2012 Annual Conference - Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Latin American Firms Competing in the Global Economy

Hosted by PUC Rio de Janeiro

Program Chair: Jorge Carneiro

BALAS 2012 Annual Conference, held at PUC-Rio in March, was a great success with a record number of submissions (226) from several Latin American countries, the US and Europe. The acceptance rate of only 54% indicates the rigor applied in the initial screening of the papers. The conference theme "Latin American Firms Competing in the Global Economy" attracted more than 200 participants: scholars, managers, public policy officers, and students. A total of 37 Brazilian and 41 non-Brazilian academic institutions were represented. The exchange of ideas and experiences as well as the networking opportunities were highlights of the conference.

The 2012 BALAS Conference also featured a doctoral consortium where 10 doctoral students received advice on their dissertation projects from six experienced professors. A seminar on "Generalizing to Populations via Case Study Research" by Prof. Arch Woodside, Boston College, brilliantly closed the doctoral consortium.

The opening plenary session featured presentations by four distinguished experts: Jose de la Torre (Emeritus Professor, Florida International University), Eduarda La Rocque (Secretary of Finance of Rio de Janeiro), Jo䯠Carlos Ferraz (Vice-President, BNDES - Brazilian Development Bank), and Guilherme Dale (Founding Partner of Spencer Stuart, Brazil). The gala dinner, that took place at a cultural pavilion in Rio historical downtown, gave the participants a meritorious chance to relax after the intense days of conference sessions. IAG, the Business School of PUC-Rio, is very proud to have been given the opportunity to host this renowned conference.

We would like to thank the following sponsors whose financial contribution was invaluable for the conference: CNPq, Petrobras, Faperj, CFA, Coppead/UFRJ, FGV/Eaesp, and Euromonitor.

Click here to link to more 2012 BALAS Conference photos.