Mission and Goals

Georgetown's GCG journal aims to provide the latest research insights for companies and governments to advance Latin American countries' competitiveness and governability in a globalized world. The journal serves the region's academic and scientific communities as the publication of reference for new ideas on the topics of Globalization, Competitiveness, and Governability in Latin America. It facilitates shared knowledge among the various Latin American academic communities, bringing academia closer together around the study of specific areas. The journal includes theoretical contributions, practical applications, and real case studies.

The journal pursues the following goals:

• Analyze globalization and competitiveness as determining factors in the region and offer adequate solutions;
• Put into perspective the variables of global competitiveness, such as international standards, quality service, and benchmarking;
• Reinforce the relation between international and domestic public policies and countries' performance;
• Explore differences and generate consensus regarding the roles and responsibilities of international institutions concerning global affairs;
• Respond to international events by providing current information and analysis; and
• Promote strategic dialogue on public policies affecting the region among academia, international institutions with interest in the region, and private and public sector leaders.

Background

The first topic chosen for the magazine – globalization – is a reality that affects Latin America and the world. Following its birth in the 19th century and its post-World War I decline, the globalization process has gained new strength in the last third of the 20th century and early 21st century. This is due to advances in transport, IT, and communication developments and the spread of the idea that the basis for economic growth is a free market. It is a cross-border phenomenon affecting economic, political, technological, and cultural relations while giving rise to interdependent ties between states, companies, organizations, and individuals. Thus, globalization has resulted in a rapid reduction in barriers to the movement of ideas, capital, and people, opening new markets, and the government's withdrawal from the economic arena.

Globalization affects every country regardless of its economic, political or social situation. In this context, as states endeavor to adapt their policies to new demands, companies deploy strategies to attain an increasingly globally integrated production system. The globalized world forces us to seek and develop appropriate ways to undergo this process. Today, discussions about the advantages and disadvantages of globalization are insignificant and unimportant in the face of the great need to determine the necessary conditions for countries, companies, and individuals to really benefit from it.

Competitiveness has thus become essential in achieving that aim. It is the answer to the challenge resulting from increased competition in the global market and the solution that makes it possible to correct the inefficiencies not permitted by globalization due to the magnitude of their consequences and the speed and irreversible nature of their evolution. The dynamics of globalization, accentuated by the technology phenomenon, have increased commercial and financial operations and, therefore, competition in those markets. On this basis, globalization requires the transformation of production systems and the adoption of strategies to foster more substantial competitiveness.

However, both globalization and competitiveness are essentially governed by market forces, which force the introduction of significant changes aimed at increasing efficiency so that a better use may be made of the advantages of globalization. Responsibility for bringing about these changes lies not only with the private sector but also with the State.

One of the factors that ensure a competitive environment is more robust and better governability, which requires a remodeling of the State. This does not involve disbanding the institutions that comprise it, but rather refocusing its public policies to prevent them from restricting companies' maneuver fields and instead ensuring that such companies can become fully integrated in a dynamic global society brimming with opportunity. We must therefore abandon protectionism and isolationism in favor of liberalization and deregulation processes. Governments must also create an institutional framework that guarantees the transparency and stability of transactions entered into between economic and social actors. In this context, the State must rid itself of its central role in the country's development and restrict itself to laying down the right rules to enable economic actors to reach the efficiency levels required to compete in a globalized market.