María José Canales, Binational Human Capital Manager for ECOM Agroindustrial in Nicaragua and Costa Rica, visited INCAE on December 02 to participate with Executive MBA students in a class on the "Creating value with values" course. María José was the protagonist of the "living case" of this pioneering company in the use of the Social Progress Index (IPS) applied to its value chain.
The Social Progress Index was developed by the Latin American Center for Competitiveness and Sustainable Development (CLACDS) together with the Social Progress Imperative.The case was organized by the Strachan Chair of Philanthropy and Social Investment and directed by its director, Professor Andrea Prado.
For María José Canales, having a clear methodology to measure the social conditions of agricultural workers in Nicaragua was vital if they wanted to know the areas in which ECOM Agroindustrial could positively impact the quality of life of the people around the company. For this reason, and in order to share her experience with INCAE's Executive MBA students, María José visited the campus on December 02, to carry out a "living case" where she presented four challenges faced by ECOM in Nicaragua during the year 2019 by being the first organization in the region to apply the IPS.
At the end of 2019, María José and her team had already managed to establish a baseline for the index indicators. Given the vulnerabilities that the index identified, the first challenge revolved around how to prioritize social investment decisions based on this data. The second challenge was aimed at analyzing the options to leverage resources to finance this social investment.
Subsequently, the students discussed different strategies to expand the IPS methodology applied in Nicaragua to the more than 30 countries where ECOM has operations. Finally, the last challenge sought recommendations on the communication strategy that the company should follow to disseminate the results of social investment among its stakeholders.
After a discussion in work groups, the students shared their recommendations with María José in a plenary session led by Professor Prado. Finally, María José presented to the students the decisions that she and her team made to face these challenges; thus giving real-time feedback to students about her recommendations.
“The living case allowed the students to apply the concepts they learned during the week, to present their recommendations to María José. Also, he exposed them to tools to support social investment decision-making, such as the Social Progress Index (IPS). We hope they remember this experience and are inspired to exercise responsible leadership by becoming agents of change in their organizations and communities." expressed Prof. Andrea Prado, director of the Strachan Chair.
For her part, María José left a message to the students:
Sustainability is a very broad concept, and when we link it to the business, we are thinking only of the financial part, but it is more than that... it is the social, productive, economic, and environmental part, so it must be seen as a concept much more comprehensive
The Strachan Chair was founded by the businessman, philanthropist and former INCAE Rector, Harry W. Strachan. It is funded by the Strachan Foundation and friends of Bain Capital, with the aim of promoting social investment strategies. Periodically, the Chair organizes live cases with entrepreneurs in the region that are generating social and environmental impact, so that they can share their experiences and learnings with INCAE students.
