A Turkish Fan

Strategic management professor Daniel Blake speaks about non-market strategies while watching a football match: Atletico de Madrid against Betis.

Strategic management professor Daniel Blake is articulate, efficient, focused, Turkish, and, most importantly of all, a fan of Atletico de Madrid. He says he picked Atletico because it’s too easy to be a Real Madrid fan. He tends to support the underdog, and is ready to fight and suffer just like any real Atletico supporter. Don’t forget that Atletico’s fans are called sufferers, sufridores in Spanish, because they face an uphill struggle all the way, except this season that is…

We went together to watch Atletico play against Betis from Seville. So far this season Atletico hasn’t lost a home game, so, thinking it was high time it did, I bet Daniel 10 euros that Betis would win. But I forgot that professors always win, and that’s exactly what happened. Apart from that we had a nice Spanish tortilla sandwich and a really good time, which is what it is all about, of course.

I’m going to leave you with a quote by Turkish Nobel prizewinner Orhan Pahmuk: “Life can’t be all that bad. Whatever happens, I can always take a walk along the Bosphorus”. I spent my summer holidays in Istanbul and have included some of the shots I took of the city in this video, but unfortunately I could not share that particular experience with Prof. Blake.

The international Art Fair ArcoMadrid has this year as one of the major attractions of the Fair FOCUS TURKEY, a section which enjoys the collaboration of the Turkish Embassy to Spain and the participation of the curator Vasif Kortun, director of research and programmes at SALT Istanbul,who have selected the 10 Turkish galleries which will take part in the programme.

P.S. Prof. Blake teaches non-market strategies and has a lot to say about external factors that dramatically affect businesses.

Social Horses

Corporate Social Responsibility Professor Joaquin Garralda talks about Social Entrepreneurship taking his daughter´s equine therapy startup as an example.

For some years now Corporate Social Responsibility Professor Joaquin Garralda and myself have shared a mutual joke. Whenever it rains, we know it’s the signal to call each other to go for a nice after-work drink. You might think we’re always having drinks because it rains so often, but don’t forget that in Spain the rain stays mainly on the plain – and it seems it never rains enough!!!

It was on one of those rainy evenings that Prof. Garralda told me his daughter Lola had set up an equine therapy firm, Equisana. He explained that horses were an excellent means to promote emotional growth for troubled youth who are otherwise therapy resistant.

Equine therapy has been shown to have many positive benefits when done properly by certified therapists. Such benefits include self-acceptance, confidence, self-efficacy, and communication.

Well, horses, social responsibility, his daughter, and Prof. Garralda’s concern for people are the subject of this video that I have the pleasure of presenting to you on what could very possibly be a rainy day…

Do I Belong?

Community Finance Prof. Celia de Anca responds in Rabat to different questions, like Do I belong? What´s the market…

One Friday morning back in November I was feeling a bit sorry for myself and not particularly enthusiastic about life or work. You know what I mean, just one of those days. That same morning I had arranged to have coffee with community finance professor Celia de Anca. You can’t imagine how much I wanted to skip that meeting. Obviously not because of her, but because I was out of sorts. There is no denying that our state of mind is what dictates our likes and dislikes.

To cut a long story short, I dragged myself to the coffee shop and began to listen to her. She talked about how we ended up with a global economic crisis, how we have destroyed the idea that money is trust, and other burning issues. But it was not the subject that was remarkable. What was remarkable was her belief in what she was talking about. Prof. de Anca is one of those people who truly believe in changing the world. Just the fact of finding someone who still genuinely thinks that change is possible made me feel happier. And I am grateful to her for that, because that’s what life is all about, spreading and enjoying the feel-good factor at every opportunity.

Don’t miss Prof. de Anca’s answer to the question that gives the title to this piece, namely “Do I belong?” Prof. de Anca is also the author of the recently published book headed “Beyond Tribalism”.