On Wednesday 24th January, the US researcher Bryan Husted won the Insignia Prize for achievements in scientific research, during the presentation of the 2017 Rómulo Garza Research and Innovation Prize, which recognizes the best researchers at Tecnológico de Monterrey.
Husted, a professor at the EGADE Business School of the Tecnológico de Monterrey, is the first researcher from the area of Social Sciences to win this distinction since the prize was introduced 43 years ago.
He has published numerous articles in international journals and his main research focuses have been corruption, business ethics, and social responsibility – for example, on the topic of environmental certifications-.
“I have some relatively significant articles that discuss the impact of soft institutions and rules of the game, such as culture,” he explained.
One of his most influential papers is called “Wealth, culture and corruption”, published in the Journal of International Business Studies, which addresses the topic of social and cultural institutions and rules of the game as corruption factors.
“It has had an important impact and, two years ago, we published another very interesting article, with a map that displayed the companies that have made the best efforts in Social Responsibility.
“We discovered that, as in any area, for example, the software industry, which has technology clusters, like Silicon Valley, there are also Social Responsibility clusters. For example, Boston, Minneapolis and the American Northeast all do very well,” he explained.
A life dedicated to research
Bryan Husted is 60 years old and has spent the last 28 years (since he graduated with a doctoral degree from the University of California, Berkeley) teaching and conducting research at Tec de Monterrey.
Husted is jovial, kind, plays the piano, does half an hour of exercise every day and is learning Nahuatl as part of his community service for the Christian church he attends in Monterrey: San Pedro Church.
He studied a bachelor’s degree in Economics in Utah; a postgraduate in Law, in New York State; and a master’s and doctorate in Business Administration, with a focus on business and public policy.
“Mexico wasn’t really on my radar,” he confessed. “(However), while studying for her Ph.D., my sister spent a summer in Tijuana as part of her community service and she invited me to go along with her”.
“When I was about to start work, I thought, why not Latin America?” he added.
He wrote to several universities and of the three Mexican institutions that showed an interest, he chose Tecnológico de Monterrey, considering that it would enable him to keep in touch with the international network of researchers.
Corruption does have a solution
Like another of the prize winners in this year’s Rómulo Garza Prize, Dr. Bonnie J. Palifka –in the Published Books category, for the title Corruption and Government -, studying corruption has been a lifelong pursuit for Husted.
Of course, Mexico’s situation in this area has been relevant for his research. “It is a privileged place. This topic was somewhat theoretical in my mind, but it was more than that here,” he said jokingly.
“Does corruption have a solution?” we asked him.
“Yes,” Husted affirmed. “In terms of the causes, there are weak elements in institutions that don’t work. And it’s something everybody needs to commit to. It’s a cultural change. People are gradually becoming convinced of the importance of transparent processes, Rule of Law, etc.”
However, Husted can see major progress in Mexico.
“Nowadays, we find out about acts of corruption while the government is still in power. It used to be after it had left. And that’s a major change. I think the press is playing an important role in identifying many issues.
“It’s a bit more difficult now for corrupt politicians or businesspeople to do certain things because everything is gradually coming to light,” he concluded.
READ THE ORIGINAL STORY AT TECREVIEW