Grupo Empresarial Antioqueño: A colombian Keiretsu

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Keiretsu: "is a Japanese word which, translated literally, means headless combine. It is the name given to a form of corporate structure in which a number of organisations link together, usually by taking small stakes in each other and usually as a result of having a close business relationship, often as suppliers to each other."1

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"[The GEA] doesn't have a juridical person as a group, but they share the same corporative philosophy as a group, and why not to say it, similar political interests, as well as social control and economic expansion common strategies. The companies [that conform the group] are owners of each other, this is what makes them share their potentialities and interests."2

 As we can see in both quotes, the GEA (Grupo Empresarial Antioqueño/ Antioquia's Empresarial Group) is exactly as what the Japanesse call Keiretsu. The GEA doesn't have a head, they cross small stocks from each other and they have close business relationship, as it will be developed further. The GEA is a link between Antioquia's (one of the states of Colombia) most powerful companies that where not influenced or dominated by other family groups in Colombia as Ardila-Lulle, Santodomingo or Sarmiento Ángulo. 

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This prominent Colombian group was "conformed" in 1978 after some families started to buy shares of big companies in Antioquia, making some leaders of the companies reunite to counter this movement so they could "maintain" the control of Antioquia over its companies. As Fabio Rico said in a letter:

"... what it has been called 'Sindicato de Empresas Antioqueñas' as such, as organization, as constituted entity has never existed. That name wasn't elected by us. Rather someone had a belief that Antioquia's enterprises were syndicating to avoid that the lost of our very own, appreciated and important institutions would have continued. (...) We wanted to avoid the loss of Antioquia's capacity of decision. And that the determinations were made here, thinking about the problems, necessities and aspirations of our people. Twelve enterprises decided to join upon an idea and they inmediately started to search for paths that conducted them to asure one another, to protect each other, but without following share controls that benefited some persons and, still less, without trying to take advantage of the circunstances to assure some profits (...)"3

After this quote, we can understand that the GEA indeed worked as a Keiretsu, a regional Keiretsu that tried to mantain the power of decision within the region above all. But we still miss one piece of the puzzle to asure this, and Carlos Felipe Londoño can fill our gap:

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"When the history of the three key enterprises in the actual conformation of the GEA is reviwed, (...) it can be found that since the initial periods of those companies, and even before the formation of the GEA, an horizontal and vertical integration was being made with many enterprises that make part of the GEA. It could be, then, said that solid ties and share crossing of the enterprises of Antioquia existed already before the formation of the GEA in 1978"4

After this fragment it can be seen that not only the enterprises tried to work as a "family" defending their inner space, but they were and are also integrated in an horizontal and vertical way, creating a somewhat of the spider web that characterizes the Keiretsu. It is interesting that a regional affinity can develop so strong ties among big enterprises of different sectors to defend theirselves of "external" control over a legacy of the region. Some can conclude that this "headless combine" is a reflection of a cultural horizontal collectivism thinking that is shared in the region, and indeed is more than a Keiretsu a regionalized form of it, because of self interests of the group (Antioquia's companies) rather than those of the whole (Colombian companies).

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Quotes

1  The Economist (2009). Idea: Keiretsu; Paragraph 1, Lines 1 to 4. The Econimist. The Economist Webpage. Access 06/03/2011 Retrieved from http://www.economist.com/node/14299720

2 Noticiero Confidencial (2010). Conozca a los grupos empresariales colombianos; Paragraph 2, Lines 1 to 8. Noticiero Confidencial. Noticiero Confidencial Webpage. Access 06/03/2011 Retrieved from http://noticieroconfidencial.com/?p=11

[Personal Traduction]

3 Londoño, César F. (2004). GRUPO EMPRESARIAL ANTIOQUEÑO. EVOLUCIÓN DE POLÍTICAS Y ESTRATEGIAS, 1978-2002; Page 6, Paragraph 4, Lines 1 to 20. Revista EIA Nro. 1 pgs. 47 to 62. Escuela de Ingeniería de Antioquia Webpage. Access 06/03/2011 Retrieved from http://revista.eia.edu.co/articulos1/5.pdf

[Personal Traduction]

4 Londoño, César F. (2004). GRUPO EMPRESARIAL ANTIOQUEÑO. EVOLUCIÓN DE POLÍTICAS Y ESTRATEGIAS, 1978-2002; Page 6, Paragraph 5, Lines 5 to 14. Revista EIA Nro. 1 pgs. 47 to 62. Escuela de Ingeniería de Antioquia Webpage. Access 06/03/2011 Retrieved from http://revista.eia.edu.co/articulos1/5.pdf
[Personal Traduction]

Bibliography

The Economist (2009). Idea: Keiretsu. The Econimist. The Economist Webpage. Access 06/03/2011 Retrieved from http://www.economist.com/node/14299720

Noticiero Confidencial (2010). Conozca a los grupos empresariales colombianos. Noticiero Confidencial. Noticiero Confidencial Webpage. Access 06/03/2011 Retrieved from http://noticieroconfidencial.com/?p=11

Londoño, César F. (2004). GRUPO EMPRESARIAL ANTIOQUEÑO. EVOLUCIÓN DE POLÍTICAS Y ESTRATEGIAS, 1978-2002. Revista EIA Nro. 1 pgs. 47 to 62. Escuela de Ingeniería de Antioquia Webpage. Access 06/03/2011 Retrieved from http://revista.eia.edu.co/articulos1/5.pdf

D'Amato, Gina (2011). Management Styles: Convergence and Divergence Lecture. EAFIT University, Medellín Colombia.