"Quality of life" was once a term largely used by health-care professionals; now everyone from economists and advertising executives care about it.
For companies hoping to attract highly educated workers, being able to offer potential employees good "quality of life" is becoming increasingly important.
But what does it mean, and how can businesses, as well as physicians, help to improve it, if nobody can clearly define what it is?
An article by IESE Prof. Marta Elvira, written with Barbara Barcaccia, Giuseppe Esposito, Maria Matarese, Marta Bertolaso and Maria Grazia De Marinis for Europe's Journal of Psychology, tries to pin down this elusive concept.
The authors analyze how "quality of life" has been interpreted and defined for research purposes over the past two decades, and they consider the difficulties involved in measuring it.
Expanding into international markets provides a critical avenue for overcoming the crisis. While many food and beverage companies have been active in international markets for years, others only began exporting when domestic sales started to dwindle during the downturn.
Experts and business leaders will come together to analyze opportunitities for global growth for companies in the industry at IESE's 17th Annual Food and Beverage Industry Meeting on June 4 at the Barcelona campus. This year's theme is "Selling Across Continents."
Senior executives from leading firms such as Nestlé, Lidl, Codorniu and LVMH Group will provide their perspectives on the global food and beverage industry, addressing topics including consumer trends, distribution and the future of key markets such as Asia and Africa.
IESE Prof. Jaume Llopis is the academic director of the meeting. Since 1992, the annual event has brought together prominent leaders in the industry to discuss the latest developments in the sector.
In connection with the meeting, Prof. Llopis and researcher Júlia Gifra presented a handbook which seeks to provide crucial information and updates for companies in the food and beverage industry about the 28 most attractive markets for exports.
"Leadership is not a position – it’s an approach, it’s a way of thinking," best-selling author Robin Sharma told participants in IESE Business School’s Fast Forward Program this week. Sharma and IESE Prof. Panakaj Ghemawat took the stage as keynote speakers during first two days of the week-long program.
One of IESE’s newest programs for senior executives, Fast Forward is designed to give leaders a critical dose of leadership knowledge and expertise. It features a mix of tracks and sessions, which participants can personalize to fit their own needs, along with insights from key leadership experts.
In his presentation, Prof. Ghemawat told participants that global connectedness has not reached pre-crisis levels. "We have witnessed a lull in the increasing integration of the world economy," he said.
The EU’s share of the world GDP dropped from 28 percent in 1980 to 20 percent today. While the world’s economic center of gravity continues to shift toward emerging markets, this shift varies radically among industries.
However, no industry can afford to ignore the growth of emerging markets, said Prof. Ghemawat, who is the Anselmo Rubiralta Professor of Global Strategy at IESE and author of the book World 3.0: Global Prosperity and How to Achieve It.
He advised company leaders to go beyond thinking about market size, recognize differences in markets and expand their competitive advantage.
Leading without a title
Bestselling author Robin Sharma showered participants with diverse ideas about what it means to be a great leader, as well as a great human being during his keynote presentation on Tuesday.
Too many people spend their lives "busy being busy," said Sharma, author of The Monk Whole Sold His Ferrari and Leading without a Title. On average, people now spend 2.1 hours per day distracted by new technologies. These distractions pose a danger for executives and their organizations, he said.
"Addiction by distraction is the death of creative production," said Sharma.
He also stressed that being a leader does not require holding an official position. Instead, leadership should be viewed as an act of service with a sharp focus on excellence that can be performed in any job, at any level of society.
"How often are you exposed to mastery? Mastery is so rare," he said. "Be so good at what you do that the marketplace cannot ignore you. The marketplace always rewards mastery."
He admonished business leaders for pursuing complexity and urged them to stick to simplicity instead. Seek to excel at just a few things, he said, a single-minded process he compared to that of Michelangelo when he created his masterpiece "David" from a block of marble.
"My suggestion to you is get to know your vision for this year and for your life in intimate, flawless detail," he said. "Clarity precedes mastery. Clarity is power."
Growing a family luxury firm
On Wednesday, participants heard from Ermenegildo Zegna, CEO of the Ermenegildo Zegna Group, who gave a talk titled "Challenges and Opportunities of a Global Family Business." Moderating the session was IESE Prof. Marc Sachon.
Although the group’s growth has slowed during the global downturn, he said, a strong governance structure and initiatives such as the Agnona women’s luxury textile and ready-to-wear brand, are keeping the company’s long-term strategy on track.
"I run the company as if I were the CEO of a public company," said Zegna, who heads the fourth generation family-owned firm based in Milan, Italy.
Four of the company’s board members are independent, while four are family members, he said. Independent board members reflect diverse sectors and nationalities. "So we have a good comprehensive board that helps us in making the right decisions," he said.
The company is keeping its eye firmly on Asia, he said. "We were the first luxury brand to move into China and China today is our number one market."
Zegna traced his company’s switch from a wholesale to a retail-driven brand through the creation of a centralized creativity center in Milan and the establishment of fully-owned stores all over the world. In May of this year, Zegna became the first luxury brand to open its own store in Nigeria.
The group has eight factories located in Italy, Spain, Switzerland, Mexico and Turkey and 70 percent of manufacturing is carried out directly by the company, he said. By running most of its own production, Zegna is able to reduce many of the risks that currently come with textile outsourcing, he said, citing the recent collapse of a factory in Bangladesh.
"Italy still has most of the production, but we are proud to call ourselves `made in Zegna’," he said.
The female-driven economy
On Thursday, Halla Tómasdóttir of the Iceland-based Sisters Capital investment group, discussed trends poised to have a dramatic impact on companies in the future, in a session moderated by IESE Prof. Nuria Chinchilla.
"The world is increasingly driven by the female economy," said Tómasdóttir, who pointed out that in the UK and the US, women control 50 percent of savings. Around the world, roughly 80 percent of all consumer decisions are made by women.
Research shows that companies with women in senior positions deliver as much as 50 percent more equity to shareholders, signaling that no company that wants to succeed can afford to ignore the female economy.
Another trend poised to make an impact is agequake: a seismic shift in consumer markets, as older people begin to comprise a larger part of the general population, she said.
For the rest of this century, the fastest growing consumer market will be people older than 60, but few businesses are marketing to this group, she said. In addition, seniors will work longer because aren’t enough young people to replace aging baby boomers.
