The guest speaker at the event was Marisa Lazo Corvera, founder and CEO of Pastelerías Marisa and Chair of the Board of Tecnológico de Monterrey, Western Region. 

By JOSÉ ÁNGEL DE LA PAZ | EGADE BUSINESS SCHOOL

Delighted to have concluded such an important stage in their development as business leaders, the class of December 2021 from the Guadalajara site of EGADE Business School - Tecnológico de Monterrey celebrated their graduation in person.

During the ceremony, a total de 52 masters, from across Mexico and another 5 countries (Chile, Ecuador, USA, Colombia, and Brazil), received their diplomas and academic degrees. By program, 51 graduated from the EGADE MBA and one from the Master in Business Administration. 

The event took place on December 16, complying with all the safety and hygiene protocols, at the Campus Guadalajara Sports Dome, and was broadcast on EGADE Business School’s Facebook Live and the site LIVE.TEC.MX.

The presidium comprised Marisa Lazo Corvera, CEO of Pastelerías Marisa, and Chair of the Board of Tecnológico de Monterrey, Western Region; Claudia Félix Sandoval, Vice-President of Tecnológico de Monterrey, Western Region; Laura Zapata Cantú, Associate Academic Dean, EGADE Business School; René Cabral Torres, Associate Dean of Faculty Development, EGADE Business School; and Raúl Montalvo Corzo; Director of EGADE Business School in Guadalajara.

AS LEADERS, WE NEED A HOLISTIC OUTLOOK: GUEST SPEAKER

In her address as guest speaker, Lazo Corvera claimed that the demands on today’s leaders are much greater than before.

“Those of us who lead a company or are entrepreneurs, need a more holistic outlook, not just looking out for our shareholders, but also each and every interest group, in other words, customers, suppliers, employees, collaborators, the community in which we operate, and society,” she said.

In order to fulfill this role, she affirmed, leaders need to be well trained and know how to make the right decisions, considering everybody’s needs and ensuring that everyone wins.

“This should benefit far more people, don’t keep it to yourselves; help, share, promote, and make sure that your growth, your achievements, will benefit the greatest number of people possible,” Lazo Corvera urged the graduates.

WE ARE EQUIPPED TO LEAD TRANSFORMATION IN ORGANIZATIONS: GRADUATING CLASS STUDENT SPEAKER

Ricardo Arturo Sol Molina was in charge of offering an address on behalf of his class

The EGADE MBA graduate stressed that despite the changes, difficulties and challenges involved in studying a graduate degree during a pandemic, they had managed to emerge stronger and ready to make a difference. 

“And here we are today, victorious, receiving our degrees, equipped with the knowledge and competencies to lead transformation in our organizations, endeavors, and communities, as authentic leaders in the most difficult and uncertain of times, rapidly adapting to any challenge that may arise, without losing sight of the future or our goals, and with empathy and humanity despite the physical distance,” Sol Molina said. 

OUR COMMUNITY REQUIRES AGENTS OF CHANGE LIKE YOU: DIRECTOR OF THE EGADE GUADALAJARA SITE

In his message to the graduates, Montalvo Corzo said that he was convinced that the preparation and training they had received at EGADE Business School had furnished them with the knowledge, skills, and competencies to contribute with part of the solution to the challenges that organizations and society face, and will face, in an increasingly VUCA (volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous) world. 

“You have strengthened the bases so that your vision, leadership, and determination will not only translate into personal success and advantage, but will also be accompanied by the quest to benefit our community, which requires agents of change,” he stated.

The director of the EGADE Business School site in Guadalajara urged the graduates to build, from their areas of influence, a more prosperous, equitable, just, and uncorrupt society, with equal opportunities for everyone who deserves them.

To bring the ceremony to a close, Félix Sandoval took the pledge from the new EGADE alumni. 

The class of December 2021 from the Monterrey site of EGADE Business School celebrated their graduation in person on December 11.

Meanwhile, the December 2021 classes from Santa Fe, Querétaro and Lima, Perú, graduated together in an in-person ceremony on December 14, in Mexico City.

These new graduates bring the number of academic degrees awarded by EGADE Business School - Tecnológico de Monterrey to a total of 7,338

Luis Donaldo Colosio Riojas, Mayor of Monterrey, was the guest speaker for 211 master’s and doctoral graduates. 

