INCAE Alumni Magazine

1INCAE Alumni Magazine

P u s h i n g a c o u n t r y u pThe mission and vision of INCAE -- at work

I n c a i s t a s

INCAE Business School

By giving annually to the Amigo Incaista Campaign, you help support our world-class programs, faculty, research, infrastructure and scholarships and help us maintain our position as the top business school in Latin America. Giving is simple. Go to www.incae.edu and CLICK on our logo or ALUMNI.

Please contact Sandra GranizoINCAE Business [email protected](506) 2437- 2365

Donate Today

INCAE changed my life,Now I want to help change someone else’s

Cover Illustration by Patricia Zamora/Atma Comunicacioes

The Mission and Vision of INCAE at work

LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT


Dear Incaistas,

This is the second edition of the INCAE Alumni Magazine, dedicated to our graduates, whose work

and leadership continue to influence and inspire many, including those of us dedicated to the ad-

vancement of this unique institution and school.

Today, we are living in a time of extraordinary change. Globalization and technology continue

to shift our societies and markets, transforming and revolutionizing them. Just as economies re-

align throughout the world, they also do so in our hemisphere. Our mandate is to train leaders in

all aspects of business, especially to confront difficulties and find opportunities. In this edition, you

will read about alumni doing just that. As well, we spotlight ten Incaistas working in one country,

Colombia, to see how the expertise of each graduate propels that country forward, while at the

same time, fulfills the mission and vision of INCAE.

George Cabot Lodge, a Harvard Business School professor and former member of John F.

Kennedy’s administration, is a founder of INCAE, intrinsically involved in its creation. He once said:

“Without an institution of this caliber, we knew the countries in the region could not lift themselves

up.” INCAE was conceptualized and built by North, Central and South Americans to train lead-

ers, so they would bring about change, and promulgate democracy and economic prosperity. It is

inspiring to read stories about Incaistas so engaged in these pursuits.

We are proud of our many achievements this past year, including but not limited to: publicly

launching the Illuminate Campaign with the aim of establishing an endowment; receiving high-

grade rankings from the prestigious Financial Times; and having the highest percentage of women

ever enrolled in our full-time MBA program.

Yet our greatest satisfaction lies with our faculty, whose experienced hands hold the reins that

control the transformative power of an INCAE education. Many have been nominated or have won

awards this year, as in the past. Their accolades and teaching abilities are stellar and as George

Logan says: “They are the heart and soul of an academic institution.”

Thank you for your gracious support and donations to the Amigo Incaista Campaign and the

Illuminate Campaign. I am deeply grateful and excited about the possibilities of the months and

years ahead. We hope you enjoy the magazine and have a great 2013!

Kind regards,

Arturo Condo

President

4 INCAE Alumni Magazine

plan

ning

investment

progressINCAE Alumni Magazine2nd Edition | No. 2

February 2013

PresidentArturo Condo

Faculty DeanJohn Ickis

Executive Education DeanCamelia Ilie

Executive Vice President

Enrique Bolaños

Development Director & National Committees Coordinator

Wendy Rodríguez

Alumni Relations DirectorSandra Granizo

Editor | WriterAna Coyne

Additional WritingAlicia ZamoraMaria Berns

Copy Editor | EnglishAbbie Fields

Graphic DesignAlicia Zamora

Clemente Orozco

IllustrationsClemente OrozcoPatricia Zamora

Principal PhotographyAna Coyne

Additional PhotographyAlicia Zamora

Dennis DrennerPaul Bradford

AssistantKarola Fonseca

Additional photos were provided by Incaistas, INCAE archives and istockphoto.com

INCAE Alumni Magazine is a publication ofINCAE Business School

MontefrescoManagua, Nicaragua

+505 2248-9700www.incae.edu

INCAE Business School

Copy Editor | SpanishMaria Berns


TA B L E O F C O N T E N T S

LETTER from the PRESIDENT

BRIEFCASE

Top Tier RankingsFaculty FocusThe MBA Oath ClubThe Illuminate Campaign

SPOTLIGHTCOLOMBIA SOARING

Jorge HernándezCarlos AyalaÁlvaro SalcedoReynaldo GonzálezJaime RoldánVictoria ReveloCarolina TrejosJorge YanesIgnacio Segares Fabricio Ponce

LEAD PLAYERS

Otto PérezRicardo MartinelliGilberto PerezalonsoRodrigo UribeGuillermo AlonsoJorge OllerMario Morales

The Center for Women’s Leadership

President of GuatemalaPresident of PanamaThe Distinguished Incaísta 2012The Supermarket Scions The Supermarket Scions A Fuego Lento The Innovator

03

06

20

0809121317

24252627282930313233

34353640414244

34

plan

ning

La RepúblicaColombian ArmyColsubsidioMesoamericaSuramericana SAGallupAvianca TacaFitch RatingsUnileverCoca Cola Femsa

B R I E F C A S E

In 2012, the Financial Times listed INCAE among the top ten busi-ness schools in the world in two out of ten categories: Economics and Corporate Strategy. Over-all, the school ranked highest in Hispanic America. Of the three most prestigious rankings in 2012, INCAE was one of only twenty-three schools in the entire world listed in all of them.

INCAE’s reputation is highly re-garded regionally and with these consistently high rankings, its name recognition will widen. The rankings for the MBA program come from student feedback re-garding the excellence of teaching and faculty, job placement, salary increase after graduating, and exposure to international experi-ence, among other markers.

More and more, rankings are decision breakers and makers for individuals choosing which MBA program to pursue. Given the kind of investment being made, both in time and funds, the rank-ing has become a crucial refer-ence for deciding where to pursue a graduate education.

T O P T I E R R A N K I N G S



FACULTY FOCUS“They are the heart and soul of any academic institution”

George Logan, President of FMECA

They are highly trained. Ninety-three percent of INCAE professors hold PhDs from the world’s top universities,

including Harvard, MIT and Oxford. Their first-rate education is the foundation of the high-caliber teaching INCAE

is known for.

They are also experienced. They convey information by way of lived experiences, strategized successes, mis-

takes made. It is this real life learning, not just erudition, that students embrace so tenaciously. Most professors

practice what they preach, bringing an understanding and untangling of tangible problems into the classroom.

Students have nominated the following professors for The Economist’s Best Business Professor of the Year.

This is why:

Illustration by José Clemente Orozco


Nicolas Marín, a.k.a. The Profe: After having taught for 45+ years, he

is simply known as The Profe. Ask

Professor Niels Ketelhohn to describe

him, and he uses just one word:

wise.

Marín is the cornerstone of the

INCAE faculty. He has been around

the institution since before many

installations were even built. Most

everyone has passed by his discern-

ing eye. He says the truth, the way

he sees it, and often, the truth hurts.

He is loved by many and feared by

some, which is understandable. In

the corridors one might overhear him

say to a student: “It will be between

God and me whether you pass or

not!”