The new way to seek prosperity is to invest in companies that have a mission, are making a difference and who are proud of their product and their people, Tómasdóttir concluded. Companies who want to succeed in the future should build inclusive cultures, so they can tap into all human resources available, she said.
Effort, commitment, sacrifice, generosity, consistency and leadership. These were some of the values stressed during the Executive MBA graduation ceremony, held on May 30 on IESE’s Madrid campus. Commencement speaker Helena Revoredo, president of Prosegur, told the new graduates that “leadership isn´t possible without maximum ethical diligence.” “This diligence, in fact, becomes an enormous competitive advantage,” she said.
Revoredo explained how she manages Prosegur, one of Spain’s largest multinational companies, which has operations on three continents and more than 150,000 workers. Born in Argentina, she arrived in Madrid in 1976 with her husband Herberto Gut and the idea of creating a private security company.
After two decades of growth, the company had more than 20,000 employees and was a leader in its sector. In 1987, the firm went public. But everything changed in 1999, when Gut died in a traffic accident. “Great people leave big gaps and his absence threatened to destabilize the company. Within a few months, I began to take decisions and I let myself be guided by intuition and common sense. It turned out well,” she said.
“Doubts affect leadership”
Revoredo discussed some of the basic decisions she made that helped Prosegur become what it is today. From the onset, she was clear on the point that the company was not for sale. “Companies need to have a clear horizon. Doubts influence and affect leadership and the execution of goals,” she said. She also decided to gain an in-depth understanding of the firm. “Commitment is necessary, but not always enough” for success, she said, advising graduates to be wise in knowing their limitations, as well as their possibilities.
In his remarks, IESE’s Dean Jordi Canals expressed his regret that so many companies, which are experiencing “complicated times,” have become the target for strong criticism. “What can we do to help companies recover their reputations?” he asked. IESE’s role in this milieu is to “develop leaders who stand out because they can have a deep, positive and lasting impact on people, companies and society,” he said.
The president of the University of Navarra, Alfonso Sánchez-Tabernero, highlighted the efforts made by participants to complete the demanding Executive MBA program. “Without effort, no one can learn anything,” he said. “We hope that you work with the desire to help others, with gratitude and with optimism. An optimist is someone who knows that it’s worth it to make an effort, because with effort things can advance and improve. Working in this way makes life worth living,” he said.
Executive MBA Director José Ramón Pin noted “the importance of fighting to do things well and helping others.”
“A business leader is a servant whose main goal is to create job opportunities for others. And work is an important benefit in the 21st Century,” he said, also urging the participants to cultivate magnanimity in their lives.
“Be generous, think of others. Give back to society this opportunity that you all have had,” he said, cautioning them that: “Before triumph there is always anguish.” “You will have periods of hardship and calamities. These moments are what will demonstrate your mettle, when you must not lose hope. When you are in distress, IESE will be here. It is your home,” he said.
Finally, Pilar Linares-Rivas, Ángel Martín and Jaime Travesedo, presidents of the graduating class, thanked the professors and staff members of the program for their work. They also expressed their appreciation to their family members and fellow students. “Now, a new era begins and we face it with a sense of freedom, but also responsibility to give back to society what it has given us and always with respect to those around us,” they stated. “Our real journey starts now. It won’t be easy, but we know what the key to success is: work.”
On May 23, some 100 members of IESE's alumni chapter in Paris met for an event that included the participation of IESE's Dean Jordi Canals; IESE Prof. José Manuel González-Páramo; the ambassador for Spain to the OECD, Ricardo Diez-Hochleitner; and OECD Chief of Staff Gabriela Ramos. During the meeting, panelists discussed the current context and future goals for the eurozone. The meeting was sponsored by the embassy of Spain to the OECD.
In his remarks, Dean Canals highlighted IESE's positive development and reminded alumni of the school's long-term objecitves: to provide knowledge needed by students and businesses to exit the current crisis, identify opportunities created by globalization and prepare business leaders who can have a meaningful and lasting impact on society.
Ramos outlined new goals for countries that make up the G20, such as fighting unemployment, improving the financial sector and recovering growth rates without neglecting citizens, reducing social inequality and promoting solutions that are respectful to the environment.
The meeting was closed by Prof. González-Páramo, who provided a presentation on the current situation of the eurozone that was based on a key question: is the worst part of the crisis behind us? He explained how recent actions taken by the European Central Bank have saved the EU from disintegration and stressed the importance of a banking and fiscal union to maintain stability in the region.
"Without your support, patience and care over these many months, today’s graduates would have had a much harder time completing the program," Prof. Sandra Sieber, academic director of the Global Executive MBA program, told family and friends at the Global EMBA graduation ceremony in Barcelona on May 31.
The program had changed the center of gravity and the way graduates look at the world, she said. "In our visits to New York, China, India and Silicon Valley, and in our day-to-day interaction, we saw again and again that the world is definitely not flat. We learned to navigate a world with so many different ways of perceiving business, work and society."
The keynote speaker, Vicente Tardío, CEO of Allianz, Iberia and Latin America, talked about how his company has developed a business model it can implement around the world. "We are creating an international pool of talent within the same business model and the same business perception and this facilitates mobility," he said.
"The key is to introduce simplicity throughout the company. All human beings have a tendency towards complexity and so do corporations."
In conclusion he said that you have to think globally and feel that you are an engine of change.
"A strong code of ethics and long-term success are intimately linked," Tardío said. "Respect other people’s talent and avoid being arrogant just because you have a better education."
Eghosa Oriaikhi, the class president, told the gathering "my commitment to you is that I will be an ethical business leader. My commitment here today is that I will contribute to our global society. My commitment to you, as an African, is to make an impact not only on my company or my industry, but also on the economic situation of my country."
Lisa Wright, the other class president, added that "21 months ago we stepped into this building prepared for a life-changing event, but we thought it was going to be the attainment of an MBA. We got so much more than we expected."
IESE Dean Jordi Canals thanked Vicente Tardío, congratulated the graduates and urged them, in the words of Abraham Lincoln, "to seek the better angels" in themselves.
IESE’s Private Investors Network and Family Offices is 10 years old. It is a platform that brings together private investors and some of the most active entrepreneurs in the country and now boasts more than 130 members. It is open to both IESE alumni and entrepreneurs and investors who are not linked to the school. Private investors, also known as business angels, play an important part in this network. Business angels are well known in countries such as the United States but are less well established in Spain.
