Daniel Servitje Montull (April 1, 1959) is a Mexican Business Administration graduate from the Universidad Iberoamericana, with a master's degree in the same field from Stanford University. From a very young age, he knew what his way forward would be, because he wanted to succeed his father in the huge company he had: Bimbo.
Daniel Servitje Montull has always been a committed man, first with his studies and then with his country and his work. His career and how it has marked the way of handling things in other companies by managers, has made a clear example of this.
Image courtesy of leadersmexicanos.com.
Effort and commitment are always well rewarded, and being in the 258th position of the best Mexican leaders, according to leadersmexicanos.com, has been just one of the recognitions that Daniel Servitje Montull has obtained.
Birth and early years
He was born in Mexico City on April 1, 1959, and is the son and nephew of the founders of the Bimbo company, Lorenzo and Roberto Servitje respectively. Growing up in such an entrepreneurial environment may have greatly influenced your passion for business administration, as well as your desire to be part of the family business.
At the age of 16, he began to work in the summers and in his free time at the factory, while he was still studying at the Ibero-American University, located in his city. He held positions in the sales and accounting departments, starting at the bottom.
Despite being the owner's son, he started out as a simple salesperson, and during the entire time he was part of the company, he went through all the departments. It was the only way to get into the company and get to know its operation in depth.
During the university course, he continued working part-time, until he was absent to get his master's degree at Stanford, United States. After returning in 1987, he was appointed as Regional Director, and ten years later, as General Director.
Leadership
Daniel Servitje Montull is not only among the best 300 Mexican leaders, but he has also positioned himself at number 36 of the best leaders in the world according to a ranking prepared by Fortune magazine.
All of this has been a consequence of the kind of values that he obtained from his father and uncle, who committed him to the country, to the environment and to creating a company with integrity that cared about people more than its profits.
Bimbo has always opted for creating low-cost products made with high quality, so that anyone can have access to them. On Bimbo's own page there is a motto that begins it:
"Integrity. It is the main quality that a leader must have, or at least one of the most important for Daniel Servitje, CEO of Grupo Bimbo.
If Daniel's leadership has stood out for something, it has been for taking care of Bimbo's social responsibility and values. He has always imparted his knowledge and values to his subordinates, those who lead the staff.
He has been and continues to be a simple, accessible and very familiar man, qualities that have made the environment created in his companies pleasant to workers.
Your integrity and dedication to work
The good management of Daniel Servitje Montull as CEO since 1997, has brought the Bimbo company to its peak, being present in more than 22 countries on three continents.
His secret has undoubtedly been to focus on the strengths of the company and exploit them to the fullest, take advantage of the business opportunities that are presented to him, reduce barriers and invest in technology to keep the brand current.
Every week more than two million customers buy your products, which requires careful monitoring. The constant trips, in which he has to separate from his wife and daughters, is what, according to him, he assures in several published surveys; "What most demands my effort."
This same integrity and commitment is what you demand of leaders you have to trust to be in charge of your companies and your brands. Daniel believes that although integrity is not the only necessary quality, it is the one that can serve as the basis for creating others.
Contributions
As mentioned above, Daniel Servitje has always been committed to his country and natural resources. Since 1991, Grupo Bimbo, led by his father and uncle, has made a commitment to the environment by creating a new energy policy that talks about the rational use of natural resources in the production and distribution of its products.
This was just a small and first step towards an entire green journey by the brand. An example that Daniel Servitje continued to achieve these contributions:
-In 2002, when technology began to improve, it was able to implement an environmental management system in its production plants in Mexico, which would reduce the use of natural resources to exchange it for naturally generated energy.
-In 2007 he had the same environmental management system applied in all his factories and companies around the world, with a program he called 'Committed to the environment'. In this way, it significantly reduced the environmental impact of all its operations. This achievement exposed him to the praise and recognition of Semarnat (Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources) and Coparmex (Employers' Confederation of the Mexican Republic).
-In 2010 it announced the construction of a wind farm with which it will generate 100% of the energy needed for Grupo Bimbo in Mexico.
-In 2012 they began to participate in the 'clean transport' project using only electric cars in their facilities.
It is clear that Daniel wants to turn Grupo Bimbo into a 100% ECO company, and at the rate he is going it is very likely that he will succeed. At the moment, it has managed to be on the list of the most ethical companies in the world for two consecutive years, and it seems that for many more.
It is no wonder, since Grupo Bimbo under the management of Daniel Servitje has managed to set precedents that if all the companies in the world continued, they could make Earth a better place to live.
References
- Servitje D, Ghemawat P. Daniel Servitje: «In globalization, you participate or become a victim.» IESE Insight. 2015.
- xtello. Bimbo, an emblematic company with world leadership. November 16. 2007.
- Bimbo group. Building our key capabilities. In: Integrated Annual Report 2015. 2015.
- Ocampo JFV. Internationalization process of a multinational company in a developing country: Grupo Bimbo's foreign direct investment decisions. Pensam Management. 2013.
- Chauvet M, Gonzàlez RL. Globalization and strategies of agri-food business groups in Mexico. Eat Exter. 1999.
- Vargas-Hernández JG, Leon-Arias DA, Valdez-Zepeda DA, Castillo-Giron DV. Strategic Internationalization of Mexican Emerging Multinationals. SSRN. 2012.
- Pantaleón, I. (2019). Daniel Servitje, among the 50 great world leaders of Fortune. Retrieved from forbes.com.mx.