Dr. Llanos-Contreras, Orlando

Ibero-America has been getting increasing attention from scholars in the last few years. Thus, management, finance and marketing research on firms and market functioning in countries from this region has been published in leading journals (e.g. De-la-Hoz and Pombo, 2016; Gomez-Mejia et al., 2007; Jimenez-Jimenez and Sanz-Valle, 2011). To keep learning about the “Challenges and Trends in Management for Ibero-America” is important for supporting new research on studies from Ibero-American countries. For building theory, contributions to this topic should not only respond to unsolved questions on the current literature, but also identify new challenges in terms of theoretical gaps, methods and new areas of research (Easterby-Smith et al., 2012; Eisenhardt and Graebner, 2007; Martinez et al., 2011). Hence, articles within this special issue have been selected looking to meet these criteria. This special issue published eight articles presenting the work of nineteen scholars from eighteen universities of ten different countries. These articles relate to topics on general management, sport management, knowledge management, marketing and finance. The articles’ approaches include quantitative approach based on primary data (survey), a quantitative approach based on secondary information, a qualitative multimethod approach, a mixed method combining qualitative content analysis with quantitative data analysis, a mixed method but using regression and qualitative compared analysis and an experimental design.

Natural disasters are becoming more frequent and severe and pose a threat to family firms' survival. It is important to address the rarely examined question of how the variables of socioemotional wealth importance (SEWi) and entrepreneurial orientation (EO) interact to influence the performance of family businesses in a post-disaster scenario. This study is based on a sample of 307 family businesses that suffered damage as a result of the 2010 earthquake in the Province of Concepción, Chile. Comparative analysis was performed using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) and qualitative comparative analysis (QCA). The PLS-SEM results support all study hypotheses. The QCA results yield five models that explain post-disaster performance. The model with the greatest coverage includes the EO variables of competitive aggressiveness, internal innovativeness, and external innovativeness. However, SEWi is relevant in terms of its interaction with the rest of the variables in three of the five models.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to provide a tool for the integration of knowledge and the development of students’ capacities for analysis in the area of strategic management of companies. Mall Connection is a Chilean company that has developed mainly in the business of the commercialization of technological devices and their accessories. From this base, it has constructed a portfolio of related business and currently has expansion into neighbouring countries as one of its most important challenges. Design/methodology/approach: The case has been developed from primary sources of information, in-depth interviews with the management team of the company and secondary information obtained mainly from the Passport Euromonitor database. This information was processed, analysed and presented in the document so as to give support to the learning outcomes defined in the teaching notes. Findings: The breadth of the case offers flexibility in its application in corporate strategy and business courses. It allows external and internal competitive analysis of the strategy of the company. One central aspect is that it requires students to integrate the theory learnt in their courses with the practical experience described in the case to propose answers to the questions asked. Originality/value: The case is of great value in motivating the learning in MBA students and in courses of business strategy at undergraduate level. It is an original case that allows students to know experiences of entrepreneurship and strategic management in a Latin American context.