EGADE Business School continues to strengthen its leadership in the field of Service Management with the presentation of works by Professor Javier Reynoso and the Ph.D. in Administrative Science (DCA) students, Ana Valdés and Karla Cabrera, in June during prestigious international service research conferences.

DCA students, Karla Cabrera and Ana Valdés, at the 10th SERVSIG Conference 2018.

EGADE Business School continues to strengthen its leadership in the field of Service Management with the presentation of works by Professor Javier Reynoso and the Ph.D. in Administrative Science (DCA) students, Ana Valdés and Karla Cabrera, in June during prestigious international service research conferences.

Reynoso, Valdés and Cabrera attended the 10th SERVSIG Conference 2018 “Opportunities for Services in a Challenging World”, held from June 14 through 16 at the Paris campus of IÉSEG School of Management, in France.

“All three of us participated in a special session about Service Research at the Base of the Pyramid. The students, in particular, presented advances in their doctoral theses and they both attended the conference with the support of funds from the Latin-American-Swiss Center of the University of St. Gallen (CLS-HSG) in Switzerland,” said Reynoso, Valdés and Cabrera’s thesis director. 

In the aforementioned session, Reynoso presented the work “Service Research at the Base of the Pyramid (BoP)”, while Valdés and Cabrera introduced “Trust Development in BoP Partnerships” and “Value Co-Creation in Multi-Actor Service Systems at the BoP”, respectively, and Simon Joncourt, from Eawag, Switzerland, shared “Business Model Innovation in Low Income Markets”. 

At the same congress, Reynoso participated in the presentation of the work “A Scaling Up Framework for Innovative Service Ecosystems: Lessons from Eataly and KidZania”, with a team of professors and researchers from Roma Tre University, Italy, and from the Service Research Center, Karlstad University, Sweden. He also chaired a session in which Valdés presented the work “Social Capital and Value Co-creation in Service Ecosystems”. 

In addition, Reynoso was honored with two Highly Commended Awards, one for the paper "Does One Size Fit All? New Service Development Across Different Types of Services", published in the Journal of Service Management (Q1), and the other for the paper “Determinants of Services Co-Creation with Business Customers”, published in the Journal of Services Marketing (Q1). 

“Both prize-winning papers were coauthored with Professor Bo Edvardsson from Sweden and colleagues from other countries, and are the fruit of the work we developed with Edvardsson when he participated as the international leader of our GIEE in Service Management from 2014 to 2016,” he explained. 

Beforehand, from June 10 through 13, Reynoso had attended the 15th International Research Conference in Service Management, organized by IAE Aix-Marseille Graduate School of Management, at La Londe les Maures, in the south of France, where he chaired several sessions and presented the work “Managing Service Organizations at the Base of the Pyramid”, in which Cabrera collaborated. 

From June 18 to 20, Reynoso attended the 5th Competitive Advantage in the Digital Economy Forum (CADE 2018), organized by the University of Warwick, UK, at its Venice, Italy, site.  This year, the forum focused on personal data, intelligent service systems and digital transformation.

“The objective of presenting work or attending these events is to find out about the latest trends and key topics, in order to identify new lines of research and include some of these topics in our updated courses for the concentration in Service Management,” commented Reynoso. 
 

A team of researchers -one of them from EGADE Business School- have generated procedures and methodologies to optimize the surface roughness of slitting knives by adding titanium dioxide nanoparticles to the lubricant used during the machining process in the final production phase of this tool.

Their findings were explained in the paper titled Optimization of surface roughness on slitting knives by titanium dioxide nano particles as an additive in grinding lubricant, published recently in The International Journal of Advanced Manufacturing Technology (June 2018, Volume 96, Issue 9–12, pp 4111–4121).

The authors are Gilberto Enoc García Acosta, company representative and Ph.D. student in Engineering Sciences (DCI) at Tecnológico de Monterrey; Federico Trigos Salazar, professor of Business Analytics at EGADE Business School; and Demófilo Maldonado Cortés and Laura Peña Parás, professors of the Department of Engineering at UDEM.

The publication of the paper signified the culmination of their joint work, which was backed with federal funds from the Program for Promoting Innovation (PEI) of the National Science and Technology Council (Conacyt), in the PROINNOVA modality for projects presented in partnership with institutions of higher education.

