Andrea Prado

Competition Among Self-Regulatory Institutions Sustainability Certifications in the Cut-Flower Industry

This dissertation abstract and commentary present the work of Dr. Andrea Prado. The dissertation explores the dynamics and consequences of the competition among self-regulatory institutions within an industry and how firms choose among the multiple environmental and labor certifications available. The dissertation abstract explains the research questions, setting, and methods. The commentary discusses the author’s views on conducting research as a junior scholar.

Management training in global health education: a Health Innovation Fellowship training program to bring healthcare to low-income communities in Central America

ABSTRACT Background: Interprofessional education is increasingly recognized as essential for health education worldwide. Although effective management, innovation, and entrepreneurship are necessary to improve health systems, business schools have been underrepresented in global health education. Central America needs more health professionals trained in health management and innovation to respond to health disparities, especially in rural communities. Objective: This paper explores the impact of the Health Innovation Fellowship (HIF), a new training program for practicing health professionals offered jointly by the Central American Healthcare Initiative and INCAE Business School, Costa Rica. Launched in 2014, HIF’s goal is to create a network of highly trained interdisciplinary health professionals in competencies to improve health of Central American communities through better health management. Methods: The program’s fellows carried out innovative healthcare projects in their local regions. The first three annual cohorts (total of 43 fellows) represented all health-related professions and sectors (private, public, and civil society) from six Central American countries. All fellows attended four 1-week, on-site modular training sessions, received ongoing mentorship, and stayed connected through formal and informal networks and webinars through which they exchange knowledge and support each other. CAHI stakeholders supported HIF financially. Results: Impact evaluation of the three-year pilot training program is positive: fellows improved their health management skills and more than 50% of the projects found either financial or political support for their implementation. Conclusions: HIF’s strengths include that both program leaders and trainees come from the Global South, and that HIF offers a platform to collaborate with partners in the Global North. By focusing on promoting innovation and management at a top business school in the region, HIF constitutes a novel capacity-building effort within global health education. HIF is a capacity-building effort that can be scaled up in the region and other low- and middle-income countries.

Human Resource Management in Social Enterprises: Insights from the Rural Base of the Pyramid

Serving rural communities in developing countries has proven to be challenging due in part to the lack of infrastructure, of public services and of skilled human resources that characterize these regions, also known as the base of the pyramid (BoP). Organizations delivering products and services to this segment of the market often require trained personnel. Unfortunately, the education levels of individuals living in these communities is extremely low and, in most cases, limited to the ability to read and write. We study how social entrepreneurs manage their human resources to serve effectively rural communities in developing countries. Our focus is on selection and recruiting, training and compensation practices. We analyze and compare these practices by two social enterprises that have effectively served rural BoP communities for more than 10 years. Our comparative analysis suggests a systematic human resource approach that relies on local community leaders, whose development include training and compensation methods that respond to the context limitations.