Each year, EFMD celebrates influential contributions to management development through the Case Writing Competition. The 2023 edition showcased a remarkable array of winning cases from diverse industries. To delve deeper into the stories behind these achievements, we spoke with the winners about their motivations, inspirations, and the challenges they overcame.

In this interview, we feature María Helena Jaén, Ezequiel Reficco, and Jorge Ordóñez, the winners of the “Latin American Business Cases” category.

“TecSalud’s Response to COVID-19′”

Can you briefly introduce yourself and share your academic or professional background?

María Helena Jaén

I am a professor, editor, board member, and consultant specialising in Responsible Leadership and Change Management, Sustainability and Social Innovation, and Active Learning. I earned my Ph.D. from Universidad Central de Venezuela, an MPH from The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, and a Psychology degree (Cum Laude) from Universidad Católica Andrés Bello, Venezuela. I hold the title of Honorary Professor at Universidad de Los Andes, where I previously served as a Distinguished Chair Professor (2016 – 2019). Since 2021, I have been a Visiting Scholar at the Joan B. Kroc School of Peace Studies, USD, and an editor of the USD Teaching Cases on Social Impact. I have been the CLADEA BALAS Case Consortium/CBCC editor since January 2022. I am a Social Enterprise Knowledge Network (SEKN) member, a senior elea fellow at the elea Center for Social Innovation, IMD, since 2021, and an international faculty member at IESA since 2020. Between  2001 and 2016, I held various positions at IESA, including Professor, Dean, Dean of Research, Vice President, and Executive Secretary of the Executive and Foundational Boards of Directors. I was a Visiting Scholar at Harvard Business School (HBS) and Harvard University’s David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies (DRCLAS) between 2012 and 2013. I excel in writing teaching cases and have a proven track record in mentoring educators in case writing across various universities. I have authored over 30 cases featured in outlets such as HBP, USD Teaching Cases on Social Impact, and Case Centre, earning recognition through awards such as the EFMD Case Writing Competition in 2023 and 2021, the BALAS Best Teaching Case Award in 2012 and 2017, and the CLADEA Best Teaching Case Award in 2014. I have published academic articles in the Journal of Business Ethics, the Journal of Cleaner Production, and JBR. My experience as a consultant for multilateral organisations such as the World Bank, PAHO, USAID, UNDP, and UNICEF has broadened my understanding of diverse sectors and organisations. My passion lies in the transformative power of education and participant-centred learning.

Ezequiel Reficco

Dr. Ezequiel Reficco is currently an Associate Professor at the ESCP Business School. Until January 2022, he was an Associate Professor at EGADE Business School, Tecnológico de Monterrey. During 2009-18, he was a faculty member and chair of the Strategy Department at the Universidad de Los Andes School of Management (Bogota, Colombia). Between 2001-2008 he served at Harvard Business School as a Post-doctoral fellow and Senior Researcher. He co-authored and co-edited two books through Harvard University Press and numerous articles in journals such as the Journal of Business Ethics, the European Journal of Operations, Business & Society, the Journal of Business Research, the Journal of Cleaner Production, Organization & Environment, Harvard Business Review América Latina, and the Stanford Social Innovation Review, among others. According to the Social Science Research Network, he can be counted among the top 10% of authors by all-time downloads. He has been singled among the 500 most globally cited researchers from Colombian universities in all scientific disciplines – in 108th place (Colombia Confidential, 2015). He was distinguished at the Universidad de Los Andes and the EGADE Business School with awards that singled him out among the faculty with the highest research output. He consults for multilateral organisations and large corporations in parallel to his academic activity. He is a permanent member of the Social Council of Inditex (owner of Zara and seven other commercial chains).

Jorge Alberto Ordoñez

I am the Director of the Business School division at the Tecnológico de Monterrey in Puebla. I hold a doctoral degree in Government and Public Administration from the Instituto Universitario Ortega y Gasset in Madrid, Spain. Over the past 20 years, I have worked as a consultant, researcher, and professor in planning, strategy, transformation, competitiveness, and regional development. I have been involved in over 25 consulting projects in Mexico and Central America and have published more than ten articles in specialised journals. Additionally, I actively contribute as a columnist for various national and international media outlets.

What inspired you to develop this particular teaching case?

The COVID-19 pandemic has been a great challenge for humanity and impacted us all like a Tsunami. It just felt right to take that traumatic event as an opportunity to create meaningful and relevant material that could further our educational efforts in the field of management. We chose to share the story of TecSalud, the healthcare system of Instituto Tecnológico de Monterrey, Mexico, which handled the crisis exemplarily and saved lives. By narrating how TecSalud faced the pandemic and made tough decisions, we aim to provide a valuable teaching case and contribute to the student’s learning process that is worth sharing.

