The Cuba Center conducts primary research on Cuban business topics including, but not limited to: economics, history, international trade, leadership, management, and organizational behavior. Current, and recently completed, projects include the following:

• Cuba at the Crossroads: Environmental Management in Transition
  Terry Maris, PhD
  
  Environmental management is quickly becoming an ever more relevant topic among concerned parties throughout the world. Cuba is no exception. This paper examines environmental management in Cuba with particular emphasis given to its evolution, the present situation, and possible future scenarios.
  
  Source material for the research study upon which this paper is based was obtained firsthand by the author during a three-month visit to the island while e served as the Resident Director of a new Environmental Management Program at the University of Havana. Although based in Havana he traveled to both urban and rural locations throughout the country to observe and gather data about the environment. Furthermore, he was granted access to senior officials in a number of government agencies including the Ministry of Science, Technology and the Environment; the Cuban Academy of Sciences; the Institute for Pharmacy and Food Science; and the Center for Marine Investigations.
  
  The results of this study suggest that although the Cuban government has demonstrated a concerted interest in protecting the environment present measures are inadequate and will be further exacerbated under the conditions that will prevail in virtually al probable future scenarios. Recommendations are offered for immediate implementation and costs and benefits evaluated.
  
  (Presented at the 17th Annual Meeting of the Association for the Study of the Cuban Economy, Miami, FL, August 3, 2007)
  
  
• Environmental Management in Cuba: A Residential Study Program at the University of Havana
  Terry Maris, PhD
  
  Fidel Castro's recent health crisis generated considerable speculation regarding the succession of leadership in Cuba and brought to the forefront the sometimes volatile and always strained political relationship between the United States and Cuba. It also served to remind the world that change in Cuba is imminent. While a series of policy decisions by both governments has effectively isolated each country from the other there appears to be a mutual desire by both countries to know more about each others' culture, history, and economies. Furthermore, the prospect of a significant increase in tourist arrivals to Cuba if travel restrictions were to be lifted is sufficient reason for grave concern for Cuba's environment. Already burdened by the adverse effects of past Soviet intervention it is quite fragile and presently ill prepared to withstand the effects of a rapid economic expansion.
  
  For these reasons, and in order to partially bridge the divide between the two countries, Ohio Northern University and the University of Havana entered into a five-year memorandum of agreement that created a residential study program in Environmental Management in Cuba. This paper describes the rationale for creating this new cross cultural academic program, the process by which it was developed, and the curriculum and field experiences. Finally, it discusses the relevance for, and feasibility of, replicating similar programs at other North American universities.
  
  (Presented at the 6th Annual Ohio Latinamericanist Conference, Columbus, OH, April 14, 2007)
  
  
• Revolutionary Management: The Role of the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias in the Cuban Economy
  Terry Maris, PhD and Michele A. Govekar, PhD
  
  The disintegration of the Soviet Union that began in 1989 soon led to the virtual cessation of the substantial subsidies upon which Cuba had for so long relied. This historic event was the catalyst that produced the "Special Period in Time of Peace", the term coined by Fidel Castro to describe the onset of what were to become several years of severe economic hardship. In response to this crisis the mission and role of the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias (Revolutionary Armed Forces or FAR) were boldly redefined giving the Cuban military leadership unprecedented power in the realignment of the economy. The architect of this modernization process was the Minister of Defense and Second Secretary of the Cuban Communist Party, Raul Castro.
  This paper examines the effectiveness of the sistema de perfeccionamiento empresarial, the "business improvement system", that was implemented by the FAR under Raul's command. In pursuit of their goal to develop a totally new economic system leading to commercial revitalization FAR senior officers were sent to prominent European business schools to learn modern management principles, policies, and procedures. These Raulistas were particularly influenced by and receptive to the teachings of Peter Drucker and W. Edwards Deming.
  In order to document the antecedents and consequences of this extraordinary venture data were collected from United States and Cuban government reports and databases. Additionally, interviews were conducted with a select group of senior U.S. and former Cuban military officers as well as certain Cuban-American expatriates with first-hand knowledge and experience of this subject.
  
  The results of this study revealed evidence of a well organized and executed process that, at least in part, produced the desired outcomes. The tourism sector in particular appeared to have benefited significantly from this Cuban version of "perestroika" The Gaviota Tourism Group was the most profitable of the FAR's numerous business enterprises with earnings covering more than 30 percent of the total Cuba military expenditures.
  
