Este artículo tiene como objetivo presentar una síntesis elaborada sobre las premisas que hacían de Sumantra Ghoshal una fuerza para el bien, tanto a través de sus más recientes desarrollos intelectuales como a través de su influencia en la práctica de la dirección. Para ello describe las definicones y hace explícitas las premisas e ideas en proceso en el momento del fallecimiento de Ghoshtal, en marzo del 2004. Plantea posibles desafíos a encarar en investigaciones futuras para seguir desarrollando el potencial de las teorías y la práctica de la dirección de modo que sean una fuerza para el bien.

We revisit the self-interest view on human behavior and its critique, and propose a framework, called self-love view, that integrates self-interest and unselfishness and provides different explanations of the relationship between preferences, behavior, and outcomes. Proponents of self-interest as the only valid behavioral assumption argue for simplified assumptions and clear models in order to propose precise prescriptions, while critics to this self-interest view argue for realistic assumptions and rich descriptions in order to reach better explanations. This debate inhibits theoretical development because it faces the problem of incommensurability of standards for choosing among paradigms. We propose the concept of self-love, or the inclination of human beings to strive for their own good and perfection, to remove the assumption self-interest vs. unselfishness. Self-love distinguishes between the object and the subject of motivation and therefore creates a bi-dimensional motivational space. This framework replaces the uni- dimensional continuum self-interest - unselfishness, specifies eight interrelated motives, and provides different expected relationships between preferences, behavior, and outcomes. We show that a better understanding of motivational assumptions, their embodiment in theories, and their influence on the very behaviors these theories assume provides managers and policymakers more alternatives for the designing of motivational contexts than in the case of assuming either self-interest or a permanent conflict between self-interest and unselfishness.

We believe that structural changes in a knowledge economy mean that managers will increasingly seek to make cooperative relationships the norm in their organizations. However, they are hampered in their attempts to do so by organization designs that institutionalize the dominant assumption about human intentionality, which sees people and their relationships as motivated by self-interest. We argue that the self-interest assumption runs counter to the types of cooperation required to leverage fully the potential of the knowledge-based firm since it provides for relatively restricted forms of social exchange. We propose that the assumption of excellence, as set out by Aristotle in Nicomachean Ethics, provides a valuable alternative. We discuss four tenets of this assumption and find that they suggest important differences in organisation design that are more likely to encourage and institutionalize cooperative relationships. We explore these differences, considering their implications for practice and research.

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¿Es la educación la gran esperanza para hacer de la Argentina una nación con mejores personas, más adaptada a la sociedad del conocimiento, integrada al mundo con exportaciones de mayor valor agregado y, sobre todo, más equitativa? Por ahora esta es apenas la ilusión tranquilizadora con la que cierran los simposios, los debates políticos o las sobremesas de fin de semana. Ello ocurre porque, justo al revés de lo que debería ser, las escuelas a las que asisten los chicos más pobres son, en promedio, las peores. El desafío de la equidad educativa presenta un diagnóstico exhaustivo de esta realidad y formula propuestas concretas para lograr una mayor equidad educativa empezando por los más chicos y por los más pobres, centradas en el lema escuelas ricas para los pobres.

Hemos redescubierto que en casi todos los países, sean o no federales, cada vez son mayores los reclamos autonómicos locales; que estas tensiones expresan una vocación de profundizar la democracia; que la lucha entre centros y regiones por la renta fiscal es cada vez más intensa; que la irresponsabilidad fiscal de los gobiernos locales tal vez no tenga solución fuera del marco de un nuevo reparto de soberanías; que brindar servicios públicos localmente puede facilitar su calidad, su eficiencia y su equidad. La tarea de formar a nuevos dirigentes públicos y privados capaces de dar cuenta de estas transformaciones y de adecuarse a ellas se enfrenta, en América Latina, a la carencia de herramientas concretas. La bibliografía sobre casos de buenas prácticas de gobiernos subnacionales en nuestra región es aún muy escasa. Este libro se propone iniciar el camino hacia la sustitución de ese vacío. A lo largo de su lectura, se encontrarán evidencias de las alternativas que surgen a la hora de evaluar políticas públicas regionales, provinciales y urbanas, pero sobre todo de su amplio potencial para mejorar las vidas concretas de los ciudadanos.

