answer to q d - santiago pelaez

August 2015 The CEO offered me to be the Country Manager in Venezuela

Wait a sec…

Country Manager at 28 years old...?

Are you crazy?

And did you say

Venezuela?

Great!!!!

To be honest I was scared… But very motivated!

The challenge:1

The Company was broken. It ran out of cash-flow.

2Shareholders

were skeptical.

3 Employees were scared of being

fired.

4Leaving our competitors

alone was not an option.

We had to take risks!

And do it quick!…

The strategy:GOAL: BECOME PROFITABLE

STRATEGIC ACTIONS:

Increase prices(Without losing sales)

Reduce trade discounts(From 24% to 16%)

Buy milk 5 times cheaper.

(Buying it to the government with hard discounts)

Make it simple.(Focus in value added actions)

Build the best team.(The right people with the right culture)

Make everyone part of the strategy.

(All the Stakeholders)

TACTICAL ACTIONS:

It has been

tough..

But it was worth it!

EBITDA Margin

2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

-10.0%

-5.0%

0.0%

5.0%

10.0%

15.0%

20.0%

1.7%

-4.5% -2.0%

3.3%

14.2%

* 2016 = EBITDA 1Q

We can´t stop here!

Feeling victorious is the one true risk.

Our biggest asset is the

“crisis attitude”.

So we are planning our next moves.

How an IE Master’s Degree program would help me to strengthen

or improve?

• I am good building and implementing strategies, but I need more background.

• I want to discover new and different leadership styles, and how are they effective, or not.

• I want to explore how is management in non critical economies. Do the same strategies work?

• I want to train my decision-making criteria.

• I have always been in dairy. I want to learn about other industries.

• I need to think more Global. I only know Latin American markets.

Thanks!

Santiago Pelaez