This selective directory of
books related to the Americas region (North, Central, and South America and
the Caribbean) is provided in association with Amazon.com as a convenient
source of books which may be of interest. The search tool at
left enables you to look up any books, magazines, videos or DVD's directly
on their website, rather than by following our own suggestions. Direct
links for review and purchase of specific items are found through the topic
sections and subtopics below.
Please refer to the Disclosure section
below for instructions if
you wish to buy any of the suggested items, and Suggestions if you think we should add or remove anything.
Refer also to our Global Contacts
directories.
"Buy From ..." is a quick way to add items
of potential interest to
your shopping cart on Amazon.com , which you can then review before buying
this or any other selections.
Book
(or media) title
The ISBN (International Standard Book
Number) may help to find a book in libraries or other sources, especially if
out of print or not readily available. It is the ASIN on Amazon.com
Our
abstract / comment
The cover image links to Amazon.com
for more information about the item, such as the comments of reviewers and
their own suggestions of related titles.
This guide to corporate expansion planning shares the
insights of a veteran leader of global business site selection consulting
for location choices by corporate executives.
Marcel was the founder of Plant
Location International in Brussels, and has assisted many leading
corporations with their expansion plans around the world.
O Brasil Que Dá Certo : O Novo Ciclo de
Crescimento, 1994-2005
0070340846 - English
If you can handle the Portuguese, or can find the English
translation (roughly : The Brazil That Gets it Right : The New Cycle of
Growth, but McGraw-Hill changed it to
"Brazil : The Emerging Economic Boom") this was an interesting
work by a Brazilian business consultant, author of business magazine
articles, and professor at the University of São Paulo
who earned his Master's at the Harvard Business School.
In 1994, he argued that Brazil was finally going
to turn the corner and get it right through some of the recent political and
economic changes that were in progress at the time, as well as the basic
macroeconomic and social conditions which existed (i.e., in spite of bad
policies) on which a new cycle of rapid growth could develop.
Today, he might be advised to write a sequel
about the Brazil that swings to the left (under the new President Lula)
before the time runs out on his earlier predictions of another decade like
the "Brazilian miracle" years of the 1970's, when there was a large surge of
foreign investment into Brazil during that authoritarian / technocrat period
of military rule. Will the next decade see Brazil finally "get it
right", or become another "lost decade" of bad economic policies with good
intentions? Brazil should be able to develop much faster than
countries such as China and India, and become very attractive to foreign
investment again, despite its problems. It isn't there yet, but Kanitz
was right - the last decade showed it really is possible.
Stephen Kanitz
1994
Bruce Donnelly
Stephen
Kanitz claims credit for having predicted
in 1984 (also against conventional wisdom) the recessionary period of the "lost
decade" that led up to the time of this book, and there were certainly many
significant changes in the Brazilian economy which his analysis seems to
have foreseen before most other observers might have been willing to stick
their necks out and predict it.
I don't know whether he has written anything lately.
He would probably just be published in Portuguese now, perhaps in magazine
articles - look in the list of Brazil
contacts at the bottom of the page for other sources of information,
such as websites for Brazilian media.
It might be worth investigating, since he
seems to be a well-informed and
perceptive analyst who takes a longer-term view of Brazil's development, which is
rare in a country where some top executives say "the only thing you can predict
is that the sun will come up tomorrow - anything beyond that is pure
speculation" .
How to Be a Carioca
8585556013
Rio de Janeiro is different from the rest of Brazil, and
especially São Paulo. If you are going to
Rio, this would be a useful introduction to the way of life of the Cariocas
(people who live in Rio).
Behaving Brazilian : A Comparison of North American and
Brazilian Social Behavior
0838428495
Part of a series on cross-cultural, non-verbal social
communications published by Newbury House, with editorial guidance by Thomas
Sebeok of Indiana University. Others in the series included Japan, and
were to include China. I have not yet tried to track down subsequent
versions or other books in the series, but this one on Brazil was excellent
at the time. Since Brazilian gestures, idiomatic expressions and other
details change fairly rapidly, often in response to media such as the
popular "novelas" (soap operas) on TV, there would undoubtedly be new
details, but the basics should still apply 20 years later. May be
found in university libraries with Portuguese language studies.
Phyllis Harrison
1983
Bruce Donnelly
Brazil
0916562514
A historical novel along similar lines (and length) to what
James Michener and others have written elsewhere. Useful insights into Brazilian
history and culture.