García Acosta explained that the slitting knives are one of the tools produced by his company for cutting rolled sheet steel and are used, for example, to manufacture chassis in the automotive industry. He added that the grinding lubricant is used as a coolant, maintains a constant temperature in the manufacturing process of the slitting knives and helps in rinsing, and that fluid added with nanoparticles manages to cover cavities or imperfections in the surface of the pieces.

“We improved the surface finish of these knives by significantly reducing their roughness, while increasing the life of the abrasive components of the machining process. It should be noted that the manufacturing time was not increased and the result was an improved knive, thus offering the opportunity to create a line of value-added knives that will ultimately help automobile manufacturers to acquire better tools, which represent the first step toward the quality on which their products depend,” expressed the representative of Grupo Industrial Blomer.

As part of the research, Peña Parás selected the most appropriate nanoparticles for adding to the lubricant for the knife machining process; Maldonado Cortés conducted the performance test on tribometers; and Trigos Salazar and García Acosta carried out the production line tests and the statistical analysis of the results.

“My job was to select the nanoparticles. Our experience in laboratory tests has shown us that certain nanoparticles are highly compatible with certain lubricants and, interestingly, regardless of how smooth tools are, they will have a certain degree of roughness. Therefore, since the nanoparticles are so small, they can fill in these hollows, making the tool smoother and of a better cutting quality,” commented Peña Parás.

“Continuing with the development timeline, once Peña Parás defined the nano-lubricant formula, my intervention was specifically to test it in the area of tribology, with the help of the company’s personnel, to validate the formula and conduct the field tests, so skillfully led by Trigos Salazar and García Acosta, with excellent results. All the work was an extraordinary combination of basic science through to applied engineering,” Maldonado Cortés added.

Wheat Salazar referred that in the conclusions of the paper they established that surface roughness measured by Ra went from an statistical estimation of 0.9448 micrometers (no nano particles in machining lubricant) to a statistical industrial minimum of 0.2805 micrometers (with a 0.055% in weight of nano particles). The mentioned decrease on surface roughness values represented a 68.84% improvement on the quality of the machining surface measured by Ra. He also said, since spindle speed and feed rate were not statistically significant in this analysis they were set to their maximum levels 5,000 RPMs and 1.15 in/min in order to maximize throughput.

"The surface roughness measured in Ra decreased, and less is better, the variables of spindle speed and feed rate were at their fastest levels, these two aspects have to do with the machining of the piece. The knives were not only improved three times, but the machining cycle was faster.

“So we’re delighted because this project not only culminates in a technological development, but also represents the interaction of several strategic components in our country – on the one hand, Conacyt, through its PEI call, and, on the other, science linked to the production process, through the collaboration of the company, the Tec and the UDEM,” concluded Trigos Salazar.

An abstract of the scientific paper can be downloaded here, where the full paper can also be purchased.

Ignacio de la Vega, Dean of EGADE Business School, reported on EGADE Business School’s progress in corporate sustainability and responsible leadership at the United Nations. 

The world is undergoing an era of change. The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) reflect the response of the international community to the economic, distributive and environmental imbalances generated by the dominant paradigm of development.

In this context, business schools, as institutions that play a decisive role in the preparation of the future organizational leaders, have been called on to act as the catalysts of corporate sustainability in our societies. In Mexico and Latin America, EGADE Business School, through numerous initiatives launched across the last decade, is leading the transformation of business education for the development of responsible, sustainable leadership that will have a positive impact on the environment and the communities it serves.

The progress made by the School in this sphere was presented yesterday by Ignacio de la Vega, Dean of EGADE Business School, to the United Nations as part of the Global Event of the Higher Education Sustainability Initiative (HESI), which took place within the framework of the follow-up and review session of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and SDGs (High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development), with the participation of top government officials, the UN, academics and sustainability experts.  

Several panels and working groups reviewed the key challenges, best practices and policy initiatives that are relevant for the SDGs (especially those related to the following goals: Clean Water and Sanitation, Affordable and Clean Energy, Sustainable Cities and Communities, Responsible Production and Consumption, Life on Land, and Partnerships for the Goals), and how business schools are integrating the 2030 Agenda into their sustainability strategies, research, teaching, pedagogy and university practices.