By JOSÉ ÁNGEL DE LA PAZ | EGADE BUSINESS SCHOOL

The class of December 2021 from the Monterrey site of EGADE Business School - Tecnológico de Monterrey celebrated the culmination of their graduate studies with great enthusiasm, particularly as they had the opportunity to participate in an in-person graduation ceremony.

The ceremony recognized 208 masters and 3 doctors, from across Mexico and another 13 countries (Argentina, Austria, Bolivia, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Spain, USA, Guatemala, Honduras, Peru, Dominican Republic, and Venezuela). 

The majority decided to attend in person to receive their diplomas and academic degrees, accompanied by their loved ones. Those who chose to follow their graduation virtually, were able to do so through EGADE Business School’s Facebook Live and the site LIVE.TEC.MX.

Graduates from this class were, by program, 27 students from the Master in Business Management, 103 from the EGADE MBA, 8 from the EGADE MBA Online, 34 from the EGADE – UNC Charlotte MBA in Global Business & Strategy, 9 from the Global OneMBA, 26 from Master in Finance and 3 from the Ph.D. in Administrative Sciences.

The event took place on December 11, complying with all the safety and hygiene protocols, in the Congress Hall at the EGADE Business School site in Monterrey. 

The ceremony was presided over by Luis Donaldo Colosio Riojas, Mayor of Monterrey and guest speaker; Juan Pablo Murra Lascurain, Rector for Undergraduate and Graduate Education at Tecnológico de Monterrey; Osmar Zavaleta Vázquez, Interim Dean of EGADE Business School and Associate Dean of Research of EGADE Business School and the Tecnológico de Monterrey School of Business; Laura Zapata Cantú, Associate Academic Dean, EGADE Business School; René Cabral Torres, Associate Dean of Faculty Development, EGADE Business School; and Daniel Maranto Vargas, Director of EGADE Business School Monterrey site.

USE YOUR KNOWLEDGE TO IMPROVE OTHER PEOPLE’S LIVES: GUEST SPEAKER

In his address, Colosio Riojas asked the new EGADE alumni to use the privilege of their world-class graduate education to improve other people’s lives. 

“Here you have acquired knowledge to be businessmen and women, executives, with a transformative vision and capacity. From now on, you will be going back to your companies to apply these vast capacities, to create new things, to consolidate projects, to reach new heights, and I am sure you will do so successfully. What I would like to ask you is that this privilege of knowledge and the position you will have should always be linked to the social reality, and that you never stop valuing the community as a whole,” the Mayor said.

WE SHOULD FEEL PROUD OF WHAT WE HAVE ACHIEVED: STUDENT SPEAKER

Ana Gabriela García Esquivel, Master in Business Management student, spoke on behalf of the graduating students from the class of December 2021 at EGADE Monterrey.

Over the past two years, she stressed, you have faced a pandemic with moments of uncertainty, stress and anxiety, but, nevertheless, you have managed to develop the capacity for resilience, determination and perseverance to reach your goal.

“Today, we have the opportunity to look back and remember all those good moments we built and experienced during our time at EGADE, as well as the sacrifices involved, and feel fully satisfied knowing that we have completed this great personal and professional project,” she said.

The EGADE - Boston University Metropolitan College summa cum laude dual-degree graduate invited her classmates to feel proud of what they have achieved and become.

“Let’s celebrate the end of a wonderful stage and the beginning of a lifetime. I wish you every success in your journey,” García Esquivel stated.

BE AGENTS OF ACTION, INNOVATE, CREATE VALUE FOR SOCIETY: RECTOR

Before taking the pledge from the graduates, Murra Lascurain urged them to be agents of action, question paradigms, and generate shared value for society.

“We will witness your achievements and your struggles. Build extraordinary lives. Mexico and the world need you. Congratulations and don't forget that Tec will always be your second home, ” the Rector said.

This is the second graduation ceremony held in person at the EGADE Business School Monterrey site since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Santa Fe and Guadalajara sites of EGADE Business School have also scheduled in-person graduation ceremonies for December 14 and 16, respectively.

The team made up of Antonio Favela, Miguel Recio and Maximilian Gelse won first place in the Postgraduate category of the competition. 

By JOSÉ ÁNGEL DE LA PAZ | EGADE BUSINESS SCHOOL

A team of three EGADE Business School students won the 2021 Interuniversity Investment Competition organized by the Mexican Stock Exchange (BMV) and the Peeptrade platform , in the Postgraduate category.