On the one hand, innately charis-

matic, even entertaining; on the other,

completely understated. Marín’s

thinking is to-the-bone. He com-

bines intellect, human understanding

and common sense with an internal

compass that knows which way is

north, even underwater. He believes

in education, having dedicated a

great portion of his life to it. He sees

with clarity the differences in minds,

admires a diversity of intelligences,

when they use critical thinking. He

gives respect when deserved, so

respect reflects back.

Yet he can easily catch you off

guard. You sit across from him and

mistakenly state an imprecise word.

He raises a finger: “Careful.” You

brace yourself, thinking he is about

to utter a hard truth. You straighten

your back, get ready to confront the

spiraling, full throttle thought. But it is

not a critique. It is an observation, a

beautiful insight that takes you aback

in such an unexpected way. It is as if

his comment pushed a trapeze bar of

previously unthought-of possibilities

in your direction, and with it, he says,

“Grab it!” So you do. You trust him

and you leap.

Francisco de Paula Gutiérrez, a.k.a. Guti: In his Macro class, when a

student asks whether the statistic in

question is good for the economy, this

professor almost always fires back:

“Compared to what?” The under-

standing is implicit. In Macroeconom-

ics, as in life, everything is relative.

For a professor, it might be fair

to think that teaching accolades

have some importance. But one

learns quickly, and must wonder: “In

comparison to what? Professional

achievements?”

In Guti’s case, the list of accom-

plishments is long. After joining the


Carlos Quintanilla

Guillermo Selva Roy Zúñiga

Alberto TrejosPedro Raventós

Julio Ramírez

faculty in 1986, he served as Costa

Rica’s Minister of Finance from 1996

to 1998, and later as Chairman of the

Central Bank from 2002 to 2010. He

held the posts of Governor and Assis-

tant Governor to the IMF, the World

Bank and the IDB, among others. His

consultancies run the gamut, from the

private to the non-profit world.

In class, he weaves through com-

plex theories, distills them in a way

that shifts how a student understands

the basic paradigm of the world’s

economies. He transfers understand-

ing; gifted teachers do this.

Down in the pit of the learning

room comes a heated exchange.

One watches how Guti morphs from

the avuncular professor into a bank

chairman during the crisis of 2008,

and what it might have been like to

be on the other end of the receiving

line of command, or boardroom table,

when the world was plummeting and

he held Costa Rica’s economy in his

hands. Watching him teach-- strong,

sure in his knowledge, in control --it

seems there are no better hands a

country or class could be in.

The students leave and the pit

is empty. It is as if he is still there,

holding a scale that weighs what is

most important to him. The weights

are labeled “priority, concern, value.”

One side of the scale is for teaching

and the importance he gives to each

individual in his classroom. The other

side weighs the economic welfare of

an entire country, and the importance

he gives to all its people. It is no sur-

prise; the scale is perfectly centered,

at equilibrium.

An extraordinary person with impres-sive human qualities. A genius.

A real leader among leaders. A brilliant teacher.

Engaging.

Compassionate. Excellent in his subject and knows each of his students.

Andrea Prado joins the faculty of INCAE after earning her PhD from New York University’s Stern School of Business in 2011, teaching organizational change and sustainable development. Her research focuses on Industry Self-Regulation. More specifi-cally her dissertation explores the dynamics and consequences of having multiple voluntary standards--environmental and labor-- competing in an indus-try, such as Fair Trade and the Rainforest Alliance. Andrea’s dis-sertation was awarded Best Doc-toral Thesis from the Academy of Management (AoM) in 2012. She is Costa Rican and completed her Master of International Econom-ics at the University of Essex in the UK. From 2002 to 2005, she worked at INCAE as a researcher at the Latin American Center for Competitiveness and Sustainable Development (CLACDS).

INCAE spawned the world’s first MBA Oath Club and this year, initiating its

first generation of Lifetime Members. These students, in addition to signing

the Oath, pledge to both live the Oath in their management career and support

other members. Like concentric circles, these new and dedicated members

are creating ripples that are transforming the club into an institution.

With the second generation of officers firmly in place on each campus,

the Club plans to pursue a commitment to act with integrity, and to recognize

the reach, power and responsibility inherent in business leadership. Lissette

Cuadra, President of the MBA Oath Club in Nicaragua, says, “The whole con-

cept of ‘1 Club- 2 Campuses’ with each campus having its own set of officers

allows the Club to share perspectives on ethics and the battle against corrup-

tion.”

The Oath is aimed at transforming the dominant value system by empha-

sizing management’s ultimate purpose: to serve society by creating sustainable

and inclusive prosperity. Those promoting the Club and the Oath believe it is

important to rethink and recreate the way ethics is taught and, more impor-

tantly, practiced. “Ethics is awareness,” says Esteban Roberts, President of

the MBA Oath Club in Costa Rica. “The Club doesn’t teach ethical solutions but

increases awareness of ethical issues.”

The MBA Oath Club is at the forefront of a more socially responsible way

of making business. “If you study the Oath closely you will see that you are

swearing allegiance to a global society,” says Alejandro Castro, MAE 59 and

Club Founder.

The Club invites you to visit its web page at www.incaembaoathclub.org

Mauricio MelgarejoMauricio Melgarejo received his PhD in Management with a special-ization in Accounting, from Purdue University. He is no stranger to INCAE, where he received his MBA in 2003 and then worked as a researcher. He has also worked in the field as an external audi-tor for USAID projects. This past May, the Academic Business World International Conference, 2012, honored him with the Best Paper Award for “Earnings attributes and the properties of analysts’ forecasts: a comparison among firms reporting under IFRS, US GAAP and Non-US local stan-dards,” which studied the utility of accounting information under different standards. As Melgarejo explains: “The findings of the paper reveal that accounting attributes of companies’ net income such as persistence and predictability are more associated with the precision and dispersion of analysts’ earn-ings forecasts for firms that use the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS).”

The MBA Oath ClubThe first generation of Lifetime Members

New Faculty


The Illuminate Campaign


Carlos Pellas


The Illuminate Campaign gained mo-

mentum this year. Since it started, the

campaign has raised US$13M mainly

from individuals in Central America and

the United States. This support from

old and new friends is helping INCAE

create its first ever endowment to se-

cure resources for student scholarships,

research funding, impact programs

and infrastructure. The purpose is to

help ensure the future of the school

and maintain its position as a leading

institution.

The INCAE Project, a half-hour

film, was presented to introduce the

institution and the Illuminate Campaign.

Events were held in Managua, San

José, Boston, New York and Wash-

ington DC. Later in the year the same

events were held in the rest of Central

America and Ecuador. This short film

tells INCAE’s unique and interesting

story in the voices of those involved

when the institution was created and

then, carried on.

INCAE was created not too long af-

ter John F. Kennedy gave an important

speech in Costa Rica in March 1963,

with Central American presidents in

attendance. This started the process

which regional businessmen carried

forth, supported by USAID and the

Harry Strachan

From Left to Right: Stephen Schwartzman | Donald Fox | Jennifer Fearon | Jaime Montealegre | Caroline Raclin | Diane Finnerty | Wendy Rodriguez and the George and Susan Lodge

Harvard Business School. Through the

perseverance and ingeniousness of

faculty, staff and leaders, the institution

quickly stood on its own feet and started

training business leaders.

