From October 26 to 28, two professors and researchers from the Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities (FCSH) at Espol, Carmen Padilla and Washington Macías, took part in the 61st Congress of the Latin American Council of Management Schools (CLADEA).
The event, held at the Universidad Católica del Uruguay, was an academic forum featuring keynote lectures, thematic panels, and presentations of scientific papers. In the latter category, Washington Macías presented the paper Adaptation of the Altman Model for Diagnosing Financial Distress in Healthcare Institutions: Evidence from Ecuador. This study identifies the main financial indicators showing that nearly half of Ecuador’s private hospitals and clinics operate at high financial risk.
For her part, Carmen Padilla, who also represents Espol as coordinator of CLADEA’s Latin American Innovation and Entrepreneurship Network (RLIE), presented the study AI Literacy and Entrepreneurial Orientation in Higher Education: The Case of Ecuador in the RLIE Project, co-authored with Danny Arévalo, also an FCSH professor. The study suggests that those with greater knowledge feel more capable of using artificial intelligence; in turn, this confidence is associated with a greater perception of employability, which strengthens their capacity for innovation. The research was conducted with 254 FCSH students.
CLADEA was also the venue for a panel presenting research results based on data collected from 16 universities in 8 Latin American countries. Our researcher Carmen Padilla took part in this panel alongside Jordi Rey, director of International Relations at Geneva Business School; José Alonso, coordinator of the Ithaka Center; and Adriana Bonomo, of the Universidad Católica del Uruguay.
The Congress is one of the most important in its field in Latin America and a forum for deep reflection and dialogue geared toward innovative and sustainable management, in line with the FCSH’s vision in the area of Business Administration.
