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El ecoturismo es uno de los sectores que más ha crecido durante los últimos años a nivel global. En América Latina, hay dos países que son potencia en este tema: Costa Rica y Colombia. En el caso de Costa Rica, es líder en el ecoturismo no solo a nivel latinoamericano, sino que se ha distinguido por ser potencia en este sector gracias al desarrollo y crecimiento que ha generado. Por otro lado, Colombia se ha caracterizado por su posición geográfica y por contar con una gran variedad de flora y fauna, de modo que le ofrece al turista, ya sea nacional o internacional, nuevas alternativas y expe­riencias de viaje. Teniendo en cuenta lo anterior, se realizó un benchmarking entre estos dos países con el fin de analizar si es posible tomar la experiencia de Costa Rica e implementarla en Colombia. Se realizó ade­más un análisis de ponderación simple de las variables estratégicas más importantes para el éxito de Costa Rica, y se concluyó con tres variables claves para el ecoturismo: economía, política y lugares ecoturísticos. Para cada una de estas variables, se hizo además un análisis cuantitativo con el fin de estudiar los datos estadísticos que lleven a entender estos elementos y, así mismo, a identificar las oportunidades de negocio. Fi­nalmente, para legitimar los resultados del benchmarking, se realizó una investigación cualitativa con empresas, proyectos y per­sonas expertas en ecoturismo en Colombia. Ecotourism is one of the sectors that glob­ally have been growing the most in recent years. In Latin America there are two countries that are successful in this area: Costa Rica and Colombia. In the case of Costa Rica, it is a leader in ecotourism not only at the Latin American level, but it has also distinguished itself as a power in this sector thanks to the development and growth they have generated. On the other hand, Colombia has been characterized by its geographical position and for having a great variety of flora and fauna, offering national and international tourists new alternatives and travel experiences. Tak­ing this into account, a benchmarking was carried out between these two countries in order to analyze whether it is possible to take the experiences of Costa Rica and implement them in Colombia. A simple weighting analysis of the most important strategic variables for Costa Rica’s success was also carried out, arriving at three key variables for ecotourism: economy, politics and ecotourism places. For each of these, a quantitative analysis was also carried out to study the statistical data that leads us to understand these elements and also identify business opportunities. Finally, to legitimize the results of the benchmarking, a qualitative investigation was carried out with companies, projects and experts in ecotourism in Colombia.

This research is premised on the proposition that mastering organizational change skills may help improve success rate of change initiatives. The overall purpose of this empirical, cross-national study was to explore whether perceptions of organizational change skills differ across nations. Using a convenience sample, structured interviews were conducted with 90 managers and executives in three regions: the USA, the Baltics and South America to collect quantitative and qualitative data. Statistical significance of between-group differences in means was obtained with the help of one-way ANOVA, and differences in percentages were established using a chi square test. Most of the change skills were perceived similarly across the three regions, but nevertheless, there were some differences. More communication and managing the change process skills were believed to be present in organizations in the USA, while understanding internal and external environment was more characteristic of the Baltics and South America. Respondents in these two regions also considered interpersonal and social skills to be more important. Respondents’ awareness of change skills was quite low without prompting. However, when prompted, all pre-established 11 groups of skills (Somerville & Whelan-Berry, 2009) were rated as important, and the majority of respondents were confident that these skills could be found in their organization. Given the relatively few differences that were found across the three regions, this suggests that cross-border dissemination of organizational change skills is possible, but each geography requires a slight adaptation. The findings also suggest that if those leading/managing change initiatives recognize that there are at least 11 groups of change skills, and cultivate these skills within the organization, this could increase the success rate of change initiatives. Given the paucity of empirical research relating to change skills generally, and cross-national considerations specifically, and the importance of change for organizations globally, this exploratory empirical research makes important contributions.

Most workers report that they are alienated from their jobs and find their workplaces to be stifling and uninviting. Given this condition, the introduction of computer technology, including AI, will only make matters worse, unless a more humane organizational culture is created. The key point in this article is the need to produce a responsible technology, so that employees are not further overworked and manipulated. To achieve this end, phenomenology is invoked, particularly the life world, to provide technology with a human foundation. In practice, this shift in philosophy means that when AI is introduced into an organization, workers have a central role in the design, implementation, and evaluation of this technology. Computer technology can thus promote human flourishing instead of control and alienation in workplaces.

