Argentina
Jorge Born
- Former President, Bunge y Born (now Bunge Limited) (Agribusiness, Food)
Born Buenos Aires, Argentina, 1934. MBA, Wharton, University of Pennsylvania (1955).
“You need to stay incredibly nimble to anticipate what the government will do, and governments often have no plan of any kind…”
Summary
Jorge Born relates the institutional history of Bunge & Born in the context of the economic and political history of Argentina. He focuses on the importance of education and government to Argentina’s economic growth. He identifies the lack of such conditions in Argentina as the main reason for Bunge & Born's eventual divestment of the majority of its Argentine businesses and its focus on growth instead in Brazil. The interview highlights Bunge & Born's global growth, including successful diversification and internationalization, and its strategy of concentrating on its core businesses of paint, textiles, and food. He also comments on the challenges and rewards of running a successful family business.
Additional Resources
- Bunge: Food, Fuel, and World Markets [HBS Case]
- Bunge: Poised for Growth [HBS Case]
- Bunge Ltd. [HBS Case]
- Bunge Company History
- Maria O’Donnell, Born. Buenos Aires: Editorial: Sudamericana, 2015
- María Inés Barbero, “Business Groups in Nineteenth and Twentieth Century Argentina,” in Geoffrey Jones and Andrea Lluch, eds., The Impact of Globalization on Argentina and Chile: Business Enterprise and Entrepreneurship. Northampton, Mass.: Edward Elgar, 2015
- Mariela Ceva, “De la exportación cerealera a la diversificación industrial: Las empresas Bunge y Born en Argentina (1884-1940),” Estudios Migratorios Latinoamericanos 22-23, no. 65 (April 2009): 81-98
- Brian Caplen, “Decline of an Argentine Dynasty,” Euromoney, Jan. 1999, 51
- “Families Feud at Bunge & Born,” BusinessWeek, May 31, 1992
- Jorge Schvarzer, Bunge & Born: Crecimiento y diversificación de un grupo económico. CISEA: Grupo Editor Latinoamericano, c.1989
- “Inflation Unites Peronists and Argentine Business,” New York Times, August 7, 1989
- Janette Staubus, “As Bunge y Born Goes, So Does Argentina (Argentina’s Largest Multinational Firm),” Multinational Business (1989)
- Raúl H. Green, El poder de Bunge & Born. Buenos Aires: Editorial Legasa, 1988
Interview Citation Format
"Interview with Jorge Born, interviewed by Andrea Lluch, Buenos Aires, Argentina, August 21, 2008, Creating Emerging Markets Project, Baker Library Historical Collections, Harvard Business School, http://www.hbs.edu/creating-emerging-markets/."