Carlos Pellas, President of

Grupo Pellas, Chairman of INCAE’s

Presidential Advisory Committee and

Vice-Chairman of the Board of Direc-

tors has been, as his family before him,

intrinsically involved for years. He is not

only a major donor, but is considered

as possibly commensurate, in actual

support and guidance and probably also

in spirit and vision, to INCAE’s founder

of founders, Francisco de Sola of El Sal-

vador. “We don’t have an endowment.

We have been able to exist for 40 years

without one but we cannot plan for the

future without it.” The business school

landscape has changed today, and to

be competitive, the institution has to

innovate, which an endowment would

help.

Harry Strachan, former INCAE

President and founder of Mesoamerica,

is another champion of the school, and

tirelessly donates his support, time and

boundless energy. He accompanied

the campaign on almost all its stops,

encouraging friends to come learn about

INCAE. “I hope that INCAE never loses

the essence that it is much more than a

business school.

Jean Kennedy Smith


The INCAE Project screening, New York City

Stanley Motta

It is about training leaders, solving

problems and finding solutions that will

significantly improve the region,” he

says.

Notably, the events were enlivened

by the presence of George Cabot

Lodge, the HBS professor, writer, politi-

cian, thinker and famous raconteur. As

Harry Strachan says: “George was a

living legend when I went to Harvard.”

To have him there, to be moved by his

stories and laugh with his humor, was a

great honor.

Jean Kennedy Smith generously

opened her home to host an exclusive

screening. Others, including but not

limited to members of INCAE’s Board,

Ernesto Cruz, Wickham Skinner,

George Logan, Stanley Motta, Jaime

Montealegre, Stephen Schwartz-

man, John Nicolson, accompanied the

events. New York powerhouse INCAE

supporters Jennifer Fearon and Diane

Finnerty rounded in a host of their

friends as well. The development team

wishes to thank everyone who helped,

attended, and supported the campaign

and is extremely grateful to all involved

in the effort.

For more information:Wendy Rodriguez Director of Development Susan KindINCAE in America, DirectorINCAE Business SchoolEmail: [email protected]: (505) 2248-9820 or (202) 556-4903


Forty-three percent of the students who enrolled at the WKG Campus in Costa Rica were women. This is the highest percentage of

women to enroll in INCAE’s full-time MBA program--

ever.


Gaining Momentum to Close the Gender Gap

Last year INCAE Business School

reached another milestone. Forty-

three percent of the students who

enrolled at the Walter Kissling Gam

Campus were women. This is the

highest percentage of women to

enroll in the institution’s full-time MBA

program, ever.

Behind this figure lies a concrete

commitment to recruit and train wom-

en leaders, says INCAE President

Arturo Condo. “We are the first busi-

ness school in Latin America to have

courses specifically designed to take

into account the leadership barriers

women face, as well as their opportu-

nities. We also have a specific goal

to achieve 50% female enrollment in

our full-time MBA program by 2014.”

According to The Economist,

less than 30% of graduates with

MBA degrees worldwide are women,

a percentage that hasn’t increased

much over the past decade. This fact

makes INCAE’s 43% female enroll-

ment last year even more notable.

Understanding how these results

were obtained directs attention to

a unique asset in the institution’s

arsenal. When Roberto Artavia was

still President, he approached Susan

Clancy, now an Associate Professor

at INCAE, about a Center he envi-

sioned that would promote women’s

participation in the business world.

With her PhD from Harvard, several

books under her belt, appearances on

David Letterman and a host of other

US media programs, Clancy had the

clout to help realize Artavia’s dream,

one that President Arturo Condo

would continue to support.

By 2009, the combined vision

and ambition of these three lead-

ers made the Center for Women’s

Leadership, CWL, a tangible reality

and propelled INCAE into the global

forefront of women’s leadership. It

is the sole business school in Latin

America and one of the first in the

world to create a Center with the fol-

lowing mandate, as Clancy explains:

“The world needs more women in

leadership positions, not because of

money or power, but for the sake of

the organizations, communities and

families they serve. An MBA is a criti-

cal tool to help get them there.”

Yet an MBA is expensive, pre-

cluding some talented individuals the

opportunity of a top-notch educa-

tion, which is why “INCAE promotes

and offers scholarships to women,”

Clancy stresses. According to Ryan

Frazee, Director of Recruitment and

Admissions, “the fact that we have

the Center in addition to new scholar-

ships has helped reach out to talented

female candidates.”

Although the Center is still in

the nascent phase, Clancy and her

team develop courses, conduct

research and lead seminars for

corporations and organizations. “It

is time to invest and train female

talent,” says Clancy. “This is critical

for organizational and country level

competitiveness in the 21st Century.

A solid body of data from the fields of

economics, psychology and business

shows that gender diverse groups

make more innovative decisions.”

Interestingly, the fact that the

Center is located in Nicaragua adds

a remarkable twist. Every year, the

World Economic Forum publishes a

report on the gender gap, which lists

The Center for Women’s Leadership


quantitative measurements of gender

equality country-by-country. Since

May 2012, women have held half

of Nicaragua’s parliamentary and min-

isterial positions, ranking Nicaragua

fifth in the world in women’s political

empowerment and ninth in overall

gender equality.

Though Nordic countries top

the list, Nicaragua is the only nation

from Latin America in the top ten. In

comparison, the USA ranks 22nd.

“INCAE happens to be in the perfect

place at the perfect time,” says

Clancy. “It is an incredible opportu-

nity for the Center and this institution.”

Data shows, according to Clancy,

that women who hold political power

think differently and make different

decisions. “At INCAE, we focus on

leadership training. In Nicaragua,

we now have women in positions of

power with no previous experience

with political empowerment. Our goal

is to provide training seminars to help

them be better prepared for the barri-

ers they will face,” says Clancy, who

artfully balances her post as research

director of the CWL with the same

finesse as in her other roles: profes-

sor, author and parent.

Clancy sees a future where the

world will need more women leaders,

and works towards that. With pinpoint

accuracy, she seizes opportunities

and data that others might miss, help-

ing the collective effort to gradually

close the door on the gender gap.

“It is time to start investing and train female talent,” says Clancy, Research Director of the CWL.

Professor Susan ClancyResearch Director of the CWL

SOARINGCOLOMBIA

At the heart of INCAE’s mission was a mandate for change. It was supported by John F. Kennedy, dreamed by the businessmen of Central America, and assisted by professors from Harvard Business School. It was the 1960s and there was a real desire to make the world a better place, to develop

economies and pull countries out of poverty. Out of this, INCAE was created.

S P O T L I G H T

SOARINGCOLOMBIA

From Colombian nationals who went to the PAG in 1970, to graduates from a host of countries, to students currently pursuing MBAs, the

institution has trained business people, yesterday and today, who are collectively lifting Colombia out of the past, and into the stratosphere of hope and possibilities

that are on its immediate horizon.

