General Information
For more than four decades, the main activities of the group members have been teaching, research, and publications on Colombian business history. They offer degree-seeking (undergraduate, MBA, Executive MBA, and PhD) and executive education courses in business history. The group has contributed to the consolidation of the academic community in business history in Latin America and Colombia. Likewise, it considers strategic to associate with the international academic community of Business History mainly through joint projects, publications in the main journals of the discipline, membership in its editorial committees, and participation in international conferences and events
The origins of the History and Entrepreneurship Group (GHE)
Date back to 1976, when teaching and research on Colombian business history began at the School of Management of the Universidad de los Andes. The GHE approaches the study of entrepreneurship’s role in Colombia’s economic development from a historical perspective. The business sector comprises different agents: entrepreneurs, companies, economic groups, business elites, business families and associations, or “guilds.” The GHE is composed of researchers from different disciplines (sociologists, historians, economists, and industrial engineers) belonging to the Management Area of the Faculty. Two of them (Marco Palacios and Carlos Dávila) have been Emeritus Researchers of Colciencias since November 2016. Dávila, in turn, has been Professor Emeritus of Uniandes since 2014. In 2022 the Business History Conference (BHC) awarded him the Lifetime Achievement Award.
From its creation until 1990, the GHE was integrated by three professors of the Faculty, Enrique Ogliastri (Ph. D., Northwestern), Manuel Rodríguez (B. Litt., Oxford), and Carlos Dávila (Ph. D., Northwestern). Since 2000 it has been formed by Carlos Dávila, Luis Fernando Molina (M.A., Universidad Nacional de Colombia-Medellín), who joined the group in 2000, Marco Palacios (D. Phil, Oxford) since 2001, Beatriz Rodriguez-Satizabal (Ph.D. QMUL, 2020) since 2006, Xavier Durán (Ph.D., LSE) in 2010, Andrea Lluch (Ph.D., Universidad Nacional del Centro de la Provincia de Buenos Aires) joined in 2015 and Carlos Eduardo Hernández (Ph. D., UCLA) in 2016. Martha Garavito (MBA, Uniandes) was part of the GHE from 2012 to 2020; Professor, Universidad del Pacífico/Uniandes, and Germán García Niño has been assistant to the GHE since 2020.
For more than four decades, the main activities of the members of the GHE have been teaching, researching, and publications on Colombian business history. They offer courses in business history at the undergraduate, MBA, Executive MBA, and Ph.D. levels, as well as in continuing education (Programa Alta Gerencia) and the Specialization in Business Law. The GHE has contributed to the consolidation of the academic community in business history in Latin America and Colombia. It also considers it strategic to link with the international academic community of Business History, mainly through joint projects, publications in the prominent journals of the discipline, membership in their editorial committees, and participation in international congresses and events.
The GHE is one of the founding entities of the Ibero-American Group of Business Studies and Economic History, formed in 2006 by researchers affiliated with universities in Argentina, Mexico, Spain, Peru, and Colombia. As part of the International Distinguished Visiting Professors Program (Cátedra Corona), the GHE has invited fifteen British, American, Australian, Spanish, Mexican, and Argentine business historians since 1999. It holds an annual research colloquium that rotates among the five countries. The GHE, jointly with the Banco de la República, has organized the 2007 (Cartagena), 2012 (Bogota), and 2018 (Santa Marta) colloquia.