Analysis: How big is the challenge in Latin America?

Latin America is a complex region full of contrasts, marked by a greater inequality in the distribution of wealth than any other region in the world, with grave social exclusion and security problems, as well as some of the most biodiverse ecosystems in the world that are currently under threat. These sustainability challenges are accompanied by a renewal of political leadership in many Latin American nations –up to 12 electoral processes will have taken place in the region  by the year end—, whose government actions will be key to the accomplishment of the SDGs.

Although Latin American countries have proved their strong commitment to sustainable development with their extensive participation in the formulation and adoption processes of the 2030 Agenda and SDGs, they must now show their leadership capacity to make this vision a reality. These are some of the urgent challenges that need to be addressed:

• Major progressive structural changes should be implemented for the transition toward knowledge-based economies, social inclusion and to company the negative impacts of climate change.
• As the most urbanized region in the world, with more than 80% of the population living in cities, innovation in public transport and traffic management, waste and wastewater treatment, and energy-efficient buildings is crucial.
• Another challenge faced by the region is the need to make information available in order to produce the SDG global indicators. The development of big data will be critical for more precise, timely decision-making.
• Social and work protection policies must be consolidated through public-private partnerships. To adjust to the new employment reality, the new demands of education, universal protection and welfare economics must be taken into consideration.
• Countries need to improve coordination to control illicit capital flows and apply common tax, social and environmental standards to attract quality foreign direct investment without unfair competition.
• Creation of a digital common market with intellectual property rules that favor technology transfer, and a fund for buying and licensing patents, which are invaluable assets in a knowledge economy.

The Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) includes further recommendations in its roadmap towards the 2030 Agenda in the region (published in April 2018).

What is EGADE Business School doing to address these challenges?

The School has been a member of PRME (Principles for Responsible Management Education) of the UN Global Compact since 2007. Before that, it collaborated on research initiatives, programs and dissemination related to the six PRME principles, then with the Millennium Goals and now with the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). PRME is an initiative backed by the United Nations, founded in 2007 as a platform to raise the profile of sustainability in business schools around the world and to provide their students with the knowledge and capacity to be agents of change.

EGADE Business School has been a pioneer institution in Latin America in responsible business and leadership education since the introduction of the first business ethics course over 35 years ago. Since then, it has promoted the transversal development of sustainability in academic programs, research, partnership and liaison with companies, and in alliances with academic institutions and global networks.

Sustainability education forms part of the DNA of EGADE Business School and has been an area that is recurrently recognized as a source of best practices by the leading global accreditation agencies (AACSB, EQUIS, AMBA) in the last decade.

• Turn knowledge into action: Active participation in global discussion and in the design of goals and strategies for commitment, action and impact have been a key component of consolidating the School’s capacities.
• PRME Champion: EGADE Business School has been an extremely active participant in the PRME of the UN Global Compact since its creation in 2007. This founding membership and subsequent participation has been fundamental to the generation of a roadmap for the transversal inclusion of sustainable education in our academic program, and our research and dissemination strategy. In the past, the School led the regional LATAM-Caribe PRME Chapter and is currently honored to be a PRME Champion school.
• Global alliances: The School has partnered with global sustainability leaders to develop knowledge, teaching and research through its membership in associations such as AACSB, AMBA, EFMD, CLADEA, Globally Responsible Leadership Initiative, WBCSD or the World Environment Center.
• Global Network for Advanced Management: In the last few years, our founding membership of the Global Network with another 29 global business schools has been of utmost importance for the practical implementation of sustainability education at the School, connecting students, faculty and researchers, companies and the EGADE Business School community with an interconnected group of leading business schools from diverse regions, countries, cultures and economies at different stages of development.

Dr. Marco Serrato, EGADE Business School professor and Continuing Education director at Tecnológico de Monterrey, was invited by the United Nations – through the International Telecommunications Union(ITU) – to participate as a panelist in the Global ICT Capacity Building Symposium. This is the most important event organized by this specialized UN agency regarding the development of skills for the new digital economy and society faced by individuals and organizations.