The winners are Antonio Favela, Miguel Recio and Maximilian Gelse, students of the Master in Finance (MAF) in Monterrey.

In the competition, the MAF students, representing EGADE Business School, competed against other teams from over 100 universities in 50 countries, who participated in three categories.

In the first phase, participants put together a portfolio of shares and ETFs, for which they were allocated 100,000 virtual USD to invest in a global market simulator.

The EGADE team advanced to the final, which was held on December 1st at the Stock Exchange, where Favela and Recio attended in person to defend their strategy before a panel of experts designated by the BMV, El Economista and Peeptrade.

The winners received a cash prize and the opportunity to accompany Grupo BMV executives on the Trading Floor balcony.

The objective of the Interuniversity Investment Competition, held for the second consecutive year, is to promote best investment practices.

Favela, Recio and Gelse enjoyed this experience as part of the activities of the Investment Strategies course, and were mentored by María Concepción del Alto, Director of the Master in Finance in Monterrey. 

“Search Funds” offer entrepreneurs the opportunity to become CEOs of companies where they will have an equity interest. 

By JOSÉ ÁNGEL DE LA PAZ | EGADE BUSINESS SCHOOL

The Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (CIE) of EGADE Business School - Tecnológico de Monterrey announced the launch of its new acceleration program under the Search Fund model, an acquisition entrepreneurship alternative.

Search Funds offer entrepreneurs the opportunity to become CEOs by acquiring a percentage of the equity of an existing company, traditionally between 20 and 30 percent.

The EGADE Search Fund Accelerator seeks to support entrepreneurs who are inexperienced in the private equity industry, through resources such as access to mentoring, connection with potential business sources and investors, and guides and methodologies in Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A) processes.

It also serves as a networking platform within the entrepreneurial ecosystem by facilitating the process of identifying qualified buyers for entrepreneurs who wish to sell their companies.

The announcement was made by Félix Cárdenas, Director of CIE, within the framework of the center’s Business and Networking Meeting, held at the Club Industrial in Monterrey.

“With our business accelerator, which includes the principles of a Search Fund and adapts them to our region, we will positively impact the generation of business and investment opportunities and promote a company acquisition ecosystem in order to boost economic growth,” he assured.

Within the event, Cárdenas presented the CIE’s most relevant initiatives in 2021 and the projects planned for 2022. 

The meeting was opened by Osmar Zavaleta, Interim Dean of EGADE Business School, and included two panel discussions.

The first panel “Corporate Venture Capital (CVC) Investment Strategies and Interests in Mexico” was moderated by Liliana Reyes, CEO of the Mexican Association of Private Capital (AMEXCAP), and enjoyed the participation of Ana Maury Aguilar, VC Investor at AC Ventures; Mauricio Ballesteros, Retail

Banking Director at Hey Banco, and Enrique M. Zambrano, Principal at Proeza Ventures.

The event closed with the panel "Search Fund Challenges and Opportunities in Mexico", moderated by Cárdenas, and with the participation of Francisco J. Elosúa, co-founder and Managing Partner at Linden Equity Partners, Guillermo Farías, partner of Ascendis Capital, and Alejandro González, co-founder of Olmo Capital.

The event was attended by key participants of the entrepreneurial ecosystem, including entrepreneurs, members of corporations, investors, and family offices, as well as government officials from the United Arab Emirates.

EGADE Business School's Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship aims to provide a platform for forming close ties between students, entrepreneurs, corporations and investors, integrating them into an ecosystem that promotes innovation and entrepreneurship, generating relevant knowledge for value creation. 

BBVA’s global program, with a specialized training stage designed by EGADE Business School, has consolidated its position as a benchmark in driving social entrepreneurship.

By JOSÉ ÁNGEL DE LA PAZ | EGADE BUSINESS SCHOOL

For the eighth time, EGADE Business School - Tecnológico de Monterrey joined the BBVA Momentum program, which supports training and acceleration for social ventures that are influential in Mexico. This initiative of BBVA México seeks to help social entrepreneurs flourish in a complex economic environment, fomenting their growth and survival.

The program’s 2021 call resulted in the selection of 100 ventures with a social and environmental focus and oriented towards the United Nations Social Development Goals (SDGs).

The selected companies met the criteria of presenting economically sustainable, innovative and scalable projects that produce a relevant social impact; having been operational for more than two years and having more than two employees; earning a provable annual income of over 1.5 million Mexican pesos; and carrying out activities with an impact in Mexico.