As well as capital, investors provide key elements for developing entrepreneurial projects, such as knowledge, business acumen and a wide network of contacts. They usually have the same modus operandi: they provide capital for the companies they are investing in and after five for seven years, when the business is already functioning, collect their profits and end their links with the company. All of these questions were discussed during the meeting “10 Years of the Network” which was held on June 3 on IESE’s Madrid campus.
During these 10 years the platform has participated in 70 investment forums and more than 60 operations, investing more than €15 million to help various entrepreneurial projects. All of this has translated into the creation of 1,900 jobs and sales of €606 million, said IESE Prof. Juan Roure, the network’s director.
“Entrepreneurship is at the root of what IESE is about,” Roure said, pointing out that during these 10 years the climate has changed considerably, given the economic crisis. The professor advised investors to bear a number of things in mind: look at a lot of projects before making a decision; analyze the quality of the team you are investing in; only invest if you are certain and in sectors where you have previous experience, and have a portfolio of various projects.
The perfect business angel
How can you become a perfect business angel? Various entrepreneurs who took part in the event agreed that investors shouldn’t take up too much of the entrepreneur’s time, should act as a collaborator and bring experience. “The entrepreneur has to be aligned with the investor and has to be clear that the investor wants to get their money back. You have to be honest and look for an exit if necessary,” said Josep Arroyo, vice president of Actuate. In his view, the mutual respect between the entrepreneur and investor is essential. “If you think about the client, things turn out well. If you only think about yourself, it goes badly,” said Hugo Palomar, cofounder of Byhours.
All of the entrepreneurs who took part in the meeting agreed that there is a problem that small and medium-sized businesses lack liquidity and also with late payment on the part of many suppliers. They also agreed on the importance of starting a business with a partner and never alone. “The feeling of having struggled when you haven’t got anything is the best thing you get from this experience,” said Palomar. “It’s difficult to conceal information in a company. You must never lie to the investor,” said Jacquez Giribet of I-DAPT. “I would like to give back to society what I have received,” added Víctor Sánchez of Onbile.
Jacinto Roca, creator of Wuaki TV, delivered a clear message. “You have to take risks to be successful. If you don’t take risks, even if your idea is brilliant, you never win,” he said. “This country lacks people willing to take risks, whether as entrepreneurs or investors.” And he regretted that in Spain there are no risk capital funds of the kind that exist in the United States. He also emphasized “the social aspect” of entrepreneurship. “It’s essential to be able to share the spirit of entrepreneurship if society is to move on from where it is,” he concluded.
Accepting failure
François Derbaix, founder of Top Rural, a company that he sold for €14 million, confirmed that many entrepreneurs and investors have to take on risks. “What is missing is the acceptance of failure.” And he made it clear that very often “being an investor is the opposite of being an entrepreneur.” “The investors should leave the project when he or she sees that their interests are not aligned with those of the entrepreneur. There are often conflicts of interest, this is only natural,” said Luis Martín Cabiedes, investor and partner in Cabiedes & Partners.
Lucas Carné, cofounder of Privalia, said that experience was key, especially in risky projects. He also listed the key factors behind the success of his company, a leader in Internet sales: the execution of the business model, ambitiousness from the outset and the global vision applied to the business plan.
Much was said during the meeting about the role of the public sector in entrepreneurship. “The public sector should light the fuse, stand back and let the private sector get involved in the project as these are the people who will take the reins of the business,” said Joan Tarradellas of ACC1Ó. He said public administration should take the least risks possible and should focus on regularizing the market in which he said there was a “certain amount of chaos” and “an inflation in the networks of business angels and projects.” In spite of everything, support for entrepreneurship is “more necessary than ever,” he concluded. “There is no inflation of networks in Spain,” said Manuel Valle, president of Enisa. “On the contrary, there is much to do.”
Sergio Arzeni of the OECD commented that “we need as many investment initiatives as possible for the future development of Europe. It’s important to encourage business angels through tax incentives.”
Both Arzeni and other speakers agreed that any investor must be clear that they are going to lose 80 percent of the money they invest. “If you’re not clear about this, forget about going into business,” said Arzeni. “You must have a range of well-distributed investments, you can’t put all your eggs in one basket. This has been a common error in recent years,” said Xavier Arquerons, an angel investor. He was clear that in order to be a business angel you must know how to lose money. “Without patience or calm, it’s almost impossible that an investment will turn out well,” he said. In his view, it’s up to the entrepreneur to develop the project. “We help them, we finance them, but the development of the project is the job of the entrepreneur. He or she must be accountable for how well the project is going in the context of the business plan,” he concluded.
Only 10 percent of the projects presented to business angels get financed. That's according to a recent study of more than 20 active networks of private investors in Latin America and the Caribbean, conducted by IESE Prof. Juan Roure, Amparo de San José and Juan Luis Segurado.
Despite this low rate, new business projects increasingly depend on these business angels, due to the current credit restrictions.
As such, it is essential to identify the strengths and weaknesses of these networks, in order to promote their development and boost the economy.
Inexperienced Investors
Business angels have emerged as the best partners for spurring the growth of dynamic companies and creating jobs, by providing "smart capital" in segments that are not mature enough to attract traditional venture capital.
The sad fact is, budding companies are often excluded from traditional bank financing owing to the risks and lack of guarantees or security.
Latin America and the Caribbean, where angel investment is still in its infancy, would benefit from a higher level of professionalism.
Leaders of the networks that participated in the study stressed the inexperience of many investors.
Other major weaknesses include the quality of the projects, which are usually not yet in the investment phase, and the unfamiliarity of many entrepreneurs with the basics of investment.
Five Recommendations
The report highlights five target areas to strengthen and promote the functioning of private investor networks.
Prof. Xavier Vives of IESE's Department of Economics has been awarded the "Jaime I de Economia" prize. This year marks the 25th anniversary of the award, which recognizes outstanding achievement in teaching, research and advising in the area of economics and finance.
Vives was chosen for his work in the field of organizational industrial theory, finance and regulation, particularly in the area of banking integration. The prize, sponsored by the Rey Jaime I Awards Foundation, was presented after the consideration of 200 meritorious candidates by a jury comprising 90 people including 20 Nobel laureates.
The president of the Santiago Grisolía Foundation announced the winners of awards this week at an event held in Valencia, Spain.
Prof. Vives is one of Spain's most internationally-recognized economists. His current research focuses on dynamic rivalry, innovation and competition, banking crisis and regulation, information and financial markets and competition policy. He has been the recipient of numerous prizes.
