International Management and International Relations: A Critical Perspective from Latin America

Over the last few decades, the field of management enlarged its boundaries, especially in international terms, in a very rapid fashion—mainly because of the arrival of the so-called era of globalization. Many renowned scholars have criticized the universal approach given to ‘management’ in the United States and its subsequent automatic conversion into ‘international management,’ but their arguments too can fall into the trap of universalism at times. This book has a more specific concern: to challenge the conversion of ‘management’ into ‘international management’ from a Latin American perspective. This challenge might be taken as a first step toward the construction of a Latin American perspective in International Management and a potential contribution to the development of this field in other parts of the world.

Drawing upon such critical standpoint, several authors in the book converge upon the idea that researchers, practitioners and authorities in Latin America should challenge the US dominance in International Management and foster interdisciplinary developments within International Relations. The critical perspective provided in this book challenges the US’s narrow viewpoint on management as it clearly does not fit the governance features of ‘international management’ in Latin America. So far, we have not observed the constitution of sub-areas such as international management of international organizations, international management of transnational institutions, international management of public-private networks, international management of public companies, and international public administration or international public management, all of which would be extremely important in Latin America.

Ana Guedes, Ph.D. in International Relations, London School of Economics and Political Science, United Kingdom. She is Associate Professor at the Brazilian School of Public and Business Administration, Getulio Vargas Foundation (EBAPE/FGV). She is chair of the International Studies Research Group at EBAPE/FGV and has published in the fields of International Political Economy, International Business and International Management. E-mail: ana.guedes@fgv.br

Alex Faria, Ph.D. in Business Administration, University of Warwick, United Kingdom. He is Associate Professor at the Brazilian School of Public and Business Administration, Getulio Vargas Foundation and Researcher of the National Research Council in Brazil. He is chair of the Strategy & Marketing Research Group at EBAPE/FGV and has published many contributions in the fields of Strategy, Marketing, International Management and Critical Studies in Management in Brazil and abroad. E-mail: alex.faria@fgv.br