Right: María Clemencia Sierra, dean of Universidad del Norte’s business school; below: Lina Martínez, associate professor at POLIS, Universidad Icesi
community in general”, to become more prone to risk-taking. Ignacio Osuna, associate dean at INALDE, added that schools must assist students in gaining access to banks and other stakeholders. Carlos Mario Betancur Hurtado, associate dean at EAFIT, noted that many SMEs are family-run businesses so tend to follow existing traditions, but said operators would undoubtedly benefit from the training that they would receive on an MBA course. Responding to a question from Franch on whether entrepreneurs are born or can be created, Osuna said it was not merely a case of genetics, but also involved “a cultural aspect” and that it was “a matter of mindset”. Sierra added that to be able to take the pressure that comes with running a small business, you must be “a born risk-taker”. Building innovative partnerships Collaboration was the theme of the presentation given by Horacio Arredondo, Dean of EGADE Business School at the Instituto Tecnológico de Monterrey. He outlined the challenges facing the region: a lack of political stability, developing economies, global brands re-purposing content and trendy digital competitors. He pointed out, however, that there are also plenty of opportunities in Latin America, the world’s third-largest economic region, and said it should be positioned as “a thrilling place to explore based on its cultural, economic and business singularities”. In order to create powerful partnerships, we need to identify a shared purpose beyond our current “business as usual” thinking, according to Arredondo, who went on to provide some notable examples of international co-operation, such as the World Economic Forum and The Human Genome Project. In these types of projects, stakeholders share a common ‘moon-shot’ purpose, which aims for the collective good. This, in turn, requires co-creation and the participation of ‘unlikely’ partners, who must possess a unique set of skills. Business schools need to look for “holistic solutions”, argued the EGADE dean, involving stakeholders across various landscapes, not just the academic field, but representatives from business, government and NGOs. A tactical approach is required, said Arredondo: schools need to create regional partnerships with international institutions to offer courses that address pressing societal issues. They should also leverage technology for initiatives focused on the peculiarities of the LatAm market. And they must work with the private sector to address business issues unique to the region. He proposed some ideas for how to move forward. For example, the Innovation Mall is a set-up where anyone can propose partnerships to address a particular problem and then an ‘entity’ decides on the correct solution. The Innovation Community is a network where anybody can propose partnerships and decide which one should be pursued. Meanwhile, the Elite Circle is formed of a select group of
business schools chosen by a key stakeholder who defines both the problems to be addressed and the type of partnerships. Lastly, Arredondo pitched the Consortium concept: a group of schools that choose, jointly, to select problems and the type of partnership that will work best in the circumstances. Achieving social impact through education Alejandro Moreno-Salamanca, dean of INALDE business school at Universidad de La Sabana, provided a case study on how the
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