Lack of access to basic public services, such as natural gas to heat one’s home and cook, is a major problem for the poor in Argentina and other developing countries. Until recently, companies and local governments in Argentina had no way to collaborate effectively to solve the problem of underprovision of public services to poor neighborhoods. Following their privatization or concessioning during the 1990s, local utility companies found themselves facing mounting pressures from government and civil society to serve the poor, most of whom- even if they had access to these basic services- could not afford them. Despite several failed attempts to expand service to the low-income market, Gas Natural BAN, a recently privatized natural gas utility in Buenos Aires, finally succeeded with a model that addressed the social and economic constraints that had rendered past projects unprofitable. In this paper, we present Gas Natural BAN as a unique example of private- public collaboration that has brought natural gas service to a previously unserved, low income community.

Suiza es actualmente la democracia más antigua que existe y cuenta con uno de los primeros sistemas federales del mundo. Parecería ser que esta forma de gobierno era la única capaz de armonizar las disparidades culturales, étnicas y religiosas que existían y existen en dicho país. Y lo que para muchos habría sido una desventaja, fue tomado como un desafío y transformado en una fortaleza. Entre las características institucionales más sobresalientes de este federalismo encontramos que existe una gran descentralización tanto del gasto como de la recaudación, junto con una amplia discrecionalidad de los niveles inferiores de gobierno. También es sorprendente el poder de decisión que tiene la población sobre las medidas que adopta el gobierno, ya sea a través de la democracia directa, practicada en muchas municipalidades, o a través de los referendums. Esto último ha contribuido a evitar una gran expansión del sector público, como ocurrió en otros países industrializados. Cabe destacar que la correspondencia fiscal es cercana a la unidad, lo cual, en un sistema tan descentralizado, implica que el ciudadano-votante- consumidor sabe qué es lo que está financiando con sus impuestos. Paga el impuesto a aquel nivel de gobierno que le provee el servicio, y las transferencias intergubernamentales tienen un papel secundario. El objetivo principal de éstas no es transferir recursos a otros niveles de gobierno, sino reducir la brecha entre las regiones con mayores ingresos y aquellas más pobres, es decir, un objetivo igualador. A pesar de la admiración que inevitablemente generan algunas de sus características, este sistema de federalismo fiscal no está exento de inconvenientes, muchos de los cuales son recurrentes en este tipo de gobiernos. Este trabajo analiza ambos aspectos del sistema suizo de federalismo fiscal, deteniéndose especialmente en los problemas que han surgido en las últimas décadas y también en las propuestas que han aparecido para revertir la situación.

Ubicado en el segundo cordón del conurbano bonaerense y en un entorno socialmente complejo debido a sus altas tasas de Necesidades Básicas Insatisfechas (NBI), el partido de Moreno fue testigo de la experiencia de una organización formada por cuarenta ONGs e impulsada desde la Fundación Pro Vivienda Social y la Mutual El Colmenar. Dicha organización, mediante la coordinación y la cooperación entre diferentes actores (ONG, sector privado y sector público) logró instaurar en la comunidad un modelo de gestión social que efectivizó el acceso a un servicio público. Este modelo permitió llevar adelante un proyecto mediante el cual alrededor de 4.000 familias de la zona pudieron llegar a tener acceso a una red de gas natural, resolviendo un importante problema de infraestructura que parecía ya estructural y prácticamente sin solución alguna.

El sistema de transporte urbano no sólo facilita la circulación de las personas, sino que la infraestructura asociada al mismo es esencial para el crecimiento de un área, ya que puede inducir la expansión de la ciudad y determinar el movimiento de las personas dentro de la misma. Antes de la década del sesenta, muchos de los problemas de la ciudad de Curitiba giraban alrededor de la incomodidad de la concentración céntrica del comercio y de la prestación de los servicios públicos. Como el área central de la ciudad era un caos vehicular debido a que no existía una política clara que rigiera tanto el sistema de transporte como el uso del suelo, se llevó a cabo un planeamiento urbano para ordenar y generar un crecimiento lineal de la zona, principalmente a través de cinco largos ejes estructurales, tangenciales al centro, y de circulación rápida. En este estudio de caso se destaca que el modelo de Curitiba es considerado un proceso paradigmático de urbanización, ya que pudo solucionar problemas relacionados con el movimiento de las personas y, sobre todo, porque lo hizo mejorando la calidad de vida de las mismas mediante soluciones originales y eficaces. Esto fue posible porque el objetivo de ese modelo fue la integración social y geográfica de los habitantes, algo que se logró, principalmente, a través de la instalación de la tarifa única de viaje. Otro acierto del modelo de gestión fue la creación de un ente de regulación autónomo, que contrarrestó la clásica separación entre lo técnico y lo político y que permitió que la planificación urbanística no se viera sometida a avatares gubernamentales o electorales.

