Argentina
Federico Braun
- President and Chair, Sociedad Anónima Importadora y Exportadora de la Patagonia (SAIEP) (La Anónima) (Supermarkets)
Born Buenos Aires, Argentina, 1948. BSc. Engineering, Universidad Buenos Aires (1971).
“La Anónima is seen as a company that meets its commitments, has longtime and loyal employees—and this is important—and keeps its word. However simple they may seem, these qualities are not that easy to find.”
Summary
Federico Braun describes La Anónima's development over four generations, from a small grocery store business into a major supermarket chain in Argentina, and its entrance into meat packing and distribution. Braun points to local knowledge, innovation, and efficiency, as well as a passion for customer service, when describing the company's organizational capabilities and competitive advantages. He also reveals how his business was able to handle hyper-inflation effectively. There are revealing insights on the management of a family firm, and succession planning. The LA Anónima case demonstrates that knowledge accumulated over time concerning how to respond to uncertainty provided some local companies with the capabilities to navigate turbulence, and Braun argues that such skills were the key for business survival in Argentina.
Additional Resources
- La Anónima Institutional History
- Mateo Martinic Beros, “Recordando a un imperio pastoril: La Sociedad Explotadora de Tierra del Fuego (1893-1973),” Magallania (Punta Arenas), 39, no. 1 (2011): 5-32
- J. Di Nucci and D. Lan, “Globalización, hiperconcentración y transnacionalización del comercio alimenticio en Argentina: El territorio usado por las empresas supermercadistas,” Anales de Geografía de la Universidad Complutense 29, no. 1 (2009)
- Juan Pedro Tomas, “Not So Anonymous: La Anonima, Big in Argentina’s Rural Areas, Is on the Move,” Latin Trade July 1, 2006
- Mateo Martinic Beros, Menéndez y Braun, prohombres patagónicos. Punta Arenas, Magallanes: Ediciones de la Universidad de Magallanes, 2001
- “Argentina: The Lords of Patagonia,” Time, November 1, 1963
Interview Citation Format
"Interview with Federico Braun, interviewed by Andrea Lluch, Buenos Aires, Argentina, February 6, 2008, Creating Emerging Markets Project, Baker Library Historical Collections, Harvard Business School, http://www.hbs.edu/creating-emerging-markets/."