“We knew without an institution of this caliber, the countries could not lift themselves up.”George Cabot Lodge


Forty plus years of darkness. The Western Hemisphere’s longest-running conflict. An estimated quarter million dead; millions displaced. The tenacious fighters from the FARC and right-wing paramilitary groups, both heavily into drug trafficking and terror, bullet-marked the national stage with their culture of violence and corruption. The emotional landscape in the country, for years, seemed without much hope.

Virtually everyone in the country has a story. Jorge Hernández, President of La Re-publica, (PAG 1970) looks out through the window from the top floor of the newspaper building at the parking lot below: “We got bombed, down there.” Robinson Vásquez, President of Suppla, (Candidate EMBA 2013) passes a church, blocks from his parent’s

THE BLACK YEARS


home and points to a bus stop: “My brother was killed here.” For decades fear pervaded, understandably, scarring the psyche of this nation.

“But we resisted,” says Hernández, and today, optimism flies, albeit cautiously. Visi-tors come. They find this new Colombia seriously catching, just like the ad campaign that blanketed CNN last year: The risk is wanting to stay. “All countries brand,” says Carolina Trejos (MBA 2001), “and this branding was perfect. Beautiful. Because as a foreigner liv-ing here, I believe it is true. The risk is wanting to stay.”

These are some of the impressions of Incaistas working and living in Colombia today:

Text and Photos by Ana Coyne | Illustration by José Clemente Orozco


Jorge HernándezPresident, LR La RepúblicaPAG IX, 1970 | Colombia

“I have witnessed big changes,”

says journalist Jorge Hernández, a

towering man whose gentle voice and

kind demeanor seemingly contradict

his imposing height. From his posts

in the top echelons of Medellín’s

regional newspaper El Colombiano

and Colombia’s nationally distributed

economic newspaper La República,

Hernández recounts witnessing

decades of heavy, harrowing history.

Putting into print what Colombia was

living through, and making it known

to the world, has been Hernández’s

life work.

In 1970, INCAE offered the

Advanced Management Program

(PAG for its acronym in Spanish) in

Medellín, the capital of the province of

Antioquia. Hernández, with other top

business leaders, went into lockdown

at the Intercontinental Hotel for three

months, immersed in study. Accord-

ing to Hernández, this gave “the

participants a new perspective on

the economy and business practices”

and the learning created immediate

impact.

For this journalist, as for his

country, he locates change on the

y-axis of education: “Culture enters

first through education, and we under-

stood that first we had to educate

people.” He credits much of the

change he has seen in Colombian

youth to the opportunities created by

education, and admires Antioquia’s

Governor Sergio Fajardo for his focus

in the campaign: “Medellín, The Most

Educated.” This tagline for Fajardo’s

development plan of the region is

a battle cry, with the logo plastered

everywhere, clearly announcing

the priority for this province and the

country.

In just ten years, how did: Colombia transform itself from a virtually failed state? Drasti-cally cut its homicide rates? Push the guerrillas to remote regions? Today, it is perceived as one of the most promising investment opportunities, not just in Latin America, but in the world.

Many share the same answer: security. “The change,” says Carlos Ayala (MBA 2010) “started when President Alvaro Uribe made the decision to end the war and take action.” That was 2002. “Uribe gave us peace,” says Hernandez. “With security, this country re-suscitated.”

The cost, alludes Ayala, was enormous, in effort, funds and human life. But interest-ingly, he also explains that Plan Colombia, the U.S.-backed counter-narcotics campaign, provided innovative technology that the Colombian military didn’t have before. “With that, we were able to change strategy and neutralize the principal, almost mythic, heads of the FARC, like El Mono Jojoy. That changed how we fought. Instead of going after one guerrilla fighter after another, we went after their leaders.” With success came popularity. Statistics show that the Colombian military is more popular than the Catholic Church, says Ayala.

SECURITY CHANGES


Lieutenant Colonel Carlos Ayala, Commander of the Medellín Brigade, is in charge of 864 men. His Co-lombian politeness and real sincerity quickly puts you at ease, despite the formidable uniform on this broad-shouldered military man, who spent six years in the Special Forces. On his desk, encased in a simple wood frame, is the Medal of Honor he received for bravery, the most exigent requirement of this job.

During the difficult years, from 2002 onwards when the govern-ment decided to re-take control of the country, it was men like Ayala who went into the barrios to do the difficult jobs-- inch by inch, person by person. “Comuna 13 is equivalent to the favelas of Rio de Janeiro. It is the most critical zone of Medellín. We have 300 soldiers stationed there,” he says. “This was historically FARC dominated territory but since 2006, the military has taken it over.”

The fighting was intense since the combatants, armed with sophis-ticated weaponry, were determined to control the territory because of its direct access to the sea where “arms, ammunitions, drugs and kidnappers could pass with ease,” says Ayala. The struggle took a huge effort, much force, and information, he says. “There were many killed on our part. And on their part. Many were captured. To be able to bring it under

Carlos AyalaLieutenant Colonel Colombian ArmyMBA LV, 2010 | Colombia

control.”Living in a country with strong

institutions and a deep commitment to education allowed Ayala to pursue another interest, one from childhood. He had an uncle who was a business-man. The Ministry of Defense and Colfuturo, which helps Colombians get an education abroad, sent him to INCAE. After returning, his rank was quickly upgraded to Lieutenant Colo-nel. The knowledge, he says, helps him run the intricate logistics in the barracks and outside on the streets with more confidence and fluidity.

Ayala has seen firsthand how the economic growth of a city, region and country goes hand in hand with se-curity. He works with true conviction, believing the military is a force of unity and reconstruction. “Our presence is essential for taking care of democ-racy, the economy and investments in the country,” which, he says, gives him great pride and job satisfaction.


Álvaro Salcedo winds his way up a

red-carpeted staircase to the elegant

Teatro Colsubsidio that seats thou-

sands. “We believe art and culture

are as important as health, housing

and education,” he remarks, from

beneath a golden chandelier, “and

everyone should have access.”

His tour continues to Colsub-

sidio’s Sport and Business Center,

exquisitely designed. Inside, there

is a convention center, an Olympic-

grade pool, a verdant soccer field, a

new gym and a hip restaurant. Again,

for workers.

Colsubsidio is the first compen-

sation fund in the country, a private,

nonprofit organization that is part

of Colombia’s unique social secu-

rity network. Companies pay four

percent of their payroll to Colsubsidio

in exchange for workers having ac-

cess to services, including subsidized

health care, education, housing, even

vacations.

This private organization is the

fourth largest employer in Colombia,

with 35,000 affiliated companies, in-

cluding Grupo Empresarial Antioque-

ño, Grupo Aval and Grupo Bolivar.

Over a million workers benefit.