Others receiving awards this year from the foundation are Manel Esteller in the category of basic research; Jesús F. San Miguel Izquierdo in medical research; Xavier Querol in environmental protection; Antonio González in new technologies; and Pedro Espinosa for entrepreneurship.
Leading people is a tough job. Dealing with conflict, motivating teams, driving and evaluating performance are not skills that come naturally to most people. Often this is where a coach can step in to help managers develop and maximize their capabilities through a thought-provoking and creative process leading to opportunities and action.
At IESE, coaching begins with self-recognition tests like Belbin, Keirsy and includes a 360º evaluation, among other tools. The program is designed to help you identify your development needs and use the one-on-one coaching sessions to further build your strengths or eliminate a weakness. This program component is a highly beneficial investment in career development, yet making the most of the opportunity can actually begin before the program through some pre-course introspection.
According to Estibalitz Ortiz, the Executive Director of IESE’s Coaching Unit, AMP Program participants should enter the process prepared to reap its benefits. To do so, they should develop a commitment to the process, a positive intention to change, and often the most difficult, a willingness to accept the possibility of drastic individual self-improvement.
She proposes a few pre-coaching tips to encourage a process of introspection and increase self-awareness before the coaching process begins.
1. Asses your openness to the process of coaching. Many people are hesitant or skeptical about coaching, but usually because they do not know much about it. Executive cognitive-behavioral coaching is well researched, so look for academic reports. Speak to others who have participated in such programs so you begin to anticipate and look forward to its benefits.
2. Define what you wish to accomplish. "In addition to bringing willingness and openness to coaching to the process, it is also important to have a specific goal in mind," says Michael Brandenburg, Lead Coach at IESE. So, what are your key challenges on the job? What do you want to learn in the general management program? What will you be able to do better once you have gone through the program? Be sure you are clear about where you are headed in your career and what could limit you on this path. Coaching will help you to eliminate those impediments.
3. Be ready to challenge your self-assumptions. You might think you need to pay less attention to detail or learn to delegate better. Though these may be true, they may not be getting in the way of managing as much as other areas beyond your awareness. The process of coaching often brings new factors onto your radar that you never knew you had to address. Be ready to find out new things about yourself and take action.
4. Develop self-awareness. Before you begin the program, you can brainstorm areas of improvement. One approach is to make a list of accomplishments and failures. For each category, create a list of the factors that made each possible. Why were you able to implement the new marketing plan? Who did you motivate and how? What worked? Or why did you not meet your sales goal or land a new account? If you could not get everyone on board with a new project, why not? What failed? Just having examples of your experiences at your fingertips will help get the process moving once you start.
Innovation is the sin qua non for staying on top and one of the key ingredients of business success and social progress. But innovation is not just about revolutionary ideas transformed into life-changing products and services. Rather, it can take root in anything from the minor product modification to business processes. When properly managed in all of its versatility, innovation offers business and society a wealth of opportunity.
A Barcelona native steeped in Silicon Valley culture, Antonio Dávila, IESE Professor of Entrepreneurship and Accounting and Control, helps managers and organizations explore how to make the most of innovation for growth and profitability. He discusses some of the highlights of his research with Impact@Work.
In your book, Making Innovation Work you outline seven "rules" of good innovation management. These include exerting strong leadership on portfolio decisions, encouraging truly significant value creation, and breaking down a company’s cultural barriers to innovation. How do these "rules" play out differently in small versus large companies?
Start-ups and small companies have one particular advantage over large companies. Because of their size they are faster, more nimble. They have less bureaucracy and are more directly in touch with the market. Processes are faster, so you can experiment more often and more quickly.
Innovating is more demanding to carry-out in larger companies. There are many more factors to take into consideration. To begin with, taking a gamble in a large company is much harder. Also, you have to go through the proper, highly structured processes to try something new; individuals are not single-handedly coming up with ideas and putting them into action on their own.
But one advantage in large companies is that you see innovation in many different forms. Here, innovation can be more incremental; it can be about continuous improvement or spur small technological changes or a shift in your business model. These are not necessarily the radical, ground-breaking ideas, which are far riskier and difficult to manage in large companies, but they are very valuable aspects of innovation nonetheless.
Innovative ideas and perseverance are not enough for start-ups to succeed. In your research for the World Economic Forum of hundreds of start-ups you outline eight critical growth strategies that can help see them through the roller-coaster ride of growth and set-backs. What do your findings reveal about the different paths to growth and what successful start-ups have in common?
We often associate start-up with technology, but in fact in our study we saw a broad range of successful ventures all over the world and in many different industries. From a new mining venture in Australia that required a huge initial investment in infrastructure and extraction, to an Indian florist enterprise with international reach. And of course, everything in between including the creation of back offices in developing countries.
What became apparent is that successful companies come in all shapes and sizes and succeed because their strategy hits the mark. One size certainly does not fit all, and we identified eight strategies. These include developing a new product in a new category or an existing category, the redesign of business value chain, aggregation of existing players, the "wave," and others.
Despite the range in size, industry and growth strategy followed to succeed, most start-ups’ success is based on the same key ingredients: the quality and viability of the idea, solid management of its execution, a highly talented team, and of course, a good dose of luck.
Innovative and entrepreneurial endeavors are essentially carried out by highly optimistic people. Given today’s less-than-optimistic climate, is innovation still viable?
Innovation is a bit more challenging in today’s context. Even though "necessity is the mother of invention," in the end resources - especially talent and financial resources - are fundamental to innovation. Necessity may spawn one good idea in 100,000, but often this context does not produce anything revolutionary, rather short term solutions for pressing problems.
However, the context of austerity does not mean that innovative endeavors are put completely on hold. A time of crisis is a time of opportunity for some investors. With less people investing, there is the potential for greater returns for those who identify a solid, viable enterprise. You can think about investing in innovation or entrepreneurship a bit like the real estate market: If you invest when the market has hit bottom, then you have a better chance of making a greater return.
In "Goldenworkers: Needs and Trends Analysis Report" a recent study for the European Commission, you explore how older workers can continue to contribute actively and productively to the labor market beyond the current retirement age. What does your study reveal about how they will manage to do so and the types of policies and innovations that can help them sustain or improve their productivity into later years?
