Speech by Rector Enrique Bolaños
Graduation MBA Specialized MBA, MBA LL1, EMBA, EMA
Monday, June 10, 2019 | Walter Kissling Gam Campus
Dr. Nitin Nohria, Dean of Harvard Business School, Dr. Roberto Artavia,
Chairman of the Board of Directors of INCAE,
Members of the Board of Directors of INCAE,
Members of the National Committee of INCAE in Costa Rica,
Representatives of the Government of Costa Rica,
Representatives of the Diplomatic Corps Accredited in Costa Rica,
Drs. Harry Strachan and Arturo Condo, former rectors of INCAE
Special Guests, Faculty Members,
Dear MBA, EMBA and EMA graduates and their families who proudly accompany you,
Dear members of MAE I graduated in 1969 and MAE XI graduated in 1979 who honor us with their presence today,
Collaborators,
Friends all.
It is an honor for me to be here today before 152 students of the Master in Business Administration, 44 students of the Executive Master in Business Administration and 33 students of the Executive Master in Business Analytics. A total of 229 graduates, 79 women and 150 men of 14 nationalities who, after much effort, dedication, commitment and sacrifices, have completed their master's degree from INCAE.
Today you become Incaistas, joining an extensive network of graduates who carry this title with great pride. Congratulations from all of us at INCAE for this great achievement. I take this opportunity to congratulate each of your family and friends who have been accompanying you during this process, supporting you every step of the way. I am sure that this support has been fundamental in your success.
Fifty years ago, on June 21, 1969, Dr. Ernesto Cruz - then Rector of INCAE - stood on a podium at the newly inaugurated Nicaragua Campus in front of the first graduating class of the MBA program at INCAE. He was accompanied by Dr. George F. Baker, Dean of Harvard Business School.
Today, it is I who have the privilege of standing before you, on this Walter Kissling Gam Campus here in Alajuela, and like my predecessor - I am honored to be joined today by the Dean of Harvard Business School: Dr. Nitin Nohria.
Dean Nohria, it is a pleasure for us to have you at this graduation ceremony.
Today we commemorate 50 years of the master's program at INCAE. The 50 years of graduates of those 29 young men, including one woman, who were with Dr. Cruz and Dean Baker at the newly inaugurated campus in Nicaragua. The campus that today is named Francisco De Sola in honor of Don Chico, a visionary Central American man who worked hard for the creation of INCAE.
And today we are privileged to have the participation of 10 of those 29 graduates of our first MBA class. This pioneering group of graduates. So I would like to take a moment and congratulate them on this milestone. I ask the MAE I to stand:
Mario Alonso, from Nicaragua
Salvador Biguria, from Guatemala
Mariano Buitrago, from Nicaragua
Adrián Hidalgo, from Costa Rica
Ángel Interiano, from El Salvador
Benigno Jiménez, from Costa Rica
Lamberto Mantovani, of Panama
Markus Neuweller, Guatemala
Abelardo Sánchez, from Nicaragua
Virginia Zecca, from Costa Rica, wife of her classmate Angel Interiano
I ask you all to give them the strong applause they deserve.
We also had the participation of 25 graduates of MAE XI, who are celebrating 40 years of graduation. Due to the Civil War in Nicaragua, they could not celebrate their graduation ceremony since it was suspended. I hope we have fulfilled their expectations of participating in an unforgettable graduation.
Since that first graduation of 29 young people, INCAE has evolved into the institution you know today. Now with close to 9,000 graduates from our master's programs; being ranked number one in Latin America by the Financial Times; having a faculty whose experience matches its variety in both areas of expertise and gender; and with impact and research centers that address relevant issues in the region such as the Latin American center for competitiveness and sustainable development, the center for collaborative leadership, and the center for entrepreneurship.
For these 229 graduates, today marks the culmination of a path of effort, sacrifice and long days of study, and at the same time the beginning of a road with no turning back, where they must continue to put to the test the tools granted to them to act with excellence and with the rectitude that their consciences indicate to them.
I would like to use this space to talk to you about three topics, to give you three pieces of advice, not only as a Rector, but also as a graduate of INCAE: WORK, IMPACT AND ETHICS.
Know that "there is no substitute for hard work," as Thomas A. Edison famously said. Edison famously said. Challenge yourself constantly, strive for excellence, and never be afraid to step out of your comfort zone. But don't forget to balance your professional and personal life. No professional success is worth the sacrifice of personal failure.
I urge you to never stop learning; continue to read, to be informed, to stay on the cutting edge, to constantly improve your skills. Learn not only from your superiors, but listen to your co-workers and learn from them as well. Know that leading your team is best accomplished by example and humility.
Let us ask ourselves: What is the role I want to play in my society? What are the main problems where I live? What can I do?
I invite you to not only seek the well-being of your companies, but to get involved in the communities and societies in which you live, and directly impact those around you. As Michael Porter, Harvard Advisory Board Member - INCAE, once said: "The purpose of a business school is more than management education, it should strengthen society. This is what makes INCAE unique...it is able to have influence beyond its size." Having an influence beyond its size is what I invite you to do today.
You are the generation that can mark and MUST mark the change that our countries need so much. Change in development, change in institutions, change in the inclusive progress of our citizens, change in our values as a society. In developed countries with solid democracies and credible institutions and regulators, the role of the entrepreneur can be limited exclusively to achieving maximum profitability. But in countries like ours, you as entrepreneurs have a much greater responsibility than that of your profitability...
Our private sector leaders (i.e. you) have the responsibility to ensure institutionalism. To ensure that we have good politicians to achieve long-term sustainable and inclusive development by investing in education, in building strong institutions, in search of a path of economic progress and well-being for all citizens. We must do patria correctly. This is to be Incaist.
I hope that one day when they are celebrating their 50th graduation anniversary, they will return to their campus and feel proud of the impact they made on the lives of those around them, and the changes they brought about in their societies. May they have no regrets about what they could have done, but pride in the trajectory they built.
I ask them to always behave ethically. Know that the cancer that corrodes our societies is corruption. To always make decisions based on values and principles. We have here today Dean Noria who launched the MBA Oath precisely because of the crisis of values he saw at the end of the last decade, and we also have the former rector Arturo Condo who launched it at INCAE. Long live those values of the Oath.
Know that there can be no successful companies in failed societies, so we need the commitment of each of you to develop your countries and move the Latin American region forward.
So, in closing, I ask you to never forget to (1) keep learning and taking risks, (2) create the impact that your society needs, and (3) remember that you should never question your personal integrity by the decisions or actions you make as an employee, an employer, or even a citizen. Whatever daily decisions you have to make, I ask you to make them with righteousness so that you will always be proud of who you are.
I hope they never lose the essence, the purpose, the motivation for which one day they decided to study at INCAE Business School.
Remember that INCAE is your home today and always. Congratulations and success!