The concept of corporate social

responsibility, CSR, is not new to

Colombia. According to Salcedo,

Álvaro SalcedoGeneral Secretary, ColsubsidioMAEX XIX, 2005 | Colombia

it dates back to the 1950s when

Colombian business leaders decided

that companies would only reach their

full potential when their employees

did as well. In essence, he explains,

what Colsubsidio does is redistribute

company profits to create a spectrum

of opportunities for employees to

benefit as well.

With the economic boom, many

new companies are setting up shop

and Colsubsidio is a good choice to

be affiliated with, says Salcedo. “We

are effective and know about having

a social conscience within a business

framework.”

He was encouraged to go out

of Colombia and get his Executive

Masters by Colsubsidio’s director,

Luis Arrango, who spearheaded the

institution’s modernization in prepara-

tion for the changes that were coming

to his country.

With the major security advances, Colombia took back its roads, making land travel less dangerous. “With the recovered territory,” says Fabricio Ponce (MEE 1995): “we can now distribute and sell in all cities, in 90% of Colombia.” The safer roads opened up not only commerce but also the exploration of natural resources.

Since last decade, a significant effort has been made to market Colombia to foreign investment, which was key to achieve major economic advances. “The improvement of security conditions, as well as different stimulus for an array of industries, especially the oil sector, and the stability of macroeconomic variables has turned Colombia into a country attractive to invest in,” says Jorge Yanes. (MBA 2011)

It is the third largest economy in the region, after Mexico and Brazil. “There is low inflation around 2.5% and a stable currency. They have very conservative policies, with fiscal stability; companies can carry out investment plans for the long run. In 2011, Fitch upgraded Colombia to investment grade, BBB- rating,” says Yanes: “This is a good mo-ment for Colombia.”

THEN THE ECONOMY


He was a star at INCAE: the valedic-torian with the highest GPA, winner of the Distinguished Scholar Award. So after INCAE and almost three years working for Procter & Gamble in Puerto Rico, it makes sense that he would be hired by the star-studded company, Mesoamerica, the region’s leading advisory and private equity

firm. After only five years, Reynaldo González made partner and was handed his next major challenge: Colombia.

Here, Mesoamerica is building and operating the largest, most ambi-tious restaurant business, focused on strong local brands. The total con-solidated revenue of the restaurant industry in Colombia alone is US$11 billion. It is massive and extremely fragmented. The largest group con-trols only 2 percent of the market and foreign competition is minimal. “We saw an opportunity,” says González, and with that, Mesoamerica bought OMA, the leading coffee shop in the country with 186 stores and 13 full service restaurants.

“At Mesoamerica, we look at the famous S-Curve. When per capita GDP is between 5K and 15K, consumption accelerates and then explodes. Right now, we are at 7K.

The extra dollars go to restaurants, clothing, education; so the new middle class in the next 15 years will generate additional consumption, and that is one of the reasons why you enter a market,” explains González.

Mesoamerica is active in many countries, uniquely positioned to as-sist companies from Central America to go south and from South America to go north. “Three or four Colombian companies are becoming true Latin American powerhouses. Because of our experience in the region, we are perfectly suited to assist them.”

At one moment self-assured, the next moment humble, González seems deeply confident, not only in his company and himself, but also in Colombia. “In the restaurant busi-ness, we are making an impact,” he says. “We are relevant in this huge market and we are proud of what we are doing.”

Reynaldo GonzálezManaging Director, MesoamericaMBA XXXV, 2000 | Dominican Republic

The recent changes in security and economic policies have been all-important. Yet, Colombia is interesting in that it is so influenced by roots, certain basics in the culture and society that are also seem to fuel this soaring. Colombia has always had well-functioning institutions. Political institutions that governed. Constitutional courts that worked. A central bank. An educated elite. Good universities. A huge internal market. Smart urban planning. Efficient, profitable public companies, especially in Medellín. “Here, educa-tion and sports are very important. Schools are being built all over, technical schools and libraries in the poorer areas,” says Hernández, to address the social problems, at the core of Colombia’s dark years.

There are public parks and public sculptures. Soccer fields with children practic-ing; outdoor gyms with seniors exercising. Libraries in the underground subway system. Signs that say: “We are committed to taking care of our parks” and “Life: It is the funda-mental priority of society and our government.” Everywhere in Colombia, you see culture.

STRONG ROOTS


1.7%2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006 2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012Projected

2.5%

3.9%

5.3%4.7%

6.7% 6.9%

3.5%

1.7%

4.0%

5.9%

3.7%

Colombia’s GDP over 10+ years

Source: Dane

Unilever headquarters in Bogotá is far from hierarchical. Inside, desks are arranged almost at random, each temporarily claimed by a plugged-in-professional or wait-ing for a khaki-clad manager. The office is paperless. The workers are

young and the atmosphere seems fun, with neon posters displaying Unilever’s products plastered on the walls.

As comfortable as the others is Country Director, Ignacio Segares, a Costa Rican who at only 41 has worked his way up to top manage-ment positions at Unilever offices in China, Costa Rica, Venezuela and now Colombia. Despite his notable and successful professional trajec-tory, he laughs when he quips: “I excelled a little at INCAE,” though he credits his quick rise to his training, especially in strategy and market-ing.

Paramount to Unilever’s suc-cess worldwide has been its market-ing strategy, which the corporation adapts to each country. “In Colom-bia, there exists a standard of living classification of one to six,” Segares explains. “One to three, which

Ignacio SegaresVice President, Customer Development Middle Americas & Country Director of Unilever MAE XXIX, 1997 | Costa Rica

are the lower classes, represents roughly 50% of the population” and this bottom half is Unilever’s mar-ket. They package their products “in small quantities, like 10 ml of shampoo instead of 350 ml, so that people can buy what they need with only a few coins. They don’t have the cash for bulk purchases,” he says.

According to Segares, more than 50% of business in Colombia also happens over the counters of small, neighborhood shops. “Though the penetration of supermarkets and hypermarkets is increasing, mom-and-pop stores predominate and are still grow-ing. Why? Around 40% of employ-ment is informal, unstructured and people receive daily, maybe weekly wages,” says Segares. “This shapes our strategy here and how we do business.”


Robinson VásquezPresident of SupplaCandidate EMBA 2013 | Colombia

Suppla, the leading logistics company in Colombia

Fabricio PonceCEO Coca Cola Femsa in ColombiaMEE VII 1995 | Ecuador

In his tailored business suit, Fabricio Ponce strides into the boardroom with the same confidence as the Lone Ranger riding Silver. At the age of seventeen, he left Ecuador to study at El Zamorano Agricultural School in Honduras. After three years as an agronomist, he “was riding a horse when something went click,” he says, and got out of the saddle and made a U-turn to B-school. “I always knew I wanted to lead a big life,” says this CEO as he nonchalantly cocks his head towards a sophisticated soda display and asks, “Want a Coke?”

