John C. Ickis

Implementing Globalization Strategies in Latin America

the people within it. One way to conceive the strategic decision process is to paint These demands have been especially challenging for comtwo opposite cultural scenarios in business organizations, one panies operating in Latin America in recent years. After what totally authoritarian and the other totally empowering. In the has been described as the “lost decade” of the 1980s, national first, there is no participation by anyone other than the owner economic policies throughout the region have shifted away or “patron,” in the second, everyone in the organization is from active state intervention to deregulation, the opening of provided with the resources and incentives to fully develop economies, and the invigoration of markets. This has pretheir creative potential. Between these extremes, one might sented both problems and opportunities for Latin American imagine several intermediate cultures, such as a rational planenterprise. New markets have opened, but competition has ning culture that is basically top-down but allows for some intensified. input at middle levels or a culture of negotiation and conflict As discussed in the preceding article by Esteban Brenes, resolution. most companies throughout the region are abandoning the The strong tradition of centralism, inherited from Spanish short-term notion of “national defense” to seek strategic allicolonial governors and intensified by personal loyalties, has ances, expand regionally and internationally while they posiproduced the authoritarian style so often found in the tradition themselves to compete with multinational rivals in their tional Latin American family firm. This centralist tradition has own countries. And they also have taken steps to improve produced a vicious circle of bosses who refuse to delegate their internal capacities to compete, as the cases in this Special and employees who are unwilling to accept responsibility. Issue demonstrate. Many of the early INCAE case studies described problems of Now that we have examined the strategies that companies organization and control in this type of firm. Among the in Latin America have been pursuing in the new global envicases in this volume, these traditions may be observed in the ronment, let us turn to how they have been implementing Mexican air conditioning company prior to its purchase by these strategies and examine the lessons that might be learned Carrier and in the paternal authority exercised in Virutexfrom their experience. The way in which a company impleIlko, S.A. before the organizational process initiated by the ments its strategic will depend in large part on the way in founder’s eldest son. which it formulates strategy, as the two activities are inextricaWe might expect that the changes in the external combly bound in a single process. We shall therefore begin by petitive environment would obligate Latin American compalooking at the strategic decision process as it occurs in the nies to move along this continuum from the authoritarian, Latin American company, as revealed by the cases presented directive extreme toward the center. It is reasonable that would in this issue. We shall then turn to how Latin American be some movement toward opening the firms to participation

Management, Managers and Revolution

Abstract Management and managers play a critical role in revolutionary societies. During revolutions the increased demand for and decreased supply of managers create a costly management gap. Revolutionary governments face significant problems in mobilizing and developing managers for state-owned enterprises and in motivating private sector managers who face eroding social status and changing societal values. Meeting the management needs in the state enterprises requires significant efforts in management training as well as organizational changes. With the private sector the governments task involves identifying areas of goal congruency and developing cooperative relationships around these. Conflictive relationships with some segments of the private sector complicate the task. This articles emperical basis is derived primarily from the Nicaraguan experience. A final section suggests avenues for further research on management and revolution.

Case Studies on the New Global Strategies of International Business in Latin America

Business leaders in Latin America have for years accepted school in the Universidad de Valparaíso in Chile; and the wellthe reality of globalization. There is now evidence, preknown agribusiness program, PENSA, in the Universidade de sented in the case studies compiled for this Special Sao Paulo, Brazil. Issue, that the most innovative companies have moved beyond The industrial settings and issues addressed in the cases the stage of recognition. Indeed they have begun to pursue are widely varied, but they may be placed along a spectrum strategies of international expansion, through exports and that begins with initial export attempts, proceeds through foreign direct investment, competing successfully for world more ambitious strategies of direct investment and strategic markets. alliances abroad, and finally to issues of strategy implementaThe case studies in this issue were gathered from the foretion. Each case is preceded by a briefing that describes the case most business schools throughout Latin America in response setting and summarizes the key issues, and each is followed by to a challenge that began in 1993, when Arch Woodside, a teaching note that provides not the “answer” but a structured Editor of the Journal of Business Research, first visited the guide for case discussion. international business school, INCAE, in Costa Rica. Founded The first two cases involve the initial responses to small, in 1964 by Central American business leaders with the assisfamily-owned firms to the globalization trends. Consorcio tance of the Harvard Business School, INCAE has used the HBS Ferrex is a group of small Chilean hardware manufacturing case method to educate leaders in business and government firms that band together for export of their products under a throughout the region over the past 30 years. Dr. Woodside common brand to the United States. Turri, S.A. is a familyoffered the opportunity to publish the best of the INCAE cases owned Argentine machine tool company that responds to in a Special Issue of the JBR in January 1997. globalization by acquiring new technology and seeking export The cases in the first Special Issue dealt with the strategic markets. The third case describes a Chilean manufacturer of choices faced by forward-thinking international enterprises in kitchen utensils and bakeware that has already exported to Latin America. After the success of this first issue, plans were the developed markets of North America and Europe and is immediately made for a second one but with some modificanow looking to compete in the growing markets of Latin tions. Cases were sought on companies that not only recogAmerica. Similarly, the fourth case describes an Argentine nized the challenges of globalization but also were shaping company that already has begun to export its water heaters strategies to address these challenges. The cases were drawn to such distant markets as Australia and must now confront not only from the INCAE collection but also from other topthe competitive reaction. rated Latin American business schools: IAE (Instituto de AdminThe next three cases describe problem situations in compaistracion de Empresas) in Argentina; the Adolfo Ibañez business nies that have gone beyond exporting. Agroceres is a Brazilian multinational seed producer that forms a global strategic alliance with PIC, the British pork producer, to exploit new Address correspondence to J. Olsen, 7089 Boone Avenue, Baton Rouge, LA 70808. genetic technologies. Bancrecen is a new Central American

Executive learning through case discussion

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to provide a framework with which to understand the issues that arise in the discussion cases included in this Special Issue and explains the role of case studies in the education of those responsible for leading organizations. Design/methodology/approach – This paper is based upon the review of literature from a range of disciplines, all of which is relevant to executive learning; the analysis of the cases and papers in this Special Issue, and interviews with colleagues who use the case method. Findings – The case method is useful in the education of managerial decision makers who face complex situations, but it is most effective when the cases contain certain essential ingredients and when the instructor is skilled in discussion leadership. These ingredients include the presence of a protagonist, the deep description of a problematic situation, the existence of at least two reasonable courses of action, and sufficient data to evaluate each alternative. The interact...

Informing Patterns of Student Case Writing

Introduction During the years 2002 and 2003, sixteen teams of undergraduate students in economics and management from a public university in Croatia participated in the development of teaching cases on decisions facing the managers of Croatian enterprises. This paper assesses that experience from the perspective of the informing patterns that were created among students, faculty, practitioners, and the international academic community in the ten years during and subsequent to the development of those cases. It also examines the impact of this case writing activity upon the educational experience of these students and their subsequent careers and draws conclusions regarding the influence of student case research on management education and practice. The case writing project was a student-led initiative, occurring at a time when Croatia was still recovering from a brutal war of independence, changing to a market economy after decades of communist rule, and facing the prospect of accession to the European Union. In this context, students of economics and management would have a crucial role to play in the future of Croatian society. Many former Yugoslav public enterprises were then under the administration of custodians with no formal management education and little experience competing in market economies. Recognizing this, CEOs of the twenty leading companies in Croatia formed a competitiveness committee and set as a top priority the improvement of management education in the universities. This initiative was supported by the Croatian Government, which expanded and transformed this private sector committee into a National Competitiveness Council (NCC) with participation by the government, the labor sector, and education & technology. With the support of the NCC, the authors conducted case writing workshops and supervised field research from early 2002 through late 2003. This paper describes these activities, the case studies that were developed, and their subsequent use in Croatia and beyond. Though not by plan, most of the cases involve decisions to export Croatian products and services to Western Europe or to the East. The paper discusses the informing patterns that emerged from this research and their implications for student learning, for future research, and for the role of student case research in emerging societies. For the preparation of this paper, we sent a brief survey to 34 of the 53 workshop participants whose addresses were previously obtained. Out of 34 surveys sent, 23 responses were received: 7 men and 16 women, mostly born and raised in or near the capital city of Zagreb. In this paper we report their perceptions of the value of the experience, the types of learning and professional benefits obtained, and the informing pathways created as a result. We recognize that the responses are not necessarily representative and that there may be some non-response bias, presenting threats to validity that might be overcome in future research. A major conclusion is that student-led development of cases differs in a substantial way from the conventional role performed by students in case discussions. As case writers they play an active role, as teams, in seeking evidence to support their definition of the problem and their analysis of the advantages and disadvantages of alternative solutions. As participants in the classroom, they are confined to examining a situation in which all the information is provided. This student case writing experience raises important questions for informing systems. First, what is the influence of student involvement in case research on student learning outcomes and career paths? If there is evidence that the influence is positive, how might student case writing initiatives be encouraged within the university setting? Second, how does the discussion of these cases in diverse settings influence the continued informing relationships among students, faculty (in their roles as researchers, case supervisors, and instructors), case protagonists, and other practitioners? …

Assessing Algorithms for Selecting Countries to Market New Products to Low-income Consumers

Subject area A consulting team to an international food packaging company (SDYesBox) is attempting to decide which algorithm is the most useful for selecting two national markets in Central America and the Caribbean. SDYesBox wants to work closely with its immediate customers – manufacturers in the dairy and food industry and their customers (retailers) – to develop and market innovative products to low-income consumers in emerging markets; the “next big opportunity for the dairy industry” according to SDYesBox. Study level/applicability New product development and market selection in emerging markets in Latin America. Case overview Five algorithms are “on the table” for assessing 14 countries by 12 performance indicators: weighted-benchmarking each country by the country leaders indicator scores; tallying by ignoring indicator weights and selecting the countries having the greatest number of positive standardized scores; applying a conjunctive and lexicographic combination algorithm; and using a “fluency metric” of how quickly consumers can say each country aloud. At least one member of the consulting team is championing one of these five algorithms. Which algorithm do you recommend? Why? Expected learning outcomes Learners gain skills, insights, and experience in alternative decision tools for evaluating and selecting choices among emerging markets to enter with new products for low-income (bottom of the pyramid) products ands services. Supplementary materials Teaching notes are available for educators only. Please contact your library to gain login details or email support@emeraldinsight.com to request teaching notes.