INCAE Alumni Magazine

INCAE Business School

Meet the leaders you are connected toTHE INCAE NETWORK

2 INCAE Alumni Magazine

TEAM EFFORT means giving it your all

By giving annually to support INCAE’s world-class programs, faculty, research, infrastructure and scholarships, you will be doing your part

to help us stay a top-tier school.

INCAE Business [email protected]: Sandra Granizo

3INCAE Alumni Magazine

Dreams

Success

Lead

ers

Table of ContentsJanuary 2012

04 Letter from the President06 Michael Porter08 MBA Oath Club | Rankings09 Founders Circle10 Francisco de Sola and

Walter Kissling Gam 12 Women’s Leadership

Center | CLACDS13 They trust in INCAE14 Meet Incae’s Board16 Incaista Profiles30 Illuminate Campaign

Amigo Incaista Campaign


Leaders in a Global and Connected World

Dear Incaistas,

This is the launch of the first edition of the INCAE Alumni Magazine, dedicated to our graduates--inspirational leaders, visionaries and entrepreneurs.

Today, we are experiencing a period of extraordinary change in global business. Globalization and technology are changing societies and markets, bringing us difficult challenges as well as amazing opportunities. To embrace these with tenacity, the world will need, with even more urgency, inspired and trained leaders. INCAE, our Alma Mater, has a proven record of producing such leaders.

Although INCAE’s roots are in Central America, its focus is on Latin America viewed through the prism of global thinking. Globalization and the impact it has on the region continues to be a priority for us. This issue highlights graduates working around the world, from the Philippines to Panama, in industries ranging from farming to fashion.

You are 13,000 alumni working in more than 51 countries, impacting the lives of millions. Your stories are edifying and interesting, testament to the breath and diversity of your pursuits past graduation.

This year, INCAE launches the Illuminate Campaign. Its purpose is to create an endowment which will help us continue attracting future leaders and guarantee both our sustained impact in the region as well as our top-tier standing as one of the best business schools in the world.

We hope you enjoy the magazine and Happy New Year!

Warm regards,

Arturo CondoPresident

Letter from the PreSiDent

INCAE Alumni MagazineVolume I | No. 1

January 2012

President Arturo Condo

Dean of the WKG Campus and Exec-Ed Roy Zúñiga

Dean of the FdS Campus and Masters DegreesGuillermo Selva

Associate Dean of Masters Programs Luis Sanz

Director of Development and National Committees Coordinator

Wendy Rodriguez

Director of Alumni Relations Sandra Granizo

Contributing Writers

Dora Luz Romero

Copy Editor | English

Abbie Fields

Additional Support

Maria Berns

Alexa Glo Belli

Alina Arguello

Graphic Designers

Luis Pino

Benjamín Zamora

Copy Editor | Spanish

María Berns

Photographers

Alicia Zamora Sánchez

Bismark Picado

Juan Caliva

Additional photos provided by INCAISTAS and friends and

iStockphoto.com

INCAE Alumni Magazine is published by

INCAE Business SchoolMontefresco

Managua, Nicaragua+505 2248-9700www.incae.edu

©INCAE Business School

Editor | Writer

Ana Coyne

Assistant Writer| Graphic Design

Alicia Zamora Sánchez

INCAE Business School


“The Future of INCAE is Sustainability and ETHICS”

Carlos Pellas President Grupo Pellas

INCAE Board of Directors


The Economist calls him-- “Business’s Greatest Living Guru”-- Over the past thirty years, his thinking has been at the forefront of business research. His work on strategy, particularly “The Competitive Advantage of Nations,” situated him at the top of his field. At a conference sponsored by INCAE, Estrategia & Negocios and FUNDES, held last October in Costa Rica, Michael Porter presented his latest knockout idea-- Shared Value. Shared Value, Porters believes, creates a way for companies to pursue profits while also striving for the common good. He has supported INCAE for years. Next are excerpts from his interview.

Michael PorterSharing Value

INCAE News


What differentiates INCAE?

The idea that a business school is

more than just a management trade

school, but really a force in society, is

what I think makes INCAE unique.

What reach does INCAE have?

It has an opportunity to attract students

globally. It is not such a big school but

it is a school with an influence much

larger than its size.

How can INCAE incorporate shared

value into its teaching?

INCAE has the capacity, attitude

and leadership to be one of the

most innovative schools in the world

that [incorporates] shared value

thinking. There is a new generation of

management concepts being invented

now and I think INCAE is in a very

good position to actually move faster

than my school, Harvard Business

School (HBS).

What is your view on INCAE’s

commitment to society?

INCAE has had a long-term

commitment to the interaction

between business and society in a

way that HBS has not. This is one of

the reasons why I am here today and

why I have worked with INCAE for

so many years. In certain ways it is

ahead of our business school and we

want to learn from that.

Is being based in a developing

country an advantage?

Having a first hand and visible

understanding of how to deal with

issues of health and poverty, safety

and security, gives INCAE perhaps

a better opportunity to innovate

curricula, thinking and management

concepts [compared to] a school

that’s in a wealthy community where

the problems seem far away.

INCAE is embarking on its first

ever endowment campaign. What

are your thoughts on this?

An endowment for an educational

institution is a fundamental part

of the overall equation that allows

an organization not only just to do

its job every day, but also to make

investments in the right facilities,

faculty and research programs that

you need to really lead in your field. So

I’m delighted that INCAE is initiating

this process of putting together an

endowment. The culture of giving is

not nearly as strong as in the USA

where we have been developing the

process for a hundred years. That

said, I think this is another way INCAE

can be a leader in Central America. I

wish the institution well.

INCAE News

The MBA Oath Club

INCAE Business School is today

ranked among the best business

schools in the world. The Financial

Times rated it 77th, making it one of

only three Latin American business

schools to make the prestigious, global

list.