La generación de capital social y la cooperación en ambientes de alta desconfianza suele ser una tarea difícil llevar a cabo. Sin embargo, sumido en los problemas de un distrito abnegado del segundo cordón del conurbano bonaerense y en un entorno socialmente complejo, encontramos en Moreno la experiencia de “Comunidad Organizada”, organización formada por alrededor de 40 ONG de base de cinco Barrios del distrito e impulsada desde la Fundación Pro Vivienda Social y la Mutual el Colmenar. Dicha organización, mediante la coordinación y la cooperación entre diferentes actores (ONG, sector privado y sector público) logró instaurar en la comunidad un modelo de gestión social logró que 4.000 familias de la zona pudieron llegar a tener acceso a una red de gas natural, solucionando un importante problema de infraestructura que parecía ya estructural y prácticamente sin solución alguna.

The structure of these closing remarks is as follows. In the first part I present a selection of some of the propositions presented and discussed during the XIII Plenary Session. They can help the reader to perceive the speech universe of this very important session. In the second part I suggest that an integral development agenda is needed to give proper answers to the immense challenges posed by this new phase of globalization, plenty of hopes, but also plenty of threats.

 The subject of this XIII plenary session is the relations between different peoples and nations, the developed and the developing, the emerging and the poor, from the point of view of the virtues of charity and justice. We will ask ourselves whether these relations, in the light of the social Magisterium of the Church, can become more just, fairer, and more peaceful, and what the route should be to achieve such ends. In other words, is a partnership for charity and justice possible in the globalized world? In order to help us to fulfill these goals the purpose of this Introduction is twofold. The first part, that is backward looking, presents a very brief synthesis of the previous work of the Academy on globalization. The second part looks, instead, to the present and to the future, as it is focused on the identification of the new signs of the times that we should cautiously read in order to assess if they contribute or impede an improved effectiveness of charity and justice in the relations among peoples and nations at the beginning of this new millennium.

This paper revisits the assumptions of the dominant theory of cooperation –i.e. game theory- in order to build an alternative paradigm of cooperation based on excellence. The relationship between self-interest and others’ interests is at the core of cooperation, broadly defined as working together for a common purpose. This relationship has been mainly approached from a conflicting perspective, which is now commonly known as social dilemma –i.e. a situation in which individual rationality, which is based on self-interest, leads to collective irrationality. This paper argues that assuming self-interest as the only motive for cooperation overlooks the human potential for fostering cooperation based on a more comprehensive view of human motives. Based on the assumption of self-interest, the mainstream approach to cooperation, game theory, has focused on different strategies and structures for fostering cooperation, without paying attention to the motivational side. To overcome this limitation, this paper proposes the concept of self-love, or the inclination of human beings to strive for their own good and perfection, as an alternative lens to that of self-interest for uncovering the richness and potential of human motivation and its impact on cooperation. This paper shows that self-interest underlies only three out of eight possible generic motives for cooperation. The main thrust is that cooperation is rooted in human intentionality and conditioned, not determined, by organizational practices and contexts. The self-love view allows considering both excellence and duty as alternative bases for cooperation. These alternative motives consider both self-interest and others´ interests as ends simultaneously, which implies that they are not exchangeable commodities subject to end-means logic but qualitatively different goods subject to part-whole and practical rationality logic. This paper shows the potential richness of this approach comparing a self-interest view with an excellence view of cooperation based on cases from emerging and developed economies at both the intra-organisational and inter-organisational levels. Acknowledging that the way researchers see reality (assumptions) drives what they do (theories) and prescribe (implications for practice), this paper ends with theoretical and practical implications at the business and societal levels.

