We develop a theoretical model to investigate how backward societies can improve their upgrading capabilities by transforming existing industrial agglomerations into dynamic clusters. Our main assumptions are two: first, emerging market economies are not uniform but characterized by variety of subnational regional and sectoral organizational and institutional configurations; second, the basic building block and unit of explanation in social sciences is personal action guided by some intention, which is heterogeneous across different actors. Based on these assumptions and the literature on human motives and social networks, we develop a purposeful approach to clusters and upgrading. We argue that governments can develop institutions with private actors that facilitate new types of relationships and improve the access local firms have to a variety of knowledge resources, a key ingre¬dient to upgrading. We illustrate this argument revisiting the literature on clusters and upgrading in Latin America and using two case studies in Argentina, a country better known for its volatility and lack of optimal social capital and institutions. We conclude with avenues for further research.

In 1971 longer school days were decreed for around half of the primary schools in the city of Buenos Aires, Argentina. The policy covered all the city neighborhoods, and the schools were chosen roughly at random. An unusual opportunity for a natural experiment was thus created. In 2006 and 2007, we interviewed a sample of 380 alumni of the 1971 cohort, thirty years after their 1977 graduation from schools with and without longer days. We tried to identify how the length of their school days affected their education, occupation, and income. The next section provides a fuller description of the aforementioned policy. The subsequent section, devoted to a review of the literature, is longer than usual. We thought it was important to review and to compare both the older literature on the relationship between the length of school schedules and academic results and the newer literature devoted to renewing the educational production function approach using random or natural experiments. Cross-references between different literatures are rare, but from our point of view, they can promote a better understanding of the issues dealt with here. The third section presents the methodology and the characteristics of the database, and the fourth section shows the main results of the experiment. We then conclude with a discussion of the results and some of their policy implications.

Every generation of managers experiments with new organizational forms—new business models and the organizational structures and management processes required to support them. Much of the current experimentation with business and organizational models is occurring in knowledge-intensive industries such as biotechnology, computers, telecommunications, and medical and scientific equipment. The principal business model emerging in these and similar industries can be called market exploration. Market exploration is a firm’s pursuit of opportunities created by intersecting technologies and markets. The market exploration process is complex, involving technology development, product development, and commercialization in collaboration with customers and other firms, as well as involving the orderly development of markets that have large but unknown potential. Firms that want to be effective at market exploration must organize specifically for innovation—they must be able to build and manage an I-form organization. This article shows how many firms are moving towards and improving the I-form organization and discusses its purpose, key features, and benefits. http://cmr.berkeley.edu/search/articleDetail.aspx?article=5524

Inter-organizational models are both a well-documented phenomena and a well-established domain in management and business ethics, which rest on collaborative capabilities. However, mainstream theories and practices aimed at developing these capabilities are based on a narrow set of assumptions and ethical principles about human nature and relationships, which constrain the very development of capabilities sought by them. This paper presents an Aristotelian approach to collaborative entrepreneurship within and across communities of firms operating in complementary markets. Adopting a scholarship of integration approach and the evaluation of six studies of communities of organizations, we contribute an inter-organizational network model based on the assumptions about human motives and choice offered by Aristotle. We argue that the sustainability of inter-organizational communities depends on how rich is the set of assumptions about human nature upon which they are based. In order to develop and sustain collaborative capabilities in inter-organizational communities, a set of assumptions that takes both self-regarding and other’ regarding preferences as ends is required in order to avoid any kind of instrumentalization of collaboration, which is an end in itself. Implications for theory and practice are discussed. http://www.springerlink.com/content/001j3l7687738078/

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 propose a model that links seven different conceptions of entrepreneurship and maps them in relation to eight associated disciplines and theories, specifying their corresponding units and levels of analysis and stage in the entrepreneurial process. Entrepreneurship scholars are attempting to either carve out a distinctive domain for the field or build a distinctive theory of entrepreneurship. However, an obstacle for understanding entrepreneurship is the lack of integration of the assumptions implicit in different conceptualisations of entrepreneurship. We contribute a scholarship of integration approach for understanding the phenomena underlying these conceptualisations and linking entrepreneurship domain, theory, method, and policymaking.