In this study we tried to envision what the future for older workers was going to be like. Given a decreasing birth rate, increasing life expectancy and the resulting pressure on pension and social security systems, our career life-cycle will be longer in the very near future.
Given these changes, we tried to understand how older people would fit into the labor market, which profile within the demographic will be in a more precarious situation in their later years, and what types of policies and ICT innovations could better address their needs.
Our study revealed that older workers indeed have many talents that their younger colleagues do not possess. For example, they are generally better at keeping their emotions in check under stress, processing complex problems in extreme situations and using language.
Depending on where the workers fell on our matrix – with level of education on one axis and size of company on the other - there are corresponding policies that can help them continue to participate in the labor market into later years. For starters, we need to renew and adapt the traditionally rigid approach to a career life-cycle, i.e., that we start full-time work sometime in our twenties and continue working at the same intensity until the "official" retirement age. "Goldenworkers" may prefer a salary decrease and in return a shorter work day, more frequent breaks throughout the day or longer vacations.
Discrimination is another important barrier to overcome. All workers should be eligible to participate in corporate training programs, not feel liked they are "parked" at age 60 since they are perceived as having lower productivity.
Life-long learning, especially training in technology, is particularly important. The digital age is extremely intimidating for older workers, but nothing that cannot be overcome with training and user-friendly technology. Both public policies and corporate HR policies can help in this regard, as will user and age-friendly ICT tools.
Fortunately, ICT tools are continuously evolving and improving. Many companies are also developing new software for disabilities, including vision impairment. So innovative efforts are already moving in the right direction to help this demographic overcome their fear of new digital technologies and avoid marginalization from the labor market.
Young people, who comprise today’s customers as well as those of the future, “increasingly watch less television, said José Antunes, Content Excellence & CRM manager of Coca-Cola, who discussed the current social ecosystem. “They still consume (media), but in more varied formats,” said Antunes during a Continuous Education session titled “The New media Strategy,” held on the Barcelona campus on June 4, organized by the IESE Alumni Association and moderated by Prof. Carlos Garcia Pont.
“We are not only experiencing a technological revolution, but a social one, too,” he said, noting that “the individual is at the center of everything. It is useless to believe that the company is the navel of the earth.”
Consequently, companies should “gain new competencies so that they can connect with clients one by one. And to do this, you have to know them.” According to Antunes, managing Big Data will be critical for the process in the future and companies that can manage it will have “a huge competitive advantage.”
He highlighted the sense of immediacy provided by social networks today. Thanks to these, “we are able to know what our customers think about a campaign a few minutes after its launch. Before, we had to wait weeks.”
But firms have to adapt to this context: “Any marketing director who does not have a grip on new technologies needs to get updated.”
The new consumer
“Where will we capture the consumer?” asked Eduardo Díez-Hochleitner, vice president of the group 20 Minutos España. The answer lies in the multitude of devices (PCs, tablets, smartphones and sensors), support (social networks – large or niche – and search engines), space and time. Companies can now reach customers in any place at any moment.
Keys for exceling in this environment include quality, disruptive creativity, on and offline strategy integration, reliable measurement and the ability to react immediately.
“Seventy percent of information is produced by amateurs. The influencers for brands are the consumers,” said José Luis de Rojas, CEO of Grupo Zertem. He said that PR professionals have shifted from short ads to storytelling.
The current media industry is more competitive and has adopted new models, he said. Content producers have greater capacity to express themselves and brands are engaging in conversations with consumers that are much more personal.
IESE’s Private Investors Network and Family Offices is 10 years old. It is a platform that brings together private investors and some of the most active entrepreneurs in the country and now boasts more than 130 members. It is open to both IESE alumni and entrepreneurs and investors who are not linked to the school. Private investors, also known as business angels, play an important part in this network. Business angels are well known in countries such as the United States but are less well established in Spain.
As well as capital, investors provide key elements for developing entrepreneurial projects, such as knowledge, business acumen and a wide network of contacts. They usually have the same modus operandi: they provide capital for the companies they are investing in and after five for seven years, when the business is already functioning, collect their profits and end their links with the company. All of these questions were discussed during the meeting “10 Years of the Network” which was held on June 3 on IESE’s Madrid campus.
During these 10 years the platform has participated in 70 investment forums and more than 60 operations, investing more than €15 million to help various entrepreneurial projects. All of this has translated into the creation of 1,900 jobs and sales of €606 million, said IESE Prof. Juan Roure, the network’s director.
“Entrepreneurship is at the root of what IESE is about,” Roure said, pointing out that during these 10 years the climate has changed considerably, given the economic crisis. The professor advised investors to bear a number of things in mind: look at a lot of projects before making a decision; analyze the quality of the team you are investing in; only invest if you are certain and in sectors where you have previous experience, and have a portfolio of various projects.
The perfect business angel
How can you become a perfect business angel? Various entrepreneurs who took part in the event agreed that investors shouldn’t take up too much of the entrepreneur’s time, should act as a collaborator and bring experience. “The entrepreneur has to be aligned with the investor and has to be clear that the investor wants to get their money back. You have to be honest and look for an exit if necessary,” said Josep Arroyo, vice president of Actuate. In his view, the mutual respect between the entrepreneur and investor is essential. “If you think about the client, things turn out well. If you only think about yourself, it goes badly,” said Hugo Palomar, cofounder of Byhours.
All of the entrepreneurs who took part in the meeting agreed that there is a problem that small and medium-sized businesses lack liquidity and also with late payment on the part of many suppliers. They also agreed on the importance of starting a business with a partner and never alone. “The feeling of having struggled when you haven’t got anything is the best thing you get from this experience,” said Palomar. “It’s difficult to conceal information in a company. You must never lie to the investor,” said Jacquez Giribet of I-DAPT. “I would like to give back to society what I have received,” added Víctor Sánchez of Onbile.
Jacinto Roca, creator of Wuaki TV, delivered a clear message. “You have to take risks to be successful. If you don’t take risks, even if your idea is brilliant, you never win,” he said. “This country lacks people willing to take risks, whether as entrepreneurs or investors.” And he regretted that in Spain there are no risk capital funds of the kind that exist in the United States. He also emphasized “the social aspect” of entrepreneurship. “It’s essential to be able to share the spirit of entrepreneurship if society is to move on from where it is,” he concluded.
