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…
Fast Mover Advantage
Entreneurship Prof. Wang Taiyuan seems inclined to tell you not to worry about being first because too many “firsts” go out of business. Hence he favors fast, just as he does when playing badminton.
Entrepreneurship professor Wang Taiyuan (王泰元) believes that Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activities are crucial for large corporations. As a researcher, however, his interest lies in gauging the importance of CSR for new ventures and examining the best way to apply them in new ventures that are frequently short of resources. His findings are well worth a look.
On the subject of new ventures he also talks about first mover advantage versus fast mover advantage. He seems inclined to tell you not to worry about being first because too many “firsts” go out of business. Hence he favors fast, just as he does when playing badminton. Somehow the measured and unhurried tone of his voice seems to quietly convince the listener that they can be first just by being a fast mover.
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Lucinda´s River
Entrepreneurship Prof.Daniel Soriano swims and talks about entrepreneurship.
Life can be so strange that sometimes, when I wake up, it feels like everyone had too much to drink last night, just like in the opening lines of The Swimmer, a short story by John Cheever.
In the story, later turned into a film with the same title by Frank Perry, Neddy Merryl (Burt Lancaster) decides one summer afternoon that he is going to “swim” his way home through the swimming pools at various friends’ houses dotted across the county. He names the chain of pools the “Lucinda River” after his wife. As the story progresses, it becomes clear that Neddy’s journey may represent more than meets the eye.
Entrepreneurship Prof. Daniel Soriano brings a different take to Neddy’s surreal journey, comparing the journey from pool to pool with the search for entrepreneurial dreams.
Prof. Soriano and I have shared an office for a good number of years, and have drunk an even larger number of margaritas together. We have, in a way, grown up together at IE. I don’t want to sound too biased so the only thing I will say is that he is fantastic company and a truly excellent professor. Sorry, but sometimes a person’s biased and unbiased judgment just happens to coincide…
Don’t miss him in action. What he does, he always does pretty well.
P.S. After the shoot, we broke with tradition and had gin and tonics instead of margaritas. Is that a sign that something is changing…? I highly recommend both the short story and the film “The Swimmer”. Prof. Soriano is also Director of the IE Business School Entrepreneurship & Innovation Center.
You Gotta Jump!!!
Professor Kiron Ravindran talks about Information Systems while swing jumping.
Some time ago, a friend of mine said to me “you know, Felix, what I want around me are not incredible people, colleagues, friends whom I can brag about… but just pleasant people. You know, people who make your life easy, plain and simple.” Well, not that you cannot brag about how knowledgeable Information Systems Professor Kiron Ravindran is, no, it’s just that when you interact with him, you realize that things just go smoothly – the way my friend told me they should go.
I am sure you would like some evidence.
When I suggested we shoot a video, he proposed at the end of his email: “[Cut to me jumping off a bridge…on a bungee]”. I must confess that I have thought of bungee jumping as one option, but it is also true that I never thought of finding a professor who would actually make that idea a reality.
Moreover, the amazing thing is after jumping he said to me:
Felix, I gotta jump again.
Fine, Kiron, we’ll come another day.
No,I mean now.
And that is what he did. Jumped again. This time head first, which is what you are going to see in this video.
After the shooting we went to the favorite place of bikers around Madrid, “La Cruz Verde”, and had some amazing black pudding, sausage, and chorizo sandwiches. No vegetarian was seen within a 100 miles”.
Photo Professor Kiron Ravindran in theotherphoto.blogs.ie.edu
An easy rider
Prof. Patricia Gabaldon talks about gender equality as she rides her scooter around the city of Madrid.
As she rides around Madrid Prof. Gabaldon tell us how her research is focused on finding strategies to enable working mothers to successfully combine work and family, and on exploring the reasons for the gap in men’s and women’s salaries. There is still a long way to go, she says, but I am confident we will get there. Don’t miss the song playing in the background – “On the road” by The Bowmans:
“Take me away, take me far from this place. We’ll find ourselves a little
time each day to break from chores of passion, and play. Take on the
mountains, the deserts and plains. Seek out the faces that threaten to fade.
Our prints in the sand, our names in their hands.
The bumpy road might break your toes, so you will never know. But I’ll take my chances, cut my losses. ‘Cause I would rather go.”
If you remember, in the film “Easy rider” two bikers travel from Los Angeles to New Orleans in search of America, in search of liberty and justice. Prof. Gabaldon is also searching – for gender equality in her case. It would appear that some sort of idealism still exists, thanks to people like Prof. Gabaldon.
P.S. It was a pleasure to watch Easy Rider again. To tell you the truth I didn’t like it much when I first saw it some years ago, but I really enjoyed it this time. It just goes to show how our views and opinions change over time. Anyway, I highly recommend you give it a go.
