10 October 2017
Madrid Headquarters
Ethics and leadership were the two main issues addressed in the master classes led by the former Vice-president of Spain, Elena Salgado, and board member and General Retail Manager of El Corte Inglés, Victor del Pozo, at the start of the entrepreneurship and innovation programmes, Public Leadership Programme in Entrepreneurship and Corporate Leadership Programme in Entrepreneurship and innovation (PLPE and PLCE) run by Deusto Business School and ICADE Business School.These programmes are now being held for the fifth year.
Elena Salgado, currently President of the AEC (Spanish Association of Consulting Companies), focused her speech on transparency and ethics in political parties and recognised that the Spanish people have witnessed some behaviour that has brought both politicians and politics in general into disrepute. Therefore, in her opinion, it is no wonder that citizens’ concern about corruption is second only to unemployment in the CIS surveys.
She pointed out that even though much remains to be done, legislative amendments have been made these last years to strengthen ethics and transparency in politics and entail the demand for much higher accountability from political parties or the ban on private donations. She also noted that in case of a hypothetical and future constitutional reform, it could be used to introduce measures that reinforce transparency and ethics, while undertaking reform of the Senate or electoral law.
She added that governments should be legitimate, not only through votes, but also through their respect for ethics and the legal system, especially the Constitution. She noted that we need governments whose underlying principle is the general interest, which comply with the laws and are clear when explaining their decisions and assuming the consequences.
For his part, the board member and General Retail Manager of El Corte Inglés began his address by recalling how the former president of El Corte Inglés team, Isidoro Álvarez, chose Deusto Business School to train the managers of his stores. He also recalled that the former president of El Corte Inglés was one of the first people who talked about the University of Deusto’s business school in Madrid.
Del Pozo focused his talk on how he understands leadership, entrepreneurship and innovation, and how the teachings of Isidoro Álvarez are very much present. He described Isidoro as a great leader whose style was based on four pillars. Firstly, setting an example. “El Corte Inglés is not a high technology business or a bank; we are a customer service company so we need a huge example. The example for teams is crucial”. Vision, as he explained, is another pillar of leadership. A vision that has allowed the group to take the steps needed to go from being a little shop in Rompelanzas Street in Madrid to become the distribution giant that it is today.
“It is true that vision is mainly innate “he admitted, but added that, from his point of view, it is an attribute that can be developed. “Vision is what makes people feel like they are part of the winning team and have that sense of belonging”, he claimed.
Being capable of working with the whole team is the third pillar of leadership.
Working with everyone involves great dedication, says Del Pozo, “but it is an essential tool”. He affirmed that this type of management, which can be defined as management by walking around (or going to sale points, as they call it in the group) was frequently used by Isidoro Álvarez, who visited the stores assiduously.
And lastly, he pointed out honesty as a crucial pillar of leadership to place the company above any individual interest. “This is extremely powerful and makes the team follow you”, he claimed.
The manager of El Corte Inglés addressed innovation and entrepreneurship as well, and recalled some of the group’s innovations, such as the introduction of gift wrapping, the slogan “We guarantee your satisfaction - or your money back”, or the store card, among other examples.
The event was hosted by Iñaki Ortega, director of the school in Madrid and academic director of the entrepreneurship and innovation programmes, and the economist Juan Moscoso del Prado, who is now co-director of the PLPE that is run jointly by Deusto Business School and ICADE Business School, as is the PLCE. Both schools are supported by EY, the Business Leaders Circle, the Rafael del Pino Foundation and Steelcase.
Following the welcome address by Luc Theis, Director General of Deusto Business School; Jose María Pérez Garrido, Director of ICADE Business School, Almudena Díez, Programme Director of the Rafael del Pino Foundation, Claudio Boada, Honorary President of the Business Leaders Circle and Jose Luis Ruiz Expósito, partner of EY also participated.
All of them explained the reasons why their respective organizations consider it to be of major interest to support training for public administrators and entrepreneurs in leadership and entrepreneurship with the Public Leadership Programme in Entrepreneurship. The participants, who hold public positions of high responsibility, learn how to use the administration to help entrepreneurs to create employment without risking the system’s sustainability. The PLCE (Corporate Leadership Programme in Entrepreneurship and Innovation) shares objectives with the former programme and targets managers and professionals working in fields linked to business innovation.
Like every year, at the end of the course, participants are required to elaborate a real project to support entrepreneurs with measurement of returns. The aim is to apply it to their respective administrations and bring it before a jury to be analysed. Álvaro Nadal, the Minister of Energy, is expected to chair the jury this year. In the last edition, which ended in July, the jury was co-chaired by Alberto Ruiz Gallardón and Alfredo Pérez Rubalcaba.
