“Una enseñanza maravillosa para cualquiera que aspire a ser emprendedor. Este es un libro de la historia de un hombre que supo superar los problemas de su época”. -Fernando Elizondo Barragán “Las páginas de este libro nos muestran las distintas facetas de un hombre que fue capaz de transformar vidas, empresas, instituciones e influir en la vida de su comunidad y país”. -Juan Gerardo Garza Treviño “Don Eugenio Garza Sada fue un humanista, pero no en el sentido de los libros, por las letras clásicas o por la pintura, es humanista en el sentido pleno del tiempo, le interesaba el Hombre. La diferencia entre Garza Sada y los políticos es que él era un hombre de gestión y de pocas palabras, y la mayoría de los políticos son de muchas palabras y de poca acción”. -Javier Garciadiego Dantán

This book is a gateway to Eugenio Garza Sada’s extraordinary life; to his outstanding leadership, crucial in so many of the initiatives that have transformed Mexico. It is an inspiring testimonial, one that underscores his legacy at Tec de Monterrey and leaves us with a deep sense of gratitude and pride. Our duty and challenge is to continue creating the conditions for his historic contributions to flourish. David Garza President of Tecnológico de Monterrey Eugenio Garza Sada’s ideas and actions show us the inspiring life of a great man, whom ahead of his time, with his beliefs and actions of social capitalism, enriches, guides, and keeps motivating us to continue his legacy; he is a fundamental part of the history of Monterrey, Mexico. José Antonio Fernández C. Executive Chairman of the Board of FEMSA and Chairman of the Board of Tecnológico de Monterrey

Entrepreneurs develop based on their surroundings. It is easy to understand US entrepreneurs, with the wealth of information available about their development, but how does working in Mexico influence entrepreneurship, and emerging entrepreneurs?

This edited volume constitutes the first available comprehensive business history of Latin America available in English. It offers a unique synthesis of the development of capitalism in Latin America that takes into consideration the complexities of each country, while simultaneously understanding broader commonalities. With chapters written by a group of internationally renowned senior scholars with a long trajectory in business historical research, the volume is divided into two major areas. First, the development of capitalism in some of the major economies of the region (Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, and Peru) through the lens of management strategic decisions and entrepreneurial activity. And second, the long-term evolution of factors affecting the region’s particular evolution of capitalism and business systems. They include the rise of environmentally sustainable businesses; the impact of crime on entrepreneurial activity; the evolution of family firms, the changing strategies of multinational corporations in the region; the evolution of business groups; the role of female entrepreneurs; and the challenges for conducting business in a region with poor infrastructure. This insightful collection serves both as a straightforward introduction for those looking for a broad understanding of the region and for those interested in conducting comparative studies between Latin America and other areas of the world. It will be of direct appeal to researchers and advanced students of business and economic history and international business in particular.

As the 21st Century unfolds, the traditional welfare state that evolved during the 20th Century faces serious threats to the solidarity that social programs were meant to strengthen. The rise of populist and nationalist parties reflects the decline of a sense of belonging and inclusiveness that mass education and economic progress were meant to foster, as traditional politics and parties are rejected by working- and middle-class individuals who were previously their staunchest supporters. Increasingly, these groups reject the growing gaps in income, power, and privilege that they perceive between themselves and highly educated and cosmopolitan business, academic, and political elites. When Strangers Become Family examines the potential role of civil society organizations in guaranteeing the rights and addressing the needs of vulnerable groups, paying particular attention to their role in advocacy for and service delivery to older people. The book includes a discussion of the origins and functions of this sector that focuses on the relationship between the state and non-governmental organizations, as well as a close examination of Mexico – a middle-income nation with a rapidly aging population and limited state welfare for older people. The data reveals important aspects of the relationship among government actors, civil society organizations, and political parties. Ronald Angel and Verónica Montes-de-Oca Zavala ask the fundamental question about the extent to which civil society organizations represent a potential mechanism whereby vulnerable individuals can join together to further their own interests and exercise their individual and group autonomy.

In the city of Puebla there lived an American who made himself into the richest man in Mexico. Driven by a steely desire to prove himself-first to his wife's family, then to Mexican elites-William O. Jenkins rose from humble origins in Tennessee to build a business empire in a country energized by industrialization and revolutionary change. In Jenkins of Mexico, Andrew Paxman presents the first biography of this larger-than-life personality. When the decade-long Mexican Revolution broke out in 1910, Jenkins preyed on patrician property owners and bought up substantial real estate. He suffered a scare with a firing squad and then a kidnapping by rebels, an episode that almost triggered a US invasion. After the war he owned textile mills, developed Mexico's most productive sugar plantation, and helped finance the rise of a major political family, the Ávila Camachos. During the Golden Age of Mexican cinema in the 1940s-50s, he lorded over the film industry with his movie theater monopoly and key role in production. By means of Mexico's first major hostile takeover, he bought the country's second-largest bank. Reputed as an exploiter of workers, a puppet-master of politicians, and Mexico's wealthiest industrialist, Jenkins was the gringo that Mexicans loved to loathe. After his wife's death, he embraced philanthropy and willed his entire fortune to a foundation named for her, which co-founded two prestigious universities and funded projects to improve the lives of the poor in his adopted country. Using interviews with Jenkins' descendants, family papers, and archives in Puebla, Mexico City, Los Angeles, and Washington, Jenkins of Mexico tells a contradictory tale of entrepreneurship and monopoly, fearless individualism and cozy deals with power-brokers, embrace of US-style capitalism and political anti-Americanism, and Mexico's transformation from semi-feudal society to emerging economic power.

This edited book is an important contribution to entrepreneurship literature, as it focuses on the sociological aspects of entrepreneurial behavior. The chapters encompass research on social and community-based entrepreneurship and investigate how the cultural and social conditions of a region influence entrepreneurship.