América Economía, the magazine with

the most clout in the Americas, has

listed INCAE at the top, six times in the

last ten years. “We have maintained,

for the most part, first place, some-

times second or third. No other school

has demonstrated that consistency

in excellence,” says Guillermo Selva,

Dean of INCAE Business School.

This is a result, according to Selva, of

“our rigorous teaching model, dating

back nearly 50 years, where we have

consistently maintained and reinforced

the quality. The excellence of our edu-

cation is indisputable.”

Among the Best in the World

The mission of the MBA Oath is simple: to promote

the idea that all business leaders should strive and

maintain the highest standards of integrity and service

to society. This year, the MBA class of 2012 founded

INCAE’s MBA Oath Club as a fundamental way to

support the sustainable development of society. Their

intention is to live the Oath, not just sign it.

Arturo Condo, President of INCAE claims to be

“extremely satisfied and proud that the coming

generations have unanimously taken this oath.

Starting today, we will have a written record of the

values that INCAE’s graduates promote and their

vision of their role in society.”

INCAE News


For more information go to: www.incaembaoathclub.org


Leaders from all over the Americas built INCAE. At each decisive point, each critical moment, they brought suggestions and solutions to the multiple challenges the institution faced in its creation. They brought dreams and

vision into what it could become.

The Founders’ Circle was created as an initiative led by President Arturo Condo in 2008, with George Cabot Lodge as Chairman. Its

main purpose is to give recognition, and thanks, where due.

Founders’ Circle

Founders’ Circle


FoundersFrancisco de Sola was the first

Central American to believe in

the dream, and avidly pursued

the creation of a school to train

managers and leaders. He was

committed to creating prosperity in

Central America and believed the

region needed to act as a region.

He trusted INCAE to pave the way.

The following are excepts from two

interviews with George Cabot Lodge

(GCL), legendary Harvard Business

School professor and current

President of INCAE’s Founders’

Circle, who worked alongside

Francisco de Sola in creating

INCAE, and with Francisco RR de

Sola (FS), President of FUSADES,

the Salvadoran Foundation for

Economic and Social Development,

and son of the INCAE founder and

board member.

GCL: Don Chico was a very

distinguished man, with a wry sense

of humor. A profound thinker.

Reticent in speech. Deeply serious

and committed to the welfare of the

Central American countries. I was

told: “If he is with you, you cannot

fail. If he is not with you, you cannot

succeed.

FS: The people who really

understood the value in something

like INCAE saw really early on that

it could become something like what

it is today. It’s basically a place for

envisioning the future, ... a force

for change. The key people who

understood that, understood it early.

GCL: It wasn’t easy. There were

many times when we both thought

the end had come. But he was very

persistent. He was very determined.

And he wouldn’t give up. And he

was the founder of INCAE, without

any doubt.

FS: The main contribution is that

it is much more than an educational

institution. It is a center for research

and thinking and planning for the

future of the region. And that’s

where INCAE must head towards in

the next fifty years-- a beacon for

forging a better future for all of us.

[My father] would have been

immensely proud of what the

institution is today.

FoundersFounders

FoundersFounders

FoundersFounders’ Circle

Francisco De Sola


FoundersFounders

FoundersFounders

Founders

Walter Kissling GamPresident and CEO of H.B. Fuller,

Walter Kissling was one of the first

Central Americans to lead a Fortune

500 company. His person, and

seemingly innate business acumen,

were admired by many. He believed

in education and actively supported

the establishment of INCAE. He

was co-founder of the National

Committee in Costa Rica and

succeeded the founder, Francisco

de Sola, as President of the Board,

from 1983 to 1999. In his honor, the

Costa Rican campus was named

Campus Walter Kissling Gam in

February, 2002.

He is remembered as a visionary,

who spent his later years advocating

Corporate Social Responsibility

in Costa Rica. Two of his sons,

Walter Kissling (WK), Founder

and President of Navsat and

Manfred Kissling (MK), VP & GM

of Concentrix Costa Rica, along

with Harry Strachan (HS), founding

partner of Mesoamerica remember

the tenacity and excellence that

characterized him.

WK: He had a drive, an intellect and

a set of values that were absolutely

lucid. He did extraordinary things

and in the process helped many

people along the way.

MK: He was a person with his feet

planted on the ground, who could

connect with people, all people, in a

very human way.

HS: Walter was a business man.

He never, I think, finished college.

He started out as a salesman selling

paints, got his own company, built

it up. And he read a tremendous

amount, a self taught man.

WK: I think it is precisely that he

didn’t have the chance to study and

still attained success which made

him realize the importance of having

a good education. He would always

say to us, ‘the only thing I can leave

you is your education.’ He saw it as

a tool to get ahead and I imagine he

saw INCAE as the way the entire

region could get ahead.

MK: I remember after Don Chico

died, they were calling from INCAE.

He had his plate full with all of his

business activities. But he followed

his heart and committed time to

INCAE and that was one of the

decisions he never regretted.

INCAE was part of his heart.

Founders’ Circle

Founders

INCAE News

The Latin American Center for Competitiveness and Sustainable Development (CLACDS) is the main research center at INCAE Business School. It was established in 1996 to promote changes in public policies, business strategies and actions of civil society, that allow the region to achieve higher levels of competitiveness and sustainability

Susan Clancy sees a Latin America where women and men have equal opportunities to become leaders. She is the Director of the Women’s Leadership Center, established in 2008. INCAE became the only business school in Latin America and one of the first globally to form a Center dedicated exclusively to the advancement of

CLACDS

Women’s Leadership Center

of development. The principle of

sustainable development guides the

work of CLACDS.

