Crafting Alliances between a Mexican Agribusiness and the Base of the Pyramid

180 Pages·2016·5.68 MB·English

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Business Administration Dissertations Programs in Business Administration
Spring 5-1-2016
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Sergio Quinonez-Romandia
Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.gsu.edu/bus_admin_diss
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Quinonez-Romandia, Sergio, "Crafting Alliances between a Mexican Agribusiness and the Base of the
Pyramid: An Action Research into Strategizing." Dissertation, Georgia State University, 2016.
doi: https://doi.org/10.57709/8462046
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PERMISSION TO BORROW
In presenting this dissertation as a partial fulfillment of the requirements for an
advanced degree from Georgia State University, I agree that the Library of the University
shall make it available for inspection and circulation in accordance with its regulations
governing materials of this type. I agree that permission to quote from, copy from, or
publish this dissertation may be granted by the author or, in her absence, the professor
under whose direction it was written or, in his absence, by the Dean of the Robinson
College of Business. Such quoting, copying, or publishing must be solely for scholarly
purposes and must not involve potential financial gain. It is understood that any copying
from or publication of this dissertation that involves potential gain will not be allowed
without written permission of the author.

Sergio Quinones-Romandia
NOTICE TO BORROWERS

All dissertations deposited in the Georgia State University Library must be used
only in accordance with the stipulations prescribed by the author in the preceding
statement.

The author of this dissertation is:

Sergio Quinones-Romandia
Nance 1545, Col. Mirador del Fresno
Guadalajara, Jalisco
Mexico
Zip. 44900

The director of this dissertation is:

Lars Mathiassen

J. Mack Robinson College of Business
Georgia State University

P.O. Box 4015

Atlanta, GA 30302-4015
Crafting Alliances between a Mexican Agribusiness and the Base of the Pyramid:
An Action Research into Strategizing

By

Sergio Quinones-Romandia

A Dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree

Of

Executive Doctorate in Business

In the Robinson College of Business
Of
Georgia State University

GEORGIA STATE UNIVERSITY
J. MACK ROBINSON COLLEGE OF BUSINESS

2016
Copyright by
Sergio Quinones-Romandia
2016
ACCEPTANCE
This dissertation was prepared under the direction of Sergio Quinones-Romandia
Dissertation Committee. It has been approved and accepted by all members of that
committee, and it has been accepted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the
degree of Executive Doctorate in Business in the J. Mack Robinson College of Business
of Georgia State University.

Richard Phillips, Dean

DISSERTATION COMMITTEE
Dr. Lars Mathiassen (Chair)
Dr. Wayne Lord
Dr. Wesley Johnston
iv
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This research was made possible thanks to the support of many people who
participated, either actively or by providing moral support. I am thankful for the efforts
and support from ANSA’s top directors, managers and personnel, and the people who
helped this project transition from an idea to a reality. Special thanks to my father and my
mother, to my brothers for their time, patience, and support. Special thanks to the task
force members, who invested tons of their personal time into helping develop the
strategy. I am thankful for the tireless effort of my advisor, my dissertation committee,
and the research stakeholders. Lastly, I am grateful for the patient support and the
companionship of my wife and daughter; it was not only my time that I invested in this
research, but theirs as well, to them: thanks for being there.
v
TABLE OF CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ............................................................................................... iv
LIST OF TABLES .......................................................................................................... vii
LIST OF FIGURES ......................................................................................................... ix
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS ........................................................................................... x
ABBREVIATIONS AND DEFINITIONS ..................................................................... xi
ABSTRACT ..................................................................................................................... xii
I CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION .............................................................................. 1
II CHAPTER 2: PROBLEM SETTING ..................................................................... 8
II.1 The Firm’s Challenges ....................................................................................... 8
II.2 The Firm Opportunities .................................................................................. 13
II.3 Mexican BOP Corn Farmers .......................................................................... 16
III CHAPTER 3: LITERATURE REVIEW .............................................................. 21
III.1 The BOP Proposition ..................................................................................... 21
III.2 BOP Examples ................................................................................................ 24
III.3 The Assets Hexagon ........................................................................................ 30
IV CHAPTER 4: FRAMEWORK ............................................................................... 34
IV.1 Dynamic Capabilities Theory ........................................................................ 34
IV.2 Option-Driven Strategizing ........................................................................... 40
IV.3 The Integrated Model for BOP Strategizing ................................................ 43
V CHAPTER 5: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY .................................................. 46
V.1 Collaborative Practice Research ..................................................................... 48
V.2 The Dual-Cycle Approach ............................................................................... 53
VI CHAPTER 6: DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS .................................... 60
vi
VI.1 Data Collection, Stage One ............................................................................ 60
VI.2 Data Collection, Stage Two ............................................................................ 60
VI.3 Data Analysis ................................................................................................... 63
VII CHAPTER 7: EMPERICAL ANALYSIS ............................................................. 71
VII.1 Committing to BOP Strategizing .................................................................. 71
VII.2 Identifying Available Options ....................................................................... 80
VII.3 Interacting with ANSA and the BOP Network ........................................... 84
VII.4 Developing Actionable Options ..................................................................... 92
VII.5 Crafting AgroEstacion ................................................................................. 103
VII.6 Strategizing Process Options ....................................................................... 115
VII.7 Engaging Franchisees .................................................................................. 121
VII.8 Networking for Expansion .......................................................................... 136
VIII CHAPTER 8: DISCUSSION ............................................................................ 143
VIII.1 Contributions to Problem Setting ............................................................... 143
VIII.2 Contribution to the Area of Concern ......................................................... 148
VIII.3 Contributions to the Theoretical Framework ........................................... 150
VIII.4 Concluding remarks .................................................................................... 155
REFERENCES .............................................................................................................. 159
VITA .............................................................................................................................. 164
vii
LIST OF TABLES
Table 1 Research Design .................................................................................................... 6
Table 2 ANSA's four phase history .................................................................................. 10
Table 3ANSA's key resources .......................................................................................... 16
Table 4 Examples of firms investing in the BOP ............................................................. 29
Table 5 Options available in ANSA ................................................................................. 53
Table 6 The problem-solving cycle phases ....................................................................... 56
Table 7 Research cycle activities ...................................................................................... 59
Table 8 Data sources for the first stage of action research ............................................... 62
Table 9 Primary and secondary data sources .................................................................... 63
Table 10 NVivo structual map .......................................................................................... 66
Table 11 Code domain table ............................................................................................. 68
Table 12 Summary of Committing to BOP Strategizing .................................................. 80
Table 13 Summary of Identifying Available Options ....................................................... 83
Table 14 Summary of Interacting with Firm and BOP Network ...................................... 92
Table 15 Summary of Developing Actionable Options .................................................. 102
Table 16 AgroEstacion strategizin value co-creation ..................................................... 110
Table 17 Owners of process manuals ............................................................................. 111
Table 18 Training plan 2015 Indaparapeo franchisee ..................................................... 113
Table 19 Training plan 2015 Ayotitlan franchisee ......................................................... 113
Table 20 Summary of Crafting AgroEstacion ................................................................ 115
Table 21 Market differences between franchisees .......................................................... 116
Table 22 Summary of Strategizing Process Options ...................................................... 120