Accepting failure
François Derbaix, founder of Top Rural, a company that he sold for €14 million, confirmed that many entrepreneurs and investors have to take on risks. “What is missing is the acceptance of failure.” And he made it clear that very often “being an investor is the opposite of being an entrepreneur.” “The investors should leave the project when he or she sees that their interests are not aligned with those of the entrepreneur. There are often conflicts of interest, this is only natural,” said Luis Martín Cabiedes, investor and partner in Cabiedes & Partners.
Lucas Carné, cofounder of Privalia, said that experience was key, especially in risky projects. He also listed the key factors behind the success of his company, a leader in Internet sales: the execution of the business model, ambitiousness from the outset and the global vision applied to the business plan.
Much was said during the meeting about the role of the public sector in entrepreneurship. “The public sector should light the fuse, stand back and let the private sector get involved in the project as these are the people who will take the reins of the business,” said Joan Tarradellas of ACC1Ó. He said public administration should take the least risks possible and should focus on regularizing the market in which he said there was a “certain amount of chaos” and “an inflation in the networks of business angels and projects.” In spite of everything, support for entrepreneurship is “more necessary than ever,” he concluded. “There is no inflation of networks in Spain,” said Manuel Valle, president of Enisa. “On the contrary, there is much to do.”
Sergio Arzeni of the OECD commented that “we need as many investment initiatives as possible for the future development of Europe. It’s important to encourage business angels through tax incentives.”
Both Arzeni and other speakers agreed that any investor must be clear that they are going to lose 80 percent of the money they invest. “If you’re not clear about this, forget about going into business,” said Arzeni. “You must have a range of well-distributed investments, you can’t put all your eggs in one basket. This has been a common error in recent years,” said Xavier Arquerons, an angel investor. He was clear that in order to be a business angel you must know how to lose money. “Without patience or calm, it’s almost impossible that an investment will turn out well,” he said. In his view, it’s up to the entrepreneur to develop the project. “We help them, we finance them, but the development of the project is the job of the entrepreneur. He or she must be accountable for how well the project is going in the context of the business plan,” he concluded.
The food and beverage industry is a decisive pillar of the European economy, accounting for annual revenues of more than 956 billion euros, more than 4 million employees (representing 15 percent of all E.U. employment) and import and export volumes of 56 and 65 billion euros, respectively.
In Spain, the industry carries considerable weight, with the participation of some 30,000 companies, annual consumption amounting to 94 billion euros, and half a million people employed in the sector.
The industry's exports have shown positive growth since the mid-1990s, indicating that globalization has been happening in the industry as part of an ongoing, long-term effort, and not just in reaction to the recent effects of the recession on domestic demand.
In 2012, the food and beverage industry exported products worth more than 22 billion euros, accounting for nearly 10 percent of Spain's total exports and reflecting an increase of 9.4 percent with respect to 2011. This is nearly three times the increase in Spanish exports as a whole.
Against this backdrop, the first question companies should ask themselves is: Which markets are of interest for exporting and selling food and beverage products? Once identified, what kind of market information is relevant to guiding this strategic plan?
Nest Tuesday June 11 the IESE Madrid campus will host the 19th Telecom, Digital Media and Information Society Industry Meeting under the heading "A Whole New World: The Revolution of Big Data." The meeting comes at a time when the rise and advances in information and communication technologies have radically changed access to information and its distribution, as is the case of media. As a consequence, industries are seeing a radical change in the shape of organizations as well as in the sources of power and income.
With big data, a major phenomenon of this new order, we are entering a new and revolutionary stage in this evolution characterized not only by the huge size of available data, but by its complex and mostly unstructured nature. The use of this data requires new analytics, new skills, new modeling and even new organizations.
Sessions include "The Revolution in Big Data" featuring speakers such as Krishnan Parasuraman, CTO Big Data at IBM, "Transforming eHealth with Big Data" which will be addressed by Stephen Brosbst, CTO at Teradata and "Cities in Motion" with Sascha Haselmayer, CEO of Citymart.
The upheavals in the media will be reviewed in the session "The Transformation of the Media" with speaker Prof. Eli Noam, director, Columbia Institute for Tele-Information, talking about the age of cloud TV. The session titled "The Fight for Value" will include contributions from María Valenzuela, VP Distribution, Sony Pictures TV and Maria Ferreras, Head of Partnerships at YouTube.
There are also sessions on value capture through the mobile revolution and the new telecoms. The closing session will be given by Víctor Calvo-Sotelo Ibañez-Martín, the Spanish telecommunications and information society minister.
The meeting sets out to analyze the above revolutionary phenomena and their impact on telecommunications, digital media and the information society in general. The event’s academic directors are IESE professors Joan E. Ricart and Josep Valor.
On June 4 IESE’s Barcelona campus took a trip around the world to explore opportunities, business opportunities, challenges, travelers’ tales and novelties in the food and drink sector. For decades, and especially today, exports and moving into new markets have been fundamental to the industry. That was the focus of the 17th Food and Beverage Industry Meeting, held under a title “How to Sell on Five Continents.” It was led by Prof. Jaume Llopis and organized with the collaboration of Deloitte, Idom, IPMark, “la Caixa”, Tetra Pak and La Vanguardia.
Europe: most accessible and most competitive
The first continent explored was the oldest, best known and closest by. For many it is the easiest and at the same time the most competitive market. An optimistic note was struck by the representative of a giant in the European sector, Nestlé. The executive vice president and branch manager in Europe, and a regular visitor to IESE, Laurent Freixe, said “it is still possible to grow in Europe but consumer confidence has fallen a long way.” To achieve growth, Freixe recommended “focusing on the local characteristics of each region, fighting to gain market share and innovation. But in order to innovate, you have to invest.”
On the distribution side, Ricardo Currás, CEO of DIA, said that “the European market is characterized by the strong presence of local competitors and the enormous influence of the distribution brands.” In spite of the current rise of Internet sales, Currás said that he believed “clients still prefer local establishments with a better price quality ratio.” And he added: “The consumer increasingly demands healthier, fresh products, as well as specialization.”
Another supermarket with an enormous network of outlets on the continent is the German firm Lidl, which has 10,000 shops in 26 European countries. Ferran Figueras, the company’s financial managing director, discussed how the business model is based on simplifying processes and cutting costs and insisted that “there are still opportunities in Europe if you have the right partners.” “There is potential for growth if you look for new opportunities and markets,” he said. Figueras said that Lidl is an ideal platform from which manufacturers can launch their products in other countries.