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.

This paper is about the impact of clusters on entrepreneurship at the regional level. Defining entrepreneurship as the creation of new organizations and clusters as a geographically proximate group of interconnected firms and associated institutions in related industries, this paper aims to answer three research questions: first, do clusters matter to entrepreneurship at the regional level? Second, if clusters are associated with different levels of entrepreneurship, what explains those differences? Third, what do the answers to the previous questions imply for academics and policy makers? To answer these questions, this paper distinguishes between clusters and industrial agglomerations and advances a theoretical model and empirical research to explain the impact of clusters on entrepreneurship at the regional level. This paper uses the 97 German planning regions as units of analysis to test the hypotheses. Using hypotheses testing and OLS fixed-effects model, this paper finds that clusters do have an impact on entrepreneurship at the regional level, but industrial agglomerations do not. Implications for academics and policy makers and suggestions for future research are given in the concluding section.

Se presentan en el libro los resultados de una investigación sobre el retraso relativo de la Argentina, sus causas y las lecciones que esta experiencia deja para el futuro. Es sabido que la economía argentina se rezagó respecto de buena parte del mundo después de haber alcanzado y sostenido niveles de ingreso per cápita cercanos a los de las economías más avanzadas y muy superiores a los del mundo en desarrollo. La investigación no se centró en el impresionante crecimiento de la Argentina antes de su centenario, sino en el desempeño posterior, cuando el país sostuvo primero – pero luego perdió - las notables posiciones relativas alcanzadas anteriormente. Todavía se está a tiempo de reparar tantos deterioros de los factores que permitieron a la Argentina dejar de retrasarse. Pero si no se actúa rápidamente se entrará en zonas de retraso similares a las vistas en el pasado. Si faltaran otras, la sola razón de la importancia y urgencia de esta reparación es que, pese a haber dejado de retrasarse respecto del mundo en los últimos veinte años, la Argentina no ha logrado mejorar sustancial y establemente la situación de los más pobres ni mejorar la distribución del ingreso y construir una sociedad más integrada.

La creatividad se devela en la confluencia de miradas y paradigmas diversos, con líderes creativos que funcionan como artistas de negocios, generadores de conversaciones y espacios que fomentan la creatividad de su gente y equipos de trabajo. Surge y brota vertiginosamente, una nueva manera de hacer negocios y de crear, no solo para el futuro sino también para el presente. Un tiempo que convoca formas de liderazgo para cocrear nuevos sistemas económicos, transformando la economía tradicional en economía creativa, producto de la interacción de miradas intrépidas e insolentes, despertando la unicidad creativa de cada individuo y convocando la comunión creativa de todos los individuos. La realidad actual sugiere un nuevo orden apasionante y novedoso, descarrillado y sorprendente. Implica coraje, pasión, y desenfreno hacia lo desconocido. Sugiere pedir perdón antes que permiso. Pero por sobre todas las cosas, esta nueva-vieja realidad, despierta un inusitado y desesperado apetito por re-energizarnos, renovando formas y sistemas obsoletos que generan aburrimiento y cansancio. En estas páginas, el autor ofrece con agudeza, simpleza y valentía herramientas simples para reconvertirnos en lo que ya somos, seres creativos que desean coconstruir una nueva manera de hacer negocios. Sin duda, el desafío de los próximos años.

El presente libro recoge catorce casos de éxito de empresas latinoamericanas y españolas. El punto en común de todas ellas es que han sabido aprovechar los retos y las oportunidades que ofrece la presente ola de globalización para internacionalizar su actividad y establecer bases sólidas de crecimiento. Cada uno de ellos se ha diseñado de forma que, a través de su lectura, se desprendan las principales enseñanzas que la gestión y las características de la empresa en cuestión ofrecen. Para alcanzar este objetivo, todos los casos considerados contienen los siguientes elementos: análisis de la historia de la empresa, estudio del desempeño en el sector en cuestión, estrategia seguida y análisis detallado de las distintas líneas de negocio. Entre estos casos cabe destacar una ficha, que hace de introducción a cada caso, un epígrafe final dedicado a recoger las principales enseñanzas y una serie de gráficos y tablas. El deseo que ha motivado a los autores para realizar este trabajo es que cunda el ejemplo que ofrecen las empresas analizadas y en el futuro sean cada vez más las que decidan desempeñar su actividad en el escenario global.