This paper revisits “the great trade-off illusion” –that is, the belief that firms must sacrifice financial performance to meet societal obligations- from the standpoint of its assumptions in order to build alternative paradigms for a sustainable alignment between personal interests, firm goals, and societal needs. The basic argument is that making explicit the assumptions on human nature, human relationships, firm goals and societal needs of the dominant paradigm is the starting point for building models and making prescriptions for a sustainable alignment. After making explicit the assumptions of the dominant trade-off illusion dichotomy and their impact on practices and outcomes, this paper analyzes an alternative paradigm called “instrumental-alignment”. This paper concludes that neither of these paradigms allows a sustainable alignment given their restrictive assumptions. In particular, the latter paradigm is based on the assumptions of enlightened self-interest, profit maximization, societal material well-being, and a conflict between individual and collective rationalities, which create inherent trade-off logic that, make alignments not sustainable: they are just instrumental to personal, firm, or societal ends. In order to overcome the limitations of the instrumental-alignment logic, this paper proposes an “intrinsic alignment” paradigm based on the assumptions of excellence and practical or part-whole rationality. In this paradigm, both self-interest and others´ interests are taken into account as ends and therefore are not assumed to be object of trade-offs. Therefore, this paradigm allows a sustainable alignment between personal interests, firm goals, and societal needs because the alignment of interests has value in itself. This paper ends with implications for academics, managers, and policy makers at the level of assumptions, practices, and outcomes.

This paper is about the assumptions and the managerial and societal implications of two alternative approaches to cooperation. The relationship between self-interest and others’ interests is at the core of cooperation, broadly defined as working together for a common purpose. This relationship has been mainly approached from a conflicting perspective, which is now commonly known as social dilemma –i.e. a situation in which individual rationality, which is based on self-interest, leads to collective irrationality. This paper argues that assuming self-interest as the only motive for cooperation overlooks the human potential for fostering cooperation based on a more comprehensive view of human motives. Based on the assumption of self-interest, the mainstream approach to cooperation, game theory, has focused on different strategies and structures for fostering cooperation, without paying attention to the motivational side. To overcome this limitation, this paper proposes the concept of self-love, or the inclination of human beings to strive for their own good and perfection, as an alternative lens to that of self-interest for uncovering the richness and potential of human motivation and its impact on cooperation. This paper shows that self-interest underlies only three out of eight possible generic motives for cooperation. The main thrust is that cooperation is rooted in human intentionality and conditioned, not determined, by organizational practices and contexts. The self-love view allows considering both excellence and duty as alternative bases for cooperation. These alternative motives consider both self-interest and others´ interests as ends simultaneously, which implies that they are not exchangeable commodities subject to end-means logic but qualitatively different goods subject to part-whole and practical rationality logic. This paper shows the potential richness of this approach comparing a self-interest view with an excellence view of cooperation based on cases from emerging and developed economies at both the intra-organisational and inter-organizational levels. Acknowledging that the way researchers see reality (assumptions) drives what they do (theories) and prescribe (implications for practice), this paper ends with theoretical and practical implications at the business and societal levels.

How personal interests, firm goals, and societal needs can be aligned? This paper critically examines the underlying assumptions of the dominant “trade-off illusion” paradigm and proposes a new paradigm for the alignment between personal interests, firm goals, and societal needs. The first paradigm, which we call the “trade-off alignment” paradigm, assumes that the ultimate motivation of individuals is self-interest and their ultimate end is utility maximization. The interests of other people are considered as means for a personal end and, therefore, any supposed motive seeking the wellbeing of others can be reduced to self-interest, giving rise to what is called enlightened self-interest. As for the nature and goals of the firm, this paradigm assumes that firms are either a nexus of individual contracts or instruments for reducing opportunism, and their goal is profit maximisation. Finally, this paradigm assumes that the ultimate ends of societies are economic growth and material well being. Within this paradigm, the alignment between personal utility maximization and firm´s profit maximization is done using extrinsic incentives such as bonus, status or any kind of external reward. As for the alignment between the profit maximization goal of the firm and societal economic growth and well-being, that alignment is done by the market mechanism through the price system. The second paradigm, which we call “intrinsic-alignment”, assumes that the ultimate motivation of individuals is self-love or the inclination of human beings to strive for their own good and perfection. This paradigm creates the context for considering both self-interest and others´s interests as ends because it assumes that people have the potential for excellence-based behavior. Firms are viewed as cooperative systems for the creation and distribution of value and the ultimate ends of society are human and socio-economic development. Within this paradigm, the alignment between personal interests and firm´s goals is done by managers using extrinsic, intrinsic, and transitive incentives. As for the alignment between the goals of the firm and society, this is done through both the market mechanisms and managerial action based on the contribution of firms to society. In this paper, we argue that this latter paradigm is a better lens to understand the connection between personal interests, firm goals, and societal needs because it acknowledges both the instrumental and intrinsic dimensions of these phenomena. As from the development and comparison of both paradigms and based on a series of case studies, this paper concludes with a set of criteria for discriminating between firms more inclined towards a “trade-off alignment” paradigm and firms more oriented towards an intrinsic paradigm. These criteria contribute not only to managerial self-evaluation but also to future research on the implications of strategies based on two different set of assumptions about the nature and goals of the firm and society.

