BEYOND CULTURAL ADAPTATION: Coloniality and AI Adoption in Latin American Business Education

Manky O.; López N. · The Routledge Companion to Cross-Cultural Management, Second Edition (2026) · DOI: 10.4324/9781003477723-44

Resumen

This chapter examines how global artificial intelligence (AI) imperatives intersect with postcolonial realities in Latin American business education, using Peru as a case study. Rather than viewing technology adoption through traditional cross-cultural management (CCM) lenses of cultural compatibility, we argue that AI implementation reproduces colonial hierarchies of knowledge and power. Drawing on Quijano’s concept of coloniality and Bourdieu’s field theory, we analyze three distinct strategies: strategic imitation by elite schools seeking global prestige, pragmatic adaptation by resource-constrained institutions, and epistemic disobedience by marginalized actors who repurpose technologies for local needs. The analysis shows how technology transfer is never neutral but occurs within contested fields shaped by historical asymmetries. We conclude that effective AI adoption in the Global South requires moving beyond technical training toward critical appropriation strategies that address local organizational realities. This postcolonial perspective enriches CCM by highlighting how power relations, rather than cultural differences alone, shape technological encounters in globalized contexts.

Instituciones: Universidad del Pacífico