Esta disciplina es imprescindible a la hora de estudiar los ciclos económicos y políticos de nuestro país. La alta inflación, las devaluaciones y las políticas de estabilización son moneda corriente en los mercados emergentes, y son muchos los estudiantes e investigadores de disciplinas tan distintas como la historia, la sociología, la ciencia política o el derecho que sienten la necesidad de contar con herramientas que le permitan comprender mejor los escenarios que se le plantean. Sin tener la pretensión de abarcar todos los aspectos de la macroeconomía, el lector encontrará aquellas variables útiles a la hora de interpretar los desafíos actuales de la sociedad y de la economía.

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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.

 A growing body of literature has been concerned with the behavior and performance of business groups—that is conglomerates of legally independent companies operating in multiple markets but bound by financial and informal ties (Khanna and Rivkin 2001)—in the wake of ‘market liberalization policy reforms’ (e.g. Ghemawat and Kennedy 1999; Khanna and Palepu 1999, 2000a; Toulan 2002; Carrera et al. 2003). Such reforms—also known as competitive shocks (Ghemawat and Kennedy 1999: 847)—occurred across many emerging economies around the world as of the late 1980s, and most especially across Latin American countries, such as Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, and Peru (Sachs and Warner 1995; Toulan 2002: 552); they involved both ‘external’ reforms, such as liberalization of foreign trade and Foreign Domestic Investments, as well as ‘internal’ reforms, such as liberalization of financial, inputs, and commodities markets (Ghemawat and Kennedy 1999). As these reforms caused shifts inmicroeconomic conditions, they enhanced competition among firms (Ghemawat and Kennedy 1999), and as a result, both the performance and behavior of business groups have been observed to change (e.g. Khanna and Palepu 1999; Carrera et al. 2003).

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.

En este capítulo se realiza un análisis detallado de los problemas serios a los que se enfrenta una empresa cuando decide cuestionarse seriamente cómo y cuánto comunicar de sus acciones de responsabilidad social. En un entorno en donde la sociedad se vuelve cada vez más exigente a la hora de analizar acciones de responsabilidad social, aumenta la necesidad de que las empresas comiencen a manejar sus estrategias de comunicación de una manera mucho más responsable y comprometida. A lo largo de este estudio surgen planteamientos contrapuestos, que corresponden al sentido que se les podría atribuir a tales acciones: lo que corresponde vs. lo que conviene, convicción vs. utilitarismo, etc. Para llevar a cabo esta tarea consideramos oportuno poner al lector en el lugar de decisión sobre esta problemática a través de un caso de estudio, conociendo así la historia, el contexto y las preocupaciones que se plantean en una empresa concreta. Utilizamos un caso en particular: El Banco Santander Chile, en donde los directivos de esta exitosa empresa, después de diez años de desarrollo de una interesante labor social, se formularon una pregunta clave: ¿Hacer o parecer? A continuación del mismo, desarrollaremos los aspectos que observamos como relevantes y generalizables para planear una adecuada comunicación de las acciones de RSE.

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.

Esta ponencia sintetiza un meta-estudio sobre la evidencia empírica y los argumentos teoricos relacionados con el impacto de los clusters en la creación de empresas y el desarrollo regional en Latino América. Los argumentos teóricos y evidencia a nivel mundial están resumidos en dos artículos sobre la relación de referencia (Rocha, 2004; Rocha and Sternberg, 2005), derivados de una tesis doctoral premiada por la Unión Europea, Comite de las Regiones. La evidencia empírica en Latin America fue obtenida de tanto de experiencias de organismos internacionales, como de practitioners y académicos que escribieron en diversos estudios. Usando 44 estudios seleccionados de un total de 124 estudios sobre clusters, esta ponencia concluye que los clusters contribuyen tanto a la creación de empresas como al desarrollo empresario, regional y nacional. Sin embargo, los clusters Latino Americanos son también una fuente potencial de mayores disparidades socio-económicas debido a su débil configuración inter-organizacional comparada con clusters de países más desarrollados. Un foco exclusivo en el crecimiento económico y en clusters basados en empresas multinacionales sin considerar los mecanismos de gobiernos, las especificidades de Latino América y la coordinación entre políticas locales y nacionales puede empeorar el desarrollo económico en el largo plazo y aumentar las actuales disparidades existentes en Latino América.

