C Ó M O WHAT

ESTUDDOES
IAR ANTES
GLOBALIZATION MEAN
DE LOS EXÁMENES DE FOR
EMERGING
MANERA ECONOMIES
EFICAZ
SUCH AS COLOMBIA?
NATALIA GALINDO - VALENTINA ARAMENDIZ - NATALIA MORENO - JUAN MIGUEL CLAVIJO

The share of aggregate sales of the group-affiliated

firms amounts to 66.4 per cent of the total sales of
MAIN CHARACTERISTICS OF
the largest 100 companies
COLOMBIAN BUSINESS GROUPS
Business groups have been since the mid-1970s in
Between 1950 and 1985 the middle of the political and economic storm
Business owners adapt their investment and the
business groups structure to the changes in the
legislation
During the last years of the first globalisation wave,
business were adapted to protectionism and the
implied de-globalisation, to then continue growing
under liberalisation. 
There are still some of these characteristics in
conservative companies mostly
However, these characteristics have evolved to adapt
the new world and the unstoppable globalization

Colombian business groups who gained a HOW THE INDUSTRIALIZATION BY

monopolistic position in one industry had the option SUBSTITUTION OF IMPORTS INFLUENCES
to diversify into other industries for further growth. COLOMBIAN BUSINESS GROUPS?
The holding companies moved from the first type, How this policy is related with deglobalization
diversified business groups, to the second type, or globalization
pyramidal business groups.
Holding companies act as fund-raiser and allocator
in some cases, but in others are the core-business in
the group
This policy its related because deglobalisation
helped entrepreneurial Colombian families to
consolidate the business groups as the structure to
continue the growth of the business.
The increase in the number of business groups
continued after 1985, adapting to the economic
model via diversification and the control structure.

BUSINESS FOCUS OF THE 25 LARGEST

BUSINESS GROUPS IN COLOMBIA
And sector especialization

There were financial groups that did not

survive during this stage of economic THE ROLE OF THE LARGEST BUSINESS
GROUPS IN COLOMBIA TODAY
growth, such as the Grancolombiano Group
And their influence in generating eras of
The competition that exists locally and
deglobalization and/or globalization
nationally does not affect large business
groups in the international economy.
Low ranking corporations are not profitable
enough to compete with these elite
companies
Organizations in Colombia are not entirely
owned by Colombian families (mainly),
Organizations are made up of a series of
companies that have different areas of the
market, such as Avianca and Bavaria

WHAT IS THE ROLE OF GEOGRAPHICAL

DIVERSIFICATION?
In terms of generating international trade
In the 2000s they carried out geographical
diversification, extending to foreign markets,
becoming international leaders in important
multilatinas
Diversification allows the internationalization
of the brand, this is because consumers have
access to their products not only within the
country but also abroad
allowing a greater scope of consumption by
people no matter where they are
The more the recognition a brand has
internationally, the greater the benefits for
the founding families of these business
groups