Search results

The purpose of this paper is to discuss the transnational entrepreneurial activities of Colombian emigrants to the USA in the context of the Colombian government’s policies and initiatives aimed at encouraging and facilitating emigrants’ transnational entrepreneurship. It examines the profile of Colombian emigrants, the entrepreneurial transnational activities they pursue and the actual and potential role of the government in instigating and shaping these activities.

The paper analyzes data obtained from focus groups with migrant families and interviews with governmental officials and an expert researcher. It also evaluates secondary data sources relevant to the subject of the paper.

The impact of transnational activities of Colombian migrants upon Colombian economy and society is much lower compared with the activities of migrants in other countries and with the potential these activities could have for contributing to the economic development of Colombia. Possible causes of this include: the specific characteristics of the Colombian emigrant and entrepreneur profile, the fragmentation of transnational networks of the migrants and the lack of governmental strategies to support the development of transnational activities of migrants.

The paper contributes to the debates on emigrant–state relation through offering an analysis of migrant entrepreneurship, technology and knowledge transfer and investment activities of Colombian emigrants in the home country. It also provides recommendations for policy action and concrete government programs that might encourage greater involvement of Colombian migrants in high value-adding activities that could benefit the country’s development.

This paper aims to analyse the transnational activities of Colombian migrants in the USA; the reasons why migrants engage, or not, in these activities; and the impact of migrants’ transnational activities at the household, community and national levels.

This paper analyses data obtained from focus groups with migrant families and interviews with government officials and an expert researcher, as well as secondary data sources.

The main transnational activities in which Colombian migrants engage in are individually oriented, while participation in collective actions such as philanthropy or membership of political parties and hometown associations is limited. The impact of those activities varies when analysed at different levels. Overall, transnational activities of Colombian migrants can be seen as contributing to the perpetuation of south–north dependency, even if they help improve the socioeconomic situation of migrants and their families.

This paper contributes to the migration–development nexus debate by pointing to the significance of distinguishing the level of analysis (micro, meso and macro) when studying the impacts of transnationalism on development.

For Colombia, cocaine is a product that is sold for profit in the United States. Mainstream political economy, let alone the other social sciences, has little to say about the process of extraction of surplus value in the production and distribution of cocaine, in other words, how cocaine is exploited for profit. The paper argues that the conventional framework, which locates profits generated from the cocaine trade in an economic model of crime shields a much deeper reality than simply ‘money laundering’ as a ‘legal problem.’ The central argument is that the cocaine trade in general, and the cocaine economy in particular, are a vital aspect of U.S. imperialism in the Colombian economic system. The paper tackles a critical problem: the place of cocaine in the re-colonization of Colombia – defined as ‘narcocolonialism’ – and the implications of the cocaine trade generally for U.S. imperialism in this context. The paper evaluates selected literature on the Colombian cocaine trade and offers an alternative framework underpinned by a political economy analysis drawn from Marx and Lenin showing that cocaine functions as an ‘imperial commodity’ – a commodity for which there exists a lucrative market and profit-making opportunity. It is also a means of capital accumulation by what could be termed, Colombia's comprador ‘narcobourgeoisie;’ dependent on U.S. imperialism. It is hoped that by analyzing cocaine with a Marxist interpretation and political economy approach, then future developments in understanding drugs in Colombia's complex political economy may be anticipated.

Extensive empirical evidence suggests that procedural justice (PJ) and distributive justice (DJ) are key success factors for achieving durable peace negotiations. This paper aims to investigate how complexity affects these factors and the outcomes in negotiations.

The qualitative study is based on an examination of the peace negotiations that led to the 2016 agreement between the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia – Ejército del Pueblo and the Colombian Government. Based on document analysis, the authors examined in detail how and where in the process the principles of PJ and DJ were applied. The authors then examined the implementation progress after 2016 and placed the peace process in the overall context of the Colombian conflict.

The authors found that the principles of PJ and DJ were present in both the negotiation process and the agreement. The negotiations were successful and satisfactory solutions could be found for all issues. The complexity of the conflict is reflected in the limited coverage of the peace negotiations. Not all groups, interests and subconflicts could be included in the negotiations. This limits their contribution to a durable peace in Colombia. Conflicts that remain unresolved also have a negative effect on the implementation of the agreement.

For conflict management, this implies that the negotiations should not be viewed as “one-and-done” but rather as a progressive, ongoing process. The agreement is only the nucleus for achieving total peace. It must be actively advanced and defended.

This study offers new qualitative insights into how PJ and DJ function in negotiations. It also establishes a systematic connection between PJ and DJ and complexity, introduces the notion of coverage and, thereby, opens a new perspective on the management of conflict complexity.

The purpose of this study was to identify what Colombians perceive as effective and least effective/ineffective managerial behavior.

This study was conducted following a qualitative methodology based on the philosophical assumptions of pragmatism and the “pragmatic approach” (Morgan, 2007). The critical incident technique was used to generate data from a purposive sample of 27 managers and non-managerial employees located in Medellin and Bogota, Colombia.

The results of this study suggest that effective managers in Colombia are those who are supportive, caring, considerate, participative, understanding, communicative and flexible, and are also good problem solvers.

This study focused on the perceptions of Colombian managers and non-managerial employees only. Therefore, the description of effective and least effective/ineffective managers in Colombia could be highly value-laden from the national cultural perspective. Hence, it is recommended that further research should be carried out to explore the perceptions of international managers who have frequently interacted or worked with Colombian managers.