We structure the paper as follows. First, we define the key concepts of our model. Then, we briefly review the literature on clusters, entrepreneurship, upgrading and regional development in Latin America and Argentina. After this review, we illustrate our argument via two case studies in Argentina, a country better known for its volatility and lack of optimal social capital and institutions. Implicit in these studies is a revelation of the variety of clusters by industry and region. Our analysis of the autoparts sector in the Province of Buenos Aires shows how knowledge diffusion and learning appears largely due to certain types of customer-supplier relationships. Our analysis of the wine sector in the provinces of Mendoza and San Juan then reveals how different paths of upgrading appear rooted in distinct public policies. Both cases reflect Ghoshal’s optimism for practices and policies that can transform learning relationships between organizations. Acknowledging that we are only at the outset of developing more rigorous and relevant theories based on purposeful explanations, we conclude with challenges for future research on development and upgrading in firms operating in emerging regions and nations.

The focus of this paper is on the cooperation between Danish affiliates in Argentina and their local partners. In particular, this paper focuses on the linkages and the transfer of resources between these firms and the impact of their interaction on the local partners. The overall research questions guiding this paper are: (1) Why do Danish invest in Argentina?; (2) How do the affiliates cooperate with local firms?; and (3) What is the impact of the cooperation on the partner firms?

This paper presents three proposals for aligning personal motives, firm’s goals and societal needs. A growing number of scholars are turning their attention to the impact of assumptions on management theory and practice. The search for sustainable ways for aligning economic and social goals at different levels of analysis has been and it continues to be a key task of scholars from different disciplines and, therefore, management studies. This paper aims at contributing to the effort of these scholars by revisiting the dominant assumption underlying the relationship between economic and social goals and proposing alternative models for a sustainable alignment between people, firms and society in management studies and practices. In order to achieve this aim, this paper first revisits the assumptions and impact on practice of the dominant paradigm explaining the relationship between firm performance and societal needs. This paradigm, coined “the great trade-off illusion” –that is, the belief that firms must sacrifice financial performance to meet societal obligations-, assumes a permanent trade-off between economic and social performance and, therefore, is unable to explain and prescribe sustainable ways for aligning personal motives, firm’s goals and societal needs. After making explicit the assumptions and impact of the trade-off illusion dichotomy, this paper analyzes and build an alternative paradigm called “instrumental-alignment”. As in the case of the trade-off dichotomy, the instrumental alignment proposal does not allow for a sustainable alignment given its restrictive assumptions. In particular, this latter proposal 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-offs that create unsustainable alignments. In order to overcome the limitations of the trade-off and instrumental-alignment models, this paper proposes a third model, named “intrinsic alignment”. This model is based on the assumptions of excellence and practical or part-whole rationality, in which 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 model allows a sustainable alignment between personal motives, firm goals, and societal needs because that alignment 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 examines a new inter-organizational form which is emerging from collaborative innovation processes within and across communities of firms operating in complementary markets. Idea sharing think tanks around high tech centers at leading universities and, more generally, around clusters, are well-documented phenomena. These inter-organizational processes and forms rest on collaborative capabilities. However, mainstream theories and even policies aimed at developing these capabilities are based on an incomplete set of assumptions about human nature, which constrain the very development of capabilities sought by them. The argument of this paper is that the sustainability of the processes and results of the emergent inter-organizational communities depends on a richer set of assumptions about human nature than that provided by mainstream management theories. The risks and demands involved in the design and operation of cross-organization collaborative communities require a challenging set of assumptions about human nature, which go far beyond the notion of enlightened self-interest embedded in neo-classical economics and even beyond the more complex models of human needs and motivation currently employed. Building on this argument and the evaluation of actual communities of firms, this paper contributes an inter-organizational network model based on the assumptions about human motives and choice offered by Aristotle. The conclusions of this paper are twofold. First, it argues that enlightened self-interest hinders rather than fosters the process of developing collaborative capabilities, given that this process will stop when difficulties affecting the pay-offs of the relationship arise in the short run. Second, it explains that a set of assumptions that takes both self-regarding and other’ regarding preferences as ends is required in order to develop and sustain collaborative capabilities in the analyzed inter-organizational communities. Members of such communities have to understand and share these assumptions on a continuing basis in order to sustain their collaborative efforts and outcomes.

