The Most Admired Companies in Central America have earned recognition from the business world of the region for three distinctive factors: the quality of their internal management, the quality of the products and services they produce, market and distribute and, finally, for their ability to attract, retain and develop talent, confirms a recent study carried out by E&N and by the international consulting firm Skaleno Advisory.

The study in question, based on an open survey from September 21 to October 4, both in the social networks of the E&N Magazine and by direct management of the E&N correspondent team throughout Central America and Panama, identifies in the category of Regional Admired Companies to Grupo Poma/Grupo Progreso/ Corporación Multi Inversiones/ Copa Airlines/ Grupo Unicomer/ cbc/ Lacthosa/ Hugo/ Almacenes Siman/ Dos Pinos/ Avianca/ Grupo Pellas/ Grupo Agrisal and Grupo Monge.

The analysis of results consolidates the votes of the companies belonging to the business groups. For example, Grupo Poma received votes as a holding company, but it also received mentions from Real Hotels & Resorts, its hotel division and other firms; A similar case applies to the Unicomer Group with its La Curacao brand, for example.

In addition to the Regional Admired, the Central Americans nominated 29 Companies as the most admired locally in the countries of the region. Among them, the most admired in their countries are Cerveceria Centro Americana (Guatemala), Aeroman (El Salvador), Corporación Dinant (Honduras), Compañía Cervecera de Nicaragua (Nicaragua), FIFCO (Costa Rica) and the Panama Canal Authority. (Panama). “Our experience has shown us that there is a high correlation between the Most Admired Companies and the medium and long-term results that these companies generate,” explains Alejandro Domínguez, Managing Partner of Skaleno Advisory.

The E&N and Skaleno Advisory exercise had the participation of 880 respondents, representative of the voice of decision makers in companies in the region, since 70% have the role of owner, CEO, senior management or manager. Of this universe, 60% are men and 40% women.

A first product of the study was published in the previous edition (263), by identifying the Most Admired Businessmen and Businesswomen 2021, in which a group of visionary, strategic and inspiring men and women stand out.

Domínguez reiterated that one of the most important findings from the second part of the investigation is that, although a basic element is the products and services offered by an organization, the true and authentic differential that exists between the Most Admired and the rest is find elsewhere. “What is recognized is that for the organization to generate an important competitive differential, the center of attention must be on the quality of organizational management. This means the way in which we lead the organization, in which we communicate and involve from the vision and direction, from the culture that we have and that we practice aligned with the values ​​and the strategy, to the way of motivating and recognizing performance, in short, several elements that have to do with and impact the talent of the organization “, insisted the Managing Partner of Skaleno Advisory.

“And for this I would like to make the emphasis that is deserved, summarizing it as follows: to survive I require products and services, but to generate a true differential with the rest of the organizations, I need to have a high quality in the management of the organization,” he added.

The differential factor

Ricardo Poma, President and CEO of Grupo Poma, leads Grupo Poma, one of the Regional Admired Companies. “For our business group, offering high-value products and services and being a competitor in terms of quality is a strength that allows us to maintain our leadership position in the markets where we are present,” Ricardo Poma told E&N.

“The commitment to efficiency has been another important decision that has contributed to facing the difficulties derived from the pandemic. Being open to continuous improvement is a quality for any company that wishes to remain in a world that is constantly changing,” he added. Grupo Poma will celebrate in 2022 the 103rd anniversary of its foundation in El Salvador. It is a consortium with companies in the automotive, real estate, hotel, industrial and financial sectors.

Other study findings

The report reveals that both among the Most Admired Companies and among the rest of the companies in the region, voters agree that there are several areas to improve, among which the following stand out: Ability to attract, retain, and develop talent, Quality of its marketing and Digitization.

“Regarding the areas of opportunity that they list, we believe that they are issues that they have identified and must face given the current reality caused by the Internet and digital change. In this way, they recognize, beyond a lag, that organizations must redefine their business and operation models transforming their organizations in digital and marketing, while recognizing talent as an essential and highly important issue to achieve progress on these two key issues,” said Domínguez

“Organizations are having to modify their business and operation model. This has undoubtedly had an impact on the marketing of organizations, since the way of interacting with customers has changed and this has led to marketing functions have diversified by adopting new digital channels or omnicality,” he added.

The Costa Rican multinational Florida Ice and Farm Company (FIFCO) is the Most Admired Company in Costa Rica. Ramón Mendiola, its CEO, explained in an interview that since 2019 they created and operates a Transformation Office, made up of a multidisciplinary team and that it has managed to lead the way of innovation and new trends, both for collaborators, brands and customers.

“FIFCO aims for a year 2022 of a lot of innovation, placing customers at the center of the operation and encouraging brands to connect more and better and with an increasingly analytical and demanding consumer,” said Mendiola.

Diunsa is one of the most Admired companies in Honduras. Its executive president, Mario Roberto Faraj, highlighted that over the years they have been aware of market trends, tirelessly seeking continuous improvement internally.

Along this path, efforts have been focused on several areas, including the decision to advance in digital transformation, in the optimization of the supply chain, and in an increasingly efficient operation of electronic commerce.