Research lines
- Origins and development of regional entrepreneurship in Colombia (1870-1970) (C. Dávila, M. Rodríguez)
- Role of immigrants in a “non-immigrants’ land” (1820-1940) (M. Rodríguez)
- Power, business elites and economic development in urban Colombia (1950-1975). (E. Ogliastri, C. Dávila)
- Company/organization history (1890-1990) (E. Ogliastri, C. Dávila)
- Observatory and periodical survey of Colombian and Latin American Business history (1990, 1996, 1997, 1999) (C. Dávila)
- 1 Observatory and periodical surveys of Colombian and Latin American business history (2003, 2008, 2009, 2013, 2020) (C. Dávila, A. Lluch)
- 2 Entrepreneurial history (C. Dávila, L. F. Molina, M. Garavito)
- Entrepreneurial biographies & biographical profiles in Colombian development (1850-2020)
- History of marketing pioneers in Colombia (1950–2010) [in association with G. Pérez and J.M. Ospina, UASM’s Marketing Studies Unit]
- 3 The XIXth century in Bogota: big business, social stratification and real state (M. Palacios)
- 4 Company/organization history (1950-2020). (L.F. Molina, C. Dávila)
- Biblioteca Luis Angel Arango –Central Bank library– (1957-2007) (L.F.Molina)
- FIMBRA – Fondo Mutuo de Inversiones del Banco de la República (1962-2002) (L.F. Molina)
- Ecopetrol –oil– (1951-2011) [in association with J. Benavides, C. Caballero, and C. Dávila] (X. Durán)
- 5 Business Groups. Strategy, structure, financing and organizational capabilities (1950-2020) (C. Dávila, B. Rodríguez)
- Fundación Social (1985–2010) [in association with J.C. Dávila, D. Schnarch, UASM’s Organization Studies Unit] (C. Dávila)
- Financing firms in emerging economies: from stand-alone to business groups. The case of Colombia, 1950-1980 (B. Rodríguez)
- 6 Big business in the Argentinean economy. Historical analysis of Argentinean capitalism in the XXth century [in association with N. Lanciotti, Universidad Nacional del Rosario, Argentina] (A. Lluch)
- 7 Transportation and entrepreneurship in Colombia: historical and modern perspectives (X. Durán, C. Hernández)
- 8 Trademarks, competitiveness and market development in South America (1890c–1930) [in association with T. da Silva Lopes, University of York, U.K.] (A. Lluch)
- 9 Management education in Colombia, the case of the School of Management, Universidad de los Andes (1973–2020) (L.F. Molina, C. Dávila)
GHE PUBLICATIONS’ CATALOGUE
- Through UASM publishing series (books, monographs and the Corona Chair), the Group has disseminated some of its research output as well as contributions from foreign and Colombian business historians affiliated with other institutions.
- Within UASM’s Monographs series there are 37 business history issues, twenty one of them authored by members of GHE; five of them are Honors/MBA theses (supervised by them); the remaining ten by business historians associated to other Colombian and foreign universities.
- As part of UASM’s program for International Distinguished Visiting Scholars (Corona Chair), since 1999 GHE has invited business historians from British, American, Spanish, Argentinean and Mexican universities for short stays. They have contributed fifteen research titles to the Corona Chair monographs series.
History and entrepreneurship newsletter
ISSN 2027-8926 / ISSN 2256-2044
Comité Editorial / Editorial Committee: Carlos Dávila, Beatriz Rodriguez-Satizabal y Germán García.
Traducción al inglés por / English translation by: MacLeod Cushing
Contáctenos: boletinghe@uniandes.edu.co
Historical Archives
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RESEARCH TOPICS
Period 1974–1999 (Five topics)
- Origins and development of regional entrepreneurship in Colombia (1870-1970) (C. Dávila, M. Rodríguez)
- Role of immigrants in a “non-immigrants’ land” (1820-1940) (M. Rodríguez)
- Power, business elites and economic development in urban Colombia (1950-1975). (E. Ogliastri, C. Dávila)
- Company/organization history (1890-1990) (E. Ogliastri, C. Dávila)
- Observatory and periodical survey of Colombian and Latin American Business history (1990, 1996, 1997, 1999) (C. Dávila)
Period 2000–2020 (Nine topics)
- Observatory and periodical surveys of Colombian and Latin American business history (2003, 2008, 2009, 2013, 2020) (C. Dávila, A. Lluch)
- Entrepreneurial history (C. Dávila, L. F. Molina, M. Garavito)
- Entrepreneurial biographies & biographical profiles in Colombian development (1850-2020)
- History of marketing pioneers in Colombia (1950–2010) [in association with G. Pérez and J.M. Ospina, UASM’s Marketing Studies Unit]
- The XIXth century in Bogota: big business, social stratification and real state (M. Palacios)
- Company/organization history (1950-2020). (L.F. Molina, C. Dávila)
- Biblioteca Luis Angel Arango –Central Bank library– (1957-2007) (L.F.Molina)
- FIMBRA – Fondo Mutuo de Inversiones del Banco de la República (1962-2002) (L.F. Molina)
- Ecopetrol –oil– (1951-2011) [in association with J. Benavides, C. Caballero, and C. Dávila] (X. Durán)
- Business Groups. Strategy, structure, financing and organizational capabilities (1950-2020) (C. Dávila, B. Rodríguez)
- Fundación Social (1985–2010) [in association with J.C. Dávila, D. Schnarch, UASM’s Organization Studies Unit] (C. Dávila)
- Financing firms in emerging economies: from stand-alone to business groups. The case of Colombia, 1950-1980 (B. Rodríguez)
- Big business in the Argentinean economy. Historical analysis of Argentinean capitalism in the XXth century [in association with N. Lanciotti, Universidad Nacional del Rosario, Argentina] (A. Lluch)
- Transportation and entrepreneurship in Colombia: historical and modern perspectives (X. Durán, C. Hernández)
- Trademarks, competitiveness and market development in South America (1890c–1930) [in association with T. da Silva Lopes, University of York, U.K.] (A. Lluch)
- Management education in Colombia, the case of the School of Management, Universidad de los Andes (1973–2020) (L.F. Molina, C. Dávila)
TEACHING
TEACHING AND RESEARCH
- Teaching and research close interaction has also been present as a distinctive feature of GHE’s activities. It has been reflected both in the design, methodology, reading materials and delivery of courses as well as in course projects becoming the seed for students’ theses.