This paper reviews the theoretical arguments and empirical evidence in Latin America (LA) related to the impact of clusters on development and growth at the firm, regional, and national levels. Reviewing more than 60 empirical studies and a total of 146 clusters in LA, it concludes that clusters contribute to both development and growth at the firm and regional level, but they are a potential source of socio-economic divides. Exclusive focus on economic growth, potential high-tech clusters, and clusters of transnational corporations without consider governance mechanisms, LA specificities, and coordination between local and national policies will both hinder growth in the long run and increase existing disparities in LA countries.

A growing number of scholars are turning their attention to the role of assumptions underlying our theories. Assumptions, or the lenses through which we see the reality, drive our theories and organizational designs, which in turn drive the results we get at the personal, organizational, and societal levels. This professional development workshop (PDW) is intended for scholars interested in the linkages between assumptions, theories, managerial practices, and the public good to provide an interactive forum to address those linkages. In particular, leading scholars will discuss (1) the linkages between assumptions and theory building, (2) the linkages between assumptions and managerial practice, (3) the linkages between assumptions and the public good, and (4) the importance of making our assumptions as explicit as possible in order to subject them to public scrutiny and understand their impact on theory building, managerial practice and the public good.

Basic infrastructure of public services in socially complex and devoid areas has become one of the majors problems for social inequality in South American Countries, the Argentine public services infrastructure suffers a collapse in this system in these areas. Facing a discouraging perspective, community involvement emerged as an innovative idea, a proposal that involves all the social actors in a process of social capital creation. Due the scarcity of theory on the subject, we present a study case applied in a Buenos Aires’ devoid area that allowed to establish a social management model that made public access to the service effective. This model allowed the realization of a process whereby 4.000 families were able to gain access to natural gas supply, solving an infrastructure problem that seemed to be structural and without any possible solution. Furthermore, an important consequence of this experience is that the provider, Gas Natural Ban Co. discovered that a new way for managing the project needed to be developed. This case corroborates some of the proposals that emerge from the theory and issues for further investigation.

This presentation reviews the theoretical arguments and empirical evidence in Latin America (LA), Argentina, and Germany related to the impact of entrepreneurship and clusters on development and growth at the firm, regional, and national levels. LA countries face right now the alternative to adopt an entrepreneurial-cluster led strategy to foster development at the firm, regional and national levels. In effect, after the state-led import substitution strategy between 1950 and 1970 and the macro-economic liberalisation reforms and market-led strategies between 1980 and 2000, local development policies based on private-public partnership with emphasis on entrepreneurship as well as micro-economic rather than macro-economic reforms appear as the most appealing strategies. Using a sample of 21 empirical studies and a total of 146 clusters in LA, the total population of clusters in Argentina and the total population of clusters in Germany, this study concludes that entrepreneurship and clusters contribute to both development and growth, but they are a potential source of socio-economic divides, especially in Latin-American countries. Also, comparing LA with Germany, this study concludes that necessity entrepreneurship and emergent clusters are two features of LA countries that should not overlooked when proposing development policies based on the creation and agglomeration of firms in LA countries. Exclusive focus on economic growth and clusters of transnational corporations without consider governance mechanisms, LA specificities, and coordination between local and national policies will both hinder growth in the long run and increase existing disparities in LA countries.

El trabajo analiza la evolución de los retornos a la educación en Argentina durante el período 1974 – 2002 y cómo éstos se vieron afectados por el desempleo. Al evaluar los retornos a la educación no se debería considerar como beneficio simplemente el diferencial de ingresos sino también la mayor probabilidad de tener un trabajo, ya que los retornos son mayores si se los corrige teniendo en cuenta el desempleo por edad y por nivel educativo. Este análisis es particularmente relevante en Argentina, que pasó de tener tasas de desempleo cercanas a 5% durante la década del ochenta a tener tasas de desempleo de dos dígitos a fines del siglo XX y comienzos del siglo XXI.