitive or superficial tasks, they still require increasingly specialized human oversight to function properly.
The flexibility, precision, and agility demanded by today’s market extend across every area of a business project, from the front office, traditionally the most dynamic and visible side of the organization, to the often overlooked but critical back office. According to the Oxford Learner’s Dictionary, the back office is defined as “the part of a business that deals with administration rather than customers.” In practical terms, this refers to the set of internal functions that do not interact directly with customers but are essential to a company’s operational, financial, and administrative performance. These functions focus on support, control, processing, and internal management, enabling the front office, including sales, customer service, and visible operations, to function effectively. Decades ago, back-office operations relied on rigid and slow-moving structures; today, those models have evolved significantly.
In the face of current business challenges, it is the responsibility of every business leader to look beyond borders in search of effective solutions. Designing a growth strategy that is entirely local limits both the potential and the resilience a business could achieve by expanding internationally. From north to south across the Americas, commercial dynamics have evolved in ways that reflect a profound transformation in the exchange of goods and services. From a macroeconomic perspective, these shifts reveal clear strategic trends in how businesses are operating and growing.
According to the Inter-American Development Bank’s 2024 report, “Trade Trends Estimates: Latin America and the Caribbean 2024,” global trade in services grew by 9.6% in 2023, driven primarily by travel and by Knowledge-Based Services (KBS), which expanded by 8.9%. By contrast, the value of goods exports from Latin America and the Caribbean declined by 2.2%, largely due to falling commodity prices and a slowdown in global demand. Historically, the United States has been the region’s most important strategic trading partner; however, the expansion of KBS has emerged as a trend that decision-makers can no longer afford to overlook.
According to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, Knowledge-Based Services are defined as services that rely on high levels of professional and technical expertise to create value and support business processes in other organizations. These services contribute both explicit and tacit knowledge to high-value business activities, beyond routine functions, and are closely tied to human capital with advanced qualifications and specialized capabilities. What stands out in the IDB reports between 2024 and 2025 is that while goods exports from Latin America and the Caribbean to the United States faced significant pressure, KBS demonstrated greater resilience and, in some cases, continued growth.
Several key insights emerge from these reports. Knowledge-Based Services are growing faster than goods and traditional service sectors. Within this category, business, professional, and IT services account for the largest share of export value. Mexico, Brazil, Costa Rica, Argentina, and Colombia continue to serve as the region’s primary hubs.
The sectors representing the highest export volumes include business services, the largest category, accounting for 69.5% of KBS exports in the region. This category includes administrative services, business management, process outsourcing, and corporate functions. It is followed by professional and technical services, such as consulting, engineering, and specialized professional services, including legal and financial activities; IT and technology services, including telecommunications, data processing, software, and digital services; and information services related to data management, analysis, and information transmission.
This is where a strategic window opens for Mexico and Latin America. The future growth of global trade lies not in moving more containers, but in exporting operational capabilities, talent, and processes.
In conclusion, the professional knowledge that has developed and matured across Latin America and the Caribbean has become a strategic asset from north to south. For US companies, the southern part of the continent offers access to highly cost-effective talent with world-class expertise. For Mexican companies, the rest of the region presents significant opportunities for strategic expansion. For specific sectors across Latin America and the Caribbean, a targeted analysis of professional talent and strategic functions beyond national borders has become increasingly relevant.
As outlined at the beginning of this article, modern business strategy requires agility and a willingness to look beyond borders in order to ensure long-term profitability and to integrate top-tier knowledge and talent in an increasingly competitive market.