The results of this study have practical implications for Colombian managers and international managers who manage the Colombian workforce. For Colombian managers, this study provides insight into what is considered effective or least effective/ineffective managerial and leadership behavior. The findings provide useful information on foreign multinational corporations (MNCs) that have operations in Colombia. MNCs can use the results of this study to create effective management development models for their expatriates in Colombia.

The purpose of this paper is twofold. The first is to examine in detail energy efficiency performance of German and Colombian food industries. The second is to explain the factors that have influenced energy efficiency.

Using data at the three‐digit level of aggregation, the paper compares energy efficiency across sectors of the food industry for the period 1998‐2005. Energy efficiency is analysed using the energy intensity (EI) indicator as well as a decomposition analysis. To determine the factors that have influenced energy efficiency performance, the concept of the production function is used.

The results show that both countries' food industries improved energy efficiency. During the period of study, energy consumption in the German food industry increased by an average of 1.3 per cent per year and the EI decreased 7 per cent, whereas the Colombian food industry decreased its energy consumption by an average of 1.9 per cent per the year and the EI decreased 11 per cent. However, the Colombian food industry needs 2.2 times more energy than the German food industry to produce a unit of gross production. A decomposition analysis indicated that economic and technical factors have played an important role in the energy efficiency performance because increases in economic growth and technology improvements increase the industrial sector's ability to improve energy efficiency. A second‐stage empirical analysis reveals that capital, material, investments and value‐added variables had a positive influence on energy efficiency performance in both countries. Energy prices are shown to have a positive influence on energy efficiency in the German food industry, whereas the sizes of enterprises and concentration processes played an important role on energy efficiency performance in the Colombian food industry.

The literature indicates the relative lack of attention paid to the analysis of energy use across sectors of food industry as well as the lack of studies determining the factors that have affected energy consumption and energy efficiency performance using cross‐country and cross‐sectoral comparisons.

Examines empirically the standardization of international marketing strategy from the perspective of Colombian exporting firms. Also investigates standardization of the finer aspects of the marketing mix variables than previous studies have addressed. In addition, links marketing standardization to Colombian firms’ export intensity. Suggests that Colombian firms appear to pursue different degrees of standardization with respect to different dimensions of their international marketing strategy. Also suggests that there are several relationships between marketing standardization and Colombian firms’ export intensity, and the nature and strength of each relationship depends on the specific dimension of marketing standardization being examined. Discusses the implications of these findings for research and management.

The purpose of this qualitative study is to compare the perceptions of employed people in Mexico and Colombia about managerial and leadership behavioural effectiveness.

A qualitative multiple cross-case and cross-nation comparative analysis of findings obtained from the two past emic replication (Mexico and Colombia) studies was conducted.

The study suggests that people within Mexican and Colombian organizations perceive “managerial and leadership behavioural effectiveness” in very similar ways. The findings support those researchers whose studies indicate that culture may not, as previously thought, play a significant role in the way managers should manage and lead their subordinates.

The authors acknowledge two main limitations related to the sample size and scope of the two compared sets of empirical source data. The number of critical incidents about perceived managerial behavioural effectiveness obtained from the two compared studies was unbalanced (318 from the Mexican study and 267 from the Colombian study). Thus, the authors suggest more indigenous replication managerial behaviour studies be carried out in both Mexico and Colombia with the objective of identifying (if possible) the existence of critical incidents that could lead to different findings. Furthermore, the authors suggest conducting replica studies focused on specific industries rather than a diverse range of organizations to test the generalizability of the findings.

The findings of the comparative study are relevant to those human resource development professionals in international companies with operations in Mexico and/or Colombia when preparing their executives for international assignments in these Latin American countries.

The comparative study attempts to generate new insights and better understanding within the context of “managerial and leadership behavioural effectiveness” research, which the authors hope will make a useful contribution to the existing small body of knowledge regarding similarities and differences in managerial practices across culturally diverse Latin American countries.

This paper aims to study the use of photos in corporate sustainability reports (CSRs) as a means to gain legitimacy concerning Colombian post-conflict representations.

From a critical perspective based on legitimacy theory and political economy theory, and using visual semiotics and critical discourse analysis, this paper examines the use of photographs in sustainability reports as a mechanism to account for corporate actions regarding peace in Colombia. This paper relies on 121 pictures from 30 CSRs.

The analysis shows that companies are gaining legitimacy by referring to post-conflict through visual forms. Nonetheless, the structural conditions that caused the Colombian conflict are still present. Sustainability reporting that includes peace action representations becomes a control and subordination mechanism to reproduce existing power relations in the Colombian social order. Indeed, the generation of opportunities for civilians and ex-combatants, victims reparation, security and reconciliation remains unresolved structural issues. Hence, the use of corporate economic resources and their strategic visual representation in reports is just one business way of representing firms as aligned with government initiatives to obtain tax incentives.

This study is centered on Colombian CSRs for the period 2016-2017; however, 2017 reports by some companies have not yet been published. This study also explored the messages contained in the images that include people. Images that do not depict persons were not examined.

This study provides evidence on visual representations of corporate peace actions aimed at gaining corporate legitimacy. Furthermore, this research examines a unique scenario that promoted more significant corporate social participation, following the signing of the peace agreements between the Colombian government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia, Ejército del Pueblo).