Representatives of the 100 selected companies participated between October 4 and November 12 in an Online Training stage, offered by Tec de Monterrey’s Digital Continuing Education, and an Acceleration stage, designed by New Ventures.

Subsequently, out of the 100 companies, 20 were selected to participate in the Specialized Training stage, designed by EGADE Business School specially for the program.

In this second phase, which took place from November 16 to 30, the entrepreneurs enjoyed the strategic mentorship of experts in finance, business strategy, marketing, storytelling, among other topics.

In addition, they received advice on defining a business plan that would ultimately enable them to apply for a loan with special conditions as BBVA Momentum participants.

The program ended on December 1 with the Social Investment Day, where the 20 companies from the second phase presented their pitches to investors and relevant players in the impact ecosystem.

Irma Acosta, Director of Responsible Business and Sustainability, BBVA México, and Rodrigo Villar, CEO of New Ventures, took part in diverse sessions.

Participants from Tec de Monterrey were Francisco Fernández and Christiane Molina, Executive Director and Academic and Research Director, respectively, at the Center for Conscious Enterprise, and Jaime Martínez, Director of EGADE Business School, Mexico City site.

Throughout the history of BBVA Momentum, BBVA México has allocated an investment of 34 million pesos in training and acceleration, and made available 116 million pesos to grant preferential loans to any ventures that needed them.

BBVA Momentum is a global program of BBVA, implemented with several training partners in different countries.

Edited by Fundación IMEF (the Mexican Institute of Financial Executives Foundation, FIMEF), the publication includes examples and exercises to support owner-administrators of private family businesses in their decision making.

By JOSÉ ANGEL DE LA PAZ | EGADE BUSINESS SCHOOL

The key criteria for managing the finances of a family business and ensuring its legacy and growth are presented in a new book by Federico Trigos and Mario Doria, Professors at EGADE Business School at Tecnológico de Monterrey and Universidad Iberoamericana, respectively.

The work entitled Finances in Private Family Businesses, published by the IMEF Foundation, seeks to help private business owners and their families who have risked their capital to create and sustain a family business.

In an interview, Trigos explained that the motivations of the owner-administrators of family businesses, who are often mothers or fathers, are not necessarily the same as those of executives who run large and/or public companies.

"While non-family companies pursue clear goals, such as increasing shareholder equity, family companies share additional, and no-less important, non-economic objectives," he said.

The owner-administrator of a family business, Trigos added, must make sure that the business provides the money necessary for the family's goals and, at the same time, the cash flow and profits to ensure that the business is sustainably competitive.

"It is not enough that the company has a higher profitability than that of its industry, in addition the funds from those profits, the dividends distributed to the family, must be sufficient to satisfy the family’s non-economic goals," he observed.

​

The book, Doria explained, addresses the effect they have on managing the finances of the family business.

“We analyze various decision-making scenarios that are solved using concepts such as the value of money over time, the effects of inflation and the cost of capital. Moreover, some examples that we present touch on topics such as planning for the children’s education, the protection of value against currency fluctuations and succession projects, among others,” he said.

In this work, noteworthy proposals to ensure the long-term permanence of a family business and its ability to achieve family objectives are presented from the perspective that both the related parties and the family need the enterprise to continue over time.

Similarly, the authors address options for the parents' company to finance the sons' entrepreneurial ventures, considering these contributions as family investment projects or as the integration of a family corporation, and presenting the concepts of minority and virtual corporations.

“We have tried to show the financial advantages of expanding the family business when it is focused on supporting the sons' businesses. We believe that this way of growing improves the integration of the family and the creation and increase of its socio-emotional wealth (SEW), and diversifies financial risk,” explained Doria.

Ignacio de la Vega, Dean of EGADE Business School - Tecnológico de Monterrey and the Tecnológico de Monterrey School of Business, highlighted in the foreword that the Trigos and Doria book presents a road map for understanding and measuring the value of family businesses.

"It is extremely useful for families seeking to start a business, as well as families with established businesses, who require basic knowledge of the finances of their businesses, or experts and scholars of family businesses, regardless of their size," he added.

The book will be available in electronic format here shortly, and will be presented this October 15th within the framework of the FIMEF X International Congress on Financial Research.

​

The portfolio of Alternative Learning programs and the SWIT project have been nominated in the categories Best Lifelong Learning Initiative and BGA Business School Impact.