- Needless to say, the undergraduate and MBA programs are not purposed to train researchers but managers-to-be and entrepreneurs. Yet as part of UASM imprint they are educated to get a basic understanding and respect for the research endeavor.
COURSES
Colombian business history courses
Undergraduate program
- In 1974, a course on Colombian Business History (Historia del Desarrollo Empresarial Colombiano) (HDE) was established as a compulsory subject for undergraduate students at UASM and it has remained so to the present. Currently nearly 300 students per semester take the course.
- HDE is a GHE’s insignia course: it has been offered uninterrumptedly for 46 years, 92 semesters (1974-2020)
- Up to 2017: one undergraduate course (HDE). Afterwards, GHE members teach four courses opened to students from all around Uniandes. They are:
- An elective, undergraduate subject on Leaders, Innovative and Globalized Entrepreneurs (Emprendedores Líderes, Innovadores y Globalizados) (ELIG) was launched in 2018.
- Also in 2018 a course on Strategic Management of Technological Innovation started.
- Two other new courses began in 2019: Entrepreneurship in Colombian Economic Development (Empresariado en el Desarrollo Colombiano) (EDC) and, Colombia: Space, Time, Difference (Colombia: Espacio, Tiempo, Diferencia) (CSTD).
- These four courses are open to all undergraduate programs of the university.
- One of he sections of Colombia and its Institutions (CI), a course belonging to the General Management and Public Policy area, is being taught by one GHE’s member (L.F. Molina) since 2019 and 2020. At the same time than another of its members (A. Lluch) started teaching one of the sections of International Business (a Strategy Area course).
Alta Gerencia program
- In 1992, a course on Entrepreneurship and Management in Colombia (Empresariado en Colombia) began within the senior executive program (Alta Gerencia). It has been offered along these years in eight cities across the country (Bogotá, Barranquilla, Bucaramanga, Cali, Cartagena, Manizales, Medellín and Pereira).
MBA program
- Since 2000, the Empresariado en Colombia course has been part of the core curriculum of the MBA program, for its three modalities: full-time, part-time and executive. MBA: 2000-2020, 20 years.
Colombian and Latin American business history courses
- Back in 2014, a course on Entrepreneurship in Latin America (Empresariado en América Latina) started in the Executive MBA; it evolved from the EC course.
- In 2020, a course on Entrepreneurship. Uncertainty and economic crises: a Latin American perspective (Empresariado, incertidumbre y crisis económicas: una visión desde América Latina) for the MBA TC began.
Ph.D. program
- A doctoral seminars on Entrepreneurship Theories (Emprendimiento e Innovación) (EIT) started in 2008.
- One on Business Technology, Innovation and Diffusion was launched in 2015.
STUDENT THESES
Since 1974, GHE has supervised students’ graduation (Honors) thesis both in the undergraduate and MBA programs. At the former a thesis requirement has not been constant but recurrent; in the last undergraduate curriculum reform it was abolished. In the MBA a thesis was required until 2009.
Total: 120
- 120 (13 up to 1999*; 107 during 2000-2020)
- Undergraduate theses: 76 [C. Dávila (40), L.F. Molina (26), X. Durán (10)].
