Implementation of Digital Resources by Companies in Three Strategic Sectors in Jalisco, Mexico Following the Slowdown in Demand in Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic

In recent times, companies worldwide and particularly in Latin America have gone through a catastrophic and devastating process due to the pandemic crisis generated by COVID-19. However, only those that have redefined themselves, reinvented themselves or discovered opportunities have managed to overcome the contraction in demand and, even more importantly, the sluggish supply of raw materials at a global level as a result of the disruption of global value chains due to the collapse of transportation logistics systems. The owners of organizations with a mindset open to change and the discovery of opportunities have managed to adapt to the rigors of a hostile business environment by redefining and/or acquiring resources and innovative capabilities focused on changes in their production and marketing processes, involving changes in the way of doing business, and have succeeded in weathering the economic turbulence generated by the pandemic crisis of 2020. Faced with this scenario, companies have begun to move toward a new organizational model using technology to advance productively and competitively, i.e., they have adapted to what is called Industry 5.0, with the intention of making use of technological progress to achieve efficiency and competitiveness while enhancing the direct relationship between humans and machines. This model proposes a technological revolution, which focuses its interests on human needs within the industrial process, moving from technological evolution centered solely on machines to a scheme where technology is a function of humans, adapting to the diversity of companies and workers. In view of the above, the objective of this research is to analyze the emerging strategies implemented by Mexican companies in three strategic sectors in the state of Jalisco (fashion, furniture and restaurants), related to the incorporation of digital resources as a way of dealing with the contraction in demand resulting from the confinement of the population since the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic.