Defining Governance in Latin America

Public Organization Review - This exploratory research aims to propose a conceptual definition of governance and to speculate on the state of governance in Latin America. Political instability,...     

The Changing Role of the Central Planning Offices in Latin America

The central planning agencies in Latin America have undergone multiple transformations in their structural design. These agencies came to life during the late 1950s in response to a development strategy that required the state to provide long-run direction to development by means of economic planning. Five decades later, the same agencies were redeployed to perform an open-market development strategy. What explains the fact that the same agency, created with the purpose of planning economic development, has functioned across time and governments with sharp economic, and political differences? Following Mahoney and Thelen (2010), this paper highlights the idea that the basic properties of institutions provide some forceful elements that permit change. In this sense, the document shows how veto possibilities and compliance are key variables in understanding the changing role of the central planning offices in Latin America.     

Corporate planning for Asia, Latin America and Africa

It is in the broad sense of “a systematic approach to general management” that strategic planning is here compared in large corporations and Government. For, just as strategic planning is today concerned

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1. the development and evaluation of optional strategies;     

“福利赶超”与“增长陷阱”:拉美的教训

20世纪80年代拉美经济经历了"失去的十年",90年代的增长也乏善可陈。对这一问题的反思,国内基本以总结新自由主义的教训为主。但事实上,对拉美影响深远且至今仍充满活力的却是民粹主义的福利赶超。我们的分析表明,福利赶超在相当大的程度上影响了拉美的发展历程,其教训主要体现在3个方面:一是忽视发展阶段的经济赶超;二是忽视财政限制的福利赶超;三是忽视市场机制的政府主导。总结拉美民粹主义福利赶超的教训,对于当前中国发展的政策含义在于:(1)重视初次分配的重要性;(2)提高社会保障水平应与发展阶段相适应;(3)打造民生工程应尊重市场机制。     

Building Public HRM Capacity in Latin America and the Caribbean: What Works and What Doesn't

Public HRM in developing countries in Latin America and the Caribbean is different than in the United States because the development of administrative systems in general (and public personnel systems in particular) in less developed countries tend to evolve along a single track toward the model of increased rationality and transparency valued by international lenders as indicators of effective government and economic development. With respect to public HRM systems, this generally involves a sequential transition from statehood to patronage, from patronage to civil service, and from civil service to a range of alternative personnel systems. Development is a complex process affected more by economic, political and social conditions within each country, and their impact on civic culture, government and public administration. Examination of five examples from Latin America and the Caribbean shows that developing public HRM capacity can be done rightly or wrongly, depending on decision-makers' willingness to remember and learn from history and development management experience.     

Employer Attractiveness in Latin America: The Association Among Foreignness,Internationalization and Talent Recruitment

Rapid economic development is provoking a skilled talent shortage in Latin America, causing firms to compete intensely for scarce talent (Manpower Group, 2011). While foreign-headquartered firms may bear a “liability of foreignness” (Zaheer, 1995), the question remains whether this alleged liability extends to attracting workers in the Latin American context. We propose an interactionist model grounded on person–organization fit and marginalization theories. Our model, which distinguishes between foreignness and internationalization, argues that they interact with marginalization variables to impact employer attractiveness. Our multi-level analysis of 76,191 individual evaluations of 80 firms within five Latin American countries supported hypotheses that members of marginalized groups based on gender, education, and income were relatively more attracted to foreign headquartered and more international firms. Our findings contribute to an emerging body of evidence suggesting that the impacts of foreignness and internationalization are not necessarily monolithic across all contexts.     

Adapting a Lean Production Program to National Institutions in Latin America: Danone in Argentina and Brazil

This article argues that national institutions identified in the varieties of capitalism approach have a significant impact on the degree of fidelity and extensiveness of best practices adapted by geocentric multinational corporations in host countries in emerging markets. To illustrate this argument it shows how differences in national institutions between Brazil and Argentina caused Danone to adapt a lean production in radically different ways in each of these countries. Both of the programs implemented had low degrees of fidelity and extensiveness to the original best practice. This article contends that in Argentina strong labor laws and the ability of unions to negotiate significant salary increases combined with a desire of workers to have individual pride in their jobs caused Danone to empower them individually instead of creating teams as foreseen in this company's original lean production program. In Brazil the weakness of unions combined with labor laws that promote employee turnover and the desire of workers to improve their salaries caused this company neither to empower workers nor create teams. Instead, it motivated workers by providing them the previously unavailable opportunity to become a manager.     

Perceptions of effective leadership among Central Eurasian managers: A cultural convergence–divergence examination within a globalization context

The purpose of this study is to report on a research project that examined the responses of leaders from eight Central Eurasian countries concerning their perceptions of work-related values of effective organizational leaders. The respondents were participants in a two-week leadership development program held in Istanbul, Turkey. Content analysis of interview protocols and SYMLOG assessment methodology were used to explore two inter-related research questions regarding effective leadership concepts. The results yielded a profile of effective leadership for those interested in working in cross-national settings. The results also provided a cursory indication of the extent of trends in the processes of globalization and cultural convergence of Central Eurasian values, norms, and practices toward those of Western cultures regarding how effective leadership in organizations ought to be executed.     

Labour Surplus,Worker Rights and Productivity Growth: A Comparative Analysis of Asia and Latin America

How do labour market conditions, trade union rights and job security regulations affect labour productivity? This paper is the first attempt at an empirical analysis of this important question for a large sample of Asian and Latin American countries. We provide new estimates of the rates of surplus labour in 20 countries, as well as detailed tables summarizing their key regulations governing certain aspects of union activity and layoffs. Then we exploit these and other data in an econometric analysis of intercountry differentials in the growth rate of labour productivity in manufacturing during the 1980s. Among the principal results, we find that, while all else remains the same, productivity growth rates are significantly higher in countries with relatively larger labour surpluses, the effects of excess of labour on productivity growth are affected by the strength or weakness of union rights. We also find that the impacts of union rights and job security protections on productivity trends may be either positive or negative, depending on the labour market situation.     

Regional strategy and the demise of globalization

The controversy over globalization and its implications for strategies of multinational enterprises (MNEs) would disappear if authors would look at the evidence. Both aggregate data and firm-level data indicate that globalization is a myth however defined. Instead, the world's business is mainly conducted within the triad economic blocks of the European Union (EU), North America, and Asia. MNEs perform internationally, but the vast majority has an average of 80% of their sales within their home region of the triad. Professors of international business need to refocus from global strategy towards new thinking about triad strategy.     

The coming globalization of health care

In Phase One of the global economy, international marketing of goods was paramount. In Phase Two, the marketing of services is becoming an increasingly important force. And one of the industries best positioned to profit from the globalization of services is U.S. health care. For years, a small number of providers with international reputations has catered to foreign patients. But the competition for this potentially lucrative market is on the verge of exploding. It's been estimated that the number of foreign patients visiting the U.S. for health care will quadruple in the next few years. How is this new global phenomenon unfolding, who are the potential players in the market, and what obstacles and opportunities exist? Is it so preposterous to imagine Egyptians undergoing heart bypasses in Boston? The fact is, it's already starting to happen.     

Competition among foreign and Chinese agro-food enterprises in the process of globalization

Based on various case studies, this article examines the interaction of foreign investors and local operators in globalization in the agro-food market in China. The study found that to break the limitation of the high-end market and to position mainly in the middle market were critical for international brands to succeed. Asian companies approached the China market as an insider because of cultural proximity. The latter, plus focused management and effective technology, made their operations profitable easily, but also exposed them to the risk of overexpansion. Quality products at affordable prices were the catch-up approach adopted by local players. At the early stage of globalization, winning tactics for local enterprises include imitating and participating in foreign investments, and exploring the markets where foreign investors have no advantages. In the China market, foreign and domestic enterprises were competing, complementing, and collaborating with each other to allow each to achieve its goals. The study analyzes the sophisticated relationships between domestic and foreign players, and provides inputs to strategic discussions of foreign investors and Chinese local enterprises about how to improve their competitive positions.