We aimed to create an inspiring and engaging teaching case for learning and reflection with global implications for healthcare crisis responses. We decided to write a teaching case on TecSalud’s response to COVID-19 to illustrate the challenges and dilemmas of this unique experience, recognising its value for several reasons. First, we envisioned the educational value of presenting a real-world learning experience (COVID-19) that emotionally engages students in class debates and learning. Focusing on a Latin American health system during COVID-19 would invite students to analyse the region’s unique social, economic, and political contexts that influence healthcare delivery, leadership exercise, and crisis response. Learning about TecSalud’s leadership and management of the COVID-19 crisis, we envisioned a multifaceted story exploring various aspects such as healthcare change management, policy decisions, human capital management, stakeholder engagement, and logistical challenges. We pursued to write a comprehensive change and crisis management case.

When presented with the opportunity to work with experts in organisational change and crisis management of the caliber of María Helena and Jorge, I simply jumped at the chance without giving it a second thought – Ezequiel Reficco

What is the main focus of your teaching case, and what learning objectives did you intend to address?

The case explores TecSalud’s response to COVID-19 between March 2020 and January 2021, highlighting the challenges and dilemmas faced by the Instituto Tecnológico de Monterrey healthcare system. In our view, TecSalud’s plight was a microcosmos that reflected similar challenges faced by healthcare systems around the globe. The case shows the critical role of purpose-driven leadership, responsible decision-making, stakeholder engagement, and crisis management in navigating crises.

The focus is primarily on hospital management during the pandemic, but the case offered insights into crisis management that can be applied across various industries. Students will identify the critical decisions made by TecSalud’s leaders, their strategic actions to address the crisis, and the importance of engaging key stakeholders to manage a crisis effectively. The case’s relevance to participants’ realities during the pandemic helps to create an emotional connection, enhancing the achievement of the learning objectives.

Learning objectives:

1. Crisis Management: Examine and analyse the essential processes involved in crisis management and evaluate their effectiveness in handling a crisis.
2. Decision-Making in Crisis Situations: Employ a structured approach to decision-making under pressure.

The case provides a real-world learning experience that emotionally engages students, fostering class debates and in-depth learning. By analysing TecSalud’s response to COVID-19, students will gain a comprehensive understanding of crisis management and decision-making in high-pressure situations in the Latin American context. The case not only helps the students learn about crisis management and decision-making under pressure but also supports the comprehension of the role of stakeholder management in crisis scenarios. It also explores how an organisation adapts and changes its human capital management practices in response to an external crisis. Besides, it highlights the importance of strategic planning and execution in maintaining healthcare operations and saving lives during a crisis.

Are there any resources or strategies you found particularly useful during your case writing process that you could recommend?

Considering that we aimed to successfully develop a robust and insightful teaching case that thoroughly examines the organisation and people’s experiences and decisions, we found some strategies and resources helpful during the writing process.

1. Organisational trust: Securing the organisation and its leaders’ and managers’ trust during interviews and publication was vital. This trust facilitated open communication and access to necessary information.
2. Accountability and transparency: Maintaining accountability and transparency with the organisation and its stakeholders was essential. This approach fostered trust and cooperation throughout the research and writing process.
3. Diverse author team: Engaging a team of three authors with diverse perspectives and backgrounds across different disciplines was instrumental. This approach enhanced the robustness of the case and the teaching note, minimising personal biases and offering comprehensive analysis from varied viewpoints.
4. Internal connection: Having a colleague from within the organisation was crucial for establishing rapport with the protagonist and supporting actors. This insider perspective facilitated access to nuanced insights and enriched the quality of the teaching case.
5. Comprehensive preparation: Reviewing all secondary information before conducting interviews was essential. This thorough preparation ensured a deep understanding of the organisation’s context and helped contextualise the insights gathered during interviews.
6. Holistic perspective: Maintaining a 360-degree view of the facts was imperative. Beyond the protagonist’s perspective, it was crucial to consider other viewpoints that enriched the case and provided a balanced narrative.
7. Thorough information review: Systematically reviewing all available information about the organisation, events, and critical individuals ensured comprehensive coverage and depth in the teaching case.
8. Research assistance: Utilising a professional and dedicated research assistant to support the authors in reviewing available information and data was invaluable. This assistance ensured thoroughness and accuracy in gathering relevant information and data.
9. Prompt communication: Timely responses to emails and inquiries were critical to maintaining momentum and professionalism throughout the case writing.
10. It is crucial to establish a clear theoretical foundation for the case in the teaching note and demonstrate how these concepts are integrated into class discussions.
11. Testing the case in a classroom is vital for refining the case and the accompanying teaching note.
12. From the research outset, clarity regarding the learning objectives and the intended audience, including specific courses and student levels, is essential to ensure alignment between the case and the teaching note.
13. Peer review process: Opting for a rigorous blind peer-review process, such as under the SEKN collection, was crucial for ensuring the teaching case’s academic rigour and quality.