  The authors conclude that the FAR's actions led to the creation of a new class of Cuban military entrepreneurs comprised of Raulistas and technocrat-soldiers . Their demonstrated competence has increased their profile and economic influence within Cuba just at the time when the world is beginning to contemplate a post-Fidel era. It is apparent that their objectives were not only to navigate the Cuban economy through the Special Period, but more importantly to lay the foundation for a succession plan that will securely place Raul Castro at the head of the government as set forth in the Cuban constitution of 1992. Although such an outcome would not be popular with many world leaders and a substantial number of Cuban- Americans it might, in fact, be the least disruptive and most efficient alternative in the near term.
  
  (Presented at the Society for Advancement of Management Iinternational Business conference, Orlando, FL, April 6-9, 2006)
  
  
• The Economic Impact of U.S. Trade With Cuba on Canadian Exports
  
Terry L. Maris, PhD
This paper evaluates the extent to which U.S. exports to Cuba over the past five years have adversely impacted Canadian agricultural and food exports to Cuba.  The purpose of this study is to demonstrate the effectiveness of the Trade Sanctions Reform and Export Enhancement Act of 2000 which legalized the sale of United States food and medical supplies to Cuba.  During this period U.S. exports to Cuba have grown to approximately $1 billion while concurrently Canadian agriculture and food exports have declined by more than 60 percent.

Utilizing data from the Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade and other government agencies, the U.S. Departments of Agriculture and Commerce, and personal interviews with senior officials of the Canadian, United States, and Cuban governments a profound shift in the North American trading relationship will be defined and explained.  The potential effect of the passage of the Agricultural Export Facilitation act of 2005 will also be discussed.  The results of this study suggest that the beneficiaries of the scenarios reviewed will be U.S. agricultural and food producers and exporters as well as the Cuban government.  Canada’s exports to Cuba are projected to continue their decline under a status quo scenario and to dramatically worsen if U.S. trade sanctions are lessened or eliminated entirely.

(Published in the proceedings of the International Academy of Business and Public Administration Disciplines, 3, (1), 817-830)

• The Agricultural Export Facilitation Act of 2005: Its Rationale and Relevance for U.S. – Cuba Trade
  Terry L. Maris, PhD
  The Trade Sanctions Reform and Export Enhancement Act of 2000, which permits the sale of U.S. food and medical supplies to Cuba, has benefited both countries. In the first two years under this law U.S. exports to the island nation increased from $6.9 million to $260.8 million. Of the items exported 96 percent were food related. Since its enactment the TSRA has enabled U.S. farmers to sell approximately $800 million in agricultural products to Cuba. These transactions have resulted in Cuba moving from 226th position to 21st as a U.S. agricultural market.
  
  Even with the benefit of the TSRA it is estimated that the U.S. embargo has cost American farmers approximately $1.24 billion in lost revenues annually. Total agriculture-related costs to the U.S. economy are calculated to add an additional $3.6 billion annually in lost revenues.
  
  Frustrated by what many perceive to be a disregard by the administration for the spirit and intent expressed by congress in passing the original TSRA in 2000, a bipartisan group of legislators introduced Senate Bill 328 and House Bill 719 on February 9, 2005. The key elements of this proposed legislation would: (1) allow Cuba to make payments directly to U.S. banks, (2) not require payments to be received prior to goods leaving U.S. ports, (3) facilitate ag-related travel by both Cubans and U.S. citizens.
  
  This paper will present the results of a survey and telephone interviews with key stakeholders, including the senators and representatives sponsoring these new bills; the leadership of the American Farm Bureau; and the leadership of the farm bureaus of the states most affected by the U.S. embargo. Discussion will focus on the perceived need for this legislation and the projected impact on the national and state agricultural economies.
  
  (Published in the proceedings of the Association for the Study of the Cuban Economy, volume 15).
  