Nowadays, CLACDS works in

five strategic areas: strengthening

the business climate to promote

sustainable competitiveness, energy,

economic inclusion, water resources

and rural urban transition.

the leadership potential of women. Our internationally acclaimed MBA program is the first to develop courses, student organizations and networks specifically tailored to the needs of women leaders in Latin America. In a global climate where female enrollment in business schools is on the decline, we are the only business school in which women exceed 40%

of the entering MBA class. INCAE’s commitment to academic excellence and strong connections within the Latin America private and public sector have enabled the Center for Women’s Leadership to become a bridge between scholarly findings, professional best practices and the transformation of gender diversity policies and practices.



They TRUST INCAE

Countless businesses in Central America employ INCAE graduates. But two corporations, Walmart and Grupo Pellas, employ them the most. Why? They claim that within their companies there is space only for the best, and they find these at INCAE.

Fara Diaz, Human Resources Manager for Walmart Central America, says that knowing someone has graduated from INCAE gives them confidence. “ We know the prestige, the quality of teaching,” she says. Ricardo Bolaños, Corporate Director of Organizational Development and

Security | Skills | CapacityTwo large corporations explain why they trust INCAE graduates.

Productivity at Grupo Pellas, shares this opinion.

What makes them different? How do employers see them? Diaz describes them as “global-thinking, with multicultural backgrounds, accustomed to working under pressure.” Bolaños sees them as “well prepared, well-rounded, with a global education and outlook.”

Executive positions at these corporations are occupied mostly by INCAE graduates. At Walmart, for example, among the nearly thirty INCAE graduates who work there, all occupy executive positions as

sub-directors, directors and vice-presidents, without exception.

At Grupo Pellas, every executive is a graduate. “We are always on the lookout for the ‘top’ of the graduating class. Sometimes we hire stellar executives, even if we don’t know where to place them. We invent a position and say, just come with us,” says Bolaños.

So essential is the work of INCAE graduates at the Grupo Pellas that, according to Carlos Pellas, President of Grupo Pellas, without them “we would not have achieved the success we have.”

They claim that within their companies there is space only for the best, and they find these at INCAE.

GRUPOPELLAS


Brizio Biondi-Morra President, Avina Foundation

Roberto Artavia President, VIVA Trust

MBA XIV 1982 CALI I 2006

MBA XXVII 1995

EMBA VI 1996

CALI III 2010

PAG XXXVII 1987

Alejandro Poma Director, Poma Group

Maria Eugenia BrizuelaDirector, Corporate Sus-tainability for HSBC in Latin America

Danilo Lacayo Board President, Unión FENOSA

Xavier Argüello Carazo Central American

Businessman | Entrepreneur

Diego Herrera Partner, Galindo, Arias y López

Meet INCAE’s Board Members


MBA XXVI 1994 CALI I 2006

Carlos PellasPresident, Grupo Pellas

Alberto AlemánCEO, Panama Canal Authority

Juan Bautista SacasaPresident, Banco de Finanzas

Arturo CondoPresident, INCAE Business School

Francisco RR de SolaPresident, H. De Sola

Danilo SiekavizzaPresident, Codaca Group

The Board of Directors appoints the President and supervises his work, approves strategies, issues

INCAE in its institutional life. They meet frequently.

And they do it pro bono, with heart, with intelligence,because they believe in the institution and its impact in the Region.

:hpargotohp ni nwohs toNFrancisco Arosemena | Siang Aguado de Seidner | Stephan Schmidheiny

Diego Pulido Aragón CEO of Banco Industrial in Guatemala. MBA, 1973

Tanya Avellán Recently named General Manager for Central America in Coca-Cola Femsa

responsible for US $800 million of sales and more than 6,000 employees. MBA, 1994

Gilberto PerezalonsoFormer Executive Vice President of Administration and Finance

of Grupo Televisa, S.A.B. Mexico. MBA, 1974

Rodrigo Uribe President of Cuesta Moras International group, Costa Rica. MBA, 1975

Ricardo Sagrera President of Grupo Hilasal, El Salvador. MBA 1971

Mariela GarcíaGeneral Manager of Ferreyros, named one of the most powerful CEOs

in Latin America by América Economía magazine, Peru. EMBA, 1996

Vilma de Calderón General Manager of LACTOSA, received the “Mujer Destacada 2010” award,

El Salvador. EMBA, 1996

Mario Jaramillo Elected Executive Secretary of the National Development Advisory Council

by popular vote in Panama and is Ambassador of Panama in Washington, DC. MBA, 1977

INCAE Alumni Magazine 16

Ernesto Castegnaro is the President and CEO of BAC International Bank--one of the largest banks in Central America. He was selected in 2011 as the most distinguished graduate of INCAE. This honor is given to a graduate for his or her professional achievements and personal qualities that not only represent values of leadership, ethics and social responsibility, but also the overall mission of INCAE.

When he began his career he managed a small operation in Costa Rica with less than 1,000 customers. Today, he manages a lucrative regional bank with more than two million customers. All but two of the top management positions of this enterprise are held by INCAE graduates.

INCAE’s Distinguished Graduate2011

ERNESTO CASTEGNAROPresident and CEO of BAC International Bank |MBA VIII, 1976 | COSTA RICA

In 2009, he joined the silen phase of the illuminate campaign, making

the institution.
































the institution.


“Everyone who believes in this Region’s potential is a friend of INCAE and must consider getting involved and supporting the institution.”

Stanley Motta, PAC Member

“INCAE is much more than a business school. Its work as a think tank has had invaluable benefits for the Region”

Fernando Paiz, PAC Member

Luis Sanz, Professor and Director of the Center for Entrepreneurship

Wendy RodriguezDirector of Development

Lawrence PrattDirector of CLACDS

“I wouldn’t be surprised if you would talk to USAID today, and they would regard INCAE as perhaps their most successful effort in Latin America over the last 50 years.

George Cabot Lodge, President of Founders’ Circle and Harvard Professor Emeritus

INCAE’s biggest strength is that it’s been present for almost 50 years. It has had an upward success and each year it adds something new to its general image. One of the most important things is that has transcended regional integration, broadening its links to other parts of the world.”

