Experts discuss Latin American business practices

Latin American markets present new battlegrounds for business school graduates, according to a professional panel at the Kelley School of Business.

The first Latin American Business Conference Thursday afternoon brought together more than 75 Kelley students to discuss the challenges of navigating the business world in the expanding Latin American marketplace.

Organized by the Institute for Global Organizational Effectiveness and the Latin MBA Association, along with several other sponsors, the event featured guest speakers from the Latin American marketing, consulting and finance industries in two separate panel discussions.

A $4.8 million gift to IGOE in 2010 allowed the institute to fund outreach programs, like the Latin American Business Conference, to build relationships with companies across the region.

Nitin Garg, president of the Global Business Society, introduced the first panel that discussed the challenges and opportunities of doing business in Latin America.

“One of the key things we strive for as Kelley students is getting a global perspective on our education,” Garg said. “We have this common tendency of looking at Latin America as one big block of market, but it’s not.”

The question-and-answer style panels allowed current students to ask questions about the complexities of navigating the expanding marketplace.

Guest speakers Blas González, managing partner of Attreio Pharmaceuticals in Mexico, and Juan Coronado, Citi Bank senior vice president of global strategic sourcing, urged the audience to avoid generalizing the culture and economies of Latin American countries.

“You wouldn’t just go to Brazil and try to speak Spanish to them,” González said. “You have to do your homework.”

González, who has lived and worked in Mexico for five years, is a Kelley graduate.

After working in the corporate world for most of his career, he said he saw potential in the Latin American pharmaceutical marketplace and decided to try his hand at entrepreneurship in the region. 

“There are stark differences within the legislation surrounding business operations as you move nation to nation,” González said. “There are a lot of complexities and nuances that you have to understand as you move into the Latin American market.”

Herman Aguinis, director of IGOE, said the institute has doubled the number of MBA students in Kelley who are from Latin America or will work in Latin America.

“It is a dream for me to be able to give an opportunity to so many motivated and smart students,” Aguinis said in a statement on the institute’s website. “Kelley is the perfect school to do this, because of the caliber of the faculty, of the students and the resources at IU.”

Follow reporter Matt Bloom on Twitter @matthew_bloom.