Business Elites and the Diffusion of US-Style Business Education in Mexico (1955-2005)

Abstract

This article contributes to efforts documenting the incursion of Anglo-American capitalism into Latin America by looking at the emergence and development of graduate and postgraduate business education in Mexico. By exploring this form of Americanisation, the article offers an indirect study of the emergence of professional managers in a region otherwise dominated by family run firms. The surfacing of graduate and post-graduate degrees in management is part of a general trend of globalization of higher education but their emergence also mirror a move to a more hierarchical structure of business organisations. In other words, these degrees evidence the existence of a large group of salaried managers in Mexico as well as associate with a shift in the creation of local business elites. Archival research (including current writings) combines with unstructured interviews and a database of teaching case studies. The database considers teaching cases looking at multinational companies working in Mexico and cases focusing on Mexican companies. This article therefore hones our understanding of the transformation of Mexican business organisations while linking this process to the interaction between multinationals, indigenous businesses and management education. Note that the research emphasises developments in Mexico City.