Graduated: 2004
Thesis: Learning dynamics and social interaction among knowledge workers in the electronics industry: evidence from Canada and Mexico
Research areas: Learning Dynamics, Knowledge Transfer, and Social Networks in Regions of Knowledge
Now: Director, Institute of Enterprising Families for Mexico and LATAM, Tecnológico de Monterrey
For several years, Dr Maria Fonseca lead La Gitana Broom Factory, a family business founded in 1943 by her grandfather. Building on that experience, her research has included entrepreneurship, family businesses and, most recently, leadership in Mexico.
- Maria Fonseca Paredes, Fernando Sandoval (2018) “The Essence of Leadership in Mexico” in Western, S., & Garcia Éric-Jean. (eds.) Global leadership perspectives: insights and analysis. Los Angeles: SAGE.
She was an editor of the book Understanding Entrepreneurial Family Businesses in Uncertain Environments, in which she was the co-author of three chapters: “Understanding Entrepreneurial Family Businesses in Uncertain Environments: The Case of Latin America,” with Mattias Nordqvist, Giuseppe Marzano, Esteban R. Brenes, and Gonzalo Jiménez; “Entrepreneurship in Transgenerational Processes by Means of Social Capital,” with Adriane Vieira and José Antônio de Sousa Neto; and “Knowledge Integration in Latin American Family Firms” with Fernando Sandoval-Arzaga and Marcela Ramírez-Pasillas. The book was published in association with the STEP Project (Successful Transgenerational Entrepreneurship Practices; global initiative for applied research in entrepreneurship and family businesses), with which Fonseca has been an active researcher.
- Nordqvist, M. (2011). Understanding entrepreneurial family businesses in uncertain environments: Opportunities and resources in Latin America. Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar.
After studying Computer Systems Engineering at Sinaloa campus of Tecnológico de Monterrey, Fonseca was a high school teacher and then director of the campus’ Department of Computational Sciences. She obtained her master's degree in Computational Sciences at the ITESM Monterrey campus and her master's degree in Business Administration, focused on leadership, at the ITESM Guadalajara campus. Since completing her PhD at the CIRHR, Fonseca served as director of the EGADE Business School (Escuela de Graduados en Administración y Dirección de Empresas) of the of the ITESM State of Mexico campus, and is now director of the campus’ Business Division.