Foreign Ownership and the Consequences of Direct Investment
in the United States: Beyond Us and Them
156720113X
Professors at the University of South Carolina's business
school; analysis of the similarities and differences between US and foreign
investors in the US to help guide policy decisions
Douglas Woodward, Douglas Nigh
1998
Bruce Donnelly
Foreign Direct Investment in the United States (3rd Ed)
0881322040
Institute for International Economics study
Edward Graham, Paul Krugman
2001
Bruce Donnelly
The Handbook of Joint Venturing
0870947044
Articles contributed by various specialists for US and
international joint ventures; Scott Hartz later led PwC Consulting, still
has useful insights for those interested in JV's
John Carter, Robert Cushman, Scott Hartz
1988, 1989
Bruce Donnelly-
formerly employed by PwC, represented their global location consultants
Thomas Paine : Collected Works - Common Sense, The Crisis, Rights of Man,
The Age of Reason
1883011035
Along with the earlier Common Sense, Paine's writings
in Rights of Man and elsewhere are still relevant to an understanding
of the era of the American and French revolutions, and his vision of
endeavoring through his writings "to conciliate mankind, to render their
condition happy, to unite nations that have hitherto been enemies, and to
extirpate the world of the horrid practice of war, and break the chains of
slavery and oppression". More than 200 years later, those are still
challenging ambitions, but there has been great progress.
Just as Americans need to better understand the people and
cultures of other countries, people who choose to invest or live in the USA,
or do business with it, can benefit by understanding views such as these
which are deeply rooted in our sense of national purpose.
The Future of Inter-American Relations (An
Inter-American Dialogue Book)
041592216X
Overview of current policy issues
Jorge Dominguez
1999
Bruce Donnelly
Exiting the Whirlpool : US Foreign Policy Toward Latin
America and the Caribbean
0813338115
Despite some bias in favor of the Carter policies during his
period of service, this can still provide timely insights into developments
in the region in recent years.
Robert Pastor
2001
Bruce Donnelly
Modern Latin America
0195129962
History of the region
Thomas Skidmore, Peter Smith
2000
Bruce Donnelly
Latin America Transformed : Globalization and
Modernity
0340691654
Moving beyond history to analysis of current
trends and issues in the changing development of the region
Robert Gwynne, Cristobal Kay
1999
Bruce Donnelly
Americas: The Changing Face of Latin America and the
Caribbean
0520221818
Lighter overview treatment as companion to a
public television series
Peter Winn
1999
Bruce Donnelly
Talons of the Eagle: Dynamics of U.S.-Latin
American Relations
0195129989
Good textbook coverage of the history of
relations
Peter Smith
1999
Bruce Donnelly
Path Between the Seas: The Creation of the Panama Canal,
1870-1914
Once again, books are sometimes interesting in hindsight by
showing how people thought and perceived events at one point in history in the
midst of a period of change involving unpredictable future scenarios, rather
than with the benefit of 20-20 hindsight as a historian.
This 1978
book defined the Republican opposition at the time to the approval of the
Panama Canal treaties, with endorsements not only by Ronald Reagan but also
by people such as Sen. Orrin Hatch, Paul Laxalt, and Jesse Helms. It
may also be interesting to review other books about the period when the
Canal was built, and American foreign policy in that era, which had been
more expansionist and militaristic than would likely ever be regarded as
politically acceptable in the US today. It was a very different era
worldwide, and US leaders tried to advance US interests as they perceived
them at the time, whether or not we agree with benefit of hindsight.
Congressman Philip Crane, with intro. by former Gov. Ronald
Reagan (before he became President)
1978
Bruce Donnelly
Quantifying Sustainable Development: The Future
of Tropical Economies
Living in Latin America : A Case Study in Cross-Cultural
Communications
0844293415
Textbook used with foreign language programs, the title is a
bit misleading since the focus of the research is mainly about Colombia, but
it can still provide some useful insights about living in Latin America.
Raymond Gorden
1986
Bruce Donnelly
Che Guevara, A Revolutionary Life
0802135587
A well rated and more recent study than the one below
Jon Lee Anderson
1998
Bruce Donnelly
Ché Guevara, A Biography
0815411448
Originally published in 1969, this updated version can
provide insights into a legendary figure in the region who had a lasting
impact on guerilla movements worldwide, but the author isn't exactly
unbiased in his analysis
Daniel James
1969, 2001
Bruce Donnelly
Note that some of the books may be out of print and unavailable for
purchase, but are still listed because copies may be found in major
libraries. There is also a separate section which highlights
magazines and professional associations
related to this market, as well as
governmental sources.
The lists of area representatives for specific countries may also include
additional sources of information at the bottom of the lists.