Ponce, 44, meteorically shot through the ranks of the Coca Cola Femsa company, working as a top executive in Mexico, Central Amer-ica, Argentina and Brazil. Now he leads the company in Colombia, a country that for years produced and consumed mostly local colas and juices, making Coca Cola’s push to

gain more of the Colombian market a challenge. Ponce, who special-izes in turnarounds and corporate restructuring, was sent in. With years of management experience in com-petitive environments and unstable economies, he has a proven record of doubling the value of companies, usually within five years.

To inject change and invigorate the 9,000 employees, he says he “promotes business behaviors like ambition, nonconformism, humility and saying ‘no’ to yes men.”

He encourages all employees to follow a daily regimen, which allots points for exercising, eating properly and spending time with family. He believes a better person makes a better leader. “I am most motivated by helping people reach their highest potential,” he says. “If employees are fulfilled, the results are better for the company.”


Carolina TrejosAir Partners Director, AviancaTacaMBA XXXVII, 2001 | Costa Rica

A photograph frames a young woman

comfortably sitting on the wing of a jet

plane. While still an undergraduate,

Carolina Trejos says she got a “lucky

break” with a United Airlines job at the

San José airport. “Sixty percent of

job success depends on finding what

you love and an environment that

fits,” she says.

After her MBA, she tried work-

ing in marketing and advertising but

returned to aviation. Since 2003,

Trejos has been with TACA, having

started in corporate sales. But with

the merger last June, Trejos now

finds herself working for Avianca

Taca in the Loyalty area and is the Air

Partners Director in Bogotá.

“My work is a bridge for devel-

opment. Just opening a new plane

route from one city to another immedi-

ately creates and grows business

opportunities-- for everyone. What

aviation does essentially is erase the

boundaries inherent to frontiers,” she

says.

When the war targeted art, and a bomb placed inside Fernando Botero’s Bird sculpture killed nearly two dozen, hurt many more, the city government did not take the sculpture remains away. They left it where it was, and Botero sculpted another one to sit beside it. As a reminder of courage and peace; of the need to fight and hold on to the most essential human aspirations.

“The real protagonists of this story,” says Vásquez, “are the Colombian people.” He sits at a restaurant in mall in Medellin that looks like a mall in Miami, and his friend chimes in: “It is like we just woke up.”

It might feel like the country just woke up. But bringing the country out of the darkness of plagues into the lightness of possibilities, required: Plans. Leaders. Perseverance. And Hope.

THE COLOMBIANS


Before going to INCAE, Jorge Yanes

worked for more than five years at

Fitch Ratings in Venezuela. Just six

days after graduating, he found him-

self re-hired by his former employer

and heading south again, this time

bound for Bogota, to join the cor-

porate team of Fitch Ratings in the

promising market of Colombia.

“The immediate challenge was

learning about the companies and

transactions that are rated by this

office,” says Yanes, who just one year

later covers the credit analysis of over

20 companies in the food and bever-

age, transportation and telecommuni-

cations industries.

Fitch Ratings provides financial

markets with independent credit opin-

ions. “Our customers are the global

investors,” says Yanes. “We provide

accurate and timely credit opinions

about companies, so we contribute

to the transparency investors need.

The investor uses our information as

pieces in the decision making process

of whether to invest or not.”

Yanes pinpoints economic stabil-

ity in the country as crucial for carry-

ing out long-term investment plans.

Companies in Colombia currently

issue bonds with terms of 10 years or

more, which is a positive sign of the

momentum the economy is experi-

encing.

Jorge YanesDirector, FITCH Ratings ColombiaMBA 2011 | Venezuela

Birds of Peace | San Antonio Place, Medellín


From his desk in a mid-rise building in Medellín, Jaime Roldan looks through a window at the busy employees working amidst a sea of cables and computers. This wiry, sharp-witted, easy to talk to executive has just returned from a PAG course in Costa Rica. With the new knowledge, he analyzes at super speed where his country and company have been and where they are going.

Suramericana is an investment company born in Colombia in 1944 as Grupo de Inversiones Surameri-cana SA. It has several sub-holding companies, one being the insurance group Suramericana SA, which has 52 offices. Over the past seven decades, Suramericana has grown, diversified, multiplied its interests and moved to other countries in search of markets,

becoming one of the giant multilatinas in South America, employing more than 40,000 people.

Roldan explains that Suramericana SA came of age under the Cepalino method of development, which started in Colombia in the 1950s and lasted until President Cesar Gaviria changed things in the 1990s. Before him, the economy was closed, protected by high tariffs and duties, which had its advantages, says Roldan. “Colombian companies developed and produced Colombian cola, beer, insurance, sugar, liquor, even polymers. Imports were re-stricted so people consumed Colombian products. When things were difficult, people simply became more creative and invented solutions.” A whole array of national industries were fostered and grew in a way that made Colombia’s economy somewhat independent and because of that, strong.

But along with this, according to Roldan, came disadvantages: “The

Jaime RoldanManager ERP - SAP | Suramericana SAPAG 2012 | Colombia

protectionism limited development, closed us to the outside word, slowed technological advancements and limited efficiency.” This all changed when President Álvaro Uribe came to power in 2002. The economy that had already started opening up in the previous dec-ade, sped up. “Suddenly, here we go. We told ourselves we have to become competitive,” says Roldan, “so we did. Many people were frightened. They thought our companies were going to be put out of business.” But they weren’t. Instead, Colombian companies met the challenge, adapted and thrived.


In 2010, Victoria Revelo, a Colom-

bian psychologist, temporarily left her

family and small daughter to get an

MBA at INCAE. After earning it, the

American research and consulting

company, Gallup, hired her, enticed

by the combination of her previous

training in human behavior with her

new knowledge of business adminis-

tration.

Over the past years, she has led

the largest project at Gallup in Latin

America with the Colombian National

Police, a program aimed at transform-

ing the institution, inside and out. The

purpose of the decade-long initiative

is to restore the community’s confi-

dence in the police force and create a

collaborative relationship to address

social issues, such as security,

education and community develop-

ment. “Together, this adds to the so

needed peace and economic growth

in Colombia,” says Revelo.

In 2011, homicide rates dropped

an impressive 14 percentage points

compared to 2010. In August 2012,

homicide rates continued to be

curbed. As well, in August 2012 the

National Police was recognized in a

biannual survey as the principal in-

stitution that contributes to improving

the quality of life in Colombia.

To Revelo, INCAE classes on

Decisions were most enriching. She

recognizes the importance of women

in influencing and creating social and

economic impact. For this reason, in

addition to her work at Gallup, she

volunteers in a program at Javeriana

University to help young single moth-

ers: “It’s great to have an MBA and

increase your income, but we can

never forget the people who need our

help.”

Victoria ReveloClient Development Consultant, GallupMBA 2011 | Colombia

Ricardo MartinelliPresident of PanamaMAE IX, 1977

L E A D P L A Y E R S

I N C A E p r o d u c e s t o p l e a d e r s

Otto PérezPresident of Guatemala

PAG XL, 1990


PerezalonsoGilberto

ConsultantMAE VI, 1974 | Mexico


WINNER OF THE MOST DISTINGUISHED INCAISTA AWARD 2012

Gilberto Perezalonso hasn’t given an interview in over a decade. To reach this meticulously dressed man, sitting behind a perfectly ordered desk surrounded by breathtaking Persian and Mexi-can sculptures, requires crossing impressive security barriers. One might wonder what this consultant, in this upscale Polanco penthouse in the metropolis of Mexico City, is protecting himself from.

