International Business ( Doing Business in Latin America)

Description
In the globalization Era investors around the world are looking for new markets to invest. Latina America appears as an attractive region for business. According to Goldman Sachs' BRIC review of emerging economies, by 2050 the largest economies in the world will be as follows: China, United States, India, Brazil, and Mexico. In addition in 2010 Latin America integrated five nations classified as high-income countries: Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, Mexico and Panama.
Today countries in Latin America such as Brazil show stability and growth allowing it to become an increasingly influential player in world affairs. Others like Chile are considered for many foreign investors as a gateway for Asia to enter the South American region because is close and it is political-economic secure. Also the region attach a close business relationship with USA because its proximity.
All these facts make it essential that business people learn about doing business in Latin America. This course will focus in Latin America. Students will learn about socio - cultural issues, economic and political - legal environment, together with strategic considerations when doing business in Latin American countries. Learning approach will be base in cases of study as well as lectures.

Aims
At the end of the course the students will be able to:
1. Understand the business environment in LA.
2. Understand the cases of study of business in L.A. and its application.
3. Asses the importance of social-cultural issues in doing business in the region.
4. Understand the political-economic policies of most important markets in L.A.
5. Understand the international agreements such as Free Trade & the relevance of the economic alliance such as MECOSUR.
6. Understand the major industries in L.A. particularly in Chile & Brazil.
7. Understand the business opportunities & strategies for doing business in L.A.

Methodology
The course will have a total of 45 hours including evaluation processes. Each session will be of 1 hour 15 minutes. During each session there will be a review of doing business in L.A. according to the schedule detailed below and the discussion of practical applications through cases analysis and student presentations. For each class students will be required to read relevant material in advance. The course will also include a field trip within the region for a better view of some
business areas.

Schedule of Topics
1. Introduction to the course, methodology, motivation
2. Political-Economic overview of the region
3. Introduction of business system in LA
4. The Culture & Business in LA
5. Group Presentations of L.A. Countries: socioeconomic review of 3 relevant markets: Chile, Brazil, Mexico
6. Role of Business in LA: living and working conditions
7. Leadership in LA: major industries and economies
8. Management in Chile
9. Management in Brazil
10. Field trip ? business districts in Santiago
11. The Free Trade Agreement developed by Chile
12. International Alliances in the Region
13. International bridges: Mining, Airlines, Retailing, services
14. Development, Infrastructure and business platforms in LA
15. Brazil?s rising economy
16. Governance in LA
17. Group Presentations: Argentina, Peru, Colombia, Ecuador & Venezuela
18. Group Presentations: Central America & Caribe
19.Technology in LA
20. Social Responsability and Sustainable development in LA
21. Opportunities, competitive advantages & strategies in LA
22. Final written exam

Evaluation
- 15% First groupal Presentation (3 or 4 people)
- 20% First Theory test
- 20% Second Theory Test.
- 15% Final Groupal presentation ( 3 or 4 people)
- 30% Final Theory Exam.

Bibliography
· Doing Business in the New Latin America: Keys to Profit in America's Next-Door Markets, Second Edition. Becker, Thomas H., Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO, 2010.
· Latin American business cultures. Edited by Robert Crane, Carlos Rizowy. Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan, 2010.
· Doing business in emerging markets: entry and negotiation strategies. S. Tamer Cavusgil, Pervez N. Ghauri, Milind R. Agarwal, Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications, c2002.
· Cracking Latin America: a country-by-country guide to doing business in the world's newest emerging markets / Allyn Enderlyn, Oliver C. Dziggel. Chicago: Probus, c1994.
· Development connections unveiling the impact of new information technologies. Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan, 2011.
· The United Nations in Latin America: Aiding Development. Adams, Francis.
- Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation. www.apec.org.
· CEPAL - Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe. www.eclac.org.
· Chile?s Free Trade Agreements: How Big is the deal?. Central Bank of Chile. Working paper, 2004. www.bcentral.cl.
· OECD en America Latina. www.oecd.org.
· Organization of American States. www.oas.org.
· Ministry of Economy of Chile. www.economia.cl.
· Inter- American Development Bank. www.iadb.org.
· U.S. versus Latin America: business & culture, Stanley M. Davis, Harvard Business Review 2000..
· How do retailers from emerging markets internationalize?: The case of Chilean retailers. Bianchi, Constanza (2009) In: AMS/ACRA 2009. Conference, September 30 - October 04, 2009, New Orleans, USA.
· Getting to Know the Neighbours: Groups in Mexico. John Sargent. Business Horizons, 2001.
· Lessons learned from unsuccessful internationalization attempts: Examples of multinational retailers in Chile. Constanza C. BianchiT, Enrique Ostale, Journal of Business Research 2006.