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.

This paper reviews the theoretical arguments and empirical evidence in Latin America (LA) related to the relationship between entrepreneurship –i.e. creation of new organisations-, clusters –i.e. geographically proximate group of firms and associated institutions in related industries, linked by economic and social interdependencies-, and development –i.e. expansion of socio-economic capabilities. The theoretical arguments support a positive bi-directional association between three pair-wise relationships: entrepreneurship and development, clusters and development, and clusters and entrepreneurship. However, associated empirical evidence shows that it is difficult to reach empirical generalisations on the second and third relationships due to conceptual and methodological constraints. Empirical evidence in LA is growing but still scarce to reach generalisations. However, several criteria related to purpose, content, and method are proposed to guide future research and policy making. Regarding purpose, it is proposed that future studies focus more on socio-economic capabilities (development) rather than on economic outputs (economic growth). Regarding content, it is necessary to consider LA specificities such as the emergent nature and particular configuration of LA clusters as well as the causes and consequences of the high level of entrepreneurship, differentiating between opportunity and necessity entrepreneurship. Finally, regarding method, the contribution of clusters to entrepreneurship and development should consider comparative research designs –i.e. firms within and not within clusters- controlling for the configuration and degree of development of clusters and industry type. It is speculated that entrepreneurship and clusters would contribute to development in LA countries if policy design targets development simultaneously with growth and considers the specificities of LA clusters and entrepreneurship. Exclusive focus on economic growth and potential high-tech clusters and clusters of transnational corporations without consider governance mechanisms and the nature of necessity based entrepreneurship will both hinder growth in the long run and increase existing disparities in LA countries.

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. 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 self-interest and others´ interests as ends simultaneously, which implies that these motives are not exchangeable commodities subject to end-means logic but qualitatively different goods subject to part-whole or practical rationality logic. The paper shows that self-interest underlies only three out of eight possible generic motives for cooperation and exemplifies the potential richness of the approach comparing a self-interest view with an excellence view of cooperation at both the intra-organizational and inter-organizational levels. The paper ends with directions for future research.

I develop a theoretical model to investigate whether clusters moderate the relationship between entrepreneurship and regional development. Distinguishing between industrial agglomerations and clusters, I use a socio-economic approach to integrate disparate theories based on their underlying assumptions. Industrial agglomerations and clusters have both positive and negative moderating effects, but clusters create better conditions to face competitive shocks. Conceptual, theoretical, and practical implications for academics and policymakers are proposed.

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.

How corporate social responsibility (CSR) and bottom of the pyramid (BOP) strategies could interact in a synergistic way? Based on two different sets of assumptions on the nature and goals of the firm, this paper develops two paradigms under which that synergy could be created. The first paradigm, which we call instrumental, assumes that the social responsibility of the firm is embedded in its goal of profit maximization. Given this goal and the fact that it is logically impossible to maximize in more than one dimension at the same time, BOP strategies are a means to achieve the profit maximization goal. Therefore, the synergistic connection between BOP and CSR is done using an instrumental or means-end logic: the social responsibility of the firm is the maximization of profits and BOP strategies are alternative means to achieve that goal. The second paradigm, which we call intrinsic, assumes that the social responsibility of the firm is intrinsically embedded in its goals of creating and distributing value. In this view, BOP strategies, when adopted by a particular firm, are necessary parts of the value creation and distribution system. Therefore, the synergistic connection between BOP and CSR is done using a practical or part-whole logic: BOP strategies have not only an instrumental but also an intrinsic dimension that makes those strategies as necessary parts of the value-creation and distribution goals of the firm. In this paper, we argue that this latter paradigm is a better lens to understand the connection between CSR and BOP strategies, because it acknowledges both the instrumental and intrinsic dimensions of these phenomena. However, it stresses that focusing only on the instrumental dimension of CSR and BOP strategies will damage the value creating and distribution goals of the firm in the long run. At the same time, we argue that the intrinsic paradigm provides the criteria for a genuine approach to CSR and BOP, because, going beyond the instrumentality of these phenomena, derives their meaning from a broader view of the nature of the firm and its role in society. 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 an instrumental 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 CSR and BOP strategies based on two different set of assumptions about the nature and goals of the firm.