Technologies, such as the Internet of Things, Artificial Intelligence, Big Data, Analytics, among others, are creating a new ecosystem that is transforming our lives. While this brings diverse benefits to the private and public sectors and society in general, it is also accompanied by enormous disruptions and challenges. One of the greatest challenges is the imminent need to develop new skills and competencies, while acknowledging that others are becoming obsolete. For this very reason, through the Global ICT Capacity Building Symposium, the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) invites prominent speakers from all over the world to present the key trends and aspects within the context of the private, academic and government sectors.

Dr. Serrato was invited by the United Nations to participate on the event’s first panel, called Setting the scene: skills requirements for the digital transformation. One of the main conclusions reached in this panel and in the event in general is the need to develop more executives and professionals with the skills and competencies required by today’s digital economy and society. This has resulted in changes to the number and types of jobs, since some functions are disappearing and new ones emerging. This situation demands greater dynamism and mobility between sectors and geographies, by both individuals and organizations. Not only technical competencies, but also lifelong and lifewide soft skills must be considered in order to achieve this successfully and sustainably over time.

The creation of digital agendas in countries and regions was also proposed as a strategic strategy by the delegates from a variety of countries. The need to increase the speed at which universities and higher education institutions respond to these new demands was also acknowledged as a core component of the digital transformation and the Fourth Industrial Revolution. This response rate should also take into consideration not only relevant content and knowledge, but also non-traditional, innovative learning methodologies to address this new environment.

Similarly, the delegates highlighted digital inclusion as a core factor in the immediate future of societies. Creating programs and initiatives that promote the active participation of diverse groups and sectors – allowing them to access the benefits and advantages of these technologies - is a necessary action in every nation, regardless of its level of development. Aspects such as innovation and entrepreneurship were also stressed under this digital perspective, in order to drive greater benefits in economic and social settings.

The second video presents Dr. Serrato’s post-speech interview, highlighting the core aspects of his contributions and recommendations during this space for reflection. In addition, this link outlines the main conclusions of the event, whose general description can be viewed in this video. The results represent core action guides for the international community, which ITU will promote as part of its sustainable development agenda toward 2030, to support individuals, organizations and society in general in the digital transformation.

About the International Telecommunications Union (ITU):

ITU is the United Nations specialized agency for information and communication technologies. Its initiatives call for the active participation of the key actors and organizations from the private and public sectors, academic institutions and this sector’s regulating agencies, to address the challenges and opportunities of its more than seven hundred members located in one hundred ninety-three countries around the world, in the face of the new digital economy and society.

The guru of conscious capitalism, international speaker and award-winning author from India,Raj Sisodia, has joined theSchool of Business of Tecnológico de Monterreyas a Distinguished Visiting Professor.

Raj Sisodia is a professor of Global Business at the F.W. Olin Graduate School of Business at Babson College (Massachusetts, USA), and co-founder and leader of the global movement Conscious Capitalism, a non-profit organization present in 12 countries that seeks to disseminate a more conscious, human capitalism, while supporting the sustainable transformation of the economy and society.

Within the framework of the 2018 Global Forum on Human Resources , organized by ERIAC Capital Humano on June 7 and 8 in Monterrey, the incorporation of Sisodia was made official before the Tecnológico de Monterrey authorities, the Dean of the School of Business, Juan Pablo Murra Lascurain, and Associate Faculty Dean of EGADE Business School, Raquel Castaño González.

Sisodia’s incorporation contributes to the mission of the School of Business to promote among faculty, students and the wider community responsible, sustainable leadership, humanistic values and business with a purpose at the service of stakeholders and the community.

“At the School of Business of Tec de Monterrey, we live and foster a culture of lifelong learning that allows us to evolve and reinvent ourselves permanently, in order to anticipate and address the challenges of the business environment through the promotion of conscious capitalism. We believe that well-managed businesses are the best way to generate sustainable prosperity,” commented Murra Lascurain.

As a Distinguished Visiting Professor, Sisodia will participate in designing the online course “Conscious Leadership in Business”. He will also be teaching faculty workshops, mentoring doctoral students, and taking part in the School’s major events.

Sisodia has authored and coauthored eight reference books on conscious capitalism, including the bestsellers Conscious Capitalism: Liberating the Heroic Spirit of Business (Harvard Business Review Publishing, 2013) and Firms of Endearment: How World Class Companies Profit from Passion and Purpose (Wharton School Publishing, 2007). Sisodia is currently writing the book The Journey to Conscious Capitalism, which will soon be published.