This chapter is based on the experiences of a Colombian engineering company from 2003 through to 2013. The company was a local engineering office of an international oil services company based in Scotland but also with substantial offices in US and around the world. In 2003, the company was making a loss and in 2004 had to reduce down to 60 people. It had a traditional “command & control” approach to management. Over a period of seven years we developed a unique culture/working model which focused on allowing employees to contribute and participate in the running of the company and removed all bureaucratic barriers that restricted its employees from working effectively. The company grew to over 1200 in 2013. The chapter explains the success of removing organization charts, eliminating policies and procedures, eliminating working hours, and allowing employees to recruit new staff, manage their own holidays, and set their own salaries, which produced a fully motivated culture and successful company.

Rev.esc.adm.neg Looking for the best results that support company sustainability, diverse methodologies focusing on productivity and efficiency have been developed. Under this perspective, the trends of Human Talent Management look for high productive workers and to have low rates of personnel rotation (Bruce, 2006; Wu y Lee, 2001; Fisher, 2000; Lyons, 2006). However, most of these trends do not surpass the reductionist version of the market which only consider a company as a producer of goods or services (Schumacher, 1975), or the managerial paradigms that create structures opposing human resource management (Maslow, 1968; Berger y Luckmann, 1967; Senge et.al., 1994). The Humanistic Management is an exception as it offers another managerial option based on the existing people in the company, not seen as resources but what they really are: human beings. Its principles focus on alteration, non- ideologies and organizational social obligations (Largacha-Martínez, 2010b). In this paper, the outcomes of a qualitative study in seven companies coordinated by the Humanistic Management Network are presented (Von Kimakowitz, et. al, 2011), analyzing them from the perspective of excellence and organizational learning

This research proposes a microcredit model as an analysis tool that facilitates the design of clear policies, enabling through microcredit that entrepreneurship in Colombia understands the individual and collective benefits of being a formally established economic agent and the possibilities for development that this brings to the company in its stage of gestation and consolidation.

In ‘Emotional Intelligence’ the seminal work by Daniel Goleman (2007), he was able to build on the former research done by Gardner and others and challenge the supremacy of the IQ — the rational/logical type of intelligence. This is a very important event because from the time of Taylor’s scientific revolution, the idea of the Other as a subjective-emotional construction has been invisible to the management mainstream arena. This argument’s veracity is illustrated by Jim Collins (2005) in his book ‘From Good to Great’. In this book, heargues that more than 90 per cent of the corporations that he and his team researched, still practice Theory X: a command and control style of management. Hence, Goleman’s challenge was not only to management practices, but also to the mainstream world-views and paradigms (see Kuhn 1996) that relate to the type of moral behaviour that emerges from scientific management.

La Universidad EAN cuenta con un portafolio de ofertas y servicios que surge de la necesidad de articular la investigación l sector empresarial y, hacer del ejercicio de la investigación un desarrollo útil para la economía de nuestro país. Este libro expone los 11 modelos de gestión del portafolio, con los cuales cuenta la Universidad para fortalecer el quehacer de la gerencia y mejorar los procesos inmersos dentro de una organización. Estos son: Gerencia, Emprendimiento, Innovación, Entorno Corporativo, Sostenibilidad, Complejidad, Desarrollo Tecnológico, Responsabilidad Social, Comunicación Organizacional, Negocios Culturales y Formación Corporativa. The EAN University has a service portfolio that comes up from the necessity to articulate research to the business sector, and to make from exercise research a useful development for our country’s economy. This book shows the 11 models of portfolio management used by the University to strengthen the management tasks and improve processes immersed within an organization: management, entrepreneurship, innovation, corporate environment, sustainability, complexity, technological development, social responsibility, organizational communication, cultural business and corporate training.

Peter Senge (1994) argues that mental models are social constructions that normally are invisible for us, which explain why they are so difficult to change. Since they are founded on deep-seated be...