Going Global from Latin America. The Arcor Case

Going global from Latin America —The ARCOR case— is a much needed and welcome contribution to management literature —both for the general business and academic audiences. This is so because it documents one of the most unique evolutions of a successful fi rm in Latin America. In the United States, where I have resided for the last thirty years, fi rms acquire real respectability when they break the barrier of $1 billion in sales (one thousand millions in the Latin American measurement system). This goal, which is greatly aspired to by enterprises which want to assume real leadership in the world, is exceedingly diffi cult to realize and was achieved at ARCOR in 1999. It necessitates tremendous managerial competences, tenacity, a compelling vision, and fi rm strategic direction. Achieving this goal in a national company in Argentina, whose environment has been characterized by severe economic, political, and social turbulence is an extraordinary feat. For any Latin American fi rm this is the cause for both celebration and deep refl ection, which is what this book is all about.