vol. 4 núm. 1 (2011)

The purpose of this paper is to find a way to promote cross-cultural understanding between Colombia and the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) countries in order to foster their bilateral relations in terms of academic collaboration and, eventually, in the fields of commerce and investment. First of all, the paper exposes the issue of existing misperceptions among cultures in today’s world. In order to show that intercultural understanding can be achieved, two cross-cultural framework of analysis are used: Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions and the GLOBE Project. The findings of both studies are analyzed in a qualitative manner in order to identify possible similarities that might help draw links these two geographically distant cultures. After analyzing the findings of those two cross-cultural studies, some cultural similarities were found between the societies of Colombia and the so called Arab countries. Finally, upon reviewing the case of the Asia-Pacific Studies Center at Universidad EAFIT in Medellin, Colombia, it is proposed to replicate such an experience with a possible MENA studies center. This paper addresses the so far unstudied issue of the relations between Colombia and MENA; it also proposes a means to foster their rapprochement.

Remittances, in many Latin American and Caribbean countries, represented more than 10% of the national GDP in 2010 (Inter-American Development Bank, 2011); they have become an important source of financing in many of these economies, in fact, for countries, like El Salvador, Nicaragua, Guatemala, it is the second largest source of financing after Foreign Direct Investment (Multilateral Investment Fund, 2011). Although this is a significant aspect, it is also important to highlight other consequences. The study shows that increasing levels of remittances could cause an appreciation of the exchange rate; the effects could be even more damaging if these inflows are not managed correctly by public and private institutions, as remittances create a situation similar to the Dutch Disease paradigm. The paper suggests that there is not enough research on the study of migrants’ nature; this leads to contrary opinions about the effect of remittances on long term economic growth affecting the findings other authors have reached in this field. The paper concludes that well developped financial institutions can channel remittances inflows to investment projects leading to higher opportunities to promote long term economic growth. Additionally these institutions can offer better instruments to national companies in order to reduce exchange rate volatility.

Similar to the general trend, Spain and its minority nation, Catalonia, increasingly rely on indigenous acquisition as a growth strategy for the internationalization of its communication industries (de Moragas, Garitaonandia, & Lopez, 1999; de Mateo, 2000; Folch-Serra, & Nogue-Font, 2001). Due to the affect of media on cultures (Schramm, 1964; Rogers, 1988), media internationalization and convergence often result in direct influence on national cultures. Through content creation and distribution, large media conglomerates tend to transform local cultural traditions as consumers tend to mimic transmitted media content (Boyd-Barrett, 2003). The case might be somewhat different in minority-owned media companies.This leads to the main question of this research: does a minority-owned host firm interfere with the culture of its foreign audience through the content creation and distribution of its subsidies? This interdisciplinary critical case study chose to explore the aspect of globalization in the FDI practices of Grupo Planeta, a Catalan minority media conglomerate. As both functionalist (e.g. Hofstede, 1981) and interpretivist (Bormann, 1983; Glaser, Zamanou, & Hacker 1987; Keyton, 2005) researchers agree that organizational structure and culture are strongly influenced by the owner’s identity and tied to their values, norms, and ethics. Thus, this research concentrates on the effect of the multicultural identity of Grupo Planeta’s owner, Lara, on the FDI and post-merger practices of his organization. While trying to reveal emerging forms of power and culture aspects of globalization, the overarching goal for this research is the advancement of equity and justice in media communication practices globally.

An effect of the globalization process is the increase of the international participation of developing countries firms (dcfs). Most of the extant literature focuses on the internationalization process of the multinational enterprises (mnes) from developed countries, but has paid less attention to the internationalization of dcfs; so it is unclear if the dcfs apply the internationalization theories to their processes of expanding abroad. This article focuses on the Colombian mnes and, with existing data from Colombian cases, will study the applicability of those theories to their internationalization processes. Therefore, it has three intentions: 1. To provide a general overview of the firm internationalization theories; 2. To show Colombian firm adherence these theories to their internationalization processes; and 3. To provide new directions for the internationalization for the Colombian companies.