Table 35. Business model – Dairy Company

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the development of new products and organizational capabilities for continuous process improvement.

Table 35 presents a summary of business model and main features.

Table 35. Business model – Dairy Company esa factors Categories Main features

Business context

Dynamic *R&D investments for the development of green products and use of lighter packaging * Use of technical know-how for the implementation of green processes and the greening of the supply chain.

c) Manager´s perspective

The founder of Dairy Company is a Bachelor of Science from the French Lyceum of Bogotá holds a Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology and Sociology and earned a Master´s degree in Public Administration in North America. The CEO is Colombian and inherited a medium size dairy company that changed into a big business.

The influencing sub-factors observed in the manager`s perspective were associated to the individual characteristics of the CEO, which cover his personal values, attitude towards CSR and leadership style.

- Personal values

When asked about his personal values and actions intended for the welfare of others, the CEO exhibits altruism as his main personal value:

… “I consider myself as a dream coordinator because … I think that the function of employees is to eliminate hierarchies and not to receive orders ... My function is to motivate in them the sense of belonging to the Company by giving them authority and encouraging them to make their own decisions …” (Redacción-Cromos, 2009).

Employees confirm the statement of the CEO in a different timeline:

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“[…] I am happy about the way they recognize the work and effort in the Company... Thank you”.[…]”

“[…] I want to give thanks for considering us in decisions … and for encouraging us to move forward and grow” […]”

“[…] It is to be admired that Dairy Company recognizes the unique talent of each collaborator. A very cool activity! […]”(Dairy - Company, 2018).

Finally, the CEO expected that those values be shared among the employees of the company and seems that he achieved according to the aforementioned comments:

“[…]To build the vision of the Company consists in “creating and transmitting a future perspective that people can appropriate” (RedacciónCromos, 2009) “[…].

- Perspective towards ESA

The CEO’s perspective towards ESA is focused on citizenship responsibility. The CEO has fully supported some of the initiatives that are considered sympathetic of social and environmental needs. Specifically, he has been attentive to discretionary activities to contribute to social purposes, associated to community education investments:

… “We must be socially responsible … being aware that sustainability is the guide of our decision making, of the way we interact with all our stakeholders […] and [sustainability] has become the driver that promotes our commitment with environmentally responsible actions, which will allow us to achieve a livable environment and the socio-economic conditions that contribute to equity” …

Besides, CEO has fully supported social initiatives such as education and nutrition, in addition to the environmental ones that have been previously exposed:

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With regards to education, the CEO supported the improvement of public education in nearby towns to the facilities of the Company through the development of a Comprehensive Model for the Improvement of School Management that has contributed to enhancing the quality of teaching and learning, as well as the school and community management of public schools, “as a contribution to their determined effort to wake up in students a deep affection for knowledge, providing teachers with strategies and experiences that allow them to transform their pedagogical practices, thus ensuring high-quality public schools” (Reyes-Martinez, 2019).

- Transformational leadership style

The leadership style of the CEO corresponds to a transformational one, in which relationships are organized around a collective purpose, involving charisma and the stimulation of subordinates’ ideas and values. His leadership style has inspired employees around the development of dairy livestock farmers and their families and the solution of the country´s social needs.

... “We have transformed the company because we have the firm intention to reduce our ecological footprint along the value chain; contribute to the conservation of natural resources by producing more while using less resources and maintaining quality; reduce water and energy consumption; lessen waste sent to the landfill; and promote environmental conservation and non-deforestation practices” … (Dairy - Company, 2019a)

To give a few examples, Dairy Company founded a program for the regions that have been affected by violence, in order to motivate and build abilities in young farmers, so that they are able to remain in the rural areas and perform better practices to develop high quality products in a sustainable way. This program has benefited more than 13.000 small dairy farmers that produce around 50 liters of milk per day. Additionally, a foundation of the company has implemented social programs focused on the improvement of nutrition levels in rural areas, including the donation of 1.5 million liters of milk per year.