  
• Cuban Culture and Commerce: Constructive Engagement in Business Education
  Terry L. Maris, PhD
  For more than four decades the people of the United States and Cuba have existed in virtual ignorance of each other. A series of policy decisions by both governments has effectively isolated each country from the other, both culturally and commercially. In the spirit of constructive engagement a course in Cuban Culture and Commerce was created for university business majors. This paper describes an example of "peace through commerce" in which a combination of traditional and nontraditional pedagogical techniques was employed in order to create conditions favorable to the acquisition of knowledge of, and the enhancement of cross-cultural sensitivity to, Cuba.
  
  (Presented at the 13th Annual International Conference on Learning, Montego Bay, Jamaica, June 22-25, 2006; http://l06.cgpublisher.com/proposals/27/index_html.)
  
  
• The Future of Cuba's Energy Sector: Challenges and Opportunities.
  A. F. Alhajji, PhD and Terry L. Maris, PhD
  This paper provides a brief synopsis of Cuba’s energy sector and outlines future opportunities and challenges. Cuba offers unique opportunities.   Based on historical energy trends in Cuba and countries in transition, and based on trends in IOC’s investments, energy consumption and production in Cuba can only grow.  Historical trends in Cuba confirm this point.  Since Cuba suffers from one of the lowest levels of per capita energy consumption in the world and has one of the lowest levels of cars per capita in the world, consumption may grow faster than production and imports to the extent that Cuba may face energy shortages and possibly an energy crisis.
  
  Under any scenario, several investment opportunities exist in the Cuban energy sector. These include renewable energy.  During any sort of transition, energy production, consumption, and investment will boom.  Even if US sanctions remain, Cuba will likely become a net oil exporter.    Regardless of the political future of Cuba, lifting US sanctions alone will speed up the development of Cuba’s energy sector and increase its energy production, especially of oil and gas.  However, several countries (Iran, Iraq, Libya, Sudan, and Syria) developed their energy sectors despite sanctions.
  
  Under any scenario, Cuba will face several challenges.  Technical challenges include the remote location of its offshore fields and the low quality of its crude.  They also include lack of advanced deepwater technology and shortage of qualified personnel.  Economic challenges include lack of funding and difficulty in attracting foreign investment.  Legal challenges include establishing a legal framework that encourages investment, creates a fair and stable tax system, and protects property rights.  They also include settling property rights issues with foreign oil companies that lost their assets to nationalization.  If Cuba moves toward a market economy and goes through a transition, additional challenges will emerge.  The most important transitional challenges would be the political, economic, social, and legal ramification of liberalization and privatization of its energy sector.  The increase in energy demand during a transition and how to meet such a demand is another important challenge with which any future government must deal.
  
  (In M. Font [Ed.], Cuba Today: Continuity and Change in the 'Periodo Especial', pp. 97-113, New York: Bildner Center for Western Hemisphere Affairs)
  
  
• Energy Trends in Transition Economies and Their Implications for Cuba
  A. F. Alhajji, PhD and Terry L. Maris, PhD
  Energy is one of the principal sectors affected when countries move toward market economies. Historically, transition to market economies has had a profound impact on supply, demand, trade, and energy prices. It also has had a significant effect on foreign investment in the energy sector of these countries.
  
  This paper employs several statistical techniques to examine the trends in energy consumption, production, and investment in selected countries that have experienced economic transitions, in order to extrapolate relevant implications for Cuba. This study projects Cuba’s energy demand through 2020 based upon three GDP growth scenarios.
  
  During transition Cuba is likely to experience high energy consumption growth rate. As Cuba moves toward a market economy energy demand is expected to increase exponentially. This unprecedented demand will create numerous investment opportunities for the Cuban government, Cuban enterprises, and foreign investors. This demand and subsequent investment would enable Cuba to develop many of its domestic energy resources, including oil deposits in its Gulf of Mexico tracts.
  
  (Presented at the 15th Annual Meeting of the Association for the Study of the Cuban Economy, Miami, August 2005l)
  
  
• Can Castro's Communism Contain the Entrepreneurial Spirit of its People?
  Kay Zekany, PhD, CMA
  The purpose of this paper is to explore Fidel Castro’s communist and socialist beliefs – as articulated in his most public international speeches -- juxtaposed against the experiences of the Cubans he rules, all in an effort to begin to understand how the Cuban economy, with all its restrictions and mandates, works or fails to work.   In particular, it explores Castro’s fear of the free market … as he calls it some kind of a “wild and crazy beast.”  And it explores his solution to capitalism which is to “socialize poverty” and “centralize global decision-making” to ensure that the world’s resources are distributed to all according to their needs.  This paper also presents a discussion of both legal and black market enterprise currently existing in Cuba.  The final conclusion is that the entrepreneurial spirit of Cubans, despite being severely limited and meagerly compensated, persists, albeit with many obstacles.
  