Perezalonso’s smile is big, it is radiant. His sleek, bald head reminds one of Kojak and his humor is contagious. When he answers a question about his security, he

tells a joke: “What happens to a mariachi band when Gilberto Per-ezalonso joins the company?” He answers with a huge belly laugh: “It becomes a trio!”

Perezalonso is a restructuring expert. Over the trajectory of his professional career, his fame has stemmed from his seamless ability to come into a company, efficiently reorganize it, and save it from itself. His is not a job for everyone.

He is most known for his work with Televisa, the Mexican media conglomerate, a company that by the end of the 1990s had mush-roomed into a Goliath of excess.

Emilio Azcarraga Jean, who in 1997 had taken over as President, “ knew what he wanted,” says Pereza-lonso, and “told me to come and re-structure it. Change the company. Change the culture, everything. I admired him because he was young and born into that company but he made the difficult decision to let me do what I needed to do.”

Perezalonso pared Televisa down to size. The job cuts were dramatic, with the number of employees reduced from 21,000 to 13,000. He lowered executive salaries and cut luxurious expens-es. When the job was done, almost


three years later, he moved on. “You have to learn from the movies. The bad guys either die or leave,” laughs Perezalonso, “I prefer to go.”

For nearly fifteen years he has made the difficult decisions, done the needed work for a handful of the most important companies oper-ating in Mexico. His professional path has garnered him widespread recognition and praise, as well as possibly engendered a few invisible adversaries.

He says one of the secrets to his success is his ability to put together efficient teams and choose talented professionals. However, in the end, he carries the full respon-sibility himself. After Televisa, he has consulted and worked for other companies like Aerovias de México, Geo and Volaris, spending about a year or so with each. “Time enough to put the house in order,” he says. “The first two weeks at a new company are very difficult for

“You have to have a very clear picture. You need to have a strategic mind.You must change the culture... to restructure a company.

”

me. I have to figure it out, under-stand the implications of the neces-sary changes. I am good at seeing the big picture.”

Though nationalized a Mexi-can, Perezalonso is originally from Nicaragua. After studying law in Mexico City, he first pursued diplo-macy, working at the Nicaraguan Embassies in London, Tokyo and then the United Nations. He got his MBA from INCAE through a grant from the Nicaraguan Central Bank where he was working at the time. In 1979 he relocated to Mexico, and worked for 18 years for Grupo Cifra, S.A., where he honed his restructur-ing skills in top executive positions. There, he was held in high repute, maybe as he says, “for being effi-cient, kind and tough,” but probably even more notably for heading the team that closed the sale of Cifra to Walmart of Mexico, a two billion dollar affair.


One targets low. Then sells high.The other targets high. And refuses to sell at all.

The Supermarket

Scions


Palí, to most Costa Ricans, is a low-cost, local supermarket; one hundred and forty dot the country. But to businessman Luis Uribe Rodríguez, Palí was not a store’s name but a nickname his grandchildren gave him.

Palí was a man unafraid of hard work. When his employees worked late into the night, so would he. In 1919, this son of Spanish immigrants consolidated Almacen Uribe y Pages in San José, transforming it from a small store into a general store and then into a retail icon.

But this was only the begin-ning. Palí’s son, Enrique, notched it up. “My father was clear this was not going to be the only establishment,” says Rodrigo Uribe, a soft spoken, to-the-point man who today is president of Cuestamoras: “It was going to be a chain.” Just as clear as crystal, Palí was a man with a plan and his son, a man with vision.

Enrique visited the United States, where he was inspired by the self-service supermarket. With family support, he launched Más x Menos in 1960 in Cuesta de Moras. Along with the muscle and leadership of executives John Moretti and Samuel Hidalgo, the chain grew, becoming “the first and most successful of its type,” says Uribe.

The stores multiplied and the market shelves were kept freshly

stocked by thousands of local producers. “We started developing relationships with these small farm-ers, gradually got engineers into the fields, then created quality control programs,” recalls Uribe. The fam-ily started companies like Hortifruti and Industrias Carnicas to create a supply chain for products such as meats, fruits, and vegetables to reach consumers directly, avoiding middle-men. It was revolutionary. Eventu-ally, the program became known as Tierra Fertil, or “Fertile Land,” which helps support and create fair markets for small and medium farmers, now a model replicated in countries as far away as India. “It is one example of a sustainable business where you make money and create a real benefit for the whole chain,” says Uribe.

In the mid-1970s, brothers Ro-drigo and Carlos Uribe Saenz started pulling the family business wagon. In 1979, when economic depression en-gulfed the region, the Uribes launched a no frills supermarket chain called Palí, paying respect to the family patriarch. Consumers welcomed the low prices; the concept was replicated internationally.

Rodrigo Uribe became president of the company in 1990, sought out international alliances, acquired the Nicaraguan chain “La Unión” and expanded. The different enterprises entered a strategic alliance with

Rodrigo UribeExecutive PresidentGrupo CuestamorasMAE VII, 1975 | Costa Rica

“Palí was a man with a plan and his son, a man with vision.”

Text: Ana Coyne

Grupo Paiz and eventually were sold to Walmart.

Selling the business his grand-father started to the largest retailer in the world is “a story with a few difficult chapters,” admits Uribe, “but a happy ending.” It would have been arduous for anyone to make the mammoth decision of “letting go of a business built up slowly, within the family, then handing it over to an international corporation with a different culture,” he acknowledges. “But eventually we understood it was best. To let it go and start something new.” Which is what he has done with Grupo Cuestamoras, a company he now runs that manages an invest-ment portfolio and provides business services.

“Probably my main contribution is to look at the big picture first and then work back to the details,” says Uribe, quietly. “Let’s talk about strategy. What are we trying to accomplish? What are our long term plans? How do we stay focused?” He thinks out loud, showing how his intellect con-nects the map route by starting with the destination city in sight, before breaking down the turns. Logically. Lucidly. A master planner. In part it may be genetic, to a larger extent ac-cumulated experience, but it is here, with his mind, where Rodrigo Uribe reveals the bountiful inheritance he received from his father and his Palí.


Guillermo Alonso’s story is the third installment in the hand woven tale of a visionary Costa Rican family. It was the year 1932, near the intersec-tion of Avenue 3A and 3rd Street in San José, in the heart of old town where the “Bar Azul” was hatched, a cafeteria, whose proprietor Guillermo Alonso Rodríguez was an immigrant from Spain. Little by little, his sons, the Alonso Matanza brothers, got involved and the cafeteria evolved into a grocery.