How do you hope your teaching case will impact future learners and educators in your field?

TecSalud’s response to COVID-19 aims to impact future learners and educators by providing an engaging and multidisciplinary teaching tool. This teaching case fosters ongoing learning and improvement in crisis management and healthcare administration. For educators, it provides a dynamic teaching tool that captivates students more effectively than traditional methods, enriching the curriculum with contemporary and relevant material that mirrors current global challenges. The case enhances learners’ critical thinking, analytical skills, and problem-solving abilities in complex and uncertain environments. Focusing on a Latin American healthcare system, it offers contextual understanding and regional insights, broadening students’ perspectives.

Additionally, the emotional connection to the pandemic experience fosters empathy, helping students grasp the human impact of their decisions. At the same time, the exploration of ethical dilemmas faced by TecSalud’s leaders encourages ethical decision-making. The case provides a comprehensive, real-world learning opportunity that bridges theoretical knowledge, practical crisis leadership, management, and healthcare administration skills.

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The Sponsor’s Commentary

The category “Latin American Business Cases” is kindly sponsored by Universidad Externado de Colombia. EFMD deeply appreciates the invaluable sponsorship, profound expertise, and dedicated efforts of Universidad Externado de Colombia in supporting the Case Writing Competition.

How does sponsoring a category in the EFMD Case Writing Competition align with your institution’s core values and mission?

Commitment to the environment is fundamental for the School of Management of the Universidad Externado de Colombia. So, the alignment of this initiative with our values ​​is complete. Our mission expressly indicates that we seek to form agents of change and contribute to sustainable development in emerging economies. In this order of ideas, for our School, it is essential to promote permanent reflection on the problems that affect companies in our region and stimulate the design of innovative solutions. Likewise, our mission also highlights the great importance that the development of management skills in our graduates has for us. As part of that commitment, we have always promoted active research and teaching methodologies that help improve our relevance to our environment’s economic and social agents

Reflecting on the winning case and its contributions, what has been your institution’s learning experience from being involved in this competition?

Decision-making has become increasingly complex due to the conditions of the environment in which companies and management schools operate today. This year’s winning case teaches us how important it is to make decisions under high uncertainty. Likewise, it shows us that crisis management is a critical skill for today’s managers. That is precisely what we seek to strengthen in our undergraduate and graduate students. The case shows that, in addition to managing the crisis, it is necessary to have a structured approach to making decisions under pressure.

How relevant do you think is the subject matter of the winning case to current trends and challenges in the industry?

In Colombia and Latin American countries in general, the health sector faces significant challenges in meeting the expectations of families, the state, and other sectors regarding their social contribution. Social actors expect efficient use of resources allocated to health and, at the same time, that the industry contributes to correcting current problems. In particular, current trends and challenges in the sector include closing coverage gaps and improving the precarious level of quality that persists, for which there is still a significant social health debt in the region. The case highlights the decision-making processes in companies in the sector, in which challenges persist in accessing public and private resources and solving the problems of productivity versus quality of service and care for people as the ultimate purpose of the health system.

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About Sponsorship

EFMD Case Writing Competition is proud to have dedicated sponsors who drive management education towards impactful teaching and learning. Sponsoring a category allows you to showcase your institution’s expertise in the specific field of management education in the wide EFMD network. The choice of category, its exact definition and any specific conditions are the privileges of the sponsor. Sponsorships for the following categories are currently available – Bringing Technology to Market, Continuous Improvement: the Journey to Excellence, and Latin American Business Cases. If you are interested in sponsoring the mentioned categories or launching a new category relevant to case writing and teaching, please contact Petra Grestenbergerova at petra.grestenbergerova@efmdglobal.org.

More information about the 2023 EFMD Case Writing Competition can be found on the EFMD Case Writing Competition page. Please visit The Case Centre’s webpage to access the collection of the winning cases. See other interviews from this series.