- MBA theses: 44 [C. Dávila (37), L.F. Molina (5), X. Durán (2)]
- Since the Best Theses series Monographs was launched in 2006 four supervised by GHE staff have been published and used as teaching materials
* En revisión
Colloquium on Management History in Ibero-America
Perspectives and Research Agendas
Organizer: History and Entrepreneurship Group (GHE) Universidad de los Andes, School of Managment (Bogota, Colombia)
Coordination: Andrea Lluch and Carlos Dávila
Date: noviembre 29 de 2023
Format
- On Campus: Edificio Santo Domingo, Piso 8. Salón SD 809
- Online: Inscribirse aquí para recibir el link de Zoom
What is the relationship between economic history and the history of management? How can this question be answered in and from Ibero-America? What are the questions, debates, and new perspectives in research? As part of the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the GHE of the School of Management (Universidad de los Andes Colombia), the colloquium will bring together researchers from Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Spain, the United Kingdom, Mexico, Norway and Peru. They have researched and published from different perspectives on the broad topic we have called Management History in Ibero-America.
Perhaps a Latin American contribution is the disciplinary multidisciplinary used to study economic, social, and political history, that is, the history of economic development in Latin America. The contributions of disciplines such as history, economics, sociology, social psychology, anthropology, and political science to the study of entrepreneurship have been the nourishment of the academic field of business history in several countries of the region.
Likewise, business history in Latin America has been primarily concerned with the long-term evolution of different business actors (entrepreneurs, business families, multinationals, business groups, and business associations). It has also contributed to the formation of an alternative perspective from emerging markets (alternative business history). In this context, management history itself has been relatively neglected by business historians. On the other hand, in Spain and Portugal, as well as in several Latin American countries, there are works that document the development of management from other perspectives (e.g., management studies, institutional image, or international business) that should not be overlooked. Also, in recent years, the discussion on the formation of the educational field (or academic institutions) has been reopened within the debate on the process of Americanization, and the gaze has been broadened to the deployment of international and local actors and other initiatives for the training of executives in managerial and administrative skills, especially during the second half of the 20th century.
In this context of renewing perspectives and opening new approaches and topics, this colloquium will bring together a group of specialists from different countries and perspectives to discuss lines of work, theoretical approaches, and research agendas in the circulation of knowledge, institutions, initiatives, and the roles of public and private actors in the emergence and development of the field of management/administration in historical perspective in Ibero-America.
The entire schedule is shown in the time of Bogota, Colombia (GMT-5)
Block 1 (8:45 am to 9:45 am)
Coordinator: Luis Gabriel Galán, Universidad de los Andes, School of Managment (Bogota, Colombia)
- 8:30 am a 8:45 am Welcome Prof. Carlos Dávila
- 8:45 am a 9:15 am “La construcción de un ecosistema gerencial: la formación de la educación gerencial en el Perú, 1960- 1980”, Martín Monsalve, Universidad del Pacífico, Perú.
- 9:15 am a 9:45 am “Beyond the Americanization Narrative. The Origins and Evolution of Management Education and Training in Argentina (1930s–1960s)”, Andrea Lluch, CONICET y UniAndes.
- Break
Block 2 (10:15 am to 11:45 am)
Coordinator: Xavier Durán, Universidad de los Andes, School of Managment (Bogota, Colombia)
- 10:15 am a 10:45 am Training Middle Managers for Catching up. The programs of the Spanish Productivity Center (1952-1964)”, Adoración Álvaro Moya, Decana de la Facultad de Empresa, Economía y Derecho, CUNEF, España.
- 10:45 am a 11:15 am The Management of British Firms in Twentieth-Century Latin America, Rory Miller, Liverpool University.
- 11:15 am a 11:45 am Unveiling the History of Management in Mexico: The VISA Group”, Gabriela Recio, investigadora independiente, México.
- Break
- 12:00 pm a 12:45pm “Perceptions of management: Global North meets Global South”, Rolv Amdam, BI Norwegian Business School, Norway.
- Lunch
Block 3 (2:30 pm to 3:30 pm)
Coordinator: Beatriz Rodriguez-Satizabal, Universidad del Pacífico (PE) and Universidad de los Andes, School of Managment (Bogota, Colombia)
- 14:30 pm a 15:00 pm, “Management history in Colombia: an agenda in the making. Its relationship to Colombian and Latin American business history”, Carlos Dávila, Universidad de los Andes, School of Managment (Bogota, Colombia)
- 15:00 pm a 15:30 pm, “Management History: a Global South Perspective”, Sergio Wanderley, Professor at Fundação Getulio Vargas, Sao Paulo, Brasil
- 15:30 pm a 16:00 pm. Closing Remarks