Bus 505 - Cosentino Creative Analysis

Creative Analysis of:

Leslea Scott

BUS 505.30
Respectfully submitted to Dr. Michele Sisulu

6/17/18

Introduction

The ability to create and innovate is the key ingredient for any organization to succeed within their core industry.  Organizations will rise, and fall based on their ability maintain relevance in the marketplace and must always be on the cutting-edge when it comes to knowing the customer, their obvious needs, as well as undiscovered needs.  As markets become tighter in this “global economy” there is feverish competition across every spectrum. Global organizations must continually be on the forefront of encouraging creativity throughout the culture.  Organizations should and actively walk out and recruit based on a set of values that not just clever statements framed on the wall.   Although, creativity is best encouraged and difficult to manage; leadership must effectively put forth management by objectives to measure attained organizational goals.   Creative organizations should always be proactive in understanding their industry competition, market conditions and trends to position themselves to either break-out a new industry category, product, service or be able to readily respond to their competitors in the space.  Cosentino S.A. represents architectural creativity and innovation within the global building materials market touching over 55 countries with its largest presence in the US market.  This analysis explores the creative nature of Cosentino S.A. and its philosophy of the Cosentino DNA and what it means to “imagine & anticipate.”

Somos Familia en Cosentino

(We are family at Cosentino)

Cosentino S.A. began with a dream, hard work and a vision of Eduarda and Eduardo Cosentino in 1940.  Eduardo Cosentino started working in one of the quarries Almeria, Spain where he learned the skill of processing marble and from his working knowledge led to the eventual birthing of Marimoles Cosentino, S.A. in 1979 which embarked on a second-generation of Cosentino’s in the natural stone (marble, quartz) industry.  Leading this generation of natural stone purveyors was Francisco Martinez-Cosentino Justo and sibling Eduardo Martinez-Cosentino beginning with a modest team of seventeen employees.   As the business grew, another member of the family joined Francisco and Eduardo in the business by the name of Jose which they had grown to a single warehousing operation in Barcelona.

After continued success in the 1980’s, the Cosentino’s aggressively expanded operations into other areas of Spain and in Europe, however it was apparent that the scope of their operations had to change to become a leader in the natural stone space and could not just focus on the flagship product “White Macael” type of marble.  After extensive planning the decision was made to invest in a research and innovation sector within the business which brought together a small group industry leaders, talented scientists and engineers.  Nearly a decade later, the Cosentino R&D teams tireless efforts, ingenuity and creative prowess came to fruition in the product known as Silestone®, which to this date has revolutionized the quartz-based solid surface material on a world-wide scale in the K&B [ kitchen & bath] category.  

It was the second-generation of Cosentino’s who embraced the vision of their ancestors and continue to build, innovate and improve upon the vision. Understanding the market and stretching their creative muscles to bring cutting-edge materials that are of high-value, beauty and absolute charm.   The Silestone® brand was simply the beginning of a myriad of architectural surface solutions with a global community in mind, from the traditional to modern taste.  The Cosentino R&D team to date is one of the leading, out of the box, design thinking teams in the industry which have created a plethora of product offerings:

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1. ECO by Cosentino®, the environmentally-friendly recycled surface.
2. SENSA®, the company’s line of granite with unique anti-stain protection. 
3. DEKTON®, the world’s only ultra-compact surface that can be used outdoors/indoors and the only material in this category using “Sinterized

Particle Technology” which is “…an accelerated version of the metamorphic change that natural stone undergoes when subjected to high temperatures and pressure over thousands of years...” (Dekton, 2018)

Cosentino is known as a self-demanding organization with a firm resolve to creating innovative, aesthetically superior design materials that reaches from shore to shore in competitive global market and thus far, the reception has been nothing short of stellar.  

Why Cosentino S.A.?

The selection of Cosentino S.A. is based on external and internal knowledge of the organization and the tangible experience I gained during my tenure in various roles within the human resources organization.  Knowing that many organizations, regardless of industry have a need for creativity and innovation whether your company picks up trash such as; Waste Management or designing the latest technological gizmo at Samsung.   Cosentino S.A. overall is a business that is exclusively dependent on creativity and innovation, as it is its life-blood.  From is humble beginnings in Almeria, Spain in the sweltering quarries and make-shift warehouses in Barcelona now on global stage with Cosentino Surfaces Design Cities in over 55 countries; each well appointed and the epitome of exquisiteness and innovation.  

The mantra for the organization is “imagine & anticipate” which is simply if you can imagine it, then anticipate [Cosentino] to develop it.  Working closely with the Cosentino S.A. leadership team in concert with Almeria, Span and US operations, we worked tirelessly to drive a culture of innovation, global vision, customer-partner, action that inspires, self-improvement and reliability.  

The experience working within a global team at Cosentino, there was certainly many pain points regarding the best practice of a wide range of initiatives and how it is to be executed. However, the overarching goal was the same.   For example, twice a year the US team would meet for two-weeks with the Spain team which would include 12-14-hour collaboration sessions to discuss our annual initiatives which would include items such as; internship programs, talent acquisition and retention, total rewards or technological improvements needed for the organization.  Upon joining Cosentino S.A. [Cosentino North America -US Market], they did not have a talent management system in place for the US market, however there was a dire need to