“I wanted to have a sense of the mission and the goal. Was it just another business school, or was there something about it? And I think it was first and foremost started by very bold people and as you know the god’s favor the bold.”

Jennifer Fearon, Managing Partner, VentureLink Advisers LLC

| PAC Member

We are trying to get more people to know about INCAE because it is a won-derful organization, it is a wonderful school. We have to spread the word about it, especially in the US.

Caroline Raclin, PAC Member

"Not all bright minds have the means to pay for university. An endowment gives a chance for someone to access something as good as INCAE."

Manfred Kissling, VP & GM of Concentrix Costa Rica

"Definitely, INCAE gave me the tools to

dive into the business world. I have had

several businesses. The tools were

critical, without a doubt."

Walter Kissling, Founder and President of Navsat

Whenever you do a legacy, whenever you give something, the idea is you want some-thing to happen after you are gone. You want to have left something that has made the world better as a result of you having walked on the planet. I don’t see any better way to do that than to support education.

Steve Aronson, Founder Cafe Britt Donor of the Cafe Britt Professorship of Agribusiness

Strategy

Susan ClancyDirector Women’s Leadership Centerand Associate Professor

Roberto Artavia

President of INCAE

1999 - 2007

Sand

ra G

rani

zoD

irect

or A

lum

ni R

elat

ions

“ I see an INCAE in 50 years as a cradle

leaders and at the global level, focused

on Latin America, but really connected

to the world, really bridging sectors,

really creating models that do not

exist and that we need, desperately. ”














| PAC Member












Strategy


Roberto Artavia

President of INCAE

1999 - 2007

Sand

ra G

rani

zoD

irect

or A

lum

ni R

elat

ions







22 INCAE Alumni Magazine INCAE Alumni Magazine 16





In 2009, he joined the silen phase of the illuminate campaign, making a significant donation to support the institution.


“We must commit ourselves to becoming integral leaders who find solutions to Latin America’s problems; to walk the path of sustainable development investing our entire potential in doing so; to practice our profession ethically and with social and environmental responsibility; and to honor each other by constantly striving to honor the commitments we have made.”

María Eugenia Brizuela de ÁvilaINCAE’s Distinguished Graduate 2009


Defining leadershipher own way

María Eugenia Brizuela de Ávila, known as Mayu, stands on her own in the conference room, the sole woman among a group of executives. This is a situation she has experienced before. At this particular meeting, an executive comes in late and asks her for a cup of coffee. “With milk”, he adds. She smiles, gets him the café con leche and sits down at the table with him.

“When we all introduced ourselves,” she laughs as she recalls, “the poor man slunk down in his chair.” What the man failed to realize when he asked the only woman in the room to serve him is that she is considered Central America’s most admired businesswoman, with a litany of firsts to her name. The first woman president of a private bank in El Salvador. The first woman in her country’s history to become Minister of Foreign Affairs, even recognized by Pope John Paul II himself.

“I always tell that anecdote,” relates Avila. She understands what a slow, deliberate process it has been to rip through the male dominated mindset. If it was a struggle, she seems unfazed by it and instead, has simply forged ahead, minding her business.

As she walks through the corridors of INCAE, before a talk she is giving to a group of fellow lawyers, she smiles generously and with ease. When she speaks, she is positive, encouraging, down to earth and seems completely confident to be shouldering her current responsibility. She is the Director of Corporate Sustainability for HSBC in Latin America. Not only has she spent years on the front lines of the gender battlefield in business; now she is a leader in the environmental sphere as well.

Avila’s father, grandfather and

Director of Corporate Sustainability for HSBC in Latin America. EMBA VI, 1996 | EL SALVADOR


great-grandfather were all lawyers.

It seemed that her genes had secured her a place in the world of law, and not in the world of business. She remembers as a girl, how she would draw up pretend legal documents. On yellow-lined legal paper, she would “scrawl letters between the lines and draw in the seal. I always knew I would have a professional life outside of a family life,” she notes, “although family was important to me as well.”

The years passed and just as she had imagined, she went to law school. She got her law degree from the University Dr. José Matías Delgado, graduating with honors. That title sashayed her into the fourth generation of lawyers in her family. At home and in her society, female lawyers were not common. “The women who studied law could be counted on the fingers of one hand,” she said.

She decided to leave the confines of the legal world and go into business, but first she went back to school. Today she is actively involved with her Alma Mater, and currently is on INCAE’s Board of Directors. In 2009, she was the first woman ever to receive INCAE’s most distinguished graduate award, for her many successes including receiving the Palma de Oro, a prominent, private sector recognition of lifetime achievement. She also commits time to many other social causes.

It is no wonder that her bread and butter work is associated with a cause--the environment. She says she has an innate appreciation of the beauty and vulnerability of

nature. Her work at HSBC mixes Corporate Social Responsibility with Sustainable Development.

HSBC initiatives include the Climate Partnership in Brazil, which sends HSBC employees to collect data used for calculating the effects of climate change, and planting 700 trees in Costa Rica to help offset the banks’ carbon footprint.

One of the most important and difficult things to do, Avila explains, is to change people’s habits. She recounts the story of how HSBC decided to implement a recycling initiative in the office. They placed brightly colored bins with clear recycling labels, but few employees participated. Only after management decided to remove the trash cans from each work area did the recycling bins actually fill-up. Change in the gender struggle for equality, like the race to save the planet, are protracted affairs.

The idea of trying to “transcend,” she acknowledges, is part of the INCAE legacy. “To give back. To serve, serve to the greatest extent that we can and to the best of our abilities. In the end, this is what’s important,” she says.

True to Mayu Avila’s graceful style, she wants to reiterate that her achievements are not hers alone. They belong to all of those around her. To those who have, in one way or another, contributed to her enrichment. To her parents and the way they raised her; to the institutions and the way they educated her. At meetings, she says, she does not choose to sit at the head of a conference table, but in the middle. She labels her leadership style: inclusive.

