HBS Professor Howard H. Stevenson , chair of the HBS Latin America Initiative, noted that the entire project was sparked by an idea of Dean Kim Clark s two years ago. The Latin America Research Center has been a key element of the School s Globalization Initiative. HBS already has offices in Silicon Valley and Hong Kong. As for Latin America, in addition to the new Center in Buenos Aires, according to Stevenson, there is also a satellite office in Rio de Janeiro and may soon be one in Mexico. Our purpose with the Center is to develop intellectual capital.
Intellectual capital is to be shared.
This is not a commercial venture. Our purpose is developing research as well as course development that will be available for teaching at HBS and at other institutions throughout the world. We believe that over time, the quality of the work being created throughout the region merits sharing and merits utilization. In the Center s early planning phases, noted Stevenson, the faculty advisory group found that there have already been 144 HBS cases written on Latin American companies. It s just a more organized effort, and we are trying to lower the barriers for our faculty being involved.