The cold war and the teaching of management in Brazil: the case of FGV-EAESP

Abstract

The Cold War lasted from the end of the 2nd World War to the collapse of the Soviet Union (USSR) in 1991. It covered an important era in the development and spreading of ways of thinking about teaching management. This article analyzes the question of whether the Cold War exerted an influence on the way ideas about management were imported into Brazil. To undertake this, we analyze the Business Administration School of Sao Paulo at the Getulio Vargas Foundation which was a pilot institution for introducing the new management to Brazil. The article focuses on the first records of the meetings of the Assembly and Council of the School Administration and seeks to show the influence of the USA on the setting up of FGV-EAESP and how this influence is steeped in the rationale of the Cold War which involved encouraging the development of Third World nations. The article provides an opportunity to investigate to what extent there was a form of Americanization in the teaching of business administration in Brazil.