Americanization of Brazilian Business and Management Curriculum

Abstract

The chapter addresses how imported mainstream management practices have impacted curriculum design and content in Brazil’s higher education sector. The potential “Americanization” of Brazilian business schools, represented by the adoption of practices and models from the Global North, prompted concerns that a universalist view of management could exclude other realities and forms of knowledge. Discussions around themes such as progress and modernity as defined by those in developed nations led to a series of overdue debates on colonialism and Latin America. Various authors have addressed these concerns and proposed ways to integrate different perspectives into teaching—without compromising the richness of the local context and local voices—and grounded on debates of decolonization. We echo these sentiments and suggest a move away from the transfer of practices to a focus on the transformation of management knowledge through knowledge co-creation, where dominant narratives and practices contemplate local practices and realities. We believe academics are at the core of these dynamics as their roles go beyond teaching and into negotiating tensions in complex contexts. Through a combination of knowledge and experience with local realities, continuous learning and reflection, academics are instrumental to the process of social transformation in Brazil.