One of the most famous beer brands in the world, San Miguel, has successfully entered the United Kingdom market. The group’s managing director, Alberto Rodríguez-Toquero, highlighted what has been a fruitful export project. “It has been key for us to produce locally, work for the brand in each area and find suitable partners in each instance.”
An interesting traveler at the meeting was liquid gold – olive oil. Its representative, Rosa Vañó, owner of the olive oil producer Castillo de Cañena in Jaén, said that in their case a key factor has been “to opt from the start for excellence and innovation to differentiate ourselves and to find our place in an enormously fragmented market. By being a top brand, we have preferred to create our reputation through prizes and external recognition rather than promote ourselves on our own behalf.”
Africa: the great unknown
What is Africa? How do you get in there? When? Prof. Lluís Renart used these questions to kick off a round table discussion about one of the least known zones which offers the most opportunities to the sector.
Ignasi Ricou, CEO of Gallina Blanca Star, said that his company had been selling successfully in Africa for 40 years. “The key is to have an intimate knowledge of the market, understand how Africans consume, get close to open markets, see what shops are like and, above all, bear in mind that Africa is made up of 54 countries with their own peculiarities and the citizens there want to be seen as who they are and not simply as Africans.” “You have to adapt yourself to a difficult reality and very limited infrastructure, you have to have a close relationship with local partners and bear in mind the challenges that exist in many areas, such as political instability and corruption,” he added.
Determined to dispel myths and misunderstandings, Malik Bakayoko, General Manager SBFA of Durabilis, asserted that “Africa is a market in the making, with a limited number of competitors and there’s room for everyone, but you have to go now. Of course it’s not easy to get in nor to move around but growth is spreading and the opportunity is there.”
With a clear statement that “they’re not waiting for us,” Joan Masferrer, CEO of Compass, said it was time to stop being afraid of a continent that was rapidly evolving. However, he advised studying the terrain carefully before going in, recommended offering “products of a quality suitable for the reality of families and the consumer power of the population.” “The consumer there is very brand oriented and very aware of price changes and changes in the product’s image,” he said.
America: rapidly growing
Growth on this continent, particularly in the Southern Cone, is its main attraction although it’s difficult to see if it will last over time, said Ildefonso García-Serena, president of Compact Response Group, who moderated a round table.
“You have to have a dream, and be adventurous or else it won’t happen,” said María José López de Heredia, CEO of R. López de Heredia Viña Tondonia, referring to her company’s successful exports to the United States. Alejandro Martínez Campo, managing director of IAN-Carretilla, talked about his export experiences in Chile which he said were “very positive,” and Brazil where, in spite of his success, he lamented the fact that it is “the country with the most bureaucratic problems that we’ve ever encountered.”
“You have to spend time with your partner and understand the country. If you’ve got a good product, the consumer is keen to acquire it,” said Thomas Melendez, managing director of the División Yogures/Internacional of Grupo Leche Pascual, who mainly talked about Venezuela. Roberto Servitje, president of Grupo Altex, talked about his experiences in Mexico with hydroponic cultivation, a niche market opened by the firm. “The most important thing was to promote the virtue of our products, which are mainly organic, environmentally friendly and sustainable,” he said.
Asia and Oceania: unmissable opportunity
“No one who’s talking about internationalization can ignore Asia. You may have different strategies but you’ve got to be there,” said Xavier Pagès, CEO of Grupo Codorníu. He talked about various aspects to be borne in mind about the Asian market, specifically the Japanese. “Although the market is global, it doesn’t behave like a single market,” he said.
On the other hand, Xavier Ybargüengoitia, CEO Estates & Wines of the LVMH Group, delineated keys to success in China. “You have to be prepared to respond quickly, to be seen as a Chinese company, anticipate consumer trends, adapt marketing to the local culture, be able to rely on the local team, not create any more bureaucracy than the official one and use pressure groups whenever possible.”
Carles Plana, sales director at Indulleida, talked about the advantages of selling in Australia. “It’s a demanding but accessible market, with very little bureaucracy and a tradition as an importer. English is the official language, credit risk is low and the mentality is very proactive.”
The meeting ended with the presentation of the Food & Beverage Global Award 2013, which went to Paul Polman, CEO of Unilever.
A solid business plan and clear vision is the key to launching your business in China - this was the key message that came out of a talk titled "A Roadmap for Spain-China Investments."
The event presented some findings and recommendations of the just-published report New China-Spain Horizon. It was led by Dr. Xi Feng, senior vice president of the Horizon Research & Consultancy Group; Xiabo Wu, dean of SOM of Zhejiang University; and IESE Prof. Pedro Nueno, president of CEIBS. During the event, held at the IESE Barcelona campus on June 5, they discussed obstacles relating to Spain-China trade relations and ways to go forward.
Each speaker agreed that a lack cultural awareness between the two countries has historically hindered business opportunities. "Why are we here so late?" posed Feng. "Because of a lack of understanding. So let’s promote understanding."
Both he and Wu emphasized that tourism is the key to "opening up" China, adding that the Chinese travel for a multitude of reasons, including seeking out education options for their families and real estate investment opportunities.
"CEOs need to visit China and promote the Spanish brand as a whole," added Feng. "The national brand needs to be promoted."
Nueno also emphasized the human factor. "You can’t maintain enthusiasm on the internet," he stressed. "Business today is still a human phenomenon."
The New China-Spain Horizon Report was elaborated by teams in both Spain and China. It focused on five industries that were pinpointed as having the most potential for cross-country investment: automobiles, agrifood, real estate, tourism and fashion and luxury goods. According to the research, strong opportunities are available in all sectors. In the case of agrifood, the panel discussed the food safety crisis that is sweeping China and the widespread concern for the quality and safety of local food products. "The demand for imported food is growing," said Feng. "And few people know about the superb quality of fresh produce from Spain." Spanish craftsmanship and its arts and crafts heritage should also be exploited. "In general brand awareness is high, but not of brands from Spain. That said, there is a decline in the consumption of luxury goods. People are not looking for ‘luxe’ as such, but items of the highest quality."
In term of real estate, the report welcomes the new policy from the Spanish Government that provides incentives for foreign real estate investors, and points out the recent tougher measures imposed by the Chinese Government is order to curb real estate speculation, meaning that local investors are looking beyond their borders. Again, the expansion of tourism would have knock-on benefit, as Chinese travellers who experience the lifestyle benefits Spain has to offer would lead them to consider the country for residential tourism.
