Identifying the dissension in management and business research in Latin America and the Caribbean via co-word analysis

Management and business-related research (MBR) exhibits a disciplinary dissension path and a lack of cumulative knowledge development. This study aims to find and discuss evidence of MBR dissension and to identify intellectual/methodological bridges as potential pillars for cumulative knowledge development in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC). A co-word network analysis of 22,000 + keywords sourced from 4600 + articles published between 1998 and 2017 by authors affiliated with LAC institutions showed a network’s decreasing density and modularity in addition to a noticeable increase in the number of communities detected. The prominence and consistency of sustainability-related topics in LAC among the networks’ principal components and key-terms with higher betweenness could be explained by global solution-oriented agreements such as the MDGs/SDGs. In contrast, MBR topics are not yet core issues on the SDG agenda. Methods from the sciences/disciplines heading toward consensus (e.g. mathematical models, computer simulation) showed a higher and consistent betweenness than MBR methods and mainstream topics, such as the case study or marketing or leadership.