On the front lines of

the gender battlefield in

business… and the

environmental struggle, as

well


“I am a person who likes having knowledge and information,” says Sanchez, “and I am interested in environmental, social and economic issues.”

After graduating and continuing to work as a journalist until 2003, (Sanchez needed to repay the scholarship Grupo Nacion had given him to pursue his degree), he went “to a half-way point, in between business administration and full-fledged journalism, when I started to manage the magazine business for Grupo Nacion.”

Training people to lead groups was a major objective for Roberto Artavia, former President of INCAE and professor, who inspired Sanchez. Later on, Sanchez put that ability to lead into practice, working as Corporate Manager for Supermercados Unidos Corporation, responsible for “all that involved communication, government relations, as well as corporate social responsibility” in the integration process, when that company joined Walmart.

Sanchez describes INCAE graduates as having vision that is both multicultural and

multidisciplinary, valuing teamwork and accustomed to long working hours. He believes that the benefits of learning and experiencing INCAE’s multiculturalism have been “crucial, because here I have to lead five teams in five countries in Central America.”

He argues that the key word at INCAE is sustainability. “I think today, any company of high repute that wants recognition for cultivating their social license to operate and show growth, needs to include a strong component of sustainability.”

And these words resounded once Sanchez was appointed Director of Corporate Affairs for Walmart in Mexico and Central America and began working on the design and implementation of the concept of Tierra Fertil, a development model for small farmers that facilitates their transition from subsistence producers to entrepreneurs owning small, medium even large businesses. It provides collateral for financing and fair market conditions for producers, allowing them to own facilities, machinery and farms, which in turn creates more jobs.

“Essentially, we shorten the

value chain. We are not using intermediaries to supply the stores, but go directly to the farmer. The farmer receives a much better price than if he sells through an intermediary and we buy at a better price,” says Sanchez.

Beyond the economic, social and environmental benefits, in the end what is important are human beings. As synthesized by the words of Professor Guillermo Edelberg: “One thing that is key is that it comes down to people.” Sanchez always remembers this, and it is one of the things he likes most about his work.

In order to make Tierra Fertil a model that others can learn from, INCAE has been documenting and communicating its methodology and results so that other countries, such as China and India, can benefit from the training and production policies that worked in Central America.

From Jounalist to Businessman

Sitting at his desk writing for the newspaper La Republica of Costa Rica in 1991, Aquileo Sanchez probably never imagined that some day he would be part of a new generation of Latin Americans revolutionizing the way business is done in the region.

Director of Corporate Affairs, Walmart in Central America and Mexico MBA XXXIII, 1999 | Costa Rica

Tierra Fertil is a model that others can learn from

that moves bananas from the trees to consumer’s doors.

According to Alonzo, it is necessary to understand the culture of the organization. “The company depends on the supply chain, so logically the processes of production must be sustainable,” she says. For this, Chiquita made strategic alliances with various environmental organizations, including the EPA.

“Normally one hears of sustainability as a concept far removed from business, that it is theoretical, unreachable,” stated Alonzo, “but there are several cases of companies that have succeeded in establishing synergy.” According to Alonzo, the key is integrating sustainability and industrial profitability.

Ana Lucia Alonzo has always been passionate about having a positive environmental impact combined with industrial profitability. Currently Director of Product Supply Planning NA for Chiquita Brands International, Alonzo has led numerous strategies to evaluate the design of production and optimal resource management in products such as bananas, salads and healthy snacks.

Alonzo has been very active in supporting and developing activities related to the company’s environmental performance, in a joint initiative with MIT-CTL measuring the carbon footprint of banana production. Producing and moving bananas uses a lot of energy. This project is aimed at measuring the carbon footprint of the supply chain

Conscious Bananas

Director Product Supply Planning NA Chiquita Brands International MBA XXXIX, 2002 | CINCINNATI


The key is integrating sustainability and

industrial profitability


Her passion and profession as the

highly sought-after designer she is

today came to Claudia Szerer by

way of a gift. She was studying

Art History in Boston when a friend

gave her a journal with linen-white

pages. She started to draw. Figures

appeared on the sheets. “I started to

dress them,” she remembers, and

decided to add Theatrical Costume

Design to her major.

After finishing her studies, she

went to Paris to work with Christian

Lacroix in the design house of Jean

Patou. She then moved to New

York to work with Gene Ewing Bis

and started gaining recognition of

her own in the fashion capitals of

the world.

Exclusive. Classic. Avant-garde.

These are words used to describe

Szerer’s designs, now sold in

cities from Paris to Panama. “I like

working directly with the woman

who will wear the design so that I

can oversee everything, even the

most minute detail. I want to bring

out the most in a woman and make

sure her ensemble is perfect,” she

says.

The cost of this type of perfection

ranges from 3,000-10,000 Euros,

making those who wear Szerer’s

designs a select clientele indeed.

Only three of each design are

fashioned and sold. “Today’s woman

wants a dress that is unique,” she

said.

Currently she lives in Panama,

where she completed an Executive

MBA at INCAE in 1999. “It was

my husband’s suggestion. He cut

the ad out of the newspaper,” she

recalls. Her studies proved useful,

since “all the know-how I acquired

helped to bolster my career.”

Claudia spends her days working

at what she loves most. After 3 pm,

she dedicates time to her family.

Today, she knows she is living her

dream. If asked to choose again,

she believes design would be her

destiny.

Selective ExclusiveClaudia Szerer’s designs

and

Designer | EMBA IX, 1999 | PANAMA

Only three of each design are

fashioned and sold


LocationLocation, Location

There are days for Rodrigo Calvo that he finds difficult. On his mind are the possibilities. Is the site he chose the correct one? In his work, there is no margin for error. He is the Senior Vice President of Real Estate at PriceSmart, Inc., in charge of determining the perfect site for each store.

