Universidad de los Andes GLOCAL Entrepreneurship in Emerging Markets Guide

Why Study Entrepreneurship at Universidad de los Andes

Universidad de los Andes (Uniandes) has established itself as one of Latin America’s most prestigious institutions, ranking 220th globally in the QS World University Rankings and 6th across the entire Latin American region. Founded in 1948 as Colombia’s first private, non-denominational, and non-profit university, Uniandes has built a reputation for academic rigor that attracts students and faculty from around the world.

The School of Management (UASM) embodies this commitment to excellence. Established in 1972, it defines itself deliberately as a school of management — not merely business — reflecting its mission to educate decision makers across private, public, and not-for-profit sectors. This broader perspective distinguishes its GLOCAL Study Track from conventional MBA electives, offering students an immersive experience in entrepreneurship and sustainability specifically calibrated for emerging market dynamics.

The GLOCAL program — part of the “Global Markets, Local Creativities” international network — positions Bogotá as your classroom for understanding how entrepreneurs create value amid volatility, regulatory uncertainty, and rapid social transformation. For students comparing this with other regional options, explore our UC Chile doctoral programs guide to see how Latin American universities approach graduate education differently.

GLOCAL Program Structure and Academic Credits

The GLOCAL Study Track delivers 30 ECTS credits through a carefully designed curriculum that balances theoretical foundations with practical application. Students enroll in two mandatory core courses (4 credits each) and select two electives from three available options, creating a personalized learning pathway within the program’s entrepreneurship and sustainability framework.

The program runs during the October through December trimester, providing an intensive three-month academic experience. Classes are scheduled in concentrated blocks — typically one evening or morning session per week per course — allowing students to deeply engage with each subject while managing the overall workload effectively.

This modular structure means students can tailor their experience toward environmental consulting (Consultandes + Circular Economy), digital business strategy (Brand Management + Circular Economy), or a comprehensive blend across all three elective domains.

Sustainability Issues in Latin America — Core Course

The first mandatory course, led by Professor Iván D. Lobo, examines the environmental and social justice issues that shape interactions across Latin America. Taking a political economy perspective, it analyzes the inextricable relationship between economic and political dimensions of development — a critical lens for any entrepreneur operating in the region.

Students explore fundamental tensions that define Latin American sustainability challenges: poverty reduction trends coexisting with persistent inequality, agricultural expansion threatening biodiversity hotspots, deforestation and pollution from extractive industries, and the complex dynamics of urbanization in developing economies. The course asks students to grapple with whether the region can transform its challenges into widespread prosperity — and if so, through what mechanisms.

The learning outcome is deliberately ambitious: students develop a deeper understanding of the nature, complexity, and opportunities underlying sustainability issues in the region, building the analytical capacity to inspire profound and scalable change. This foundation proves essential for the program’s other courses, which build upon this contextual understanding with specific tools and methodologies.

Entrepreneurship and Capitalism in Latin America

The second core course, co-taught by Professors Andrea Lluch and Xavier Durán, takes a historical sweep across 150 years of entrepreneurship in Latin America. This is not a standard entrepreneurship course — it examines the dynamic relationship between states and markets, the changing role of entrepreneurs across different institutional settings, and the winners and losers from capitalist expansion in the region.

Organized in three modules, the course uses case studies, academic articles, book chapters, newspaper articles, and company cases from multiple Latin American countries. Students learn to place business in its broad political, economic, and cultural context — understanding how the modern business environment emerged and, crucially, how to derive value in volatile circumstances with unpredictable political contexts and macroeconomic shifts.

This historical perspective is particularly valuable for international students unfamiliar with Latin American business dynamics. Understanding why certain industries consolidated, how regulatory environments evolved, and what role foreign investment played in shaping local markets provides the analytical depth needed to identify genuine entrepreneurial opportunities rather than repeating historical mistakes.

Elective Courses and Specialization Pathways

The three elective courses allow students to customize their GLOCAL experience according to their professional interests and career objectives. Each course brings a distinct methodology and practical orientation to the program’s overarching themes.

Management for Circular Economy, taught by Professor Bart van Hoof, focuses on the emerging model that redefines growth by decoupling economic activity from finite resource consumption. The course examines circularity strategies at organizational, regional, and national scales, with particular attention to the Colombian context. Students analyze systemic shifts building long-term resilience and explore the complexity of cause-effect relationships in environmental management.

Strategic Brand Management for the Digital Age, led by Dr. Burcu Sezen, provides a holistic approach to building and managing brands that integrates creative and analytical aspects. The emphasis on digital contexts and data-driven approaches reflects the reality that emerging market consumers increasingly engage with brands through mobile-first digital channels. Weekly sessions alternate between theory lectures and dedicated case study analyses.

Both electives complement the core courses by translating big-picture understanding of Latin American markets into specific, actionable competencies that students can apply immediately in their careers or ventures.

