Faculty

Arturo Condo (D.B.A., Harvard University) is an assistant professor at INCAE in business strategy, international business, and production and operation management. He is the associate dean of the Latin American Center for Competitiveness and Sustainable Development. Professor Condo has an MBA from INCAE, where he received the highest grade point average in the history of the institution and was awarded the Distinguished Scholar prize. More recently, he has directed programs on competitiveness, which addressed cluster development and strengthening in Latin America. His research focuses on the development of successful strategies for Latin American companies, both locally and internationally.

Enrique Ogliastri (Ph.D., Northwestern University) is the leader of the SEKN project at INCAE, where he teaches negotiation, organization, strategy, and social enterprise. He was a research professor at the Universidad de los Andes for 25 years and served as a visiting professor at Harvard University for four years. He has also been a visiting professor at institutions in Japan, France, and Spain. He has done specialized research in interdisciplinary areas, including power structure and regional development in Colombia; the crises and developmental stages on adults; the history and strategy of businesses; and the relation between culture and management and intercultural negotiation processes. He has published thirteen books.

Felipe Pérez-Pineda (Ph.D., Agricultural Economics, Purdue University) is an assistant professor at INCAE. Professor Perez teaches various courses in the regular and executive graduate programs at the Institute in the areas of sustainable development, negotiation, social enterprises, and quantitative methods. His areas of interest on applied research are: environment resources assessment methodologies, legislation, environmental regulation, development and economic growth in developing countries, competitiveness and eco-efficiency, and agribusiness modernization. He actively participates in international initiatives such as SEKN, and in academic events, where he has presented his research results.

Francisco Leguizamón (D.B.A., I.E.S.E, Universidad de Navarra, Spain) is a full professor at INCAE and has served as dean and academic director of the Institute. Professor Leguizamón teaches residential programs and executive seminars in organizational behavior, business strategy, negotiation, and small businesses management. He is author of two books on program management for small and medium size enterprises and has written a number of articles and over 100 case studies.

John Ickis (D.B.A., Harvard University) is a former dean and professor of business administration at INCAE, the top-ranking business school in Latin America, where he teaches organization and strategy. He was president of J.E. Austin Associates, Inc., an international consulting firm specializing in economic and social development. From 2001-2002, Dr. Ickis took an extended leave of absence as the chief-of-party of the Croatian Competitiveness Initiative. His recent activities have focused on the promotion of competitiveness through entrepreneurial activity. He has been working with INCAE's Center for Competitiveness and Sustainable Development in a variety of initiatives, including the re-activation of the shrimp industry in Ecuador; the strengthening of business clusters in the Nicaraguan dairy, leather, furniture, and handicraft industries; the enhancement of the competitiveness of the agribusiness sectors of Central America; and the improvement of the business climate in several Central American countries. He has published numerous articles and cases on management topics in journals such as The Harvard Business Review and World Development. He is a member of the American Society for Training and Development, an Honorary Citizen of Soweto, South Africa, and his name appears in the International Who's Who of Professionals, Who's Who in the World, and Who's Who in Finance and Industry.

Julio Sergio Ramírez (Ph.D., Political Economy and Government, Harvard University) is a full professor at INCAE, where he has taught courses in political analysis, environmental analysis, management decisions, development politics, project evaluation, and public management. Some of his publications include El Caballo Volador: Los Retos de la Gerencia General and Negociar Es Bailar: Conceptos y Guías para la Negociación Eficaz, and he is currently working on a new approach for governments and public institutions to formulate and implement their strategies.

Lawrence Pratt (M.P.P., Yale University) has served as the associate director of the Latin American Center for Competitiveness and Sustainable Development (CLACDS) at the Central American Institute of Business Administration (INCAE), in Alajuela, Costa Rica, since 1996. He directs the Center's sustainable development programs and teaches environmental strategy and environmental policy for INCAE's master's degree and executive master's degree programs. Mr. Pratt serves as a consultant and advisor to various multilateral organizations, as well as to manufacturing, natural resource, and financial services companies in the United States, Latin America, and Europe. Previously, he served as senior policy analyst at the Environmental Law Institute in Washington, D.C., and was part of the team that developed the groundbreaking Toxic Release Inventory Program at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Luis Noel Alfaro Gramajo (Ph.D., Agriculture Economics and Rural Sociology, Ohio State University) is an assistant professor at INCAE, where he teaches graduate courses in management control and finances, microfinance, methods of management intervention, and management problem and solution analysis. He is founder and president of the consultant firm Empresa y Desarrollo (E&D). He has developed and facilitated strategic planning processes and restructured and improved performance for various organizations, including BANRURAL S.A., a leading financial development institution. He is the author or co-author of six books on finances for development and social organizations.

Rene Castro (Ph.D., Harvard University) is an associate professor for INCAE's MBA program in sustainable development. Previously, he served as Costa Rica's Minister of the Environment. Dr. Castro has published four books and serves as an international consultant on environmental topics.

Roberto Artavia (D.B.A., Harvard University) been the rector of INCAE since 1999, when he became the first alumnus to reach the rectorship of the institute. Between 1995 and 1999, he served as academic dean of INCAE, overseeing the MBA programs, the Executive Development Center, the Research Center, as well as supervising operations. He is the founding director of INCAE's Latin American Center for Competitiveness and Sustainable Development (CLACDS), a think tank for research, dissemination, and promotion of sustainable development in the region. In addition to his doctorate in business from Harvard University's Graduate School of Business, he also has an MBA with honors from INCAE and a B.S. in Naval Engineering from the United States Merchant Marine Academy, Kings Point. His academic work is in the areas of competitive strategy, agribusiness, and production and he has published case studies, books, monographs, and articles on these topics, with a focus on Latin America. He is a frequent speaker in key regional and international fora on the topics of competitiveness and sustainability, delivering his message in over 200 national and international meetings in the past 6 years, including engagements in all of Latin America, the United States, Europe, and Asia. He serves as advisor to governments, national development and private foundations, productive sectors, and companies in over 10 countries in Latin America, Asia, and Eastern Europe. He is also a competitive strategy consultant for firms in the Latin America and volunteer advisor to institutions and foundations in the areas of education, corporate social responsibility, and SME development. Founder and director of private enterprises, he is also President of MARVIVA de Costa Rica, a private association for the preservation of marine, insular, and coastal life in his country.

Roy Zuñiga (Ph.D., University of Valladolid, Spain) is a Fulbright alumnus and a professor at INCAE, serving as associate dean of the Nicaragua campus.

Sarah Cordero (M.P.A., Harvard University) delivered her Ph.D. thesis at MIT in May 2004. She is the co-author of two books: Evaluación de Proyectos de Impacto Ambiental y Evaluación Ambiental y Sostenibilidadad de Desarrollo and Casos Latinoamericanos de Cambio Climático y Desarrollo. She teaches at INCAE, as well as at Harvard, MIT, and the University of Minnesota through joint programs with each of those institutions and INCAE.