Conference Tracks

Special Track

Sustainable Business: Challenges and Opportunities for Latin America

In an era where environmental concerns and social responsibility are paramount, the Sustainable Business track at the BALAS 2025 Annual Conference offers a crucial platform for innovation and dialogue. This special track invites thought leaders, entrepreneurs, and researchers to explore cutting-edge strategies that balance profitability with planetary stewardship.

Participants will delve into case studies from across Latin America, showcasing companies that have successfully integrated sustainability into their core business models. From renewable energy initiatives in Chile to conservation-driven tourism in Costa Rica, these examples will illustrate the diverse approaches to sustainable business practices in the region.

Key topics will include: Circular economy models and their application in Latin American markets, Indigenous knowledge and its role in sustainable resource management, Impact of ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) criteria on investment in the region, Innovative technologies driving sustainability in traditional industries.

General Tracks

Accounting, Taxation & Control Systems

This track focuses on research in Accounting and Finance in Latin America. It welcomes papers that are relevant to broad issues in accounting or finance for academics in the region. A particular preference is expressed for topics that provide lessons to all participants such as implementation of IFRS, how culture affects financial or accounting issues, research on issues in financial markets. Research papers that compare different countries to arrive at regional perspectives are particularly valued. Very narrow papers in taxation or other national or local topics are unlikely to be successful nor are intensely applied research (e.g. how to file a tax return in particular city or country).

Consumer Behavior

Papers that shed light on the choices of Latin American consumers are welcome in this track. Approaches to understanding the consumer can come from any field such as psychology, anthropology, sociology, etc. The consumer as individual and as part of groups such as families or as types such as gender or socio-economic status. Response to marketing activities would also be appropriate in this track.

Corporate Finance

The financial concerns of companies operating in Latin America or from Latin America is the focus of this track. Means of acquiring funds, investing them, managing, controlling and distributing them are all included. Issues of risk and performance, capitalization, cash flow. Mergers and acquisitions. Annual reports, shareholder interests, governance.

Culture, Social & Ethical Issues

The focus of the culture, social and ethical issues track is on a range of topics that include corporate social responsibility, sustainability, business ethics, cultural differences across borders, and social issues in the workplace.  Papers with an emphasis on how cultural, social and ethical issues impact growth strategies of MNCs within Latin America are of particular interest.  Individual, firm and country level papers are welcome.  In addition, papers that address practitioner concerns related to corruption and moral issues within the context of Latin America are invited as well.  Finally, the idea of cultural shifts due to globalization (or the influence of foreign investors) is particularly relevant to this track.  

Economics & Global Issues 

This track takes a macro view of the Latin American business environment and considers the economics of the region. All economic factors are appropriate such as income, inflation, employment, interest rates, productivity and distribution of wealth. Government policy, natural resources, trade, trading blocks, etc. are all relevant in this track. Political and social trends that affect economics in the region as well as regional trends in business policies and practices.

Entrepreneurship & Family Business

The Entrepreneurship Track is interested in papers that address issues that would be of interests to academics in the entrepreneurship, strategy, general management, family business areas. It includes topics such as small business, family business, strategy and general management. Other topics are management control, ownership, governance and the use of theories to explain behavior of individuals and groups that interact with management and organizational issues. Papers in this track need to address the Latin American context and could compare or contrast the countries of Latin America with those of other regions in their practices and actions.

Financial Markets, Investment and Risk Management

Papers for this track should deal with securities issuance and trading, portfolio management and performance, asset pricing, derivatives and risk management in financial markets, investor behavior, managed funds, financial institutions, and financial market and institutions regulation at a national or international level. Papers should address issues relevant to Latin America.

Information Systems, Business Intelligence, Technology and Operations Management

Papers related to all aspects of IT Management are welcome. IT-specific subjects such as network planning, technical support and software design are appropriate as are general management issues applied to IT such as change management, strategic alliances, competition, evaluation, etc. This track also focuses broadly on the issues related to managing supply chain and operations in manufacturing and service organizations in Latin America. This includes but is not limited to analysis, design and development, technology and systems. Issues related to materials and inventory, manufacturing, transportation and logistics are welcome. Extra-firm issues such as partnerships, regional infrastructure, and environmental issues are also appropriate for this track. Performance improvement, planning, measurement and productivity can be addressed.

Management, HRM & Organizational Behavior

The human resource track receives papers that relate to people and management in organizations. This includes organizational behavior, motivation and coaching, leadership, personality, workplace attitudes, and employee performance. Other topics include more macro issues such as group dynamics, teams, teamwork, organizational culture and culture as social variable that affects individuals and organizations.  The track is interested in papers that traditionally address human resources in Latin America.  This track is also especially interested in papers that relate to Latin American organizations as they move into the new centers of influence and opportunity for Iberoamerican nations, such as East Asia, India, Africa, or the Middle East.

Marketing Management

This track is focused on marketing of services and products and on strategies specific to Latin America. Therefore, themes related to relationship marketing, market orientation, international marketing, product, price, place and promotion management, marketing models, customer equity, branding and brand equity are welcome.

Strategy, International Business & Global Competitiveness

Latin American companies are a growing force around the world even as foreign companies have sustained interest in Latin American investments and markets. This track welcomes papers that explore the effects of policies, strategies, industry perspectives and relationships across borders.

Teaching Cases & Management Education 

This track has two foci. The first is about teaching management in Latin America:  pedagogical projects, curricular frameworks, activities of curricular interest, activities of interdisciplinary integration. Assessment and institutional self-evaluation. Theories of education and the teaching-learning process in Latin America. The teaching-learning relationship. Teaching practices at the different levels of college education. Teaching methodologies. Virtual and in-class learning environments. The second focus is cases used for teaching about management in Latin America. These should be cases prepared for use in the classroom. Teaching notes should be included and do not need to fit the page limit for other papers. Real life cases are preferred over hypothetical cases. Games and other learning exercises are also welcome and should be presented so that they can be used by other teachers.

Management History

This track covers business, management, and organizations broadly and historically. Issues include labor studies, industry history, gender race and ethnicity in labor patterns, managerial organization, historical cultural studies, managerial concepts, practices, and theoretical frameworks that affect communities, and demographic and economic changes in management. Management history proposals should broaden and deepen theoretical frameworks and provide a straightforward approach, constraints, and historical background.

Corporate Governance

This track covers corporate governance in Latin/Ibero-America, inviting diverse theoretical perspectives and disciplines for a holistic understanding. This track seeks to explain the effects of roles and attributes of the board of directors, board committees, CEO, Top Management Teams, and other actors and internal governance mechanisms, alongside the influence of diverse ownership structures, including family owners, private equity, cooperatives, non-profit organizations, state, institutional investors, and activist shareholders. The track also seeks to delve into the impact of external governance mechanisms like institutional rules and cultural norms, as well as the role of stakeholders in shaping enterprises' governance practices, including proxy advisors, audit firms, credit ratings, mergers & acquisitions. Additionally, the track invites a comparative analysis of enterprises' governance across different national contexts, considering the influence of transnational institutions and multi-level governance interactions in a globalizing economy

Doctoral Colloquium

Concerning the Doctoral Colloquium details, click HERE.

Submission Link

The submission link is open HERE. The submissions extended deadline is December 2, 2024.

All submissions MUST be through Easy Chair using your institutional email.