“When you are in any retail activity, doesn’t matter if you sell phones or hamburgers, real estate is the tip of your strategy,” he says.

“Having a given product or service, the variables that makes the difference is where you locate your units. It is very exciting work to be in.”

Pricemart is the largest operator of membership warehouse clubs in Central America, South America and the Caribbean with over one million cardholders. But PriceSmart started and grew, one store at a time, and “you end up developing a very unique skill … which gave us the ability to grow in a different way,” says Calvo. Similar in some respects to stores like Costco, they are different in that they are smaller, charge lower fees and sell merchandise tailored to locals. This approach secured a nitch market. Now, the company is expanding extensively in South America, with the recent opening of its first store in Colombia and several others in the works.

Real estate has proved the perfect place for Calvo. His training as a civil engineer helped him “visualize how to develop the land,” he says, which he combines with his knowledge of finance. “It allows me to interface with all areas of the company,” Calvo said, making it a seemingly good match for his skill set and talents.

Senior Vice President of Real Estate, PriceSmart Inc. MBA XXXIII, 1999 | MIAMI

Following a coffee swirl North

Mesoamerica, Partner and Managing Director MBA XXIV, 1992 | MIAMI


It was just a regular day and John

Stanham was running an errand,

part of his job as a brand manager

at Unilever. It was 1989, and he was

a young Uruguayan professional

coming out of a meeting, when he

decided to visit a friend in downtown

Montevideo.

“It was a snap decision,” Stanham

remembers, followed by a chat and

cup of coffee “and my life suddenly

shifted in another direction.” At his

friend’s office, “there was a recruiter

for INCAE. I had no clue what

INCAE was. I thought it was in

Peru!”

Stanham had thought about getting

an MBA, though it wasn’t a pressing

priority. He was doing well enough

without one. But after that cup of

coffee, he and his wife Ana decided

to “quemar las naves,” a Uruguayan

way of saying give everything

up, hope and go. “I had never in

my life even visited Costa Rica,”

Stanham recalls, “and we ended up

in Central America when you had

Noriega being knocked out of power

in Panama and the Sandinistas

in Nicaragua. We used all our

savings, left our home, jobs, families

and went to live in place surrounded

by war.”

That moment is what Stanham

refers to as “the fork in the road” of

his life. His decision propelled him

You are the one who makes the decisions. Do you have the guts to make it or not? At the end of the day no matter how rich or poor, or how healthy or how unhealthy you are, you are the result of the decisions you make.


out of South America and Uruguay,

a country entrenched in tradition,

where change came at turtle speed.

It introduced him to Central America,

a region exploding with energy and

possibilities after years of strife.

That snap decision eventually

landed him in Miami, where he is

currently a partner and Managing

Director for Mesoamerica.

According to Stanham, knowledge

is not what he received in exchange

for the debt incurred in obtaining his

degree. What he received could be

better labeled judgment. “INCAE

deserves the credit. Before I went

there, my mind was like walking into

my garage. It was a total mess,” he

says. “When I finished at INCAE,

the garage was in order. I knew

what tools to use, and where to find

them.”

But the side benefit of his MBA was

becoming part of the INCAISTA

network. “First the connections.

And through those individuals

I came into contact with came

opportunities.”

It was through his MBA that Stanham

met Harry Strachan, who had

been a professor, Academic Dean

and also President of INCAE. In

1993, Strachan returned to Central

America with the desire to open

an office for Bain & Company, the

global strategy consulting firm. He

offered Stanham--whose academic

record had been stellar--a job.

Today, markets are realigning and

the tides are turning. Ironically,

John Stanham now spends much

of his time looking for opportunities

for his Central American clients to

build positions in the US. “Some of

what the US is going through now is

similar to the Latin American crisis.

In the 80s and much of the 90s, the

region went through one cycle of

adjustment after another. It was

painful and seemed to never end.”

“In the US, the private sector is going

through a massive, real adjustment.

No new hires, squeezed margins,

loaded with debt. Now Latin

Americans have the cash and are

fit. It is a great opportunity to buy

companies, with great brands,

positions, out of equity and in need

of fresh blood,” says Stanham.

What makes a businessperson successful?The vision. The drive. But above all, it is the decisions. At the end of the day, you are not defined by how much money

you have or which family you come from or where you studied-- but rather by the decisions you make. Don’t blame

INCAE, or your mom or your dad. You are the one who makes the decisions. Do you have the guts to make it or not?

At the end of the day no matter how rich or poor, or how healthy or how unhealthy you are, you are the result of the

decisions you make.

What’s tough about your job?You don’t decide for your clients. You are their advisor. Seeing clients make the wrong decision no matter how hard

you try to convince them otherwise, they still make the wrong choice.

What is your favorite book?Integrity by Henry Cloud. I have read it over ten times. You always find something new.

if you weren’t a consultant, what would you do?I would teach math to kids. I did that in my early days at university.

What is most forgotten in the everyday busyness of life?It is forgetting what one is here for. Everyone has some sort of purpose in life. This is very personal and you spend your

life figuring out your contribution. How are you going make those around you better people? It is not only about paying

the bills at the end of the month, but about helping those around you to grow.


But at 24, she knew this illustrious

career had come to its end and

something had to change. “I always

wanted to get an education, have

a job and be independent,” she

says. So she closed the door on

swimming, and opened a new one,

obtaining a college degree, holding

several jobs in communications and

with some experience under her

belt, decided to further her training

and enrolled at INCAE.

“The MBA was a big challenge and

I enjoyed it immensely. The person

that came out of that experience

was very different from the person

that went in,” she says. After

graduating, she went to work for

INCAE as the Regional Manager

for Executive Programs. “INCAE

taught me how to analyze, research,

make decisions and be a leader.

My training gave me the confidence

to confront challenges and find new

opportunities. I know what I learned

will continue to take me to ever more

interesting places and challenges.”