The business started growing and in the 1960s, when Guillermo Alonso was seven years old, “the cash registers revolutionized the busi-ness,” he recalls. “We established the first self-service grocery store in Costa Rica,” the first to target an upscale clientele with high quality products, he explains.

In 1979, with his formal educa-tion at the University of Costa Rica, Mannheim and INCAE complete, Alonso, with his analytical look and banker-like attire, dove profession-ally into the family business, Auto Mercado (“A M”). From the start, his vision was as innovative as his forbearers. In 1983, in the midst of a dire economic crisis, Alonso con-structed “Plaza del Sol,” the first mall in Costa Rica. “It included a modern

supermarket, hyper clean, great look, with a variety of products, which bet on attracting an upper-middle class clientele,” explains Alonso. In and around the supermarkets they also built “dry cleaners, pharmacies, and photoshops to satisfy more needs. It became the neighborhood mall.”

Today, the Alonsos have a chain of 18 supermarkets and a new con-venient type of venue called “Vindi.” They have 2,400 employees and in 2013 plan to open three new super-markets and another eight “Vindi” stores.

The Auto Mercado headquarters is located in a building just blocks away from where the roots of Auto Mercado Supermarkets first sprouted, the “Bar Azul.” The walls and floor might have been spruced up with hip metal sheeting but the original structure still stands, in a downtown that looks dated and dingy, but where the headquarters remains loyal to the company’s origins. The company’s purpose seems clearly on track-- a constantly evolving business that stays within the family.

“Today global companies are endemic. More and more, local busi-nesses and local business leaders are diminishing. But there are always opportunities, always,” says Alonso.

“The hand woven tale of a visionary Costa Rican family.”

Guillermo AlonsoCEO, A M Auto MercadoMAE XI, 1979 | Costa Rica

Text: Alicia Zamora S.

42 INCAE Alumni Magazine“I am convinced that everything has been created, so... ...why can’t we make it better? That is what we try to do.”

“We may not be huge, but we will be a legend. We may not be as powerful as other companies, but we will be an inspiration. I’d bet my life on it.”

43INCAE Alumni Magazine“I am convinced that everything has been created, so... ...why can’t we make it better? That is what we try to do.”

Jorge Oller doesn’t miss a beat.

Hand him a business card, he really

looks. Say your name, he repeats

it, catching the undercurrents in the

tone. He reads the unsaid within

the said.

Founder of Tribu Group, the

Central American network of ad-

vertising and publicity agencies, he

started the business in 1989, which

now employs more than 700. Tribu

combines tradition and modernity,

beauty and business, unconvention-

ality with wisdom. “We don’t pitch

anymore,” he says, “clients just walk

in.”

Jorge Oller doesn’t really need

an article. It is enough to read his

quotes. And his blog,

A Fuego Lento:

www.jorgeoller.com | Enjoy.

Jorge Oller

“We may not be huge, but we will be a legend. We may not be as powerful as other companies, but we will be an inspiration. I’d bet my life on it.”

Founder, The Tribu GroupPAG XLIV, 1994 | MAEX XII, 2002 Costa Rica


The Costa Rican entrepreneur Mario

Morales believes in the might of new

technologies. So much so that he

chose Innovare as the name of his

company, inspired by the philoso-

phy of innovation tucked deep in his

pocket of wisdom.

Everything started at INCAE

when Professor Carlos Sequeira

showed his class the first multimedia

CD-Rom Harvard had created.

“Seeing video in 1995 on a computer

screen inspired me. Windows 95 had

just been launched. The web was

beginning. Google didn’t exist. I was

fascinated,” he recalls.

Wanting to try his own hand at

it, Morales decided to make INCAE

a version of the latest sensation,

presenting the case of the Sal

Andrews advertising campaign. It

was produced entirely as a digital

interactive case in video, with no

paper copy.

That CD-Rom became a veritable

success, “from Mexico to Argentina,”

says Morales. Author Philip Kotler,

the guru whose book Marketing

Management is a mainstay in many

business schools, included a copy of

the CD-Rom in the Latin American

version of his textbook.

Morales wanted to continue

producing more of them. But INCAE

didn’t have the same plan. So he

founded his own company, Aura

Interactiva, aimed at an engaging and

fun marriage between learning and

technology.

Aura Interactiva started in his

parent’s garage in 1998 with an initial

investment of 12K. After eight years,

the volume of sales exceeded one

million dollars with exports going as

far north as Canada and south as

Chile. The company needed invest-

ment capital to grow and brought in

a venture capitalist. But things ran

amuck, and eventually Morales lost

control of his own company. “All my

savings and eight years of my life with

that company were left behind. It was

not about the money. I just wanted to

do what I loved.”

This desire to innovate was

honed at INCAE. So when no com-

pany seemed interested in hiring him,

he started another. “I was convinced

innovation would be valued some-

day,” says Morales. “There is a gap

in relation to the way that innovation

is perceived by companies in the de-

veloping world. Tools are available.

Yet Latin Americans seem unaware of

how fundamental it is to their survival

and competitive advantage.”

What followed was his wisest

maneuver, which produced a big

breakthrough. He won a contract as

the Innovation Consultant to the BAC

Credomatic Bank. “They brought

people from New York, from all over

the world. But those guys were too

philosophical, too theoretical. When

I spoke, I was practical, local, giving

them a “Show Me the Money” talk and

Ernesto Castegnaro, the CEO, hired

me. Now they are the most innova-

tive bank in Central America.”

“Have you heard that Robert

Frost saying, two roads diverge in

the forest? I took the less traveled

and it did make all the difference,” he

says. Morales is recognized today as

a creativity and innovation expert in

the region. His clients include global

giants like GE Money, Holcim, Cargill,

AstraZeneca, Baxter and Toyota. He

has developed a recipe for promoting

innovation.

“Have you heard

that Robert Frost

saying, two roads

diverge in the

forest? I took the

less traveled and

it did make all the

difference.”

Founder InnovareMAIT II, 1996 | Costa Rica


Innovation starts with curiosity, observe tendencies, people and companies.

Follow your Passion.

Question assumptions and the Status Quo. Ask “Why Not?!”

Innovation is always at the intersection of two fields, Change Perspectives.

Experiment.

Take Risks.

Connect the Dots.

Look for inspiration by meeting different people, travelling and reading.

Jot down new ideas in a journal.

Take the less trodden path.

1.

2. 3.

4.

5. 6. 7. 8.

9. 10.


Giving to the INCAE Business School’s Illuminate Campaign helps ensure that generations of future leaders have an opportunity to get an education and find a place in global business and society. As part of this philanthropic community, your help provide the financial base to ensure that the school remains a leader in its field. Your gift to the Illuminate Campaign is deeply appreciated and vitally important to our mission.

Please Make a Gift


PUT YOUR NETWORK TO WORK FOR YOU Don’t miss your REUNIONS 2013

Briefcase | Sportlight | Lead Players

AND CLICK

on ALUMNI

www.incae.edu

GO TO

INCAE Alumni Magazine

Documents

Transcript of INCAE Alumni Magazine