The Consultandes Hands-On Consulting Experience

Consultandes represents the program’s most distinctive practical offering. Led by Professor Kenneth Ochoa, this course pairs groups of 3–4 students from diverse disciplines with real companies facing environmental corporate challenges. Unlike case study simulations, Consultandes involves actual client engagements with steering committees that include the client organization, student consultants, and supervising professors.

The project management methodology ensures professional-grade deliverables. Students learn to identify the real need of a client and delimit project scope — a skill that separates effective consultants from those who over-promise and under-deliver. The course covers consulting tools in environmental management, strategies for generating added value with limited resources, and approaches to making lasting impact on client organizations.

Focus areas span environmental strategies, sustainable business models, environmental innovations, and organizational change toward sustainability. For students considering careers in sustainability consulting or corporate social responsibility, Consultandes provides portfolio-ready project experience and direct professional connections in the Colombian business ecosystem. This experiential learning approach mirrors the consulting practicum models used at top business schools globally, but with the added dimension of emerging market complexity.

Triple Accreditation and What It Means for Students

The Uniandes School of Management holds simultaneous accreditation from EQUIS (European Foundation for Management Development), AACSB (Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business), and AMBA (Association of MBAs). This triple crown is held by fewer than 1% of business schools worldwide, placing UASM in an elite category alongside institutions like INSEAD, London Business School, and IE Business School.

For students, triple accreditation provides tangible benefits beyond prestige. AACSB accreditation ensures rigorous quality standards in curriculum design, faculty qualifications, and learning outcomes assessment. EQUIS certification validates the school’s internationalization efforts and corporate connections. AMBA accreditation specifically evaluates the quality of post-graduate management education programs. Together, these accreditations signal to employers globally that your GLOCAL credentials meet the highest international standards.

The accreditation also facilitates credit transfer and recognition across partner institutions worldwide, making the GLOCAL program’s 30 ECTS credits immediately portable for students continuing their education at European or other Latin American universities.

Faculty Excellence and Research Strengths

The School of Management’s academic strength rests on its 61 full-time faculty members, 90% of whom hold doctoral degrees — the highest proportion in Colombia. Representing 14 different nationalities, this internationally diverse faculty brings global perspectives to Latin American challenges, creating a learning environment where multiple analytical traditions intersect.

The GLOCAL program’s instructors exemplify this diversity. Professor Andrea Lluch brings historical methodology to entrepreneurship analysis, Professor Bart van Hoof applies environmental engineering frameworks to management challenges, and Dr. Burcu Sezen integrates European branding scholarship with emerging market realities. This interdisciplinary approach ensures students develop versatile analytical skills rather than narrowly defined business competencies.

Research output from the School of Management regularly appears in top-tier academic journals, and faculty maintain active consulting relationships with corporations, governments, and international organizations operating in Latin America. For GLOCAL students, this means access to cutting-edge research insights and professional networks that extend well beyond the classroom. Discover how other world-class institutions structure their faculty engagement in our University of Sydney academic guide.

Life in Bogotá as an International Student

Bogotá, Colombia’s capital city of over eight million people, has emerged as one of Latin America’s most dynamic urban centers. The city combines colonial architecture in the historic La Candelaria district with modern innovation hubs in neighborhoods like Chapinero and Usaquén, creating an environment that mirrors the GLOCAL program’s blend of historical understanding and forward-looking entrepreneurship.

The Universidad de los Andes campus sits at the foot of the Eastern Hills (Cerros Orientales), providing a compact and walkable academic environment with easy access to Bogotá’s TransMilenio public transport system. The city’s cost of living remains significantly lower than comparable academic destinations in North America or Europe, while offering a rich cultural scene including world-class museums (Museo del Oro, Museo Botero), a vibrant food scene blending Colombian traditions with international cuisines, and active nightlife in the Zona Rosa and Parque de la 93 areas.

Colombia’s strategic location provides easy travel access to other Latin American markets — direct flights connect Bogotá to major cities across the continent, making weekend exploration or research trips highly feasible. The country’s transformation over the past two decades, from security challenges to a recognized emerging market destination, itself serves as a living case study for the entrepreneurship and sustainability themes central to the GLOCAL curriculum.

Career Outcomes and the GLOCAL Global Network

Graduates of the GLOCAL program at Uniandes carry credentials that resonate across multiple professional domains. The combination of triple-accredited business education, hands-on consulting experience, and deep emerging market expertise positions alumni for careers in sustainability consulting, corporate strategy in multinational firms, social entrepreneurship, impact investing, and international development organizations.

The GLOCAL network — “Global Markets, Local Creativities” — connects partner institutions across multiple countries, creating a community of alumni who share the experience of studying entrepreneurship in diverse local contexts. This network serves as both a professional resource and an intellectual community, with alumni regularly collaborating on cross-border ventures and research projects.

The program’s emphasis on real-world application through Consultandes, combined with the analytical frameworks developed in core courses, means graduates can articulate not just what emerging market dynamics look like, but why they function as they do and how to navigate them strategically. As Latin America continues to attract global investment attention — particularly in sustainability, technology, and renewable energy — professionals with this specialized knowledge base command increasing market value across continents.