Today she is Ambassador

Sylvia Poll, Deputy Permanent

Representative of Costa Rica

to the United Nations and other

international organizations in

Geneva. She also carries a special

mandate to search for opportunities

that use sports as a tool for

promoting peace and development.

“I have always said that as you are

given more opportunity, the greater

your responsibility to give back and

help your country.”

Challenging Waters

Rising to the challenge swims through Sylvia Poll’s veins. By the time she reached her early twenties, she had ripped through 290 swimming records, garnering 90 trophies and 614 medals, including a silver medal at the 1988 Seoul Olympics, the first ever Olympic medal for Costa Rica.

Ambassador, Deputy Permanent Representative of Costa Rica to the United Nations | MBA XIX, 2005 | GENEVA


Banking on a Future

Carmen Benard had worked four years as a loan officer at Citibank when her boss offered to help finance her education at a nascent managerial school on Managua’s South Highway. Finishing her studies had been a desire she’d quelled, when years earlier, marriage and motherhood had interrupted her pursuits at Tulane University’s Newcomb College. Now in the second half of her 20s, she grabbed the opportunity and never looked back.

There were 52 students who graduated in 1973 and she placed second. Fifty of the other students were men.

This no-nonsense, straight-talking woman lapped up the training she received at INCAE, and she credits her professional success and personal confidence, in large part, to her education. For thirty of her

professional years, she has worked for Citibank and as an Investment Consultant. Currently, she is Senior Vice President at CITIGOLD International, CITIgroup in Miami.

The route to arriving where she is now was circuitous. After graduating from INCAE, she worked as a family planning researcher for Harvard Professor Dave Korten. “Doctors were giving turn-of-the-century advice to women,” she remembers. “’Have as many children as God wills’.”

After finishing this “eye opening, shocking” experience, she took a job with the famed, now defunct, Dreyfus Department Store, rehabilitating it after it was flattened by the 1972 earthquake. She managed 80 employees for several years. But “then Dreyfus wanted to expand and open new branches. I didn’t agree, thought it was crazy, so I left and started my own business.”

Via Venetto was a wholesale and retail children’s apparel business that was doing well, but Nicaragua

was spiraling towards chaos and war. In the early 1980s, she took refuge in Costa Rica where she landed a managerial job at a paper company. But with her mother in Miami, and two of her children already American citizens, she felt the pull northward, and she returned to Citibank as a bank officer. “When the branch opened an investment department, I requested a transfer here,” Benard says, her arms sweeping the office space. She now manages people’s money and takes great pleasure in her work. “I was the only one who transferred, because no one else felt confident enough. It was only a commission job, which means, no more salary. But because of my MBA, I had the confidence.”

Senior Vice President. CITIGOLD International, CITIgroup | MBA V, 1973 | MIAMI

Because of my MBA, I had the confidence


Questions / Answers: Carmen Benard

What makes a businessperson successful?Passion. You have to love doing new

things all the time.

How to you sum yourself up?I am an optimistic person. I like

to laugh. I am lucky to be where I

am. When you see the opportunity

you must be able to seize it. Take

risks. Sometimes they don’t turn

out well. I have opened and closed

two businesses, and have other

successful ones. You have to accept

the risk that it might not work out.

What about your INCAE experience was most helpful?I was successful because of my MBA.

With the case study method, you

encounter a new situation every time.

And with the group study method, you

yourselves have to solve the problem.

INCAE teaches you this: to define

the problem. Once you figure out the

problem, the most important thing is to

then think of the ideal situation. You

study different alternatives. Look at

the problem from different angles. The

most important thing is that the group

always knows more than one person.

This has helped me throughout my

life.

What do you do to relax?We have a boat here in Miami and,

frankly, that was the best decision

I’ve made. I would rather own a boat

than a car. It isn’t a luxurious boat.

We go out there, on the water, on the

weekends to read, feel the breeze.

Is there a particular talent you wish you had?Rather than being a businesswoman,

I would have loved to be a nightclub

singer.

Any other thoughts you would like to share?I have five grandchildren. Three of

them are already college students.

I am encouraging all of them to get

an MBA, whether or not they go into

a business related career. I would

definitely love my grandchildren to go

to INCAE and would even pay for it

myself, now that I am able to.


The Urroz Tradition

When Humberto Urroz’s first daughter was born, he knew what he had to do. He went to the bank and opened a savings account in January’s name. He wanted to ensure that when his girl grew up, she would have the chance to study at the institution he had in mind for her.

As a young man, he had passed through the corridors of INCAE in the 1970s and believed that the training he received utterly transformed him. “It totally changed my life. It challenged the way I use to learn. It prepared me for the unpredictable, to make decisions that nobody else could make for me,” says Urroz. He dreamed of giving these tools to his daughter.

There was only one problem. Although she had known all her life that her father had planned and pursued this idea, January had no desire to go to business school.

But her father wouldn’t give up and January registered in the two-year MBA program. Now she

acknowledges, her father beaming at her side, that “if I had the chance to do it all over again, I would! At INCAE, one keeps learning.”

For January’s sister, Maria Soledad, INCAE didn’t figure into her initial plans either. But she ended up following in her father’s and sister’s footsteps. “I loved the classes and the professors. One didn’t know where so much wisdom came from,” she said.

The Urroz family is home to five Incaistas: the patriarch, Don Humberto, two of his three daughters and two of his sons-in-law. “The only one I failed to persuade was my second daughter,” he sighs, “but I was able to convince her husband!”

Humberto Urroz has had a successful career in finance, and is currently the Manager and Partner at a technology company. January is a Finance Analyst at Inversiones Bahia and Maria Soledad is a Business Analyst at Kimberly Clark.

Just as her father prepared for the day that his daughter would go to INCAE, January has the same dream for her children-- that one day, they too might be Incaistas and continue the Urroz tradition.