He is a distinguished professor of Global Business and Whole Foods Market Research Scholar in Conscious Capitalism at Babson College. He was previously the founding director of the Center for Marketing Technology and Director of the Marketing Department at Bentley University; Director of the Executive MBA program and Associate Professor of Marketing at George Mason University; and Assistant Professor at Boston University. He earned an MBA from the Bajaj Institute of Management Studies in Mumbai (India), and a Ph.D. in Marketing and Business Policy from Columbia University (USA), where he was the Booz Allen Hamilton Fellow.

Sisodia is also a celebrated speaker on an international level. He has offered more than 600 conferences at leading universities, corporations, non-profits and other organizations around the world.

Raj Sisodia, co-founder of the Conscious Capitalism movement, announced his appointment as Distinguished Visiting Professor at the Tecnológico de Monterrey Business School, at the beginning of his keynote address at the 2018 Human Resources World Forum. This video is a fragment of the original published by ERIAC Capital Humano Capital in its social networks.

The Mexican private sector, through its investments and acquisitions, has the enormous potential to develop renewable energies, energy sector specialists highlighted during the Renewable Energy in Mexico: Buying Modalities for the Commercial and Industrial Sector forum, organized by WWF Méxicoand held on June 5, at EGADE Business School, in Monterrey.

At the event, Inder Rivera, Clean Energy Manager at WRI México, presented the guide “Renewable Energy Buying Modalities for the Mexican Commercial and Industrial Sector”, which he coauthored.

Rivera commented that the objective of the document, formulated by the Ministry of Energy (SENER) and the German organization GIZ, is to offer an introductory overview of the new regulatory framework and diverse energy supply options, and to provide tools that will facilitate the assimilation of the diverse modalities by buyers and strategists from the Mexican private sector.

“The energy reform contains ambitious growth goals for the generation of clean energies, with a clean power target of at least 35% by 2024, compared to 20% in 2015.

“At the same time, it has opened up many new electrical energy supply opportunities for the commercial and industrial sector, meaning that companies must incorporate not only energy efficiency strategies, but also renewable energy buying plans in their portfolio, in order to optimize their financial and environmental performance,” Rivera commented.

The forum speakers offered an overview of the new regulatory framework and more detailed information on the different energy supply options, including Clean Energy Certificates, on-site generation (distribution, isolated supply and local generation), remote generation, change of supplier (green rates), and direct participation in the Wholesale Electricity Market.

Osmar Zavaleta, director of EGADE Business School in Monterrey, commented on the role of non-state actors in the energy transition, while Luis Hernández Arámburo, director of EGADE Business School’s Graduate Degree Certificate in Energy Management, highlighted the focus of the mentioned program to develop professionals with skills to identify and create business opportunities in the energy sector.

In addition, Mariene Gutiérrez Neri, director of Tlalli Energía, and Edgar Murga, partner at Energy Connect, addressed the technology alternatives available at the local level. A progress report on the Renewable Energy Buyers Alliance México (REBA MX) program was also presented.

Former academic program participants and diverse graduating classes came back together and strengthened ties at the first Annual EGADE Business School Alumni Reunion, on May 31 and June 1 in Monterrey.

Held within the framework of the 75th anniversary of Tecnológico de Monterrey, the event started on the first day with a networking cocktail party in the former residence of Don Eugenio Garza Sada, which today houses the Eugenio Garza Sada Center.

 

Our School’s Monterrey site hosted the second and main day. Activities began with a tour of the classrooms, followed by lunch and a group photo on the Esplanade.

Afterwards, the dean of EGADE Business School, Ignacio de la Vega, and the rector of Tecnológico de Monterrey, David Garza, welcomed the attendees in the Auditorium.

De la Vega shared with the attendees the ambitious plan of transformation, based on innovation and excellence, that the School lives today to strengthen its impact and global relevance.

"In this way we are building the future of the school, of which you not only have to be part but protagonists. Our institution and its three venues have the doors open for our alumni community," said the dean to the graduates. 

As the event’s keynote speaker, Enrique Dans, Innovation professor at the IE Business School, offered the conference “Postcards from the future: visualizing a hyperconnected world”.