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.

The purpose of this presentation is to understand the role of assumptions in theory building and testing, with and specific application to regional studies and entrepreneurship. It is argued that different assumptions on entrepreneurship, regional agglomerations, and regional outcomes (SEE) lead to different measures and methods to study them (DO), and the combination of different assumptions, methods, and measures leads to different results on the relationship between entrepreneurship, regional agglomerations, and regional outcomes (GET). This presentation develops theoretical arguments and presents empirical evidence to support each part of the previous See – Do – Get argument.

This paper investigates empirically whether clusters moderate the impact of entrepreneurship on development at the regional level. To this end, it distinguishes between clusters and industrial agglomerations and tests four hypotheses on their positive and negative expected moderating impact on the relationship between the creation of businesses and job growth. These hypotheses are tested using the 97 German Planning Regions as the units of analysis and OLS fixed-effects as the research method. The results show that clusters positively moderate the association between entrepreneurship and development at the regional level, but industrial agglomerations do not. Implications for academics and policy makers and suggestions for future research are given in the concluding section.

Según el último índice de percepción de la corrupción que publica “Transparency Internacional” la Argentina sacó 2,9 puntos sobre 10, lo que demuestra “un serio problema de corrupción”. ¿Cómo ha ido evolucionando esta situación en el país? ¿Qué hacen otras naciones para luchar contra esta problemática? Recomendaciones para lograr una mayor transparencia.

Años intensos en términos económicos y sociales fueron los que transcurrieron desde 1878, fecha de la fundación de la Escuela, al presente. Un recorrido histórico a través de la Argentina que vio crecer al IAE.

El estallido de la "burbuja inmobiliaria" en los Estados Unidos produjo no sólo un derrumbe sostenido de las bolsas, sino una creciente crisis de liquidez.¿Puede producirse una recesión en el país que gobierna George W. Bush?¿Cómo podría influir esto en America Latina y en Argentina?

Un año con menor crecimiento mundial, pero con gran protagonismo d elos países emergentes. El papel del comercio de servicios, el petróleo, el turismo y la OMC.

Globalization has led to profound changes in the ways and forms under which cross-border firm cooperation takes place. Increasingly such firm cooperation takes place between firms in developed countries and firms in developing and emerging market economies. Much research interest has been given to cooperation with firms in Asia, and significantly less to cooperation between firms in Europe and in Latin America. This joint research project will focus on cooperation between Danish affiliate firms and their local partners located in Argentina.

 This paper follows the Forum´s call for directly challenging “the great trade-off illusion” –that is, the belief that firms must sacrifice financial performance to meet societal obligations- by revisiting this paradigm 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 allow 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 an 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 develops a model that integrates the different phenomena implicit in previous theoretical and empirical work on clusters. It aims at reducing the gap between the increasing academic and policy interest in clusters and the conceptual and theoretical grounds upon which cluster research and policies are grounded. Its basic premise is that one of the obstacles for understanding the cluster phenomenon is the lack of integration of different assumptions, units and levels of analysis that are implicit in different conceptualizations that underlie current theoretical perspectives, empirical work, and public policies on clusters. The model makes explicit the different phenomena implicit in previous work and identifies the essential and contingent dimensions of clusters. This paper contributes a scholarship of integration approach for a better understanding of clusters, a new organizational context that is becoming an important line of research in management studies.

We revisit the self-interest view on human behaviour 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, behaviour, and outcomes. Proponents of self-interest as the only valid behavioural 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 one-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.

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.