  (Presented at the Association of Private Enterprise Education Conference, Orlando, Florida, April
  2005)
  
  
• The Cuban Factor in the Bolivarian Revolution: Commercial Implications for the United States
  Terry Maris, PhD
  
  This paper examines the historical foundations and recent developments of the Venezuelan Bolivarian Revolution. Special attention is given to the role of the Cuban government, and particularly the personal influence of Fidel Castro, on Hugo Chavez and his administration. Over the past few years President Chavez has boldly and clearly articulated an increasingly fervent leftist doctrine in an attempt to unite Latin America economically and politically. Fashioning his image after that of the great 19th century revolutionary and liberator Simon Bolivar, Chavez has repeatedly targeted the United States in general and George Bush in particular.

  Archival and contemporary sources, both printed and electronic, were reviewed for relevance to this study. United States, Venezuelan, and Cuban government reports and databases were examined to determine historical antecedents, emerging trends, and future projections regarding international trade, commodity prices, gross domestic product, and purchasing power parity. The principal focus was on determining the economic impact on the United States.

  Results document the existence of a trilateral political economic situation that has had a noticeable effect on each country to varying degrees. Castro's influence on Chavez has contributed to an ever closer strategic alliance between Cuba and Venezuela. Increasing subsidies to the Cuban economy by Venezuela are similar to those previously provided by the former Soviet Union. Of these, undoubtedly the most contentious is the Barrio Adentro program, better known as the "oil-for-doctors" program. Since its inception in 2003 more than 15, 000 Cuban medical personnel have been deployed to approximately 300 rural clinics in Venezuela to provide health services. In return, Venezuela has been shipping at least 53, 000 barrels of oil to Cuba daily. This has frustrated the Bush administration's plan to isolate the Cuban economy in order to hasten regime change.

  This study concludes that this situation is likely to exacerbate in the near term, but will improve in the future. Despite threats by Chavez to cut off oil exports to the United States, and claims that the U.S. is planning to invade Venezuela, trade between the two countries is far too valuable to jeopardize. Furthermore, world oil prices will eventually decline to the point that Venezuela will no longer be able to continue its economic largesse to Cuba. When that occurs these subsidies will be greatly curtailed or eliminated altogether. At that point Cuba will once again be left to its own devices and the prospect of an economy unable to sustain itself.
  
  (Presented at the Cuba: In Transition? conference, the Bildner Center for Western Hemisphere Affairs, New York, NY, March 30-31, 2006).
  
  

• Current Development and Potential of Cuba’s Telecommunications Sector
  Paolo Spadoni, ABD and Terry L. Maris, PhD
  The development of the telecommunications sector has been a high priority for the Cuban government since the early 1990s. The telecom industry, which had received only minimal investment since 1959, was in need of modern digital technology and foreign capital as the island’s entire phone network still operated on analog systems. During the last decade, this sector of the Cuban economy has been the target of some of the biggest investments by foreign companies. However, it must be noted that telecommunications services remain state monopolies. Cuba simply allowed foreign investors to participate in those monopolies.
  
  Available figures on telephone main lines and density, cellular phone subscribers, personal computers penetration, Internet sites, and e-mail accounts show that Cuba’s telecommunications indicators have improved significantly in recent years. But these indicators are still among the lowest in Latin America. The development of Cuba’s telecommunications sector is limited by a relatively poor infrastructure, access restrictions, and excessive costs. A major problem is the lack of competition and efficiency in this sector, as the Castro government remains unwilling to create the conditions for attracting direct foreign investment in the amount and in such quality as required by the island’s economy. In addition, during the last decade, Cuban authorities have given priority to technological facilities that generate hard currency revenues rather than increase universal service. The long-term development of the island’s telecommunications sector will depend on Cuba’s willingness to promote a gradual decentralization of its state-dominated economy, introduce profound internal reforms, and attract substantial amounts of foreign capital by taking steps to relax existing regulations on the activities of foreign and state enterprises.
  
  (working paper)