José Luna, Director of Marketing and Strategy of Hempel for America is the Professional of the Month of this edition of Inpra Latina. The executive has extensive experience within the coatings industry.
by Duván Chaverra Agudelo
José Luna is Hempel's Director of Marketing and Strategy for the Americas. The professional is a Panamanian who has dedicated more than 18 years to the development of the industry and the companies in which he has worked, reasons why we want to recognize his work in our section of the Professional of the month.
José is recognized for being a tireless student and his thirst for knowledge and learning have led him to obtain several degrees that accredit his work. He holds a degree in Industrial Mechanical Engineering from the Technological University of Panama. He holds a Master of Business Administration with a focus on Marketing from the Latin University of Panama (agreements with INCAE), an MBA Update from the University of California at Irvine, and a Certificate of Strategy from the Institute for Management Development (IMD) in Lucerne, Switzerland. It also has the NACE Level #3 Certification.
After a journey of fourteen years working for AkzoNobel, José Luna started at Hempel in 2011 continuing his base in Houston, Texas, fulfilling his position as Director of Marketing and Strategy for America. He is also responsible for the development of new products, alliances and / or acquisitions of companies, development of new businesses, market intelligence, CRM and management of communication, internet and events. That is, a fairly complete responsibility with a team of ten people.
"Something that I have always considered key in the growth and development of my career, is to be self-disciplined, resilient, focused, always with a strategic global thinking, efficient and effective management of time and priorities, keep up to date reading relevant issues and the most important: listen to the voice of the client," said our guest.
Personally, José is married and father of two children, and his family has also been an important support and support to meet his goals and balance his personal and work life. It also denotes a wide passion for sport and culture, he even played football in the second division in Panama, and currently practices tennis and runs half marathons. "I am a follower of the football teams of Panama and Spain, and in tennis I follow Rafael Nadal. In addition, from my childhood I always remember my father instilling in us the habit of reading from an early age, a habit that has always endured and has been key to being at the forefront of Industry and Business issues, "said the executive.
Your goals and achievements
José has already planned his next work and personal goals: "My most important goal is to continue growing in my area of professional education; I am currently passionate about the subject of strategy, development and profitability of businesses and everything that leads to grow the company in a sustainable and aligned way. I see myself as president of a region or area of the company in the long term."
The Professional also has a vision about what will happen in about five years but does not rule out any possibility: "I see myself doing the same, since we are about to launch our new strategy: 'Path to Excellence', in which I have worked a lot in the planning, preparation and launch with my Colleagues at Hempel around the world. Obviously, if the 'Path to Excellence' presents a new opportunity for growth that is aligned with my career goals and those of the company, I am willing to listen and change, whether in another city within the United States or in another country; since I have always considered myself a flexible Executive, having already lived in England, Mexico, Texas, California and Panama".
On the other hand, there are several achievements that José has achieved during his stay at Hempel. More reasons to highlight in his professional career: "After developing the cases and business evaluations of the acquisitions of Blome International (July 2012) and Jones-Blair (March 2015) and I have seen them materialize and be carried out; another important achievement was to receive the award internationally within the company as Best Practice for the development of tools for a better visualization, implementation and monitoring of the One Hempel Strategy - One Ambition; also to have been selected to represent Hempel and receive the award with the renowned international agency Frost & Sullivan, in which excellence was recognized for being the fastest growing and leading company for three years in a row."
The guest also highlighted his participation in different media: "The research that has marked the most in my career has been the publication of articles written in the Revista de México de Petroquímica, World Pipeline Magazine and interviews in Maritime Reporter and Offshore Engineering Magazine; also to be part of the Hempel team in the new technologies that we have developed and launched, as is the case of AvantGuard, an epoxy technology rich in zinc where we are redefining the world of anti-corrosion".
Industry Vision
The outlook from America seems to be generally positive where we have a mix of emerging and mature economies; from the perspective of Hempel's Marketing Director, referring to the United States where he resides, he explains "The United States is a country with a fairly mature market; there are niche markets that continue to grow despite the latest drops in the price of oil and GDP that is under growth forecast this year; Being producing natural gas at very low prices, the Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) market has been approving all investments of new plants and reversals of existing plants, as the United States went from gas importer to exporter. Overall, we expect annual growth of 2% over the next five years in the markets we focus on in this country."
Finally, his experience has allowed him to obtain a better vision of the industry, innovate and identify keys that allow him to take advantage of his competitors: "Understand technologies, regulations, and most importantly, listen and understand customers. Stay focused and prioritize on the relevant issues that affect the company. We develop more sustainable strategies focused on the long term, always with the goal of first delivering our profits to the community and education projects in the countries that need it most, once this is done, we invest in the company's plans. Hempel is a private company that reports to the Hempel Foundation being this owner of the company, this has made a total difference in my personal motivation due to the different approach always thinking first of serving the community and at the same time balancing our strategic plans of the company".
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