After the talk, the attendees split up into three classrooms for the parallel sessions “Back to the Classroom”. Within this segment, Raquel Castaño, Associate Dean of Faculty, taught the class “Trends in Consumer Behavior”; Jaime García Narro, Executive Education Dean, “Leading with Emotional Intelligence”; and Everardo Elizondo, professor and former assistant governor of the Bank of Mexico, “The Next Six Years: An Overview of the 2018 Presidential Election”.

Back in the Auditorium, the panel discussion “The Leader of the Future: Trends in the Labor Market”, with the participation of the moderator Juan Valles, Talent Director at Tecnológico de Monterrey, and the panelists Silvia Pieretti, Global Director of Talent Management at Ternium; Gustavo Solares, client partner at Korn Ferry; Eva Vázquez, Human Resources Director at Lowe’s México, and Alejandro Olivera, Director of Executive Education at EGADE Business School.

The last segment was EXATEC Talks, with brief individual addresses by Raúl Avalos, One MBA graduate and Sr. Division Unit Retail Manager of Amazon México; María Elena Bravo, MBA graduate and Regional Finance Director, Latin America at CBRE; Carla Carrillo, Master in Finance graduate and VP of Financial Services at DHL Americas; and Jesús Martínez, Master in Finance graduate and founder and CEO of EnviaFlores.com.

To close the event, attendees enjoyed cocktails and music on the School’s Esplanade.

The second edition of the EGADE Alumni Reunion is projected to take place next year in Mexico City.

The recent launch of the third edition of Administración de Servicios. Estrategias para la creación de valor en el nuevo paradigma de los negocios not only corroborated its status as a benchmark work for studies on this subject in Spanish-speaking countries, but also reaffirmed the leadership role of its co-author, Javier Reynoso, in the field of Service Management in the global academic context.

Delighted with the scope and relevance of this editorial landmark, the EGADE Business School research professor mentioned that he was first invited to collaborate on this book by the also co-author Christopher Lovelock, a professor at Yale School of Management.

“The book, already in its third edition, is used in 20 countries and is undoubtedly a pioneer and leader in Service Management in Spanish-speaking countries. The publication also highlights the caliber of my coauthors, all of whom are highly renowned professors with extensive experience in the top business schools in the world,” said Reynoso.

 

The other co-authors are Guillermo D’Andrea, director of the Marketing program at the IAE Business School of Universidad Austral, in Argentina; Luis Huete, Service Management professor at IESE Business School, in Spain, and coordinator of the IESE-HBS program Achieving Breakthrough Services, and Joche Wirtz, professor at the National University of Singapore.

Reynoso, a member of the Mexican Academy of Science and the first Latin American researcher to be admitted to the International Academy of Services, launched the Latin American Academy of Service Management initiative and is the three-time winner of the Tecnológico de Monterrey Teaching and Research Prize.

About the third edition

The book is structured in five parts: the first focuses on understanding the service business; the second concentrates on understanding services from the customer’s perspective; the third analyzes value creation in competitive markets; the fourth addresses the design and planning of the service experience; and the fifth covers the management of the service delivery system.

In the preface, the coauthors explain that they designed the third edition of Administración de Servicios to complement the materials that can be found in traditional textbooks on marketing, operations and human resource management.

They emphasized that one of its main objectives was to create a text in Spanish that would meet the needs of students, professors and company executives in Spanish-speaking regions, and, therefore, they sought to replace in the book many examples from the United States and European countries with others on the best service management practices in Latin American countries and Spain, including the largest socioeconomic segment in the world, known as the Bottom of Pyramid.

“This work goes beyond establishing the difference between managing services and managing product manufacturing through service. It puts forward the need to establish a new paradigm and invites the reader to change the traditional business approach based on goods or products to one that is customer centric and service led, in which technology is an increasingly relevant component in value proposals, aimed at clients and businesses,” the coauthors assured.

The first edition of Administración de Servicios dates back to 2004. The second edition, released in 2011, was distinguished with the 2012 Rómulo Garza Research Prize, in the Printed Book Award category, for its contribution and impact both inside and outside Tecnológico de Monterrey. All the editions have been published by Pearson.