Course Title
Judgment Under Constraints: Business, Institutions, and Society in Colombia
Faculty
Daniella Reichstetter T’07 -Clinical Professor of Business Administration
Dates
November 2026
Destination Cities
Bogotá and Medellín
Course Description
This GIX uses Bogotá and Medellín as two contrasting lenses on one of Latin America’s most dynamic emerging economies. Colombia is the region’s fourth largest economy and home to globally competitive sectors such as coffee, flowers, energy, financial services, technology, and a rapidly growing creative economy. At the same time, more than half of workers participate in the informal economy and small and medium-sized enterprises drive the majority of employment. Institutional strength and institutional gaps coexist, and companies operate in an environment shaped by volatility, inequality, and uneven enforcement.
Students examine how value is created and captured in emerging markets where global supply chains intersect with local constraints. We will explore how exporters manage currency swings and infrastructure limits, how family enterprises compete internationally, how urban leaders design systems to expand opportunity, and how multinationals and domestic companies navigate regulatory complexity and social expectations.
Entrepreneurship remains central throughout the course, not as startup culture, but as judgment under constraint. Across sectors and settings, we will ask how organizations and individuals make consequential decisions when resources are limited, institutions only partially function, and the stakes are real.
Our weekend in and around Bogotá includes time for a shared cultural and outdoors experience beyond the city, offering a restorative and memorable way to engage Colombia’s landscape and local life.