We may provide links
to other sources as
appropriate (consultants, US Government publications, United Nations, The World Bank,
etc.). For example, consultants and development agencies
may publish major surveys or research reports which are useful, but not available
through Amazon.com.
We
welcome additional suggestions. Please note that our intended
focus is to find items with enduring or timely insights which can be applied
to the needs of corporate executives, professional service providers, or
area representatives in this niche of corporate development and investment.
We are not trying to compile a "best-seller" list, or selections which are
primarily academic research (analysis without clear application to business
decisions), journalistic (superficial, hot news of the moment), or not very
objective (unless that bias is important for executives to understand).
This is intended to be a list which makes it easier to find practical
"thought leadership" publications quickly and easily for a selective range
of topics.
If
you wish to contribute your opinions about any of the publications, please
do so through the Amazon.com process for book reviews so that others may
share your insights and find such resources. We welcome your comments about the reasoning
behind your suggestions to us, or feedback about the appropriateness and
practical value of our prior selections from your perspective, but we will not
generally publish such comments here.
If you wish to be identified as the source of a specific
suggestion, we can only do that with your explicit permission (name, title,
and organization). Otherwise, we will typically use only a generic
identifier to characterize the source, such as "a location consultant", "an
M&A advisor", "a CEO", etc.
The presence of a book or other media in this list does not represent
an endorsement by us of such materials or their content. Although
this is a selective list, and we may specifically include publications
which are contrary to our own views or experience. Our purpose is
simply to make it easier for our many contacts to find useful reference
materials and make their own decisions, as we do through our many website
listings.
For example, we may disagree with some authors, but respect their
research work or their presentation of a different point of view, and feel
that users of this website can form and share their own opinions as book
reviewers. We think that professionals in this niche can contribute
in a very positive way to important debates on sustainable development,
"globalization", urban and rural development, the "brain drain" effect of
migration, the impact of transnational corporations on developing countries,
technology transfer, intellectual property rights, and other topics related
to foreign direct investment and economic development on which there are no
easy answers. If you contribute good book reviews, then other users of
Amazon.com can directly benefit from your experience as another professional
perspective on these important topics, and perhaps thereby also become aware
of your organization if you wish.
Disclosure : You can support our
work by purchasing items directly through these links to specific
publications, or by shopping for items at Amazon.com in general
(including anything else you may find after following one of these links).
This does not affect your price at Amazon.com, but we earn a small
referral fee for your purchase.
The referral fees we would receive are 15% for purchasing
the items directly following one of the publication links we provide (without shopping
on other Amazon.com pages before adding the publication to your shopping
cart), or 5% for buying other items through Amazon.com after
following these links.
Examples : If you follow the cover link, browse around Amazon.com for other ideas
such as their related book suggestions, and
then still buy the item we suggested, we only get 5%.
If you first add an item to your cart by using the "Buy
From Amazon.com" quick links we have provided, and
then shop around or review additional product details to reconfirm that our
suggestion is what you are seeking, we get 15% (and if, after you shop around a little, you
decide to remove it from your cart, we get zero, or 5% of whatever else you
choose).
Likewise, if you are going to buy multiple items from this
list of suggestions, we won't get the 15% referral fee on more than one
unless you actually return to our pages and then follow our links back to
the other choices, such as by using the "Buy From ..." links
repeatedly. If you track down the same books through their
pages, or go to their many other services before making the purchase, we
would just get 5%.
If you wish to support our work, you may therefore
wish to consider how you place your orders. Add an item to your cart
right after you follow the link, if you think you are interested, and
then you can remove it later if you change your mind after closer
review of other Amazon.com comment, such as their sample pages, alternative
book suggestions, or book reviews. If their further
content persuades you to buy something else instead, or to not buy an item
we suggested,
then we haven't really earned the higher fee level by the referral.
Any income from such purchases are purely incidental to
our work, but this helps to confirm that users of this website are finding
this referral service to be useful, so that we can justify the work involved
to maintain and improve it. It also provides a very easy and private
way for us to monitor whether interest in this feature is rising or falling
(by the volume of fees) as we maintain it. We do not track who uses this page, who
buys what, or who follows which link. We respect your privacy.
Any income received just indicates in a tangible way whether, taken as a
whole, our many
contacts appreciate and are using this referral service. If we earn the 15% referral
fee very often, that suggests users are making a special effort to reward our work by paying
attention to the above details about how Amazon.com rewards their referral
sources. Thank you for your consideration.
Add our site search tool to your iGoogle page
