"This is an historic day," noted Argentina's President Fernando de la Rúa, the guest of honor at the inaugural dinner of the School's Latin America Research Center (LARC) in Buenos Aires. "We are opening up communication," de la Rúa stated. "Knowledge is the factor that produces change and freedom."

A multifaceted research conference titled "Partnering for Knowledge Creation" was held to celebrate the center's opening last August 3-4. Prominent university academics and top business leaders from ten countries were among the 130 attendees, as well as a number of HBS faculty who conduct research in Latin America. The two-day event featured a case discussion (on Embraer, the Brazilian commercial aircraft manufacturer), presentations and analysis of new research, and discussions on the complexities of case writing throughout the region.

Gustavo A. Herrero (MBA 1976), executive director of the LARC, noted that the center is striving to "combine strengths" among different institutions throughout the region and at HBS. Part of its mission, he explained, will be to assist HBS faculty members by generating case leads and identifying management issues that may be of interest to them. At the same time, the center staff will discuss ideas with faculty, assist with research, and collaborate with people from the region on topics of mutual interest. "We view ourselves as a link between HBS faculty and the region," said Herrero.

Professor Howard H. Stevenson, chair of the HBS Latin America Faculty Advisory Group, served as cochair of the conference with Professor James E. Austin. Stevenson noted that the entire project has been a key element of the School's ongoing Global Initiative. "Our purpose is to cultivate research as well as course development that will be available for teaching at HBS and at other institutions throughout the world," he stated.

During the center's early planning phases, Stevenson noted, the faculty advisory group found that 144 HBS cases had already been written on Latin American companies. "So this is not a new effort," he remarked. "It's just a more organized effort, and we are trying to lower the barriers for our faculty to be involved."

Dean Kim B. Clark emphasized that the center and conference are a means for the School to connect more meaningfully with academia and businesses. "It goes beyond learning about a particular kind of company and region of the world. If in two decades," Clark said, "we were to come back and assess what we have accomplished as a community, my dream is that we will be able to talk about ideas and new insights because we had ventured out into the world in a far deeper way."

In his remarks to participants, Professor Austin nostalgically recalled a journey he had made 34 years before, returning from Peace Corps service in Chile to study at HBS.

"When the plane took off, it flew over the Andes," Austin told conference attendees. "It was early morning, and the mountains were covered with a white blanket of snow. In the first rays of the morning sun they looked full of diamonds.

"After three decades, the beauty of Latin America has not changed," Austin continued, "but everything else has. This center was created in recognition of the fact that we are living in a very changed world and that we have to study it, investigate it, learn, and teach."

This article was based on material that originally appeared on the HBS Working Knowledge portal (hbsworkingknowledge.hbs.edu).

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