"Management Development and ILO Technical Assistance in the Cold War Era in Latin America"

Drawing on a comprehensive comprehension of management education, training, and development,
this paper is part of a broader research that, together with Prof. Rolv Petter Amdam, explores how
the Geneva-based International Labour Organization (ILO) has contributed to the promotion of the
idea of management development in developing countries since the mid-1950s, in addition to the
circulation of experts and Western management knowledge during the Cold War. The International
Labour Organization (ILO) expressed multiple reasons for launching and supporting management
development initiatives in Latin America. In general, ILO considered management skills as scarce
resources in developing countries, including Latin America. By 1966, ILO could assert its active
involvement in this specific field in 19 countries in Latin America. This paper will analyze these
technical assistance and missions from the late 1950s until the early 1970s. For that, the paper will
analyze quantitative and qualitative data to demonstrate the differing natures of various initiatives
and programs related to productivity and management development over time and their alignment
with other concurrent processes of management education development in Latin America. Although
various scholars have investigated the history of the International Labour Organization (ILO) and its
efforts in social and labor matters, the ILO's development management programs have received little
attention from a business history perspective. The paper aims to enhance the research literature on
business and management history by investigating the possibility of alternative role models, beyond
the United States and transnational agents, for spreading managerial ideas during the Cold War in
the now-called Global South.