One of the overriding messages of the talk was that the time is right for cross-country investment. "China is entering a new era both economically and politically," said Wu. "We are going to see a dynamic change, from the bottom up. It will be an investment-driven economy, with better infrastructure."
He emphasized the demands of the growing middle class, and a changing consumer mindset that was starting to perceive goods and services, in a more "European" way and beyond their "physical" value. He also stressed the attitude of President Xi Jinping in regards to international expansion. "He wants China to be ethical and international. From now on we will see an accelerated ‘opening up’ of China."
The Q&A was taken up with questions regarding the strategies Spanish businesses should employ when looking to set up business in China. The importance of quality market research, professional intermediaries, active chambers of commerce and dynamic networking were stressed. But the overall message was that bridging the cultural divide should not be neglected. "Be prepared to take a call from your Chinese business partner on a Saturday or Sunday," joked Feng. " We never stop working."
After several years of rapid international expansion, Santander was in need of global leaders that possessed professional and personal skills to lead the bank’s global growth. The corporate culture and strategy had to be embedded quickly and efficiently in those organizations that had been acquired. It was clear to Santander that, to get the job done, there was a need for a partner like IESE, with extensive experience in developing custom programs and promoting leadership within international organizations.
The Corporate Leadership Program (CLP), designed in partnership by IESE and Santander, was closely related with the bank’s strategy of international and inorganic growth and development. It blended the core values of both organizations and consolidated a wide range of academic approaches combining lectures, business cases, team discussions, live projects, company visits, workshops, online interactions, executive coaching and peer-to-peer coaching.
One of the most interesting aspects of the program is its evolution along with the expansion of the group. Given the clear need to offer a program that would provide participants with a global vision, in the first edition a module of the program was delivered in Shanghai, China. In 2009 the program was redesigned to incorporate one module in Sao Paulo, reflecting Santander’s acquision of a bank in Brazil. Later, the week in China was split in two different locations, Hong Kong and Shanghai. Finally, when the presence of the Bank in mainland China was more consolidated and its growth plans in this market were clear, the Hong Kong module was swapped with a module in Beijing.
The full support of Santander’s top management for the program’s objectives of developing high-potential managers into corporate leaders into corporate leaders for the future of the group, was key for the program’s success. Participants gained a better understanding of the bank’s overall strategy; they developed a new approach to delivering value for customers; they created an extensive network amongst professionals from different countries, departments and functions; and they acquired additional tools to manage dispersed international teams in a more efficient and productive way.
The CLP is a testament of the decisive growth and internationalization. Santander has undergone in the last decade. The program demonstrates the group’s clear focus on encouraging internal talent and developing their aptitudes and attitudes to lead the group in the new economic, geographical and strategic environment of the 21 st century.
“Ask for advice, never ask for a job,” advised IESE Prof. Mike Rosenberg to texecutives seeking new opportunities through their professional networks. “Calling people you know for favors won’t work and you can burn out contacts.”
“Networks are not people made up of me and my friends. Networks already exist,” explained Prof. Rosenberg, during the IESE Continuous Education session on professional networking, held June 6 on IESE’s Barcelona campus. The event took place within IESE’s Professional Development series.
Gaining access to professional networks requires learning their specific language, codes of behavior and how to make people see you as one of the group, he said.
Most importantly, professionals must have a clear idea of the job they desire. To clarify this, he said, they should ask themselves what they need to live their ideal lives; what they are willing to do to reach their goals; and what their true vocation is.
He discussed the high levels of satisfaction that come from working where you want, along with the respect that is typically given to people who know where they are headed.
Executives and managers should also be aware of their own attitude toward the career path they have chosen. A positive and open approach, combined with a sense of purpose and intention, “will open more doors than indifference,” he said.
He also provided several caveats on preparing successful CVs, recommending that they be adapted to fit the sector and the goal. “Don’t lie, but you can play with the content.”
The Harvard-IESE Committee, now in its 50th year, met on IESE’s Barcelona campus and took time out to hold a public session for MBA and Executive MBA students. The session was moderated by IESE’s associate dean for MBA programs Franz Heukamp.
Prof. Carlos Cavallé, one of the founders of IESE and former Dean of IESE (1984-2001), recalled the first meeting of the committee in October 1963 in Boston. IESE, which was already running advanced management programs, decided to launch an MBA and sought advice from Harvard Business School. "We didn’t know we were establishing the first full-time MBA in Europe," Cavallé said. "This was one of many things we didn’t know at the time." After that first meeting "it was as if the skies had opened. It was a very special feeling, like falling in love."
Cavallé said that what began as HBS offering advice developed into a symbiotic relationship that affects everything that could be of interest to the two schools. "What the two schools have in common in terms of values is that it’s not just education for competence, it’s education for leadership and personal and professional development," said Carl Kester, a committee member and professor of business administration at HBS. "Online learning is here to stay but leadership is an intensely social activity and you can’t learn it until you are participating with other people as you do in class – learning how to listen and to persuade. It takes time to be steeped in that environment, to learn and to develop values."
IESE associate dean Eric Weber emphasised that "what we have in common is a desire to help participants in the program to discover themselves and to have a positive impact later in their careers."
Richard Vietor, also a professor of business administration at HBS, said he believes that "IESE is by far the strongest business school in Europe." He added that he felt that "we tend not to worry about competition but if we were going to worry, it would IESE that we would worry about." He commented that Harvard this year celebrated 50 years since enrolling its first female student and said that over 40% of the MBA recruits are now women.
In conclusion, Cavallé said the question for young people as they think about doing an MBA is "what kind of position do you take in your personal life? These positions have to be tested and contrasted and improved and this is not easy to do until you are in a group of people with whom to share your views and unless you are open to the influence of others."
Harvard-IESE Committee
After the session, Harvard professors W. Carl Kester and Richard Vietor joined IESE’s Dean Jordi Canals and professors José Luis Nueno, Joan Enric Ricart and Eric Weber to discuss the future of business management and the role of education, as well as joint research and teaching projects and other topics of mutual interest.
The Harvard-IESE Committee, which has met annually since 1963 in either the United States or Europe, helped guide the establishment of IESE’s full-time MBA program -the first of its kind in Europe- in 1964. It has also played a key role in the development of joint international executive education programs, which were first launched in 1993.
The opinions expressed in this article are those of the people involved and do not necessarily represent the views of HBS or IESE.
