The case is about the privatization of water in the Argentinean province of Tucumán, and its subsequent re-nationalization, which attracted major media and NGO coverage as epitomizing the drawbacks of public-utility privatization. It looks at the conflict between the Provincial Government of Tucumán and Aguas del Aconquija SA, the concessionaire.

Costa Rica has been widely praised for its policies to attract R&D intensive multinational firms to invest in the country. Most notably, it succeeded in attracting Intel in a global competition among 15 nations. This investment put Costa Rica on the map as an excellent destination for high tech manufacturing.

This case study analyzes the remarkable restructuring of a Mexican media company, Televisa. Over a short period of time, Televisa transformed itself from a monopoly, family-owned media company with close ties to the ruling party to a profitable, competitive organization that regained the leadership position in the Mexican media industry.

The Latin American business climate has undergone a revolution in the last decade – state companies have been privatised, a number of sectors have been deregulated, and markets have been opened to foreign competitors. As a result of these changes a number of new opportunities have opened up particularly in telecommunications.

The case describes the challenges faced by an excellent Brazilian private bank, Banco Itaú, in a crucial auction of a state bank, Banespa. The result of this auction has the potential to change the competitive landscape of the Brazilian banking sector which, till that point had no major foreign players.

The case documents the successful transformation of Endesa over the last five years from a local, public utility into one of the key players in the energy sector. Central to its success has been a focus on expanding within its natural market – Latin America and Southern Europe – and by rapidly moving into complementary lines of businesses such as telecoms.

The case describes the challenges faced by an excellent Brazilian private bank, Banco Itaú, in a crucial auction of a state bank, Banespa. The result of this auction has the potential to change the competitive landscape of the Brazilian banking sector which, till that point had no major foreign players.

The case considers the problem of diversifying Chile's economy, in particular its export industries, away from primary products and toward manufacturing.

The case documents the strategic options open to Quiñenco, the quoted holding company 82% owned by the Luksic family, in its ambition to become a major multilatina. Their successful strategy has been to acquire under-valued companies, enhance their assets and sell them for a gain. However, the stock price of Quiñenco has languished since the initial IPO in July 1997.

The case describes AOL Latin America, a joint venture with Venezuela's Cisneros Group. It highlights the challenges faced by AOL, a leading brand, into entering emerging markets. AOL was a latecomer in Latin American Internet and had a difficult debut in Brazil after a challenging Initial Public Offering.