By JOSÉ ÁNGEL DE LA PAZ | EGADE BUSINESS SCHOOL

Two initiatives of EGADE Business School - Tecnológico de Monterrey are finalists in the AMBA & BGA Excellence Awards 2022.

The nominees are the innovative learning platform of Alternative Learning and the SWIT research project, in the categories Best Lifelong Learning Initiative and BGA Business School Impact, respectively.

With a total of 10 categories, these annual awards, given jointly by The Association of MBAs (AMBA) and Business Graduates Association (BGA), celebrate excellence among AMBA-accredited and/or BGA-member business schools, their students and alumni.

The winners will be revealed in an award ceremony to be held in London on January 21st next year, in both in-person and virtual formats.

Best Lifelong Learning Initiative

In this category, the nominee was Alternative Learning, EGADE Business School’s innovative learning platform that offers online educational tools under diverse pedagogical dynamics, such as massive open online courses (MOOCs), competency-based learning, and microlearning.

The Alternative Learning programs address a variety of topical issues related to business and their format allows participants to accelerate their professional growth in a personalized, agile, efficient manner.

The options include MicroMasters and Professional Certificates in collaboration with edX, Online BootCamps, emerging technology courses, and short video clips created by EGADE Business School professors.

The Best Lifelong Learning Initiative category recognizes the efforts of business schools that are reinventing teaching and learning among students, alumni, and in the field of Executive Education.

BGA Business School Impact

SWIT (Sustainable Wealth Creation based on Innovation and Technology) was distinguished as a finalist in this category that recognizes the positive impact business schools’ initiatives have had on their communities. 

The project’s mission is to develop conceptual frameworks, methodologies, tools, and educational programs, based on disruptive innovation, sustainability, the circular economy, and a systemic approach, to drive the transition towards a sustainable economy in emerging economies where social conditions are unfavorable for the application of conventional models.

The SWIT project team is led by Carlos Scheel, Emeritus Professor at EGADE Business School, and its members include research professors and doctoral students.  

Consult the full list of finalists from the 10 categories of the AMBA & BGA Excellence Awards 2022 here.

Podcast participants were Expediente Azul, NTT Data México, SpeakHer Nights, IEEGL, and EGADE Business School.

By VALENTINA FLORES CÁCERES | EGADE BUSINESS SCHOOL

Digital onboarding for the financial industry, Mexican entrepreneurship and technology beyond Silicon Valley, the ethics of Artificial Intelligence, femvertising and personal branding for women professionals and entrepreneurs were the topics addressed by Business Territory, the podcast of EGADE Business School and the School of Business of Tecnológico de Monterrey, during November.

In case you missed them, here are the five episodes:

Ep. 54 - Hello, digital onboarding. Goodbye, bureaucracy.

Juan Carlos González, CEO and Founder of Expediente Azul, discusses how economic uncertainty and social distancing resulting from the COVID-19 contingency have generated a digital opportunity for the financial industry.

Ep. 55 - Poles of technological entrepreneurship beyond Silicon Valley

José Manuel Aguirre, Director of the IEEGL Network of Entrepreneurship and Innovation Parks and Strategic Alliances in Entrepreneurship, analyzes the context of Austin, Texas, which favored the emergence of an attractive entrepreneurship ecosystem, offering a vision of the success factors to underpin the poles of technological entrepreneurship that currently exist in Mexico.

Ep. 56 – The Ethics of Artificial Intelligence

Digital users’ privacy protection is increasingly compromised when Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning ‘target’ consumers in an unethical way, encouraging compulsive, unsustainable consumption. Claudia Ramírez, Head of Cybersecurity at NTT Data México and ISA, proposes how to reach a happy medium. 

Ep. 57 – Entrepreneurship in Mexico: Diagnosis, skills, and added value

José Ernesto Amorós, National Director of Doctoral Programs at EGADE Business School, shares the road to added value for Mexican entrepreneurship through innovative business models, insertion in value chains, and other unresolved matters. 

Ep. 58 – No stereotypes: femvertising and personal branding

Claudia Gómez, doctoral candidate at EGADE Business School, and Gabriela Mitri, founder of SpeakHer Nights, share concrete advice for the empowerment of women, drawn from their research and experiences in the fields of marketing and communication.

Business Territory forms part of the Tec Sounds, podcast bar, and is available on  Spotify, Amazon Music, Apple Podcasts, and Google Podcasts.