Maria Soledad Urroz | Business Analyst at Kimberly Clark | MBA LIII, 2009 | PANAMA

Humberto Urroz | Manager and Partner at a technology company |MBA IX, 1977 | PANAMA

January Urroz | Finance Analyst at Inversiones Bahia | MBA XLI, 2003 | PANAMA

If I had the chance to do it all over again,

I would!


In his day to day, Ed Largaespada wears several business hats; one is styled for an entrepreneur, while the other one he wears when he’s doing social good. In both cases, he relies on sound business skills as he implements strategic principles in his work.

He is currently the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) and Chief Operations Officer (COO) of Miami Lighthouse, Florida’s oldest and largest private agency dedicated to serving the

blind and visually impaired with a variety of programs, including Braille, technology literacy, life skills training and even, music. The Miami Lighthouse is recognized as a leader in its field, recognized with a 4-star rating--the highest possible--which indicates consistent execution of its mission in a fiscally responsible way.

However, keeping the organization afloat takes business acumen. “Many non-profits have stumbled and even come up short during this economic crisis. Those running them are not always aware of the business side,” says Largaespada. “You want to serve your mission but you have to do it in a financially responsible way.”

A consultant “advised us to be more flexible,” he recounts, so the organization got involved in eye health care. Each year, Miami Lighthouse conducts a statewide program serving 10,000 needy children, with a contract from the Florida Department of Health

and other funding sources. “It is probably the most important source of income for the organization,” says Largaespada.

His CFO and COO “hats” have him doing budgeting tasks one hour, then switching to contract negotiation the next. “I am a problem solver,” he says, “and that goes back to INCAE,” crediting his Alma Mater for some of the skills honed while he got his MBA. Largaespada throws open the doors to the music studio in Miami Lighthouse that he helped create, and a room full of visually impaired musicians jamming joyfully, appear. “Miami Lighthouse is a challenge and there is satisfaction in helping people,” he says.

Aside from his day job, he is also an entrepreneur. He recently bought the brand name Teeka Tan with its distribution network, which he subcontracts and produces in Mexico while simultaneously overseeing his two Dairy Queen franchises.

Doing social good Good business skills

CFO and COO Miami LighthouseMBA XX, 1988 | MIAMI

There is satisfaction in helping people


Pineapple PullPineapples and other fruit have sent Carlos Barquero roaming the world. Starting in Central America, he was sent to Africa and later to Asia. He now works in the Philippines where the benefits of know-how gained from decades of working on the isthmus are being reaped.

He studied agriculture in Honduras and began his career “in the field, packing bananas. This was useful. When you train people, you have to start with the basics. It helped me learn about the business from below.” After several promotions,

he decided he needed to hone his skills. Even before finishing at INCAE, he had three job offers.

In 1985, he was working at Chiquita Brands International when management wanted to diversify the programs in Central America. “I accepted the challenge. I started from scratch. I was the CEO and the only employee,” he recalls. Soon he was managing a firm with 2,300 employees. “We exported pineapples, melons, mangos and papayas to Europe and Japan, which became a very profitable business,” he says.

Barquero is currently the COO at a company that produces and markets bananas and pineapples. “We sell around 200 million dollars of fruit per year in 18 different countries,” he said.

He doesn’t have a recipe for success but thinks discipline, wisdom and prioritizing are key. Every night before heading home, Barquero takes twenty minutes to plan. “I think to myself, what can I do tomorrow to make sure we improve and maintain profitability in the company. That way I know exactly what I need to do first thing in the morning.”

When he retires, he wants to be a teacher. “I want to pass on my knowledge after forty years in the banana business.”

Chief Operating Officer, Lapanday Foods Corporation | MBA XII, 1981 |The Philippines

What can I do tomorrow to make sure we improve and

maintain profitability in the company


Illuminate The campaign for the future

This year, INCAE launches the public phase of the Illuminate Campaign to secure resources in the following four areas: student scholarships, research funding, impact programs and infrastructure with the purpose

of consolidating the future impact of the institution in the region.

The Illuminate Campaign is important for INCAE because it is going to create an endowment. The first ever for INCAE and this is critical. Critical for operations, for the growth and prosperity of the school, for its ability to be nimble and attract top tier talent. Personally my support of INCAE is two fold. I am getting the word out. I am securing capital. I will do what I can to help. I want to be a part of INCAE.

Jennifer FearonManaging Partner, VentureLink Advisers LLC, NYC | Presidential Advisory Council Member

INCAE has proved its commitment to the region and we know that only high quality education can ensure a sustainable development. Anyone associated with INCAE should be very proud and want to make sure the institution continues. So we are in front of a great opportunity to make the difference. We need more entrepreneurs to have this same commitment, with the same passion and love.

Carlos Pellas President Grupo Pellas | INCAE Board of Directors

An endowment helps the faculty and the board focus on long-term investment plans that don’t have a short term payback. It can be a vital, as well, during difficult times.

Harry Strachan MESOAMERICA, Founding Partner | Former INCAE President


for more information:Wendy Rodríguez | Director of Development and National Committees CoordinatorINCAE Business School | Email: [email protected] | Phone: (505) 2248-9820


The Amigo Incaista Campaign asks INCAE graduates to donate annually with the purpose of raising funds specifically for scholarships for new MBA candidates.

This campaign originally began as “Project 1000” with the objective

Amigo Incaísta Campaignof having 1000 graduates donate. Now that this marker has been surpassed, the name changed to Amigo Incaista Campaign with the aim of having 1000 graduates donate annually. We would appreciate your support to help us achieve this goal”.

To help now, go to www.incae.edu/donacionenlinea and donate!


PUT YOUR NETWORK TO WORK FOR YOU

GO TO

AND CLICK on ALUMNI www.incae.edu

Viewpoints | News | Graduates

INCAE Alumni Magazine

Documents

Transcript of INCAE Alumni Magazine